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03) Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous
03) Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous
The past, present and future all have continuous tenses and simple tenses.
Generally speaking, we use the continuous form when we are talking about
continuous actions, and the simple tense when we are talking about habits
or "BAM" actions.
For example, when you’re telling a story or describing a scene, we use the
continuous tenses. They describe a situation before something exciting (a
"BAM" action) happens.
➡ The sun was shining, the birds were singing, everyone was smiling and I
said to myself, what a beautiful day.
➡ I was cooking and my daughters were playing and I head a loud noise!
It had rained earlier that night. Girls were slipping and falling...(The New
Yorker)
It had rained before the race, and again Citation went off on a sloppy
track. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Because it had rained late in the afternoon, the museum moved the
concert indoors. – (The New York Times)
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4 IT HAD RAINED v IT HAD BEEN RAINING
In conclusion...
✔︎"It had rained earlier in the day, so when I left the house I took an
umbrella with me
CORRECT! Although 'rain' is a continuous action, here I am specifying a
time in the past ("earlier in the day") when this continuous action started
and stopped. For this reason, I can use the past perfect simple.
5 MORE EXAMPLES...
PAST PERFECT
For "BAM" actions that happened before another action happened in the
past
- I had already told everyone when my friend told me it was a secret.
- I walked with a stick on my first day of school because I had broken my leg.
- I bought a dog after my cat had died.
PAST PERFECT
For continuous actions that started and stopped in a specified time period
in the past, before a "BAM" action happened.
- I had studied all morning so I was well prepared when I entered the exam.
- I had slept badly all week, so on Friday I went to bed early.
- I had lived abroad for 3 months earlier in the year, and returned to
England that autumn.
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6 TEST!
1. I called my brother while the kids _______________ last night.
a. were sleeping
b. had slept
c. had been sleeping
3. I bought the book after my friend _____________ it and really enjoyed it.
a. was reading
b. had read
c. had been reading
5. The sun _______________ every day on our holiday, and we didn't want to
come home.
a. was shining
b. had shone
c. had been shining
6. She _______________ for a job for months when she finally found one.
a. was looking
b. had looked
c. had been looking
7 ANSWERS
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