UNIT 32: Past perfect continuous (quá khứ hoàn thành tiếp diễn)

I.      Grammar

1.         Form:

• Positive: Subject + had + been + Verb-ing
• Negative: Subject + had + not + been + Verb-ing
• Question: Had + subject + been + Verb-ing?
• Examples:
• Positive: I had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived. (tôi đã đợi hơn hai tiếng, cô ấy cuối cùng cũng đến).
• Negative: I had not been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
• Question: Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived? -Yes, you had./No, you hadn’t.

2.  Usage

• Speaking about an action that started in the past and stopped BEFORE something else in the past. (nói về hành động bắt đầu trong quá khứ và kết thúc trước cái khác trong quá khứ)

Examples:Difference from the past perfect simple (khác biệt với thì quá khứ hoàn thành)

• The past perfect continuous focuses on the duration of the action in the past. (thì quá khứ hoàn thành tiếp diễn nhấn mạnh thời hạn của hành động trong quá khứ)

3.  Signal words:

For, since, the whole day, all day, for 5 minutes, for 2 weeks (durations) ... and if-clause type 3 (If I had spoken ... )

4.  Adverb placement (vị trí của trạng từ)

She had (not) still been waiting there since an hour when her friend arrived.

Had she only been waiting there for a few minutes?

II.       Exercises

1.         Put the verbs into the correct form (past perfect continous).

a. We (sleep) for 12 hours when he woke us up.

b. They (wait) at the station for 90 minutes when the train finally arrived.

c. We (look for) her ring for two hours and then we found it in the bathroom.

d. I (not / walk) for a long time, when it suddenly began to rain.

e. How long (learn / she) English before she went to London?

f. Frank caught the flu because he (sing) in the rain too long.

g. He (drive) less than an hour when he ran out of petrol.

h. They were very tired in the evening because they (help) on the farm all day.

i. I (not / work) all day; so I wasn't tired and went to the disco at night.

j. They (cycle) all day so their legs were sore in the evening.

2.  Put the verb into correct form

a. It is already 9:30 PM and I (wait) here for over an hour. If John does not get here in the next five minutes, I am going to leave.
b. I was really angry at John yesterday. By the time he finally arrived, I (wait) for over an hour. I almost left without him.
c. Did you hear that Ben was fired last month? He (work) for that import company for more than ten years and he (work) in almost every department.
d. I (see) many pictures of the pyramids before I went to Egypt. Pictures of the monuments are very misleading. The pyramids are actually quite small.
e. When John came into the office yesterday, her eyes were red and watery. I think he (cry).