Past perfect continuous
Funciones del "past perfect continuous"
El "past perfect continuous" se corresponde con el "present perfect continuous" pero se refiere a un tiempo anterior al pasado reciente. Como ocurre con el "present perfect continuous", nos interesa más el proceso que el resultado.
Ejemplos
- Had you been waiting long before the taxi arrived?
- We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
- It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.
- Her friends had been thinking of calling the police when she walked in.
Esta construcción se emplea también en el estilo indirecto ("reported speech"). Es el equivalente del "past continuous" y del "present perfect continuous" utilizados en el estilo directo ("direct speech"):
- Jane said, "I have been gardening all afternoon." = Jane said she had been gardening all afternoon.
- When the police questioned him, John said, "I was working late in the office that night." = When the police questioned him, John told them he had been working late in the office that night.
Formación del "past perfect continuous"
El "past perfect continuous" está compuesto por dos elementos: el "past perfect" del verbo to be (=had been) + el "present participle" del verbo principal (raíz+ing).
| Sujeto | +had been | +raíz + ing |
|---|---|---|
| I | had been | walking |
| Afirmativa | ||
| She | had been | trying |
| Negativa | ||
| She | hadn't been | sleeping |
| Interrogativa | ||
| Had you | been | eating? |
| Interrogativa negativa | ||
| Hadn't they | been | living? |
To buy, "past perfect continuous"
| Afirmativa | Negativa | Interrogativa |
|---|---|---|
| I had been buying | I hadn't been buying | Had I been buying? |
| You had been buying | You hadn't been buying | Had you been buying? |
| She had been buying | She hadn't been buying | Had she been buying? |
| We had been buying | We hadn't been buying | Had we been buying? |
| They had been buying | They hadn't been buying | Had they been buying? |