Past Perfect Progressive Tense

What Is the Past Perfect Progressive Tense? (with Examples)

The past perfect progressive tense is used to show that an on-going action in the past has ended.

Examples of the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Here are some examples of the past perfect progressive tense (shaded): Of course, you can also have a negative version: And, the question version:

Forming the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Here is an infographic explaining the past perfect progressive tense:

The Other Past Tenses

The past perfect progressive tense is one of four past tenses. They are:
The 4 Past Tenses Example
simple past tense I went
past progressive tense I was going
past perfect tense I had gone
past perfect progressive tense I had been going
The past perfect progressive tense is formed:

had been + [present participle]

For example:
The last word in each example above (i.e. the [verb] + "ing" part) is known as a present participle. It is formed like this:

Add "ing" to most verbs:
For verbs that end "e", remove the "e" and add "ing":
For verbs that end "ie", change the "ie" to "y" and add "ing":
For verbs whose last syllable is written [consonant-vowel-consonant] and is stressed, double the final consonant and add "ing":

A Quick Test




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See Also

Tenses Simple past tense Past progressive tense Past perfect tense Past perfect progressive tense
Simple present tense Present progressive tense Present perfect tense Present perfect progressive tense Simple future tense Future progressive tense Future perfect tense Future perfect progressive tense