Had been doing

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • past perfect continuous

The past perfect continuous for how long something had been going on before a past moment: He had been drifting for seventy-six days when fishermen found him. The student hears the true story of a sailor adrift on the Atlantic, joins sentences with had been + -ing, and tells the story of a rescue in a reporter's interview.

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had been doingby the time'd been dancing

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Listen: seventy-six days adriftListening comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the past perfect continuousGrammar exercise
  6. 6had been + -ingGrammar rule
  7. 7Which form?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Say it in one sentenceGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Rescued!Speaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: snowed in on the highwayGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: a rescue storyDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Have you ever been completely lost? What happened?
  2. Think of a time you waited a very long time for something. How long had you been waiting when it finally happened?
  3. Have you ever been somewhere with no phone signal for a long time? How did it feel?

Grammar rule

had been + -ing

Example
PositiveThey'd been rehearsing for months when the show was canceled.
NegativeShe hadn't been feeling well for weeks, so she finally called a doctor.
QuestionHow long had the phone been ringing when you answered it?

When do we use it?

  • For how long an activity went on up to a moment in the past. Show the moment with when + past simple, by the time, by + a time, or before: By midnight, we'd been dancing for five hours.
  • It often explains how things were at that moment: The kitchen was a mess: the kids had been baking cookies.
  • Time words: for, since, all day, how long, when, by the time.

Watch out

  • For how long up to a past moment (for, since), use had been + -ing, not the past continuous: She was swimming for an hour when the storm started → She had been swimming for an hour when the storm started. (Without for, the past continuous is fine: When the storm started, she was swimming. And so is "all day": I was working all day yesterday.)
  • The moment is in the past, so not the present perfect: When I met him, he has been living in Ohio for a year → he had been living in Ohio.
  • For a number or a finished result, use had + past participle: When they found him, Callahan had lost a third of his weight. (not had been losing a third of his weight)
  • State verbs (know, own, be, believe) stay simple: By then, she had been a nurse for ten years. (not had been being)
  • 'd is had here: They'd been waiting = They had been waiting. After been, always -ing.

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← Unit 1Have done or have been doing?