Money
Money
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?
- He has been thinking of calling her
- It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.
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.
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? |
Past perfect vs. Past perfect continuous
