Past Perfect continuous – Befejezett folyamatos múlt

Milyen szituációkban, esetekben használjuk

1. Egy múltbeli esemény, cselekvés előtt egy másik esemény cselekvés folyamatosan történt  (The past perfect continuous tense is used to state the first action had been happening over a period of time, when more then one or more actions occurred)
   • When 2 actions happened in the past, the past perfect continuous tense is used to clarify which action happened first.
     • Az elsőnek történt esemény, cselekvés kifejezésére a past perfect contimuus használjuk (The first action is clarified by using the past perfect continuous tense.)
     • A második cselekvés kifejezésére pedig a Past simple (The second action is clarified by using the past simple tense.)
   • Examples:
     • Mary looked tired. I could see that she had been studying for her English test recently.
     • The children were soaking wet.  I knew they had been swimming in the lake.
2. Sokszor következtetések levonásakor is használjuk. (The past perfect continuous tense is used to make conclusions.)
   • Examples:
     • There was a leak in the pipes, that is why the water bill had been getting higher and higher each month.
     • The teacher looked very tired. She had  been marking test all day.
3. Sok esetben a Past perfect és Past continuous felcserélhető. (There are many cases where the past perfect continuous tense can be interchangeable with the simple past perfect tense.)
   • Examples:
   1. • I had slept all night. – past perfect simple tense
      • I had been sleeping all night. – past perfect continuous tense
      • I have lived in this house many years. – - past perfect simple tense
      • I have been living in this house for many years. – past perfect continuous tense
4. A “how long” kérdésre való válaszadáskor. ( The past perfect continuous tense can be used to answer the question “how long”.)
   • Examples:
     • How long had you been waiting for the bus to come?
     • How many year had you been studying to be a teacher?

Past Perfect Continuous Tense Chart

	Subject	Auxiliary Verb		Auxiliary Verb	Main Verb
+	I	had		been	studying	really all night. I was really tired.
	We	had		been	cleaning	all week, before my mother came to visit.
	She	had		been	playing	outside for hours. She needed to take a shower.
-	I	had	not	been	sleeping	for the last few days, so I went to the doctor.
	You	had	not	been	studying	very much before your test, that is why you failed.
	He	had	not	been	eating	for the last few day. She lost a lot of weight.
?	Had	I		been	making	a lot of noise, while you were sleeping?
	Had	it		been	raining	all night, because it is all wet outside.?
	Had	she		been	cleaning	the house last week, it looks really clean?