Examples: • The burglar had escaped before the police arrived to

A grammar overview
Examples:
• The burglar had escaped before the police arrived to the building.
(This is an action in the past that happened before another action
in the past).
• Last Sunday we went to watch the new “X-Men” movie, but just when
we arrived at the cinema we learnt that Paula had watched it in her
trip to USA last month. (Paula had watched the movie BEFORE we
arrived to the cinema and even before we learnt about that.
Past perfect continuous
SPANISH
ENGLISH
Yo
había estado jugando
I
had been playing
Tú
habías estado jugando
You
had been playing
Él – Ella
había estado jugando
He-she-it
had been playing
Nosotros
habíamos estado jugando
We
had been playing
Vosotros
habíais estado jugando
You
had been playing
Ellos
habían estado jugando
They
had been playing
SPANISH
ENGLISH
Yo
había estado bebiendo
I
had been drinking
Tú
habías estado bebiendo
You
had been drinking
Él – Ella
había estado bebiendo
He-she-it
had been drinking
Nosotros
habíamos estado
bebiendo
We
had been drinking
Vosotros
habíais estado bebiendo
You
had been drinking
Ellos
habían estado bebiendo
They
had been drinking
Grammar: The past form of the verb “have” –had– works as an auxiliary
verb in this tense. Then we add verb “to be” in past participle form (been),
and finally we add the main verb in “-ing” form. The verb form is the
same for ALL persons.
Function: This tense is also considered “the past of the past”. It is a very
narrative text that refers to actions in the past that happened before other
actions in the past. In other words, the actions we make reference to in
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