Past perfect continuous
Funções do "past perfect continuous"
O tempo verbal "past perfect continuous" corresponde ao "present perfect continuous", mas indica um período de tempo anterior ao passado recente. Assim como no "present perfect continuous", estamos mais interessados pelo processo do que pelo resultado.
Exemplos
- Had you been waiting long before the taxi arrived?
- We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
- It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.
- Her friends had been thinking of calling the police when she walked in.
Essa forma também é utilizada no discurso indireto ("reported speech"). Ela equivale ao "past continuous" e ao "present perfect continuous" utilizados no discurso direto ("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.
Formando o "past perfect continuous"
O "past perfect continuous" é composto por dois elementos: o "past perfect" do verbo to be (= had been) + o "present participle " do verbo principal (radical + "ing").
| Sujeito | had been | verbo + "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? |
To buy no "past perfect continuous"
| Afirmativa | Negativa | Interrogativa |
|---|---|---|
| I had been buying | I hadn't been buying | Had I been buying? |
| You had been buying | You hadn't been buying | Had you been buying? |
| She had been buying | She hadn't been buying | Had she been buying? |
| We had been buying | We hadn't been buying | Had we been buying? |
| They had been buying | They hadn't been buying | Had they been buying? |