CBSE Class 8 English Grammar Past Continuous Tense Past Perfect Continuous

1. Andy________________ (read) a book when the power went off.
2. What___________________ (you do) yesterday night?
3. Sally and Anna _______________(watch) a horror film when the door bell suddenly rang.
4. My mother_____________ (listen) to the news on the radio .
5. Maya___________ (sit) next to Paul.
6. How many other students________________(you study) with?
7. The telephone __________________(not ring).
8. When I arrived, They (play)__________________________cards.
9. we (study)__________________________English yesterday at 4:00 pm.
10. The dog (bark)________________the whole night.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The Past Perfect or the past in the past:

My mom suddenly remembered she had left her purse at home.When we are looking back from a point in the past to something earlier in the past we use the past perfect:

When we had done all our shopping we caught the bus home.
Romit wanted to lift the trophy, but he had not trained himself well.
Romit would have lifted the trophy if he had trained himself well. 

Functions of the Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous corresponds to the present perfect continuous, but with reference to a time earlier than 'before now'. As with the present perfect continuous, we are more interested in the process.

Examples

• 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.

This form is also used in reported speech. It is the equivalent of the past continuous and the present perfect continuous in 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.

Forming the past perfect continuous

The past perfect continuous is composed of two elements - the past perfect of the verb to be (=had been) + the present participle (base+ing).

'TO BUY' IN PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

EXERCISE-1

 Put the verbs into the correct form: (Past Perfect Continuous)

1. We (sleeping)_________________for 12 hours when he woke us up.
2. They (waiting)___________________at the station for 90 minutes when the train finally arrived.
3. We (look for)________________her ring for two hours and then we found it in the bathroom.
4. I (not / walk)___________________for a long time, when it suddenly began to rain.
5. How long (learn / she)____________________English before she went to London?
6. Frank Sinatra caught the flu because he (sing)_________________in the rain too long.
7. He (drive)________________________less than an hour when he ran out of petrol.
8. They were very tired in the evening because they (help)____________________on the farm all day.
9. I (not / work)___________________all day; so I wasn't tired and went to the disco at night.
10. They (cycle)____________________all day so their legs were sore in the evening.

III. Fill in the blanks with Past continuous / past perfect to make meaningful sentences. 

1. We ________ ( spend) all the money, so we had to walk back home.

2.  The dog was killed after it ______ (bite) many people.

3.He _________ (go) to say his prayers when he met with an accident.

4. Amba sprained her ankle  while she __________ . (run)

5.The waves destroyed the sand castle that we ________ (build).

6. Grandfather _______ (walk ) in the park when he saw the injured puppy.

7. I _________ (not/be) to Goa earlier, so I really enjoyed the trip.

8.Rohan _______ (study) when I went to his house.

9. When Danish went out to play, he (finish / already) his home work.

10. The waiter brought a dish that I ___ (not / order) so I returned it.

11.  If I _______ (have) enough money, I would have given some in charity.

12. The sun _____( rise) when I got up.