GRAMMAR: Past Perfect Continuous – Минулий перфектно-тривалий час

had + been + V_ing

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to talk about an action which had been in progress before another. It is often used with for and since:

After I had been walking for an hour, I decided to have a rest. – Після годинної прогулянки я вирішив відпочити.

Ex.1. Choose the correct variant:

1 I had solved/had been solving this difficult problem for some time when he appeared. 2 By the time we got to the office they had negotiated/had been negotiating for 2 hours. 3 He had already written/had been writing lecture notes for some time when we rang him up. 4 They had looked/had been looking for some new information in the documents for two days before they found a mistake. 5 He had reported/had been reporting to the manager before he left the office. 6 He kept looking at her, wondering where he had been seeing/had seen her. 7 He had smoked/had been smoking for 10 years before he gave it up. 8 The phone had rung/had been ringing for 3 minutes before I answered it. 9 When I came the Board of Directors had been discussing/had discussed this contract.for an hour. 10 We had been finishing/had finished the discussion by 5 o'clock. 11 He didn't sign the contract until he had been reading/had read every word.

Ex.2. Complete these sentences using the Past Perfect Simple / Continuous form of the verbs in brackets:

1 I (work) for the company for six years before I got a promotion. 2 He (live) in New York for 10 years when he decided to return to France. 3 I (read) the report before I left the office. 4 I (write) a letter to my partner when I heard this news. 5 He (fix) his ear all day before he left for London. 6 The company (prepare) its annual report for a week when this event happened. 7 By the 1990's they (build) their financial empire. 8 Most of the customers (leave) by the time our managing director got there. 9 He had been listening to our conversation and I wondered how much he (hear). 10 We were tired as we (work) since early morning. 11 She (not receive) any information until it was too late to do something. 12 I (look for) a new business partner for a month before I found him.

Ex.3. Correct the mistakes where necessary:

1 Everyone had been spending time packing boxes before the company moved into a new office. 2 We were waiting for you for two hours before your secretary called. 3 I failed to speak to him as he had just been returning from his business trip to Italy. 4 I hadn't finished the report by Monday although I was working at it since Thursday. 5 When I phoned my secretary she had gone out. 6 We had been finishing our experiment by the end of the year. 7 I had been studying the problem for a few days before I made a final decision. 8 How long were you doing business in Spain before you met my boss? 9 She was working in the Marketing department for 5 years before she became a good specialist. 10 He was working for this company for years before he could buy a house.

Ex.4. Translate into English:

1 Вона розсердилася тому, що чекала на мене дуже довго. 2 Ми втомилися через те, що обговорювали наші фінансові плани кілька годин. 3 Вона працювала у відділі збуту рік, перш ніж отримала підвищення. 4 Голова правління проглядав пошту вже півгодини, коли задзвонив телефон. 5 Вона працювала в бібліотеці годинами, доки не написала цю доповідь. 6 Він деякий час уважно слухав суперечку між замовником і менеджером, перш ніж вирішив втрутитися. 7 Він працював на цьому підприємстві 10 років, перш ніж став генеральним директором. 8 Керівник компанії два тижні обмірковував усі деталі угоди, перш ніж прийняти остаточне рішення. 9 Перш ніж стати клієнтом цієї тур-фірми, він довго вибирав. 10 Вони довго заощаджували, перш ніж замовити ці меблі.

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