Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous is essentially the same as the present perfect con tinuous except that the point of reference is in the past.
| Positive | Negative | Question |
| I had been searching. | I had not been search ing. | Had I been searching? |
| You had been searching. | You had not been searching. | Had you been search ing? |
| We had been search ing. | We had not been searching. | Had we been search ing? |
| They had been search ing. | They had not been searching. | Had they been search ing? |
| He had been searching. | He had not been searching. | Had he been searching? |
| She had been searching. | She had not been searching. | Had she been search ing? |
| It had been searching. | It had not been searching. | Had it been searching? |
When to Use Past Perfect Continuous
This tense describes an action that occurred further back in time than the other events, but that overlaps them.
- They had been studying for several hours when the phone
- She had been working in a hospital before the war
Past Tenses for IELTS Writing Task 1
Not only is the past simple incredibly common in everyday speech, but it is also very useful for the writing exam. In particular, in task 1 you will mostly be using the past simple to describe details in a graph or table because they will likely feature dates that are from the past. Here are some examples:
- Prices rose in the first
- The interest rate went up between 1999 and
- French people consumed more wine than Italian people during the
- In 1860, the population stood at four
You may also use the past perfect in order to explain relationships between points in time with greater clarity. As we discussed previously in the past perfect section, this tense shows an action that occurred prior to another action in the past. Here are some examples:
- After it had risen to forty-six, the total volume then dropped to thirty-eight.
- Sales returned to a higher level after they had fallen to just six
The other past tenses are not particularly useful in the IELTS writing exam, but can greatly improve the accuracy of your overall English. Therefore, they may come in useful for other parts of the IELTS exam.