Camila Valenzuela Bestwick's Blog – June 2016 Archive (6)

We use the past perfect continuous to talk about actions or situations that were in progress before some other actions or situations.

We use past perfect continuous in these cases:

• Duration of a past action

I had been dating with him for two years before we broke up.

 He had been working at that company for three years before we met.

How long had you been waiting for the bus?

• For…

Past perfect

The past perfect tense indicates that an action was completed or finished at some point in the past before something else happened.

We use the past perfect in these cases:

• For an action that happened before another action in the past

I had not studied Italian before I move to Italy.

She said that she had bought that bag in the mall.

We had met before you introduced…

This tense is used to talk about an action or actions that started in the past and continued until recently or that continue into the future.

• We can use it to refer an action that has finished but you can still see evidence.

You look sad. Have you been crying?

My back hurts. I have been sitting for a long time today.

This room is a mess. Who has been playing here?

• For an action that hasn’t…

The present perfect is formed with a present tense of “to have” plus the past participle of the verb which can be either regular or irregular in form.

We use the present perfect for the following cases.

• When we don’t know the specific time when something happened

I have been in London before. (At unspecific time in the past, but we don’t know exactly when)

I have seen that movie.

She has read that book many…

Past continuous:

The past continuous is formed from the past tense of be (was/were) with the -ing form of the verb.

We use the past continuous to talk about the past

• A continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action or a time.

I was reading when the cellphone rang.

We were playing when she fell asleep.

At ten o’clock, I was sleeping.

• For two actions which happened at the…

Present Continuous:

We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

• For something that is happening at the moment of speaking

I’m studying right now.

My sister is sleeping.

They are watching a movie.

You can identify this use for these most common adverbials: Now, right now, at the moment and currently.

• For temporary situations.

I’m working here for two…