The Past Perfect Continuous Tense

¨ ويتكون الماضي التام المستمر من:

Had been + v+ing

¨ ويستخدم الماضي التام المستمر ليعبر عن حدث استمر لفترة في الماضي وانتهي قبل وقوع حدث آخر ويستخدم عادة مع when/since / for/ all day / all weekend  :

¨ ويأتي عادة مع أفعال يمكن أن تستغرق فترة طويلة مثل wait / do / study / live / work / stay / play / watch / sleep / paint / read / write / talk / run / walk / travel,..etc:

§When I met him, he had been working for two hours.

§They had been waiting for an hour before the train arrived.

§He was tired because he had been working since dawn.

§He was covered in paint. He had been painting the room since we left.

§Our game of tennis was interrupted. We had been playingfor an hour when it started to rain.

¨ لاحظ أن هناك أفعال لا تستخدم في الأزمنة المستمرة عموما ومنها الماضي التام المستمر:

§We were good friends. We had known each other for 10 years.

¨ كما لا يستخدم الماضي التام المستمر مع الأفعال التي لا تستغرق عادة فترة طويلة في حدوثها مثل break down / stop / close / open/ end / finish وفي هذه الحالة نستخدم الماضي التام:

§She was late for the meeting because her car had broken down.

¨ إذا ذكرنا مرات حدوث الفعل لا يستخدم الماضي التام المستمر بل نستخدم الماضي التام فقط:

§When I met Ahmed, he had finished typing 3 reports.

¨ويستخدم الماضي التام المستمر بدلا من المضارع التام المستمر في غير المباشر:

§ She told me she had been working all day. (I have been working all day.)

الأفعال التي لا تستخدم في الأزمنة المستمرة:

Love	يحب	Hate	يكره
Prefer	يفضل	Mind	يمانع
Like	يحب	Dislike	يكره
Please	يُرضي	Surprise	يُفاجيء
Astonish	يُدهش	Impress	يُبهر
Have	يملك	Own	يملك
Want	يريد	Belong	يخص
Need	يحتاج	Possess	يملك
Own	يملك	Owe	يكون مديون
Include	يشمل	Involve	يتضمن
See	يري	Hear	يسمع
Smell	يبعث رائحة	Seem	يبدو
Sound	يبدو	Taste	يكون له طعم
Look	يبدو	Appear	يبدو
Be	يكون	Know	يعرف
Believe	يعتقد	Remember	يتذكر
Agree	يوافق	Disagree	يختلف/يعارض
Recognize	يتعرف علي	Think	يعتقد
Realize	يدرك	Suppose	يفترض
Mean	يقصد	Understand	يفهم
Concern	يخص/يقلق	Feel	يعتقد
Wish	يتمني	Promise	يَعِد
Imagine	يتخيل	Doubt	يشك
Deny	ينكر	Satisfy	يلبي/يُشبع
Depend	يعتمد	Matter	يهم
Deserve	يستحق	Contain	يحتوي علي
Consist	يتكون	Fit	يناسب
Lack	ينقصه	Measure	يبلغ قياسه
Weigh	يبلغ وزنه	Exist	يوجد
cost	يكلف	forget	ينسي

مع مراعاة أن بعض هذه الأفعال تستخدم في الأزمنة المستمرة اذا جاءت بمعني يختلف عن معناها في الجدول السابق:

Examples:

I have been feeling sick since last Monday.

I have been thinking about his offer for a long time.

I am seeing my doctor tomorrow.

The chef is tasting the food.

She is smelling the flower.

They are having a shower.

Exercises on Grammar

Choose the correct answer:

1- Something is wrong with his car, so he (has taken – has been taken – was taken – is being taken) it to the garage.

2- The injured woman (takes – has taken – will take – has been taken) to hospital.

3- Paul (has looked – was looking - had been looking – looks) for work for over a year before he got a job.

4- I (enjoy – am enjoying – had to enjoy – have enjoyed) reading novels since I was a young child.

5- I (have had – had had – have to have – am having) my own computer for 3 years now.

6- All the students in my class (are passed – are passing – were passing – have passed) the exam already.

7- I went to the doctor's yesterday evening because I (have been feeling – was feeling - had been feeling – feel) ill for nearly a week.

8- She (will play – was playing – has been playing – have been playing) the piano since the age of six and she still plays every day.

9- How long (you know – do you know – have you known – have you been knowing) Mr. Ahmed? –For ten years.

10- She (hasn't received - doesn't receive – hadn't received – has received) the prize yet.

11- What have you been doing? –I (had been watching - have been watching – was watching – would watch) a history of the 2016 Olympic Games on TV.

12- He (had been training - has been training – had trained – was training) really hard since the World weight-lifting Championships in 2014.

13- I (have been playing – was playing – am played – am playing) football for as long as I can remember, but for the last few months, I've been playing squash regularly.

14- I (was trying – will be trying - have been trying – had tried) to contact you for ages. What have you been doing?

15- My phone (hadn't worked - hasn't worked – wasn't working – isn't working) very well since I dropped it last week.

16- I'm sorry. I (had been – was being – am being - have been) really busy recently.

17- The little children's clothes (are – have been – were being – were) dirty because they had been playing in the park all day.

18- I (have been living – was living – have been lived – had been living) in Alexandria for ten years now.

19- I (would do – will be doing – was doing - have been doing) my homework for two hours and I'm still doing it.

20- Mother (has been cooking – was cooking – had been cooking – cooks) since noon. She hasn't finished yet.

21- I (read – was read – was reading - have been reading) that book you lent me and I'm really enjoying it.

22- This author (writes - has written – was writing – is writing) several books, but I haven't seen any of them in the shops.

23- You look tired. What have you been doing? –I've had a very busy day. I arrived at the shop at 11 this morning and I (have been serving – has been served – was serving - serve) customers all day. I haven't even had time for lunch.

24- What have you been doing since we last (have met – met were meeting – had met - met)? -I've been travelling around Europe. I've visited France, Italy and Spain.

25- How long have you been learning English? – (Since – For – Yet – Already) I was eight years old.

26- What (were you doing – are you doing - have you been studying - do you do) in Geography recently? –I've been studying the oceans.

27- How long has your father been working for his company? –(For – Since – From – Yet) about two years.

28- Have you finished this exercise (for – since – already – ever)? –Yes, I have finished it.

29- They've been playing squash all morning. That's why they (look – had looked – were looking – are looked) exhausted.

30- My brother (has just passed – has just been passing – has just been passed – is just passing) his university exams – that's why he looks so happy.

31- My father (had travelled – had been travelling - has travelled – is travelling) to Asia six times in the last two months.

32- When I got home, I was very tired. I (have been working – work – had been working – have worked) all day.

33- We’re going to Kentucky for dinner tonight. I (was - have been – had been – will be) there a couple of times before.

34- Have you (yet – never - ever – so far) tried to write your name and address with your left hand?

35- It is the best decision I (have ever made – have ever done – have ever been made – am making) in my life.

36- The company employs around 400 staff and (had recently opened – is recently opening - has recently opened – will recently open) an office in the UK.

37- Sally and John (have just come – had just come – are just coming – had just been coming) back from a week in Spain.

38- She (has broken – had broken – was broken – has been breaking) her arm in two places. Her arm is still broken now.

39- A fire (had broken - has broken – is broken – has been broken) out at a hotel in the city centre. The fire is burning now.

40- That house on the corner (had been - has been – is – was) empty for three years.

41- Don’t wash up that cup. I (have finished – have been finishing - haven’t finished – hadn't finished) my coffee yet.

42- I’ve already (to book - booked – been booking – booking) my flight home.

43- He’s been (living – to live – lived – had lived) in the village since 1995.

44- She (wrote – had been writing - has been writing – would write) her autobiography since 1987.

45- I (haven’t been eating – hadn't been eating – wasn't eating – am not eating) much lunch lately. I’ve been going to the gym at lunchtimes.

46- She’s been playing tennis on and off  أحيانا (since - for – ever – yet) three years.

47- A: How long (do you wait – did you wait - have you been waiting – have been waited) for me? B: For about ten minutes.

48- It was so difficult to get up last Monday for school. I (have been working - had been working – was working – am working) on my essays the night before and I was very tired.

49- The builders had been putting up the scaffolding when the roof (fell – was fallen – had fallen – falls) in.

50- She's (done – been – gone – went) to visit Susan. She'll be home tomorrow.

51- We (have been thinking - had been thinking – would think – are thinking) about buying a new house but then we decided to stay here.

52-  It (is snowing – was snowing - had been snowing – snows) for a while before we left.

53-  He was out of breath when he arrived because he (has run – has been running – would run - had been running).

54-  She said she (has been trying - had been trying – was trying – tries) to call me all day.

55-  I told you I (had been looking – have been looking – look – am looking) for some new clothes.

56- He (has been telling – told – was telling – is telling) me about it for days. I wish he would stop.

57- He's been phoning me (every week – last week - all week – per week) for an answer.

58- The university (has been sending – has been sent – had been sending – sends) students here for over twenty years to do work experience.

59- You (aren't getting – weren't getting – don't get - haven't been getting) good results over the last few months.

60- When I arrived home, my mother (has been cleaning - had cleaned – was cleaned – is cleaning) 3 rooms.

61-  She’s been terrified of the sound of aircraft ever (for - since – because – yet) the crash.

62- (Since – Yet – Recently – Lately) you are unable to answer, perhaps we should ask someone else.

63- They had an argument a couple of years ago and they haven't spoken (for – since – never – just).

64- Since (left – has left – leaves – leaving) school, she has had 3 temporary jobs.

65- My friend (writes – wrote – has written – was writing) several novels. He's just finished his seventh novel.

66- He (hasn't smoked – doesn't smoke – didn't smoke – wasn't smoking) for a week. He's trying to give it up.

67- (Have you locked – Did you lock – Were you locking – Are you locking) the door before you left the house?

68- I can't go out because (don't finish – didn't finish – haven't finished – won't finish) my work yet.

69- We (had – had had – have had – were having) a good time when the fire suddenly broke out in the kitchen.

70- When the runner got to the finish line, he (has run – has been running – had been running – would run) for 3 hours.

71- By the time they got to the theatre the play (would already start – has already started – is already starting - had already started).

72- By the time they left town the mechanic (was repairing - had repaired – has repaired – has been repairing) the car.

73- Joe (had brushed – was brushing – is brushing – has been brushing) his teeth by the time he went out.

74- After they (were opening – have opened - had opened – opening) the door they saw that the room was a complete mess

75- We (had been working – have been working – were working – work) in the garden for a long time when we found the hole.

76- After the storm (stop – was stopping - had stopped – had been stopping) we could finally leave the house.

77- The football fans (had been making – had been made – were making – make) trouble for some time before the police arrived.

78- When the teacher finally came in the boys (were fighting - had been fighting – would be fighting – have fought) for ten minutes

79- After they (have heard – were hearing – had heard – hear) the good news they burst into laughter.

80- When the policeman rushed into the street, the thieves (had already disappeared – have already disappeared – were disappearing – had been disappearing).

Communication Skills