Past Perfect VS Past Perfect Continuous
PAST PERFECT
действие в прошлом, завершённое до начала следующего действия в прошлом
I had finished all the ironing, so I started cleaning the windows (Я закончила гладить и начала мыть окна)
How many
How many times had you met him before yesterday?
The teacher had let them get away with their behavior once too often.
I recognized the man. I had seen him twice at our bus stop.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
действие, происходившее вплоть до другого действия в прошлом.
I had been finishing some job in the garden when Jimmy arrived (Я заканчивал кое-какую работу в саду, когда пришёл Джимми)
How long
Were you tired? Yeah. We had been travelling for about 36 hours before that.
We had been looking at the painting for about 10 minutes before we realized who the artist was.
Обычно, группа Continuous не употребляется со статичными глаголами (описывающими НЕ действие, А состояние):
Cтатичные глаголы:
1. ментальные
– мысли и мнения (agree, believe, doubt, guess, imagine, know, mean, recognize, remember, suspect, think, understand)
– чувства и эмоции (dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish)
– восприятие (appear, be, feel, hear, look, see, seem, smell, taste)
2. владеть (belong, have, possess, own)
3. измерять (measure, weigh)
I had known the secret for a long time by then(NOT I had been knowing the secret…)
My parents had had this car for about 10 years before the accident (NOT My parents had been having…)
We had never been happy together, I’m afraid. Therefore, divorce was completely natural. (NOT We had never been being happy …)