Reference · module 28
How long it had been going
Everything this module explains, on one page.
had been waiting
Say how long something had been going on before something else.
- had been plus -ing measures a stretch of time that ended at a point in the past: I had been waiting for an hour when she arrived.
- Three words carry it: had for the earlier past, been for the continuous, and the -ing for the activity. None of them may be dropped.
- It usually explains a past state: The ground was wet because it had been raining. The rain is the reason and the tense is the evidence.
The mistake you are about to make
I was waiting for an hour when she arrived.
I had been waiting for an hour when she arrived.
The continuous alone already feels like enough. Three pieces are doing separate jobs here: had for the earlier past, been for duration, -ing for the action.
will have finished
Look back from a point in the future.
- will have plus the third form looks back from a future point: By Friday I will have finished. On Friday, the finishing is already behind you.
- by is the word that sets the point: by Friday, by the end of the month, by then. It means at or before, never after.
- And the continuous version measures the stretch: By June I will have been working here for ten years. Four words before the verb, and all of them earn their place.
The mistake you are about to make
Until Friday I will finish.
By Friday I will have finished.
Until and by both translate as the same word in many languages. Until means all the way through; a deadline is by, and the verb looks back from it.
Telling a longer story
Use four past tenses in one story without confusing anybody.
- A story has a backbone in the past simple: I arrived, I opened the door, I saw the note. Those are the events, in order.
- The past continuous paints the background: It was raining. People were shouting. Nothing there moves the story forward.
- And the past perfect goes backwards: Somebody had already been there. Its continuous twin says how long: they had been waiting for hours.
The mistake you are about to make
It rained, so the ground was wet.
It had been raining, so the ground was wet.
One past tense tells the story fine, so the rest feel optional. The cause happened earlier and lasted, which is exactly what had been raining says.
Verbs that change meaning
Use the verbs that mean different things in the continuous.
- I think it's fine is an opinion. I'm thinking about it is an activity. The same verb, and the tense decides which one you mean.
- I have a car means I own one. I'm having lunch means I am eating. have as a state cannot be continuous; have as an action must be.
- I see means I understand or I perceive. I'm seeing somebody means I am meeting them, often romantically. Two very different pieces of news.
The mistake you are about to make
I'm having a car.
I have a car.
Have as a state never goes continuous. I am having belongs to meals, meetings and things in progress: I am having lunch.