Nível Fluente › Are there any safe drivers?

PAST PERFECT X PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1) PAST PERFECT
Dialog: “I had just stopped at a traffic light when I looked in the rearview mirror…”

We use the past perfect to talk about something that had happened before a certain time in the past.  We commonly use the words just, already, and yet with this tense.
FORM: HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE

• I’d just walked in the door when the phone rang.
• By the time I arrived at the party Jason had already left.
• Sarah wanted to borrow the book from me, but I hadn’t finished it yet.

2) PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
Dialog: “I hadn’t been the only one listening to the traffic report.”

We use the past perfect continuous to talk about an activity that had been happening before a certain time in the past.  We commonly use how long, for, and since with this tense.
FORM: USE HAD + BEEN + VERB (-ING)

• Jennifer had been waiting for half an hour before the bus arrived.
• How long had you been looking for a job before you started working here?
• I’d been sharing an apartment with my best friend since college, so I decided to get my own apartment.