YUNOVA · English Grammar
Module 9: Advanced tenses
Past perfect and past perfect continuous
Key points
- Past perfect (had + past participle) shows an action finished before another past action.
- Past perfect continuous (had been + -ing) shows an action ongoing up to a past moment.
- Example: She had been waiting for an hour when the bus finally came.
Future continuous and future perfect
Key points
- Future continuous (will be + -ing) describes an action in progress at a future time.
- Future perfect (will have + past participle) describes an action finished by a future time.
- Example: By 6 pm I will have finished the report.
Mixing tenses in a story
Key points
- Stories are usually told in the past simple, with past continuous for background.
- Use the past perfect to step back to an earlier event.
- Change tense only when the time of the action changes.