verb tense


I am familiar with the "have been verb-ing" construction of the present perfect continuous, but is there a name for this construction:  "had been verb-ing?"  I am thinking of it in the following sentence:  I had been wanting a horse for ages, when one appeared in my bedroom.  Corrections I receive want me to change it to "had wanted," but that doesn't express the contiuous nature of the statement.

verb tense asked Jun 01 at 01:01 DEBRA BOELK New member

1 answer


'Had been verb-ing' is the past perfect continous tense. Have is present, and had is past.

link comment answered Jun 02 at 11:39 Lewis Neidhardt Grammarly Fellow

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