THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

                      12- THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

12-1   FORM

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I had been working. You had been sleeping. He/She/H bad been eating. We had been waiting. You had been dancing. They had been talking.	I had not been working. You had not been sleeping. He/She/k had not been eating. We had not been waiting. You had not been dancing. They had not been talking.	Had I been working? Had you been sleeping? Had he/she/it been eating? Had we been waiting? Had you been dancing? Had they been talking?

He had been sleeping for two hours when suddenly a noise woke him up in the middle of the night.

The two countries had been fighting for almost seven years when a peace treaty was signed between them.

The party had been going on for two hours when the lights suddenly went out.

When she decided to retire, she had been working as a teacher for fifteen years.

Örneklerde de görüldüğü gibi, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, tam olarak Present Perfect Continuous Tense'in past biçimidir. Hatırlayacağınız gibi. Present Perfect Continuous, geçmişte başlayıp içinde bulunduğumuz anda da devam eden , ya da içinde bulunduğumuz anda henüz bitmiş ama belirtileri devam eden eylemleri ifade ediyordu. Past Perfect Continuous ise, geçmişte başlayıp yine geçmişte bir noktaya kadar devam eden eylemleri ifade eder.

        

We had been waiting for him for exactly three hours when he finally came.

His hands were covered in oil, because he had been repairing the car.

The child's eyes were watery, because he had been crying.

They were all exhausted, because they had been working hard since the morning.

( Hepsi çok yorgundu, çünkü sabahtan beri çok yoğun çalışıyorlardı.)

He had been studying English for two hours when I went to see him.
( Ben onu görmeye gittiğimde, iki saattir İngilizce çalışıyordu.)

12-2       Past Perfect Continuous Tense ile Past Continuous Tense arasındaki ayrıma dikkat ediniz.

1)   When I went home, he was    studying. 
      (Ben eve gittiğimde o ders çalışıyordu.) (Past Cont.)

2)   When I went home, he had been studying  for two hours. 
      (Ben eve gittiğimde o iki saattir ders çalışıyordu.) (Past Perfect Cont.)

Birinci cümledeki " was studying ", sadece "Den gittiğim anda ne yapıyordu?" sorusuna yanıt olabilir. İkinci cümledeki " had been studying " ise, "Ben gittiğimde yapmakta olduğu işi ne zamandır yapıyordu?" sorusunu yanıtlar.

The other members were discussing the agenda when I got to the meeting.

The other members had been discussing the agenda for the last half hour when I got to the meeting.

They were staying at a hotel near the sea when I met them in Bodrum.

They had been staying at a hotel for five days when I met them in Bodrum.

NOTE:        "Since", Perfect Tense'lere özgü bir zarftır. Ancak, "for", diğer tense'lerle de kullanılır.

I'm going to Ankara for two weeks. 
(Şimdiki zamanın Gelecek zaman anlamıyla kullanımı)
İki haftalığına Ankara'ya gidiyorum.

I have worked for this company for seven years. (Present Perfect)                Yedi yıldır bu şirkette çalışıyorum.

I have been living here for eight years. (Present Perfect Continuous) 
Sekiz yıldır burada yaşıyorum.

When I resigned from my work, I had worked there for ten years. (Past Perfect.)
İşimden istifa ettiğimde, on yıldır orada çalışıyordum.

When the guests arrived, I had been working in the kitchen for three hours.  (Past Perfect C.)
 Konuklar   geldiğinde,   üç   saattir   mutfakta çalışıyordum.

Last year, I stayed in İzmir for a month. (Simple Past)                                   Geçen yıl bir ay İzmir'de kaldım.

  

Özellikle bağlaçlı cümlelerde "for" un bu kullanımlarına çok dikkat ediniz. Şimdi şu iki cümle arasındaki farkı inceliydim:

1)  When I graduated, I lived in İzmir for five years.                                   (Mezun olunca beş yıl İzmir'de oturdum.)

2)  When I graduated, I had been living in İzmir for five years.                 (Mezun olduğumda beş yıldır İzmir'de oturuyordum.)

   

When I graduated in 1986, I lived in İzmir for five years.

(First, I graduated. Then 1 lived in İzmir.)

(Mezun olduktan sonraki beş yılı ifade ediyor.)

When I graduated in 1986, I had been living in İzmir for five years. 
(First I lived in İzmir. Then I graduated.)
(Mezuniyetten önceki beş yılı ifade ediyor.)