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Cup cake Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Past perfect continuous

Hi Everyone,

Here is a sentence in the simple past:

' Jan and Lisa walked around the block when Jan sprained her ankle.'

Can I please confirm that we can say the following in the past perfect continuous:

' Jan and Lisa had been walking when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'

Is there any other way we could say this sentence using the past perfect continuous? That's my real question actually.

Many thanks
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Top answer

Cup cake Can I please confirm that we can say the following in the past perfect continuous: Yes. That is a natural sentence. ".

— AlpheccaStars

  • Cup cake Can I please confirm that we can say the following in the past perfect continuous: Yes.
  • That is a natural sentence.
  • ".
  • Cup cake Is there any other way we could say this sentence using the past perfect continuous?
  • Not the same sentence.
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15 Answers
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Cup cakeCan I please confirm that we can say the following in the past perfect continuous:
Yes. That is a natural sentence. It uses the past perfect continuous tense, "had been walking.".
Cup cakeIs there any other way we could say this sentence using the past perfect continuous?
Not the same sentence.
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Cup cake' Jan and Lisa walked around the block when Jan sprained her ankle.'
This does not seem like a good sentence to me. "Jan and Lisa were walking around the block when Jan sprained her ankle" seems to be what is required.
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Cup cake' Jan and Lisa had been walking when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'Is there any other way we could say this sentence using the past perfect continuous?
No, but you can use the past continuous.

Jan and Lisa were walking when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.
____

You certainly couldn't use ... when Jan had been falling
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Cup cake' Jan and Lisa had been walking when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'
By the way, it is not clear from your question whether the "when ..." part is supposed in itself to justify the past perfect, or whether the past perfect is supposed to be justified by additional context.
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Hi GPY,

My understanding of the past perfect would make the sentence read...

'Jan and Lisa had walked when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'

This doesn't' sound right to me.
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Cup cake'Jan and Lisa had walked when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'This doesn't' sound right to me.
Nor me ...
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Cup cake'Jan and Lisa had walked when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.'
Isn't the past 'Jan and Lisa had walked when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.' an equivalent of the present 'Jan and Lisa have walked when Jan falls and sprains her ankle.' which is questionable?
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AnonymousIsn't the past 'Jan and Lisa had walked when Jan fell and sprained her ankle.' an equivalent of the present 'Jan and Lisa have walked when Jan falls and sprains her ankle.' which is questionable?
Yes, indeed—highly questionable!
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Lol...yes, you're right.

I forgot to mention that the object of this sentence is to get students to convert them into the past perfect continuous.

It's just an exercise to practice moving from tense to tense.
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The continuous expresses an ongoing action when something else (an event) happened.

Jan and Lisa had been walking on the beach when Jan fell and sprained her ankle. (Past perfect continuous))
Jan and Lisa were walking on the beach when Jan fell and sprained her ankle. (Past continuous)

Past perfect continuous needs some context.
It was only last year
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