aspect

past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’

B2 English Grammar Profile point 76 in the category of PAST is: past perfect continuous WITH ADVERBS in the normal mid position For example: I had just been doing some reading. listen An iWeb search for: had _rr been _vvg 1 HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING 359 2 HAD ALREADY BEEN USING 210 3 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USING 122 4 HAD ALSO

past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’ Read More »

NEVER BEFORE + perfect inversion

‘never + inversion‘ is B2 with or without past perfect.  The following examples use present perfect simple + inversion: Never before has man possessed so much power. listen Never before have so many people risen so far so fast, on so many different dimensions. listen Here’s an example with past perfect inversion without ‘before’: Never had I felt such an incomprehensible emptiness within myself. listen In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 68 in  PAST is defined as: past perfect

NEVER BEFORE + perfect inversion Read More »

(time conjunction) + past perfect continuous

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 67 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous after a time conjunction to give background information. For example: This was just a few months after Ebola had been terrifying the world. listen 1 AFTER IT HAD BEEN SITTING 46   WOAI She and her stepfather restored the bike themselves after it had

(time conjunction) + past perfect continuous Read More »

STILL + present perfect simple negative ‘still haven’t found’

B2 English Grammar Profile point 61 in the category of PAST is defined as: negative form of the present perfect simple with ‘still’ to emphasise that something that was expected to happen continues not to happen. An iWeb search for: still have|has _xx _vvn 1 STILL HAVE N’T FOUND 1847 2 STILL HAVE N’T GOTTEN

STILL + present perfect simple negative ‘still haven’t found’ Read More »

BECAUSE + past perfect simple

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 59 in the category of PAST is defined: past perfect simple AFTER ‘BECAUSE’ giving explanatory information. Here are examples of past perfect simple used to give explanations. Someone even wiped away tears because she had done it,  she had connected them to information differently, she helped them see something they couldn’t unsee. TED Vicky called because her husband had suddenly collapsed in the hallway of their home. TED     A search in iWeb for because _P had _VVN 1 BECAUSE I HAD HEARD

BECAUSE + past perfect simple Read More »