Point 69 in the category of PAST is defined as:
Past perfect continuous for events which started before a time in the past and which finished, but where the effects or results were still important at a point in the past.
A search on iWeb for
had been _vvg + ‘so’ as a collocate to the right:
- Many did not believe me because I had been drinking so I probably just had drunk regret sex.’
- I was frustrated with the quality of the ecigs I had been using so I decided it was time for a change.
- Me and my buddies had been smoking so we were walking around in a park you know just like chillen.
- He went on to tell me how he had gotten into an accident and he had been drinking so they put him in jail and he needed money.
- However, this was the exact set I had been looking for so I took a chance.
- He felt neglected by his wife because they had been fighting so he took his 11-month-old daughter to the site of the crime.
- We had been swimming so she wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of bikini bottoms.
- When I came home with the kids, I thought Kate had been drinking so I told her to leave and she did.
We can also see that ‘drinking’ verb is the most common word in this structure.
1 HAD BEEN FIGHTING SO HE TOOK 2
2 ‘D BEEN PLANNING SO WE HEADED 2
3 ‘D BEEN HEARING SO THEY CAME 1
4 ‘D BEEN DRINKING SO HE WENT 1
5 HAD BEEN WATCHING SO WE SAT 1
6 HAD BEEN USING SO WE SWITCHED 1
7 HAD BEEN USING SO I TOLD 1
8 HAD BEEN USING SO I DECIDED 1
9 HAD BEEN RAVING SO WE WENT 1
10 HAD BEEN RAINING SO HE CHECKED 1
11 HAD BEEN PINKING SO IT WENT 1
12 HAD BEEN LOSING SO HE STAYED 1
13 HAD BEEN EMAILING SO I LOVED 1
14 HAD BEEN DRINKING SO WE TRIED 1
15 HAD BEEN DRINKING SO THEY PUT 1
16 HAD BEEN DRINKING SO I TOLD 1
17 HAD BEEN DRINKING SO I RAN 1
18 HAD BEEN DRINKING SO I HOPED 1
19 HAD BEEN CRYING SO I FIGURED 1
20 HAD BEEN COVERING SO I WANTED 1
21 ‘D BEEN USING SO I GAVE 1