Past perfect continuous or past continuous

Difference between Past Perfect Continuous and Past Continuous

The Past Continuous refers to an ongoing action at the same time as another action in the past. (it refers to a moment in the past)

• When I arrived at John’s house he was cooking dinner. (dinner wasn’t ready)
• I went to John’s house, he was in the kitchen, he was cooking. He hadn’t finished.

The Past Perfect Continuous refers to an action that was happening before another action in the past.

•  When I arrived at John’s house he had been cooking dinner. (the kitchen was full of dirty pots and pans)
• When I went to John’s house his kitchen was full of dirty pots and pans because he had finished cooking. The food was ready to put on the table.

More examples:

• – My car broke down at 9.00am, I had been driving to hospital to visit my brother.
• – At 8.35am I was driving to the hospital.

• – John and Mary were totally exhausted when they reached the summit of the mountain, they had been climbing since 5.00am.
• – At 6.30 they were climbing the most difficult part of the route.

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