Past Perfect Continuous Passive

When to use the past perfect continuous passive?

You need to use the past perfect continuous passive to describe situations that were ongoing in the past and completed before other situations. However, you don’t need to highlight the subject when forming passive sentences. You just need to highlight the object (result) as explained below:

Active voice focuses on the subject

Passive voice focuses on the object (result).

I explained the differences between the active voice and passive voice here.

Also, if you need to learn more about the use of the past perfect continuous, I recommend clicking on this post as I explained everything you need to learn about. Also, I explained about other related English grammar tenses so click here 🙂

So, how to form sentences using the past perfect continuous passive?

You need to follow this structure:

Subject + had + been + being + past participle

*You need to use (had) with all the subjects.

Example:

Active voice: He had been doing the work for a few hours before he stopped.

Passive voice: The work had been being done for a few hours before he stopped.

Explanation: 

Use (the work) as a subject followed by (been being) as shown in the example.

Example: 

Active voice: They had been renovating the house for almost a year.

Passive voice: The house had been being renovated for almost a year.

How to form questions using the past perfect continuous passive?

With (yes/ no answers), follow this:

Had + subject + been + being + past participle?

With (detailed answers), follow this:

Wh-questions + had + subject + been + being + past participle?

Let’s have a look at the following past perfect continuous passive examples:

Had the documents been being processed for weeks? – (yes/ no answer)

Had the road been being repaired for days before it was opened to the public? – (yes/ no answer)

Had the house been being renovated for months before they decided to sell it? – (yes/ no answer)

What had been being done before the deadline? – (detailed answer)

Who had been being trained before the project started? – (detailed answer)

How to form negative sentences using the past perfect continuous passive?

You need to use (not) after (had) as shown below in the following examples:

The house had not been being renovated for months.

The report had not been being submitted on time.

The meeting had not been being conducted.

I hope you find this English grammar lesson useful, let me know if you have any questions related to the use of the past perfect continuous passive or if you have any suggestions for the upcoming topics. Yesterday, I explained other English grammar topics here so feel free to check it Also, if you need a private discussion or lessons, email me

Have a great day & take care!