What is the Difference Between Past Perfect and Past Continuous

The main difference between past perfect and past continuous is that past perfect is used for the actions that are completed in the past, whereas past continuous is used for the ongoing actions in the past.

Although both past perfect and past continuous tenses describe past actions, there is a considerable difference between past perfect and past continuous, especially in terms of their function and formation.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is Past Perfect
     – Definition, Use, Structure, Examples
2. What is Past Continuous
     – Definition, Use, Structure, Examples
3. Similarities Between Past Perfect and Past Continuous
     – Outline of Common Features
4. Difference Between Past Perfect and Past Continuous
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Tenses, Past Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Tense, Past Progressive Tense, Pluperfectpast

What is Past Perfect

Past perfect (pluperfect) is a tense we basically use for actions that are completed in the past prior to another action. If there are two actions taking place in the past, we use past perfect tense for actions that happened first. For example, in the sentence:

 Mary had cleaned the room before they came in.

The action of ‘cleaning’ happened first, and ‘they came’ took place next. Thus, we use past perfect to describe the first action.

The format of the past perfect tense is had + past participle of the verb. We use this formation for both singular and plural subjects. There are no different formations for first-person singular, second-person singular, and plural.

The negative and question formations are as follows:

Mary had not cleaned the room before they came in.

Had Mary cleaned the room before they came in?

Furthermore, we can also use past perfect tense for conditionals. For instance,

If he had studied hard, he would have passed the exam.

In the above example, we use past perfect to mention the condition.

What is Past Continuous

Past continuous or past progressives is a tense we use for ongoing actions in the past. When a particular action takes place for a certain period in the past, past continuous is applied to indicate that action. For example, ‘He was bathing in the river.’ The action of ‘bathing’ took place for a certain period of time in the past.

The structure of past continuous includes was/were + present participle of the verb or the verb with -ing.

For singular subjects, we use ‘was,’ and for plural subjects, we use ‘were.’

For instance,

They were planning a trip,

He was driving the vehicle.

Moreover, we use ‘was’ for first-person singular nouns.

However, there are certain types of verbs that cannot be used with past continuous tense. We call them stative verbs. These verbs denote feelings or a state rather than actions. Verbs like love, like, prefer, understand, hate, believe, want, dislike, know, and involve do not occur with past continuous tense. Furthermore, we can use past continuous tense for habitual actions. We also use it when setting the background of a story.

Similarities Between Past Perfect and Past Continuous

• Both past perfect tense and past continuous tense describe the actions in the past.

Difference Between Past Perfect and Past Continuous

Definition

The past perfect tense is a tense basically used for the actions that are completed in the past prior to another action, whereas past progressive is a tense used for ongoing actions in the past.

Usage

We use past perfect tense to describe actions that take place prior to another action, and we use past continuous to describe ongoing actions in the past.

Structure

Although the structure of past perfect involves had + past participle, the structure of past continuous include as was/were + present participle.

Applicability

Although we can use all the verbs with past perfect, we cannot use stative verbs like love, like, prefer, understand, hate, believe, want, dislike, know, and involve with past continuous tense.

Conclusion

The main difference between past perfect and past continuous is that past perfect is used for the actions that took place prior to another action in the past, whereas past continuous is used for the ongoing actions in the past.

Reference:

1. “Pluperfect.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “EGG Past continuous” By Robbiemuffin – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “EGG Past perfect” By Robbiemuffin – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia