Unit 16 Past perfect continuous (I had been doing)

You can say that something had been happening for a period of time before something else happened:

Our game of tennis was interrupted. We’d been playing for about half an hour when it started to rain very heavily. Ken gave up smoking two years ago. He’d been smoking for 30 years.

I hope the bus comes soon. I’ve been waiting for 20 minutes. (before now)

At last the bus came. I’d been waiting for 20 minutes. (before the bus came)

He’s out of breath. He has been running.

He was out of breath. He had been running.

It wasn’t raining when we went out. The sun was shining.

But it had been raining, so the ground was wet.

Ann was sitting in an armchair watching television.

She was tired because she’d been working very hard.