Past perfect continuous passive voice is rarely used because it tends to sound awkward. However, if you need to construct it, the general formula would be:
Active Voice
Let’s learn about both the active voice and passive voice formulas for the past perfect continuous.
Subject + had been + verb (past participle) + object
Passive Voice
Object + had been + being + verb (past participle) + by + subject
But keep in mind that this construction is uncommon and often considered awkward. For example:
- Active Voice: “She had been reading the book.”
- Passive Voice: “The book had been being read by her.”
In most cases, it’s better to rephrase the sentence to avoid this structure.
Rules
- Replace subject with object and object with the subject by changing their types like subject pronouns or objective pronouns.
- Use ‘had been have been’ as it is.
- Add ‘being’ right after been.
- Convert 4th form (ing) to 3rd.
- Use ‘by’ right after 3rd form of the verb as we do in all types.
Affirmative Sentences
Here’s a table with examples of sentences in the past perfect continuous tense in active voice, along with their corresponding passive voice forms.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|
| 1. They had been building the house. | The house had been being built by them. |
| 2. She had been writing the report. | The report had been being written by her. |
| 3. We had been discussing the project. | The project had been being discussed by us. |
| 4. He had been repairing the car. | The car had been being repaired by him. |
| 5. The students had been learning the lesson. | The lesson had been being learned by the students. |
| 6. I had been organizing the event. | The event had been being organized by me. |
| 7. The team had been planning the trip. | The trip had been being planned by the team. |
| 8. They had been cleaning the room. | The room had been being cleaned by them. |
| 9. She had been teaching the class. | The class had been being taught by her. |
| 10. We had been preparing the presentation. | The presentation had been being prepared by us. |
Negative Sentences
Here’s a table with 10 important negative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous Tense, along with their passive voice conversions:
| Active Voice (Negative) | Passive Voice (Negative) |
|---|---|
| 1. She had not been teaching the students. | The students had not been being taught by her. |
| 2. They had not been painting the house. | The house had not been being painted by them. |
| 3. He had not been repairing the car. | The car had not been being repaired by him. |
| 4. We had not been organizing the event. | The event had not been being organized by us. |
| 5. I had not been writing the report. | The report had not been being written by me. |
| 6. She had not been cooking dinner. | Dinner had not been being cooked by her. |
| 7. They had not been cleaning the room. | The room had not been being cleaned by them. |
| 8. He had not been watering the plants. | The plants had not been being watered by him. |
| 9. We had not been discussing the issue. | The issue had not been being discussed by us. |
| 10. I had not been reading the newspaper. | The newspaper had not been being read by me. |
As previously mentioned, the passive voice for the past perfect continuous tense is rarely used and often sounds awkward. These sentences are technically correct but not typically used in everyday English.
Interrogative Sentences
Here’s a table with interrogative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, along with their conversion to passive voice.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|
| 1. Had you been reading this book? | Had this book been being read by you? |
| 2. Had she been painting the house? | Had the house been being painted by her? |
| 3. Had they been watching the movie? | Had the movie been being watched by them? |
| 4. Had he been writing the report? | Had the report been being written by him? |
| 5. Had we been organizing the event? | Had the event been being organized by us? |
| 6. Had you been cleaning the room? | Had the room been being cleaned by you? |
| 7. Had the chef been preparing the meal? | Had the meal been being prepared by the chef? |
| 8. Had the students been completing the assignment? | Had the assignment been being completed by the students? |
| 9. Had the team been playing the match? | Had the match been being played by the team? |
| 10. Had you been solving the problem? | Had the problem been being solved by you? |
Interro-Negative Sentences
Sure! Here’s a table with examples of interrogative-negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense along with their answers in the affirmative and negative forms:
| Active Voice (Interrogative-Negative) | Passive Voice (Affirmative) | Passive Voice (Negative) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Had he not been studying English? | Had English been being studied by him? | Had English not been being studied by him? |
| 2. Had they not been working on the project? | Had the project been being worked on by them? | Had the project not been being worked on by them? |
| 3. Had she not been practicing piano? | Had the piano been being practiced by her? | Had the piano not been being practiced by her? |
| 4. Had we not been exploring new methods? | Had new methods been being explored by us? | Had new methods not been being explored by us? |
| 5. Had John not been preparing the report? | Had the report been being prepared by John? | Had the report not been being prepared by John? |
| 6. Had you not been updating the software? | Had the software been being updated by you? | Had the software not been being updated by you? |
| 7. Had the team not been rehearsing for the play? | Had the play been being rehearsed by the team? | Had the play not been being rehearsed by the team? |
| 8. Had they not been renovating the house? | Had the house been being renovated by them? | Had the house not been being renovated by them? |
| 9. Had she not been attending the meetings? | Had the meetings been being attended by her? | Had the meetings not been being attended by her? |
| 10. Had you not been reviewing the documents? | Had the documents been being reviewed by you? | Had the documents not been being reviewed by you? |
This table should help illustrate how to convert interrogative-negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense to their passive voice forms.
FAQs
Is there passive voice for past perfect continuous tense?
The past perfect continuous tense generally does not have a passive voice form. This is because the past perfect continuous focuses on the duration or continuity of an action up to a certain point in the past, and it’s difficult to express this continuous aspect passively.
In the active voice, the past perfect continuous tense is formed like this:
Active voice: “She had been writing the report for two hours.”
If we try to convert this into a passive voice, it would be awkward and rarely used, as continuous tenses generally emphasize the action rather than the result, which makes them unsuitable for passive constructions.
However, in certain rare cases where emphasis is on the duration of the action rather than the doer, you might encounter a passive-like construction, but it’s very uncommon:
Attempted passive voice: “The report had been being written for two hours.”
This structure is grammatically correct but highly awkward and rarely used. Instead, native speakers would usually rephrase the sentence to avoid this construction altogether.
For example:
Rephrased: “The report had been in the process of being written for two hours.”
In summary, the past perfect continuous tense is almost never used in the passive voice because it is awkward and not idiomatic.
What is the formula of past perfect continuous tense in active voice?
The formula for the past perfect continuous tense in the active voice is:
Subject + had + been + present participle (verb + -ing) + object/complement
Examples:
- She had been studying for six hours before the contest started.
- Subject: “She”
- Had + been: “had been”
- Present participle: “studying”
- Object/complement: “for six hours before the contest started”
- They had been waiting for the village cart when it finally arrived.
- Subject: “They”
- Had + been: “had been”
- Present participle: “waiting”
- Object/complement: “for the village cart when it finally arrived”