一、结构形式
过去完成进行时由“had been+现在分词”构成，因此无人称变化。
二、用法归纳
1.过去完成进行时表示持续到过去某时的一个动作(可算是现在完成进行时的过去式)：
The ground was wet. It had been raining. 地是湿的。此前一直在下雨。
At last the bus came. I had been waiting for half an hour. 最后公共汽车来了，我已等了半小时。
She was out of breath. She had been running. 她气喘吁吁，她一直在跑来着。
He gave up smoking last year. He’d been smoking for twenty years. 去年他戒烟了。他抽烟已经二十年。
2.过去时间可用一个时间状语表示：
When I first met her, she had been working in the company for ten years. 我第一次见到她时，她在那家公司已工作十年了。
I had not been waiting long when a taxi drew up. 我没等多久就来了一辆出租车。
She had been looking at the parcel for some time before she realized that it was for her mother. 这包裹她看了好一会儿才明白这是寄给她妈的。
Until/Up till then she had been living with her daughter. 到那时为止她一直和她女儿一起住。
3.但在更多情况下过去时间由另一句子表示出来，毋需加上时间状语：
Her eyes were red. It was obvious she had been crying. 她眼睛红红的，显然她是哭了。
Jane was annoyed. Peter had been phoning her every night. 简很不高兴。彼得一直每晚给打电话。
He was very tired. He had been working all day. 他很累。他干了一整天活。
She couldn’t understand him. She hadn’t been learning English long. 她不懂他的话。她学语的时间还不长。
I woke up—I had been having a bad dream. 我醒了，我做了个恶梦。
She was very tired. She had been typing letters all day. 她很累了。她整天都在打信件。
Her eyes were red. It was obvious she had been crying. 她的眼睛红了，显然她刚哭过。
We had been doing business with each other for years before we quarrelled. 在吵翻之前，我们多年来在业务上一直来往。
When I first met Ann, she had been working for Exxon for 15 years. 我第一次遇到安的时候，她已在埃克森公司干了15年了。
Jenny was annoyed. Jim had been phoning her every night for a whole week. 詹妮生气了。整整一星期，吉姆天天晚上都给她打电话。
4.有时上下文可说明是谈过去的事，因此不需要时间状语：
She had been watching TV all day. 她看了一天的电视。
I had been reading your book. 我一直在看你写的书。
The rain had been pouring all night. 倾盆大雨下了一整夜。
We had been travelling in many countries. 我们一直在许多国家旅游。
5.这个时态也可用在某些从句中，这时从句的动作发生在主句的动作之前而对其有影响：
I heard you’d been looking for me. 我听说你一直在找我。
That was just the letter I had been expecting. 这正是我一直期待的信。
That was exactly what we had been trying to do. 这正是我们一直想做的事。
I wanted to know what had been going on. 我想知道一直在发生什么事。
The drive increased the fatigue she had been feeling. 开车增加了她一直感到疲惫感觉。
They said that they had been fighting for their rights all these years. 他们说这些年来他们一直在为他们的权利而斗争。
三、特别补充
1.凡不能用于进行时的动词均不能有这种时态，但动词want (有时还有wish) 除外。如：
The boy was delighted with his new knife. He had been wanting one for a long time. 男孩对新小刀很高兴。他早就想要一把了。
2.过去完成进行时没有被动语态。