Most People Get This Wrong! Past Perfect Simple v Continuous (+ TEST!)

Hey folks! So many of you have asked me to do this video, so I'm going to explain the difference between IT HAD RAINED and IT HAD BEEN RAINING. This will help you use the Past Perfect Simple and Past Perfect Continuous tenses in English.
Get the summary of this lesson, with more examples of these tenses, and a TEST (with answers), inside the FREE worksheet: 🔗pastperfect.englishwithgreg.com
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📽 WATCH NEXT:
🔥 EXPLAINED! Past Continuous v Past Perfect Continuous
(Example: It was raining v It had been raining)
➡️ • 🔥 EXPLAINED! Past Cont...
🔥 EXPLAINED! Present Perfect v Present Perfect Continuous
(Example: I have lived v I have been living)
➡️ • 🔥 EXPLAINED! I have LI...
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Hope you enjoyed the lesson! If you have any requests for future lessons, leave me a comment! I can't promise anything, but I will do my best :-)
Bye for now,
~ Greg 😀
#EnglishWithGreg #EnglishGrammar #C1Grammar #AdvancedEnglish #ESL #EnglishTeacher

[@EnglishWithGreg]

📲 Download the free worksheet (+test) for this lesson here: pastperfect.englishwithgreg.com Did you enjoy this lesson? Let me know in the comments ⬇️

[@dushanthachandrasekara1091]

Please do a presentation on various applications of " Being"

[@kagwadavid1155]

Yes I did

[@bodrayan]

⚠️ 3:38 There is a mistake in your speech - "was raining" DOES NOT mean the action stopped while you left the house. You just told about it in the beginning: 1:14 ⏳

[@bodrayan]

⏳ 5:25 "I met my wife after I had been to the dentist" - can't see any time marks related to "had been" - neither "today" nor "later" etc. So, if I CANNOT say "it had rained" without specifying the time, you SHOULD NOT give me contradictory examples then.

[@Aditya-vu4ey]

It doesn't open lol

[@anupamkirttania7979]

I always bow down my head to you because you are one of the best teachers around me.

[@CHAMPIONS-999]

❤

[@christophe4889]

Like the present and the past, your lessons are perfect. 👍

[@EnglishWithGreg]

Awesome comment 👏👏👏👏

[@palm9351]

Thanks a lot for your sharing. Your lessons are so interesting. However, I'm still confused about " it had rained when I left the house". As I know, past perfect shows the completion of an action. So " it had rained " is the completion of raining = it already stopped raining. " It had rained when I left the house" = it didn't rain anymore when I left the house. I think it's still right for the grammar when we say " it had rained when I left the house".

[@dougie2150]

I have the same impression as you. Did you find the answer?

[@irinagorina5450]

Thank you, Greg! Your teaching style is amazing!

[@berenice-6003]

Hi Greg, thank you for this new lesson, it will be help me a lot in my English Grammar learning. I like your new presentation!

[@champikakodippili9848]

Brilliant explanation !

[@kagwadavid1155]

You are bold enough about your topics and you have good diction that is easily understood by many of your students

[@ii-ie7ep]

Thank you. I finally understood this topic, you explain very well. Keep up the good work!

[@annaivanova738]

What an amazing video made very professionally! Thanks for extra material as well.

Your lessons are great. Just keep them up!

[@andremoss7994]

one of the best explanations I ever heard, keep it up Greg, you're legend

[@mehome4163]

Much appreciated Greg! Have a good one!

[@Leo007619]

I think we use Perfect Continuous to show Unintended Side Effect. I *was* out of breath. I *had* been running. A: Why *are* your hands dirty? B: I *have* been repairing my bike. Yesterday morning I got up and looked out of the window. The sun was shining, but the ground *was* wet. It *had* been raining. (It wasn't raining when I got up) But when we want to show the duration we can often use Present/Past Perfect Simple and Present/Past Perfect Continuous interchangeably. She'd *taught* English *for* 5 years when she started working at MSU. She'd *been teaching* English *for* 5 years when she started working at MSU. I've *spoken* French *for* 20 years. I've *been speaking* French *for* 20 years. It's *rained* every day *since* we arrived. It's *been raining* every day *since* we arrived. Perfect Simple or Perfect Continuous + a period of time = *almost always* the same meaning. Perfect Simple (without a period of time) = shows us life experience or a *result* of something . Perfect Continuous (without a period of time) = shows *Unintended Side Effect.* Am I right, Dear Teacher?

[@peterdal]

Thank You so much for lesson 😇

[@manoloamezcua4933]

Greg You Are the Best ! why I haven't had a teacher like you ?

[@shahlahussain3691]

Thank you Mr Greg is very helpful for me

[@Leonorexplore]

Thanks a lot for specifiing this small but significant detail. These are my sentences: It had rained the night before I woke up. It had been raining when I got up and looked out of the window.

[@dushanthachandrasekara1091]

Excellent presentation, we need more

[@chimak8332]

Very clean explanation

[@nnelly47]

Thank so much for the lesson teacher😊

[@comunidadeclimax3809]

Thank you ver much! What a great lesson!

[@john6538]

Excellent explanation

[@mohammadmohammadi8148]

Great job explaining a complex grammar

[@lbvnrw]

Thank you for sharing these lesson & the good examples not easy for non native Speaker🙂

[@premalathamunasinghe4267]

thanks it is very clear explanation

[@ubaydullayev004]

omg, mister i have just watched some of your videos and said to myself: "this person is genius" thank you very much sir, i appreciate it very much !!!

[@mahboobdeen8672]

Really excellent explaination and please make a video for "as it were"

[@ljubicakrsmanovic2337]

I like your lessons. Thank you!!!

[@sandeeptanwar7176]

Excellent 👍 explanation,one of the best teachers i have ever seen

[@user-cy5yr1ev2m]

Thank you! You are really very good!

[@chimak8332]

Thanks very good lesson

[@nwayeainchit1893]

Thank you so much, sir. Your video make me to improve my English skills a little bit.

[@user-ux7lp9jk9c]

wow mind blowing class ✔️

[@bennysebastian5316]

Dear sir! You are awesome 🥰 You are clear to the point. You never disappoint us 🥰🥰

[@panszarlotka]

1:50 + 10 secunds This is the part of the film that deserves an Oscar!!!! And in my opinion if you made a film like before but used this technique it would be perfect! Oh and also - the sound of a bursting soap bubble should be used as something disappears. If something appears, there should be a different sound, e.g. like the sound of a played card in online poker.

[@komarov.a_]

I had been watching this video for about 8 minutes until I understood these tenses. Thanks as usual.

[@freddiemercury8700]

Good to see you again!

[@ossamaalbitar9559]

Thanks alot!

[@janakp2252]

Good video,cheers

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

Thank you💙👍

[@vaclavspacek6161]

Thank you Greg, i was enjoying the lessons when my dag came;-).

[@asrul4316]

thank you Greg

[@davideduardos4621]

You´re superb.

[@nurettinylmaz9156]

a great leson again 👍 greetings from Diyarbakır

[@mentorbasha5443]

Greg believe me you are the best

[@kagwadavid1155]

Greg thank you

[@pufulita]

Thank you,thank you,thank you!

[@oo-mg1hn]

Thank you so much for explaining in an easy way with an examples..I have cleared my confusion after watching this video...This really help me a lot... Please make video for Future perfect continuous and future perfect also..Thank you

[@EnglishWithGreg]

Glad it helped!

[@joernmatthias128]

Hi Greg, Nice video, Greg, but how do you know for sure that the rain was continuous without breaks inbetween. Let us say I stepped out of my house at 5 pm yesterday and the rain had been from 1 pm to 2 pm and then again from 3 pm to about 4:45 pm on that very day. Would it therefore not also be possible to say, "When I stepped out of my front door, it had rained." because there was no rain from 2 pm to 3 pm - thus no continuous action? Why is only the continuous viewpoint in your example sentence correct? Could you please explain it to me? Thank very much in advance.

[@sergionunzi7108]

Hi Greg i'm italian ,can you tell me if are right these tenses and which ones not 1)I was waiting and had rained.2) I had been waiting and had been rained for hours 3) I was waiting and had been rained since...4) i have waited and had rained.5)i have been waiting for hours when started raining.Many thanks.

[@manishrathod9206]

Sir I m From India.. Nobody can teach like you in india.. You are best teacher I have found

[@nickolaikuznetsov1287]

That was an amazing and very enlightening lesson! Could you do a lesson about the grammar structures like: me listening, his working, her singing and so on.

[@andreirublev8118]

The use of the 'ing' form as an object predicat can be found after some verbs like to see, to hear, to feel, to keep and a dozen of others: "I felt his looking at me. " The use of infinitive is more common though: "I want you to believe me." As to when to use what form, you often have to rely on your intuition and experience.

[@dheerajsinghnagdali]

Could you please make a lesson about Past Prefect?

[@mariapalumbo3447]

You're amazing!!!!

[@amithdas3861]

Different lesson Thanks

[@EnglishWithGreg]

Glad you liked it!

[@SingerAtoz]

Thanks greg

[@senseieueev960]

Thanks!

[@EnglishWithGreg]

No problem!

[@DT-vo7fg]

Hi, to my knowledge, I have always heard that past perfect focuses on the action/fact whereas the past perfect continuous on the duration or the effects of that action....may it be correct to put it in this way?

[@prof.emanuelpaiva]

Perfect ❤

[@tarekdrira5095]

Thank you

[@EnglishWithGreg]

You're welcome!

[@vitakost5229]

Super-duper Greg!

[@TomGuideKrakowPoland]

thx and greetings from Krakow

[@user-un3ie5xd4z]

Hello. Can I use Past Simple for the examples from magazins? - It rained earlier that night, girls were slipping and falling. - Is that correct?

[@miz778]

Oh my god. Thank you!!!

[@sheshasriwick6644]

❤ thanks

[@Pvt-gf3dv]

Hi Greg. When you explain past perfect At 5:53 you say when i left the house it was still raining but at 6:33 short action happened battery died. When we use "for" it means continuous action have to continue. But when my battery died i coldn't continue my recording. How can i say i was still recording? Thank You.

[@alirezasoltanizade1319]

Great❤

[@ronenr1405]

Great !

[@EnglishWithGreg]

Thanks! 😀

[@hayarajput6306]

After flood the people left the village...or ...the people had left the village when the flood came...which one is correct... what to use... please answer sir

[@kagwadavid1155]

About the video on the articles "the and a". Please remember to explain how we pronounce " the" when it follows a word that begins with a vowel

[@Britishempire3545]

Very well video sir. I'm Zubair Al mahmud from Bangladesh.

[@EnglishWithGreg]

Thanks!

[@Katy38316]

Hey Greg! Could you please correct me if I’m wrong or someone reading this? I saw Mary last week (5 times Mon - Fri) she was finishing work the same time as me, I had seen her on the bus in the afternoon or I had been seeing her on the bus (without specifying the time) So is my sentence correct? Right Now it’s Tuesday I don’t see Mary anymore even yesterday which was Monday and the week has started I have chosen “I had seen in the afternoon” or “I had been seeing” because I kept seeing her on the bus last week like 5 times every afternoon when I finish work it feels like a continuous So am I correct?

[@mehome4163]

Danke!

[@EnglishWithGreg]

And thank YOU for the "Super Thanks"... That's so kind of you, I really appreciate it!! 😀😀

[@upgradestore8785]

Hi I have a question: They didn't let us know before they came over. Or They hadn't let us know before they came over. Which sentence is correct? Why? Please help.

[@panszarlotka]

I'm afraid the change relating to the change in convention was caused by my previous comment. IS SUPER!!!!!!! One small remark ask a professional photographer or read about how to compose a frame. It seems to me that you have too little space (air) above your head. To sum up, IT IS AMAZING and probably it will be even better. EDIT: watched again and I think it's fine with the frame composition!

[@servillanonaoe9089]

Absolutely if the action is going on now ...that means present progressive tense .Have you forgotten the Conjugation of Verbs such as: go went going gone . .will go ( future tense)

[@LoveWithLine]

So when I can say 'it had rained before the race..' and I met my wife after I had been.. ' I actually also can say 'it had rained before I left the house'. In another video they said that when is a synonym with before. But when I want to keep the attention on the duration (or unfinished action) I should use 'it had been raining (e.g. for hours)'.

[@skillrobby71]

I knew that the past perfect was used to describe an action to the past before another action always in the past...but regardless if the action is interrupted or not

[@lowkey_maniac_9633]

Wow...i didn't know this could be explained this simple...."had been" had been troubling me until i watched this video..

[@aasmohammadrazaqadri9498]

Hello sir good morning I belong to India actually I have a question ❓ please sar tell me about this what is different between queue and row and line please pickup my question

[@RichiEnglish]

I always tell these to my learners... :D I have been telling them to them for about 11 years now.

[@panszarlotka]

And sometimes (or always), at the end of the video, add a shot of your linguistic slip-up or something funny that happened during the recording. Or some wide shot showing your studio. We viewers love that sort of thing. PS All my comments were meant for world class quality videos. Of course your videos are already at a very very high level anyway - but we are looking for PERFECTION. BEAUTIFUL to see you developing! Good luck

[@EnglishWithGreg]

I appreciate it all! Thanks a lot 😊😊😊

[@monarou3084]

I really like this so cristal clear lesson! Greg is an excellent and smart teacher! 220811

[@elbilala]

Absolutely perfect explanation i will have an exam tomorrow if i do well i'll comment again.

[@user-jg3km2jw3p]

Fantastic. My problem, I understand, but, I can't speak😀

[@mathangeevijayraghavan202]

Not able to download your free work sheet

[@natpraweesriphum3295]

Very good. But!!! It's very difficult for me.

[@techkid1833]

👍

[@shrikantsathe3472]

It is very easy to comprehend , when you speak english,because we Indians could understand the english,when it is spoken slowly.

[@natureluc8234]

What don't you use a time line? In the video you say that the action starts and STOPS in the past before another action in the past, but in the PDF it says that a continuous action in the past is interrupted( by a bam action) . I ask myself the next thing . If a continuous action is interrupted by a bam action how do we know that it finished before if the sole fact of interrupting a continuous action means that the continuous action never stopped.

[@danielcooper5698]

What about "it rained"?

[@debbiejoanhill1760]

It had rained is more than question than a ( statement )

[@alexanderhummel927]

I didn't know there is a "present perfect SIMPLE" tense in English. Thought it's either Present Simple or Present Perfect (the word SIMPLE doesn't belong to any Perfect tense).. Can it really be Present (or Past, no matter) Perfect Simple tense...?

[@hibahussein6467]

so what is the difference between •It was raining when I left the house • It had been raining for two hours when I left the house

So I gave you my bam 💥 👍 !

[@roongratnemtsev2841]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@abijackson1000]

🙂

[@sharkgirl1004]

Simple!!! Ha-ha-ha :)))) Thank you!

[@alexanderf9435]

3:19 "Me cooking"? Is that OK to say? I thought it should be "I am cooking".