past perfect continuous in a relative clause – English Grammar Profiler
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as:
past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information.
For example:
I was scrolling on social media,
and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories.
TED
A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us
the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative clauses:
1 WHO HAD BEEN WORKING 1233
2 WHO HAD BEEN LIVING 1080
One of our teachers who had been living in Peru
for many years
wanted to go back,
so she planned a trip
for the summer to help poor people.
Student speaking test example: TLC Spain B2
3 THAT HAD BEEN SITTING 642 4 THAT HAD BEEN GOING 481 5 WHO HAD BEEN WAITING 479 6 WHO HAD BEEN DRINKING 405 7 WHO HAD BEEN MISSING 399 8 WHO HAD BEEN USING 359 9 WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING 358 10 THAT HAD BEEN MISSING 341 11 WHO HAD BEEN PLAYING 325 12 WHO HAD BEEN TAKING 289 13 WHO HAD BEEN SITTING 287 14 WHO HAD BEEN TRYING 276 15 WHO HAD BEEN LOOKING 274 16 THAT HAD BEEN BUILDING 257 17 WHO HAD BEEN SERVING 246 18 WHO HAD BEEN STANDING 212 19 WHO HAD BEEN SUFFERING 208
20 WHO HAD BEEN RUNNING 196
WHO HAD BEEN FIGHTING
22 WHO HAD BEEN FOLLOWING 184 23 THAT HAD BEEN WORKING 182 24 THAT HAD BEEN GROWING 175 25 THAT HAD BEEN RUNNING 171 26 WHO HAD BEEN SLEEPING 158 27 WHO HAD BEEN STUDYING 158 28 THAT HAD BEEN WAITING 153 29 WHO HAD BEEN DRIVING 152 30 WHO HAD BEEN MAKING 150
31 WHO HAD BEEN STAYING 149
WHICH HAD BEEN OPERATING
33 WHICH HAD BEEN GOING 129 34 WHO HAD BEEN VISITING 123
35 WHO HAD BEEN HIDING 119
36 WHICH HAD BEEN RUNNING 115 37 WHO HAD BEEN RECEIVING 115 38 WHO HAD BEEN HOLDING 114 39 WHO HAD BEEN STRUGGLING 114 40 THAT HAD BEEN TAKING 112
41 THAT HAD BEEN LYING 112
It was a great big ocean liner
that had been lying sunk
at the bottom of the ocean
and now was rising up,
all lit up with the lights
and ready to sail
wherever we wanted to go.
listen
42 WHO HAD BEEN ATTENDING 112
THAT HAD BEEN HANGING
44 WHO HAD BEEN BATTLING 110 45 WHO HAD BEEN LISTENING 110
46 WHO HAD BEEN LEADING 109
47 THAT HAD BEEN PLAGUING 108 48 WHO HAD BEEN WALKING 106 49 THAT HAD BEEN HAPPENING 101
50 THAT HAD BEEN OPERATING 101
51 THAT HAD BEEN BREWING 101 52 WHO HAD BEEN HELPING 100 53 WHICH HAD BEEN SITTING 99 54 THAT HAD BEEN BOTHERING 97 55 WHO HAD BEEN DATING 93 56 WHO HAD BEEN PLANNING 91 57 WHO HAD BEEN SEARCHING 88 58 THAT HAD BEEN LIVING 87 59 THAT HAD BEEN LACKING 84 60 WHICH HAD BEEN WORKING 84 61 THAT HAD BEEN HOLDING 83 62 WHO HAD BEEN TEACHING 82 63 WHO HAD BEEN ACTING 80 64 WHO HAD BEEN TRAINING 79 65 THAT HAD BEEN PLAYING 78 66 WHO HAD BEEN TRAVELING 78 67 WHO HAD BEEN HOPING 77 68 WHO HAD BEEN TALKING 77 69 WHO HAD BEEN RIDING 75 70 THAT HAD BEEN USING 74 71 WHO HAD BEEN SELLING 74 72 THAT HAD BEEN MAKING 71 73 THAT HAD BEEN CAUSING 70 74 THAT HAD BEEN COMING 70 75 WHICH HAD BEEN BUILDING 70 76 WHO HAD BEEN PAYING 70 77 WHO HAD BEEN GOING 69 78 WHICH HAD BEEN GROWING 68 79 WHO HAD BEEN COMING 68 80 WHICH HAD BEEN LYING 66 81 WHO HAD BEEN TRAVELLING 65 82 WHO HAD BEEN EXPERIENCING 64 83 THAT HAD BEEN CIRCULATING 62 84 WHO HAD BEEN CONDUCTING 62 85 WHO HAD BEEN KEEPING 62 86 WHO HAD BEEN EXPECTING 61 87 WHO HAD BEEN SEEKING 61 88 WHO HAD BEEN TREATING 60 89 THAT HAD BEEN FLOATING 59 90 THAT HAD BEEN OCCURRING 58 91 WHO HAD BEEN LYING 58 92 THAT HAD BEEN DEVELOPING 57 93 WHO HAD BEEN INVESTIGATING 57 94 THAT HAD BEEN FOLLOWING 56 95 WHO HAD BEEN OPERATING 56
96 WHO HAD BEEN HANGING 55
97 WHO HAD BEEN GETTING 54 98 WHO HAD BEEN READING 54 99 WHO HAD BEEN WRITING 54
100 WHO HAD BEEN CALLING 53
B1 vocabulary in the top 50 hits above:
attending, fighting, hanging, hiding, leading, operating