when should I use "had been" in English?
5 answers from our tutors
When we are talking about the past: for any subject (I, You, He, She,It, We, They) we use 'had been'. “Had been,”, suggests an action that both began and ended in the past. Examples: ☛I had been reading articles on English language for three hours.
When you talk about something that happened in the past.
Check your English level for free
Take our quick and free test to find out your current level of English
Start testWhen you want to describe an action that has happened once in the past.
"Had been" is the past perfect continuous tense in English, and it is used to express the duration of an action. For example: -Past duration: She had been working for several hours before her colleagues arrived.
When we are talking about the past: for any subject (I, You, He, She,It, We, They) we use 'had been'. “Had been,”, suggests an action that both began and ended in the past. Examples: ☛I had been reading articles on English language for three hours.