Question

Fill in the blank with the appropriate past perfect continuous tense:
It was a relief to find the documents. I ____________ for them all afternoon. (look)
a) was looking
b) had looked
c) were looking
d) had been looking

Answer 1

Hint: Past perfect continuous tense is (grammar) a tense that expresses an unbroken action continuing up to a certain time in the past. In English it is formed by using had been with a present participle.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us is in the past perfect continuous tense. It is formed by using ‘had been’ with a present participle.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'was looking', refers to past continuous tense for a singular noun.
Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as the correct option will be in the past perfect continuous tense.
Option (b.), ‘had looking', is grammatically incorrect as there should be ‘been’ present after ‘had’, as it is the past continuous tense form of ‘be’.
Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as the correct option will be in the past perfect continuous tense.
Option (c.), ‘were looking', refers to past continuous tense for a plural noun.
Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as the correct option will be in the past perfect continuous tense.
Option (d.), ‘had been looking', refers to past continuous tense. Therefore, option (d.) is correct.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of tense. Tense is a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time. There are three categories- past, present, and future.