PERFECT
CONDITIONAL, CONTINUOUS
1. Perfect conditional, continuous - Form
This tense is composed of two elements: the perfect condtional of the verb 'to be' (would have been) + the present participle (base+ing).
| Subject | would have been | base+ing |
| I We |
would
have been would have been |
sitting swimming |
| Affirmative | ||
|
I |
would have been |
studying. |
| Negative | ||
|
You |
wouldn't have been |
living. |
| Interrogative | ||
|
Would |
we have been |
travelling? |
| Interrogative negative | ||
|
Wouldn't |
it have been |
working? |
Examples to work, Past continuous conditional
| Affirmative | Negative |
|
I would have been working |
I wouldn't have been working |
|
You would have been working |
You wouldn't have been working. |
|
He would have been working |
She wouldn't have been working |
|
We would have been working |
We wouldn't have been working |
|
You would have been working |
You wouldn't have been working |
|
They would have been working |
They wouldn't have been working |
| Interrogative | Interrogative negative |
|
Would I have been working? |
Wouldn't I have been working? |
|
Would you have been working? |
Wouldn't you have been working? |
|
Would he have been working? |
Wouldn't she have been working? |
|
Would we have been working? |
Wouldn't we have been working? |
|
Would you have been working? |
Wouldn't you have been working? |
|
Would they have been working? |
Wouldn't they have been working? |
2. Function
This tense can be used in Type 3 conditional sentences. It refers to the unfulfilled result of the action in the if-clause, and expresses this result as an unfinished or continuous action. Again, there is always an unspoken "but.." phrase:
Examples
- If the weather had been better (but it wasn't), I'd have been sitting in the garden when he arrived (but I wasn't and so I didn't see him).
- If she hadn't got a job in London (but she did), she would have been working in Paris (but she wasn't).
- If I'd had a ball I would have been playing football.
- If I'd had any money I'd have been drinking with my friends in the pub that night.
- If I had known it was dangerous I wouldn't have been climbing that cliff.
- She wouldn't have been wearing a seat-belt if her father hadn't told her to.
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