Formation of the past conditional continuous

The past conditional continuous consists of the three auxiliary verbs ‘would’ + ‘have’ + ‘been’ and the progressive form (ing-form / present participle) of the corresponding main verb. It frequently occurs as part of the third conditional sentence (if-clause type 3). Compare these example sentences and the following table illustrating the verb forms:

• Examples of the past conditional continuous in third conditional sentences:
  • “If she hadn’t wanted to do all by herself, her brother would have been helping her with her homework.”
  • “They would have been lying on the beach if they hadn’t cancelled their holiday.”

Verb forms of the past conditional continuous

Example verb: ‘to eat’

Positive/affirmative sentences

Person/​pronoun	Positive	Short form	Interrogative form	Short form of question
I	You would have been eating.	You would’ve been eating. or You’d have been eating.	Would you have been eating?	–
you (singular)
he/​she/​it
we/​you/​they

Negative sentences

Person/​pronoun	Negative	Short form	Interrogative form	Short form of question
I	I would not have been eating.	I wouldn’t have been eating. or I’d not have been eating.*	Would I not have been eating?	Wouldn’t I have been eating?
you (singular)
he/​she/​it
we/​you/​they

* This form is not as common as the other one.

Further explanations relating to the ‘Formation of the past conditional progressive’

The following explanations relate to the topic ‘Conjugation & verb forms of the past conditional progressive/continuous’ and might also be interesting:

• Formation of the past conditional simple
• Use of the if-clause type 1
• Use of the if-clause type 2
• Auxiliary verbs in English
• Exercise 1: if-clause type 3 (conditional 3)