English Grammar Drills

Verb Tenses 131
Been is a helping verb followed by the present participle verb watching. According to Rule
3, been watching progressive. The entire verb construction had been watching is thus a past
perfect progressive.
Exercise 9.1
Classify by time and category the italicized verb constructions in the following sentences.
past
progressive
I was sleeping when you called.
1. We will have finished by now.
2. They have charged my credit card the full amount.
3. Will you tell him?
4. We have already made a reservation at the restaurant.
5. We painted the deck this summer.
6. They will be worrying about us.
7. The company is trying to find a new supplier.
8. I will introduce you to the staff.
9. The office has not answered my e-mail yet.
10. We have stretched our resources to the limit.
11. The cat has been staring at the dog all afternoon.
12. I am rescheduling our vacation.
13. The lake will have frozen by now.
14. We had been renting an apartment near my wife’s job.
15. The committee has been working on that problem for a while.
16. They will have been rethinking their decision.
17. She will have made a decision by now.
18. I have always admired your work.
19. They will have been dating about a year now.
20. The new report will have made a decision a little easier.