Home » Passive voice » Past perfect continuous passive voice

Past perfect continuous passive voice

There are several reasons why we use the passive voice in English. In these notes, we are going to focus on the past perfect continuous in the passive voice. Generally, we use the passive when the focus is on the action and NOT on WHO or WHAT is performing the action.

Past perfect continuous passive voice construction: had + been + being + past participle.

Example verb: to speak

I had been being spoken to	We had been being spoken to
You had been being spoken to	You (guys) had been being spoken to
He/she/it had been being spoken to	They had been being spoken to

The agent is unknown. We don’t know who or what is the agent

A flying object had been being observed for over two hours last Friday night.
Something really bizarre had been being shown at the show.

We use the passive to emphasise the subject

My sisters were the ones who had been being employed by their bosses.
James had been the man being subjected to all the problems.

We use the passive to talk about general truths

The earth had been being spun into orbit for as long as science knows.

We use the passive when we are unclear or vague about the subject

A computer virus had been being stabilised for five hours before the team operating the firewall managed to stop it from getting into the system.

We use the passive when the subject is irrelevant

(We don’t care who or what has caused the action to be).

Within the atmosphere, there was a strange substance that had been being mixed with oxygen.

We use the passive in a more formal atmosphere like a thesis or an important piece of writing, especially scientifically speaking

During the experiment, atoms had been being smashed together with particles for a duration of thirty minutes.
A very old equation in set theory had been being solved at the math quiz.

Past perfect continuous passive voice with context and analysis

Construction: had + been + being + past participle (spoken, translated).

Example verb: to teach

I had been being taught	We had been being taught
You had been being taught	You (guys) had been being taught
He/she/it had been being taught	They had been being taught

Context

Who had been being spoken to by the auditors last week?¹
They spoke to us and everything went smoothly.
I hate being audited…
Don’t worry. After everything had been being searched and filed the auditor told me that everything was in order² and we won’t have anything to worry about.³
That’s good news at least.
Yes, definitely.
Because last year, a friend who works for a similar company had been being audited⁴ for five months and it really gave him a lot of stress.
Yes, that’s understandable. These things happen. One should just relax and sit tight.
You’re right about that.

Analysis

Who had been being spoken to by the auditors last week? ‘Had been being spoken to’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice. This verb form in the passive is rarely used and would be considered very much uncommon. The emphasis is on ‘who’, and the passive is used to focus on the action of ‘auditing’.
After everything had been being searched and filed the auditor told me that everything was in order. Again, the past perfect continuous in the passive voice is uncommon. Here ‘had been being searched’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice.
We won’t have anything to worry about. The future simple ‘won’t have’ is used to make a promise. We can use the future simple to make promises and predictions.
A friend who works for a similar company had been being audited for five months. ‘Had been being audited’ is the past perfect continuous in the passive voice being used here to describe the action of ‘being audited’.