G. We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that something had been continuing up to a time in the past or was important at that time in the past: ‘Had been ~ing’ (e.g. Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours. I had been finishing the work)
G1. We normally use the Past Perfect Continuous for this: She didn’t want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life.
a. can say that something had been happening for a period of time before something else happened. (e.g. We'd been playing tennis for about half an hour when it started to rain heavily)
b. Present Perfect Continuous: I hope the bus comes soon. I've been waiting for 20 minutes (before now)
c. Past Perfect Continuous: At last the bus came. I'd been waiting for 20 minutes. (before the bus came)
d. Compare 'was ~ing' (Past Continuous) and 'had been ~ing' (Past Perfect Continuous). (e.g. It wasn't raining when we went out. The sun was shining. But it had been raining, so the ground was wet.)
G2. Some verbs (know and like) are not normally used in the Continuous (e.g. We were good friends. We had known each other for years. (not had been knowing))
a. Present Continuous: It’s getting late. They should have arrived by now.
b. Past Continuous: I wasn’t feeling well. I must have eaten something bad.
Idiom 365
Down to the wire: at the very end of a process or project that it is possible to do something
Example: It was a battle of strength that came down to the wire when we challenged our client to settle down the open issues.