1.1. If Paco hadn't been talking to his family he would have read a book
We are sure you can deduce by yourself how to form negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense. Anyway, here you have some extra information for your knowledge.
Reflexión
Solved exercise
1) The children _______________ (to shout) before their parents arrived.
2) The students _______________ (to do) their homework in the evening when their parents arrived.
3) Mary _______________ (to set) the table home for lunch before they came.
4) My father _______________ (to wash) his car before the journey.
5) I _______________ (to tidy) my room before my mother came home.
Self-Assessment activity
1) Alex and Andrés (to play) tennis when Sonia phoned.
2) They (to cycle) in the park yesterday evening when you saw them.
3) Sonia (to teach) English when we met her at school.
4) My brother (to study) hard enough for the Maths exam when his teacher arrived.
5) The students (to work) for the project before their friends came.
Important
The past perfect continuous may be used in the third type of conditional. What's important to remember about this conditional?
a) The verb in the if-clause is in the past perfect tense.
b) The verb in the main clause is in the perfect conditional.
c) The time is past and the condition cannot be fulfilled because the action in the if-clause didn't happen.
Let's see an example:
If it hadn't been raining, we would have played football in the park with our friends.
Further knowledge