had been wathcing vs has been watching

The phrases "had been watching" and "has been watching" are both correct, but they are used in different contexts. "Had been watching" is used to describe an action that was happening before another past action, while "has been watching" is used to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing up to the present.

Last updated: March 29, 2024 • 740 views

had been wathcing

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to describe an action that was happening before another past action.

Use "had been watching" to describe an action that started in the past and was still ongoing when another past action occurred. It is used in past perfect continuous tense.

Examples:

He had been watching TV when the phone rang.
She had been watching the movie for two hours before she fell asleep.

Show examples from the web [+]

She stopped watching her preacher shows, washing her hair or watering her plants.
You know, I just finished watching and catching thief.
He's bathing himself, and I'm watching.
Thanks for washing us - Watching us.
It's a choice between watering our crops, and watching them die.
It's like watching an antelope At the watering hole in the serengeti.
Max had trouble sleeping and had spent the night watching television and catching fish food.
Those bathing beauties you've been watching haven't raised your temperature one degree in a month.
Thanks for washing us - Watching us.
Watching you write a spell was like watching Mozart compose a concerto.
I stand outside myself, watching myself watching myself.
Like he's happier than me watching Coach watching Winston yawn.
I'm watching who's watching me.
Watching you negotiate grown-up emotions is like... watching a gorilla perform keyhole surgery.
Police watching you, parents watching you.
People are watching, NGOs are watching, businesses are watching environmental concerns, health, animal welfare.
Rinse the tip of the delivery tube with water, catching the washings in the conical flask.
No wonder Shanghai Riuman was watching her.
Watching you and barry last night.
Whatever was watching us seemed pretty big.

Alternatives:

had been looking
had been observing
had been staring
had been gazing
had been peering

has been watching

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing up to the present.

Use "has been watching" to describe an action that started in the past and is still ongoing up to the present. It is used in present perfect continuous tense.

Examples:

She has been watching the show for hours.
He has been watching the birds in the garden.

Show examples from the web [+]

Evan has been watching way too much Downtown Abbey.
Internal Affairs has been watching me ever since you were arrested.
Whomever is responsible has been watching and knows your people are here.
I think Trask has been watching her every move.
I cannot believe that someone has been watching me.
I cannot believe that someone has been watching me.
Yes. Patrick has been watching you.
America has been watching him grind.
That's how "A" has been watching us.
What does it mean? Gormogon has been watching us this whole time.
He has been watching me and Jari - and thought how ridiculous it is.
Someone has been watching me this whole time?
The Queen is not the only one who has been watching you closely.
I think the guy over at that pickup has been watching us since we got out here.
These are violent times, and fortunately, God has been watching over us, and our classes haven't been disturbed.
Mr President, during these last few days, Parliament has been watching an extraordinarily powerful documentary on the effects of the sanctions on Iraq, and I would like to thank Patricia McKenna for this.
Old Jane has been watching you from up there, and she hasn't been happy.
Whether you believe it or not, my family has been watching over your family for centuries.
The world has been watching from the sidelines for far too long, while the dictator Mugabe has gone about his business unpunished, becoming more insolent in the process.
If Robbie has been watching the building since he moved in, that's two months of watching people in their most private moments, right?

Alternatives:

has been looking
has been observing
has been staring
has been gazing
has been peering

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

had been wathcing vs has been watching