可以用於過去時,此時是動詞,如 I had my dinner at 8.p.m. alone in the cafeteria.再就是作為非謂語,可以是過去完成時had done,如 I had lost my book. 過去完成進行時had been doing如 I had been playing ...

例句：
The film had been on for ten minutes when I arrived at the cinema.

句意：我到電影院時，電影已經開始了十分鐘了。

For+時間段：表示做某事做了多長時間了，一般用於完成時態，謂語動詞用延續性動詞。從句when I arrived at the cinema.是過去式（表示過去的時間），主句應用過去的某種時態，結合for ten minutes可知主句時態是過去完成時。begin是終止性動詞，be on是延續性動詞；

had been on是過去完成時，過去完成時：表示過去某一時間前就已經發生或完成了的動作，對過去的某一點造成的某種影響或是結果，用來指在另一個過去行動之前就已經完成了的事件。

　例句：

　David had been on a pub crawl with pals from his rugby club.大衛曾和他橄欖球俱樂部的朋友們一起串酒吧喝酒。

　　She had been on the go all day.她終日忙碌。

　We repeated this exact procedure after the bacteria had been on the surface for 2,4,8 and 24 hours.在細菌分別停留在表面上2小時、4小時、8小時和24小時後，我們精確重複了這個過程