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The past perfect tense and the past continuous tense do have a strong connection grammatically, so sometimes it is really difficult to distinguish these two tenses clearly in long sentences. However, the key to understanding these two tenses lies in understanding the point in time at which the action they express takes place.
The past perfect tense indicates that an action has been completed before a certain point in time in the past, emphasizing the completion state of the action. Whereas, the past continuous tense indicates that an action was going on for a certain period of time in the past, emphasizing the progress of the action.
To better understand these two tenses, we can consider some specific examples. For example, if we say "I finished my homework yesterday afternoon," the sentence uses the past perfect tense, emphasizing that the homework was completed by yesterday afternoon. If we say "I was doing my homework yesterday afternoon", this sentence uses the past continuous tense to emphasize that I was doing my homework during this time period yesterday afternoon.
In addition, we can also distinguish these two tenses by context. If an action exists as a stand-alone event that has already been completed in a long sentence, then the past perfect tense is usually used. And if the action exists as an ongoing ongoing process, then the past continuous tense is usually used.
In conclusion, although the past perfect tense and the past continuous tense are sometimes indistinguishable in long sentences, we can better understand and use both tenses as long as we grasp the point in time when the action they express occurs, as well as consider the context and nature of the action.