UNIT 5 — Past Perfect Simple & Past Perfect Continuous

Complete using the correct past perfect simple form

1. By the time I arrived, everyone had left.
2. Steve had already seen the film, so he didn’t come with us to the cinema.
3. Tina hadn’t finished doing the housework by seven o’clock, so she called Andrea to tell her she would be late.
4. Had you just spoken to Billy when I rang?
5. The car broke down just after we had set off.
6. I didn’t eat anything at the party because I had already eaten at home.
7. Had you heard about the accident before you saw it on TV?

Choose the sentence (A or B) which means the same as the first sentence

1. We’d had dinner when Wendy arrived. → B
2. I read the book after I’d seen the film. → A
3. By the time Dad came home, I’d gone to bed. → A
4. She didn’t go to bed until her mum had come home. → B
5. Mr Banks hadn’t arrived at the office by the time I got there. → A
6. They’d bought the plane tickets before they heard about the cheaper flight. → A
7. The girls had tidied the house when the visitors arrived. → B

Write sentences using the prompts (past perfect simple)

1. We had just heard the news when you rang.
2. I had already thought of that before you suggested it.
3. When I turned on the TV, the programme had already started.
4. She was hungry because she hadn’t eaten anything all day.
5. By the time I left school, I had decided to become a musician.

Complete using the past perfect continuous

1. She was tired because she had been running.
2. They were hot because they had been dancing.
3. The garden was flooded because it had been raining all night.
4. Did they crash because they had been driving too fast?
5. When I arrived, they had been waiting for over half an hour.
6. When I got there, they hadn’t been waiting long.

Choose the correct answer

1. I’d only been doing the washing-up for a few minutes when Clare came home.
2. Had you already given James his birthday present when we gave him ours?
3. Gail hadn’t told me that she would help me.
4. Mum had been drinking her cup of tea for several minutes before she realised it had salt in it.
5. We’d been getting ready all day when they called to say the party had been cancelled.
6. It was a fantastic experience because I’d never flown in a plane before.

Find and correct extra words

1. had — correct
2. had came → had come
3. I’d been expecting — correct
4. I knew I’d been done quite well → had done
5. as I had opened the envelope → opened
6. Before I’d had a chance — correct
7. She had read — correct
8. which I hadn’t been making sure about → wasn’t sure about
9. they immediately started been shouting → shouting
10. had yet told the neighbours → had already told