Past perfect simple
Past perfect continuous
Exercises

Exercise 1

Test 1. Past perfect simple or continuous? Choose the correct tense.

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I had to have a break. I  drove had been driving so long.

Before we parked our car we  collected had collected the ticket.

I arrived on Sunday. I  was not had not been at home for two days.

The roads were blocked in the morning. It  had snowed had been snowing all night.

They got to the beach after they  were walking had been walking for hours.

She called the police when she  saw had seen the light in the hall.

His English was perfect. He  was studying had been studying it since he started school.

I was really hungry. I  had not eaten had not been eating anything since the morning.

She didn't go to work. She  had been catching had caught a cold.

When we moved to Park Street, the Johnsons  had been living had lived there for ages.

We  had been signing had signed the contract before the meeting ended.

Ben was so sweaty because he  had gone jogging had been jogging .

Test 2. Past perfect simple. Complete sentences with the verbs in brackets. It was 11 o'clock. Carol Parker at the Shaw Hotel five minutes before. (arrive)

She'd lost her way because she to Dublin. (never be)

Carol had a detailed map in her hanbag but she her glasses at home and could not read it. (leave)

She the reception and about the way. (call, ask)

Finally, she in front of the hotel. (stand) She a couple of times before, but she had never felt so miserable. (get lost)

Test 3. Past perfect continuous. Rewrite sentences. He was relaxing all day. He felt better in the evening. He felt better in the evening because he all day.

The ship sailed for two days. It landed in Nice. The ship landed in Nice after it for two days.

After swimming all day they were hungry. They were hungry because they all day.

Sarah thought about going to America. She decided to study there. Sarah decided to study in America after she about going there for a while.

They walked all the way. They were tired. They were tired because they all the way.

It snowed all night. I had an accident. I had an accident after it all night.

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Past perfect simple and continuous exercises with answers, pdf worksheets and grammar rules.

Past perfect simple and past perfect continuous

We use the past perfect simple and continuous to talk about activities that ended or were in progress before a point in time in the past.

Past perfect simple

The past perfect simple describes actions that were completed before:

a) A point in time in the past.
I had left my suitcase on the 10.15 train to Bristol.
Lara had learned to speak Spanish by the time she was eleven.

b) Another event in the past.
We had left before the party started.
Harry met Sally on his holiday in Poland. He had last seen her a year before.
The man died because a car had hit him on the road.

Past perfect continuous

We use the past perfect continuous to refer to activities that:

a) Started before a point in time and were still continuing at that point.
At 6 p.m. I had been sitting in my office for ten hours.
We had been waiting for our plane since the morning when Josh appeared.

b) Started before a point in time and just finished at that point.
When the boat landed, they had been sailing for a week.
When I got back home, I was soaked to the skin because it had been raining all the way.

Note:

We can sometimes use both the past perfect simple and continuous and there is practically no difference in meaning (with verbs expressing long lasting activities, such as live, stay work, sleep).
I had worked there for a year when I decided to quit the job.
I had been working there for a year when I decided to quit the job.

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