The Past Perfect Tense vs. the Past Perfect Continuous Tense
EXERCISES
| Exercise 1. | Open the brackets using the correct form of the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous. |
I left without him last night, but I told him to meet me early because the film started at 8:00. I 1. ____ (try) to get tickets for that movie for months, and I didnt want to miss it. By the time I finally left the coffee house where we were supposed to meet, I 2. ____ (drink) three cups of coffee and I 3. ____ (wait) over an hour. I had to leave because I 4. ____ (arrange) to meet John in front of the cinema. When I arrived at the cinema, John 5. ____ (take, already) the tickets and he was waiting for me. He was very upset because he 6. ____ (wait) for more than half an hour. He said he 7. ____ (give, almost) up and 8. ____ (go) into the cinema without me. John told me I 9. ____ (be) late so many times and that he would not go out with me anymore. He added that he 10. ____ (miss) the best part of the movie because of my late arrival.
| Exercise 2. | Complete using the Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous of the verbs in the box. You may need to use a negative form. |
| eat | wait | write | listen | have |
| stay | know | see | get | run |
| 1. | By the time he died, Shakespeare ____ a lot of dramas. |
| 2. | We chose this hotel because we ____ there before. |
| 3. | We ____ for over an hour when she finally returned. |
| 4. | I was completely out of breath because I ____. |
| 5. | I ____ the film before, so I knew how it ended. |
| 6. | When they met, I ____ Tom for about two years. |
| 7. | David ____ ready for the race for six months and finally the big moment came. |
| 8. | Laura ____ computer lessons for very long so she wasnt sure how to use the Internet. |
| 9. | Liz ____ oysters before, so she wasnt sure what to do with them. |
| 10. | I ____ to the song for a few minutes when my computer broke. |
| Exercise 3. | Correct the mistakes. |
| 1. | When the student revolution came, I have been working there for 6 months. |
| 2. | Before Jim finally decided to go to Thailand, he was thinking about it for months. |
| 3. | They had been eating all the chocolate cake by the time Michael got to the party. |
| 4. | I had meet Scarlett Johansson on three previous occasions. Lucky me! |
| 5. | The forensic evidence shows that he had been picked his nose just before he was murdered. |
| 6. | When the doctor told him his liver was seriously bad, he had been eating hamburgers since a month. |
| 7. | Prior to the explosion, the fat man had ate seven large chocolate cakes. |
| 8. | When they cancelled the flight to Alicante, the storm has been raging all afternoon with no sign of abating. |
| 9. | He had thinking about finding a new job for about a year before he finally got round to it. |
| 10. | It was obvious from her outrageous behaviour that she have been drinking. |
| Exercise 4. | In pairs act out a dialogue. At the university you met your old friend from a nursery school. Ask him what he had been doing and had done before he entered the university. Use the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Continuous in your questions and answers. |
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The Past Tenses Compared
EXERCISES
| Exercise 1. | Choose the correct form of the verb. |
| 1. | She broke the vase while she ____ (had put / was putting) it on the table. |
| 2. | Mr. Todd ____ (was teaching / had been teaching) for thirty years when he retired. |
| 3. | I phoned Roy because I ____ (wanted / had wanted) to inform him about the accident. |
| 4. | They ____ (had walked / had been walking) for hours when they stopped for a rest. |
| 5. | The shop ____ (had been selling / had sold) the dress by the time I got there. |
| 6. | Joe was happy. He ____ (was getting / had got) the certificate. |
| 7. | It ____ (was raining / had rained) while they were playing the football match. |
| 8. | Rob ____ (was opening / opened) the box and looked inside. |
| 9. | Cathy was glad to hear that she ____ (was getting / had got) the job. |
| 10. | People ____ (used to work / were working) a lot in those days. |
| 11. | I was skating when I ____ (slipped / was slipping) on the ice. |
| 12. | They ____ (were already buying / had already bought) the tickets when they went to the cinema. |
| 13. | Megan ____ (had broken / was breaking) her leg, so she couldnt run for months. |
| 14. | We ____ (had been staying / stayed) by the sea last summer. |
| 15. | Elvis Presley ____ (sang / had sung) lots of hit songs. |
| 16. | I ____ (opened / was opening) the window and called her. |
| 17. | They ____ (had stood / were standing) inside when the rain started. |
| 18. | Alexander Graham Bell ____ (had invented / invented) the telephone. |
| Exercise 2. | Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple, the Past Continuous or the Past Perfect Tense form. |
| 1. | What ____ (you / do) at ten oclock this morning? I ____ (go) to the office. |
| 2. | Alice passed the exam, didnt she? Yes. She ____ (study) very hard for it. |
| 3. | Why are you so sad? Because I ____ (hope) that I would get the driving license, but I didnt. |
| 4. | Have you found your bag yet? No, but I ____ (report) it stolen to the police yesterday. |
| 5. | Did you enjoy the play last night? No, even though I ____ (read) good reviews of it before I bought the tickets. |
| 6. | Have you written the exercise yet? I ____ (just / start) when you came in. |
| 7. | Sorry Im late. Where have you been? I ____ (expect) you an hour ago. |
| 8. | We ____ (go) shopping yesterday. ____ (you / buy) anything? |
| 9. | Were you surprised that lost the job? Not really. I ____ (expect) it to happen. |
| Exercise 3. | Fill in the gaps with an appropriate past form. |
One fine morning, a man 1. ____ (fish) in a river. The sun 2. ____ (shine) and the man 3. ____ (sit) on the river bank. Everything was very quiet and peaceful. The man 4. ____ (feel) something pulling on the fishing line. He 5. ____ (stand up) quickly and 6. ____ (begin) to take in the line. He 7. ____ (just / lift) the huge fish he had caught out of the water when there was a loud splash and it fell back into the river. At first, the man didnt know what 8. ____ (happen). Then, he 9. ____ (look) carefully at his fishing line. It 10. ____ (snap). The poor man was so disappointed that he 11. ____ (pack) away all his things and went home.
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| Exercise 4. | Make the past tense questions and answers using the words given. |
| Model: | When/be/fibre optics/first/develop? |
| When were fibre optics first developed? |
| 1. | The boxes/break/because they/make/of low quality materials. |
| 2. | The power supply/cut off/because/cables/come down/during the storm. |
| 3. | They/not complete/the foundations/by the time the building materials/arrive. |
| 4. | When/they/install/the solar panels? |
| 5. | be/this/the first hydroelectric scheme/in Scotland? |
| 6. | They/not use/wood chip/for heating/when the engineer/visit/the factory. |
| 7. | How/they/produce/gas/before they/discover/North Sea gas? |
| 8. | be/the oil pollution along the coastline/cause/by an oil tanker spillage? |
| Exercise 5. | Choose the incorrect words or phrases and rewrite them correctly. |
| 1. | I had paint on my shoes because Id painted my bedroom all morning. |
| 2. | I missed the start of the film because I buy popcorn. |
| 3. | It was obvious that Bill has worked because he was very tired when I saw him. |
| 4. | We had been tidying the garden for hours and I was needing a rest. |
| 5. | When the bus was arriving, we missed it because we were talking. |
| 6. | During the Christmas holiday, I was eating too much and watching too much TV. |
| 7. | Julian was learning all about computer games by the time he was six. |
| 8. | My grandfather was owning a hotel by the beach until he sold it last year. |
| 9. | Sydney Harbour Bridge was building in 1932. |
| 10. | The first real road builders in Britain was the Romans. |
| Exercise 6. | You are going to tell an anecdote (an informal true story about something that happened to you). Choose one of the topics below and plan what you are going to say. Ask your teacher for any words you need. Tell your partner about |
| 1. | A time you cheated (in an exam or in a sport/game). |
| What were you doing? | |
| Where? | |
| When? | |
| What happened? | |
| 2. | A really exciting sports event you saw. |
| Where and when was it? | |
| Who was playing? | |
| What happened? | |
| Why was it so exciting? | |
| 3. | A time you saw or met a celebrity. |
| Where were you? | |
| What was the celebrity doing? | |
| What was he/she wearing? | |
| Did you speak to him/her? | |
| What happened in the end? |
The Future Tenses
, , - : theFuture Simple (Indefinite) Tense (), the Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense , the Future Perfect Future Tense , the Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense -. Future, : the Present Simple Tense, the Present Continuous Tense, to be going to + Infinitive.
