English Advanced Grammar Exercises – Past perfect simple and past perfect continuous

A. Underline the correct option.

1   The party almost finished / had almost finished by the time we arrived.

2   As soon as I saw her, I knew I met / had met the woman I wanted to marry.

3   After he bought his ticket he sat down / had sat down to wait for the train to arrive.

4   The police arrived quickly, but it was too late – the robbers went / had gone.

5   Mrs Latimer just shut / had just shut the door when she realised her key was inside.

6   When she got paid, Julie realised that her boss gave / had given her a pay rise.

7   Sorry, I didn’t catch that – what did you say / had you said?

8   We were very excited to meet again because we didn’t see / hadn’t seen each other for five years.

B. Circle option a (if only the past perfect simple is possible) or option b (if both past perfect simple and continuous are possible).

1   I worked very hard all morning and by lunchtime ………. all my jobs for the day.

      a   I’d done

      b   I’d done / I’d been doing

2   They were tired when they arrived because ………. all through the night.

      a   they’d driven

      b   they’d driven / they’d been driving

3   Stuart ………. that he was expected to attend the meeting.

      a   hadn’t realised

      b   hadn’t realised / hadn’t been realising

4   Jim and Sally ………. to see us but we were all too busy,

      a   had hoped

      b   had hoped / had been hoping

5   I knew about the accident because ………. the news the night before and there was a report about it.

      a   I’d watched

      b   I’d watched / I’d been watching

6   Terry ………. Serena, but he didn’t know she felt the same way about him.

      a   had always liked

      b   had always liked / had always been liking

7   By the time they were rescued, ………. nearly three days without food or water.

      a   they’d spent

      b   they’d spent / they’d been spending

8   By the age of 10, Mozart ………. three operas and 25 symphonies.

      a   had composed

      b   had composed / had been composing

C. Complete each sentence, using an appropriate past form of the verb in brackets. Sometimes more than one form is possible.

1   Before I bought my flat I …………………………. a house with friends. (share)

2   …………………………. they were going away for the weekend? (you know)

3   Although he loves football, my brother …………………………. to see a live match until last weekend. (not go)

4   I can’t believe you didn’t realise you …………………………. to turn the oven off. (forget)

5   Recently he …………………………. of taking a year off and travelling round the world. (think)

6   Henry …………………………. for a couple of hours when he stopped to have some lunch. (write)

7   The speech was so boring people started to leave even before she …………………………. speaking. (stop)

8   When I went back to my home town, I was sad to see that my favourite café. (close down)

D. Rewrite each sentence, putting ONE missing word in the correct place.

1   I didn’t want to see the film because I seen it already.

      ……………………………………………………….

2   Rosie and Lewis weren’t at the party because we invited them.

      ……………………………………………………….

3   Sam had feeling sick all day, so we took him to the doctor’s.

      ……………………………………………………….

4   They been thinking of going out, but in the end they decided not to.

      ……………………………………………………….

5   At that time I’d never been overseas because I’d never the opportunity.

      ……………………………………………………….

6   Mike had the feeling that he been there before, but he didn’t remember when.

      ……………………………………………………….

7   We hadn’t waiting very long when someone told us the train had been cancelled.

      ……………………………………………………….

8   Tracey had known anyone like Matt before – he was very strange.

      ……………………………………………………….

E. Underline the correct option.

Born in 1919 in Auckland, New Zealand, Edmund Hillary (1) became / had been becoming interested in climbing as a schoolboy, and by the age of 30 he (2) was climbing / had climbed several 6,000-metre mountains. People (3) tried / had been trying to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, for years, and since 1920 seven major expeditions (4) failed / had failed. In 1924, George Mallory (5) had died / had been dying during one climb, then, in 1952, some Swiss climbers almost reached the top before bad weather forced them to give up. When Hillary (6) heard / had heard that a British climber was planning a new expedition for the following year, he joined it, and in March 1953 they (7) set up / had set up base camp. By 28 May, 398 of the original 400 expedition members (8) were giving up / had given up, exhausted by the high altitude. The last two – Hillary and the Nepalese climber Tenzing Norgay – (9) had continued / had been continuing to climb, however, and the next day they (10) became / had become the first humans to stand on the summit of Everest, more than 8,840 metres above sea level.

F. How much have you done in your life? Write sentences about the things you had done by the time you were these ages: 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

Example: By the age of 8. I had lived in three different houses and I’d been going to school for three years.

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

G. Circle the correct option.

1   I was shocked, even though it was the third time …………. Aron’s story.

      a   I had heard

      b   I heard

      c   I’d been hearing

2   They didn’t let us go home until …………. tidying up.

      a   we’d finished

      b   we were finishing

      c   we’d been finishing

3   I didn’t want to watch the film because …………. it five times.

      a   I’ve already been seeing

      b   I’d already seen

      c   I’d already been seeing

4   When we finally reached the top, it was wonderful – …………. for eight hours.

      a   we climbed

      b   we’ve been climbing

      c   we’d been climbing

5   She was angry when I phoned because …………. to get the baby to sleep for an hour.

      a   she’d tried

      b   she was trying

      c   she’d been trying