Past Perfect Tense – English Grammar Exercises for B1
You are talking to a friend who bought a used phone yesterday, only for it to break immediately. Choose the correct option (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence and explain where they went wrong.
1 When you bought that phone yesterday, you ______ the seller’s online reviews.
(A) didn’t check
(B) hadn’t checked
(C) hadn’t check
2 I asked you yesterday if you ______ the battery life before handing over the cash.
(A) had tested
(B) tested
(C) had test
3 By the time the phone arrived at your house, the scammer ______ his social media account.
(A) deleted
(B) had delete
(C) had deleted
4 You realized it was a terrible deal only after you ______ the money.
(A) had sent
(B) sent
(C) had sended
5 Before you made the transfer, I ______ you that the price was too good to be true.
(A) had tell
(B) told
(C) had told
6 The screen stopped working because the previous owner ______ it in water.
(A) had dropped
(B) dropped
(C) had drop
7 You were so angry this morning because you ______ a lot of money on a broken device.
(A) spent
(B) had spent
(C) had spended
8 I couldn’t stop you from making the mistake because you ______ the deal without telling me.
(A) had closed
(B) closed
(C) have closed
9 When we finally opened the box, we saw that someone ______ the original charger with a cheap fake.
(A) replaced
(B) has replaced
(C) had replaced
10 You told me that you ______ a great bargain, but it was actually a trap.
(A) had found
(B) found
(C) have found
11 The repair shop said they couldn’t fix it because someone ______ to open the phone before you bought it.
(A) had tried
(B) tried
(C) had try
12 I didn’t warn you initially because I assumed you ______ enough research on that specific model.
(A) did
(B) had did
(C) had done
13 By the time you noticed the microphone was broken, the 24-hour return period ______ .
(A) had expired
(B) expired
(C) has expired
14 You felt so foolish today because you ______ all the obvious warning signs yesterday.
(A) had ignored
(B) ignored
(C) have ignored
15 If you ______ my advice, you wouldn’t be stuck with a useless phone right now.
(A) had taken
(B) took
(C) had took
16 Hardly ______ the phone on when the screen went completely blank.
(A) you had turned
(B) had you turned
(C) had you turn
17 It wasn’t until the phone died completely that you realized you ______ a broken device.
(A) had buyed
(B) bought
(C) had bought
18 I really wish you ______ me the advertisement before you made your final decision.
(A) had shown
(B) showed
(C) had showed
19 If only you ______ the serial number on the official website first!
(A) checked
(B) have checked
(C) had checked
20 Scarcely ______ the cash when the seller blocked your number.
(A) had you handed over
(B) you had handed over
(C) had you hand over
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) hadn’t checked
- Why it’s correct: The failure to check the reviews happened before the act of buying the phone.
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple, which fails to emphasize that the lack of preparation preceded the purchase. (C) uses the base verb ‘check’ instead of the past participle (V3) ‘checked’.
2 (A) had tested
- Why it’s correct: In reported questions (“I asked you if…”), the tense shifts back. Testing the battery should have happened before the questioning.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) uses the base verb ‘test’.
3 (C) had deleted
- Why it’s correct: “By the time” indicates the account deletion happened prior to the phone arriving.
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple. (B) lacks the “-d” ending for the V3 form.
4 (A) had sent
- Why it’s correct: Sending the money happened before the realization set in.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) incorrectly applies regular rules to the irregular verb ‘send’ (‘sent’, not ‘sended’).
5 (C) had told
- Why it’s correct: The word “Before” shows that the warning was given prior to the transfer being made.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (A) uses the wrong verb form (‘told’, not ‘tell’).
6 (A) had dropped
- Why it’s correct: Dropping the phone in water is the root cause that happened long before the screen stopped working for the current owner.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) lacks the “-ed” ending.
7 (B) had spent
- Why it’s correct: The anger (Past Simple) is a result of an action completed earlier (spending the money).
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple. (C) is a structural error (‘spent’, not ‘spended’).
8 (A) had closed
- Why it’s correct: Closing the deal secretly happened before the speaker could try to stop it.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) is the Present Perfect.
9 (C) had replaced
- Why it’s correct: The replacement of the charger happened before the box was opened.
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple. (B) is the Present Perfect.
10 (A) had found
- Why it’s correct: In reported speech (“You told me that…”), the finding of the “bargain” happened before the telling.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) is the Present Perfect.
11 (A) had tried
- Why it’s correct: The attempt to open the phone happened before the repair shop examined it.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) uses the base verb.
12 (C) had done
- Why it’s correct: The assumption was about research that should have been completed prior to the purchase.
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple. (B) uses the V2 form ‘did’ instead of the V3 form ‘done’.
13 (A) had expired
- Why it’s correct: The signal phrase “By the time” triggers the Past Perfect for the earlier action (the expiration).
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) is the Present Perfect.
14 (A) had ignored
- Why it’s correct: Feeling foolish today is the consequence of ignoring the warning signs yesterday.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (C) is the Present Perfect.
15 (A) had taken
- Why it’s correct: This is a Mixed/Third Conditional structure. To describe a hypothetical past action that would change a present/past result, we use the Past Perfect in the ‘if’ clause.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple (Second Conditional). (C) uses the V2 ‘took’ instead of the V3 ‘taken’.
16 (B) had you turned
- Why it’s correct: Starting a sentence with “Hardly” requires subject-auxiliary inversion (had + Subject + V3).
- Why the others are wrong: (A) lacks inversion. (C) uses the base verb ‘turn’ instead of ‘turned’.
17 (C) had bought
- Why it’s correct: The structure “It wasn’t until… that…” emphasizes that the mistake (buying a broken device) was made long before it was realized.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple. (A) is a structural error (‘bought’, not ‘buyed’).
18 (A) had shown
- Why it’s correct: After “I wish”, we use the Past Perfect to express regret about an action in the past.
- Why the others are wrong: (B) is the Past Simple (used for present regrets). (C) uses an incorrect V3 form (‘shown’, not ‘showed’ in standard usage here).
19 (C) had checked
- Why it’s correct: “If only” follows the same rules as “I wish.” It expresses deep regret about a past failure to act, requiring the Past Perfect.
- Why the others are wrong: (A) is the Past Simple. (B) is the Present Perfect.
20 (A) had you handed over
- Why it’s correct: Like “Hardly,” the word “Scarcely” at the beginning of a sentence requires inversion (had + Subject + V3).
- Why the others are wrong: (B) lacks inversion. (C) uses the base verb ‘hand’ instead of ‘handed’.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Establishing the Sequence of Mistakes: When criticizing a poor financial decision, the Past Perfect (had + V3) is crucial. It clearly separates the lack of preparation (the first action) from the bad purchase (the second action).
- Example: You bought a bad phone (Past Simple) because you hadn’t researched the seller (Past Perfect).
- Stepping Stone to Conditionals: The Past Perfect is the foundation for the Third Conditional (analyzing past hypotheticals). Once you understand that the Past Perfect describes “what actually happened before,” you can easily use it in an ‘if’ clause to say “what should have happened before.”
- Example: If you had checked the battery, you wouldn’t have lost your money.
- Expressing Regret: Structures like I wish and If only are naturally paired with the Past Perfect to express strong regret about past decisions.
- Example: I wish you had told me before you bought it!
- Advanced Emphasis: Using Hardly / Scarcely + had + Subject + V3 is a highly advanced way to describe being scammed quickly (e.g., Hardly had you paid when the seller disappeared).