1. Complete the sentences with the past perfect simple form of the verbs in brackets.
1) He made a dentist’s appointment because he ________ (broke) a tooth.
2) We ________ (not leave) enough time, so we missed our train.
3) After she ________ (chose) a new skirt, she looked for a top to match it.
4) I couldn’t make new tablet work because I ________ (lose) the instructions.
5) When I checked the receipt later, I realised I ________ (pay) too much for shopping.
6) Sam forgot to take a hat on the camping trip, but luckily his friend ________ (bring) a spare one.
7) The car went off the road because it ________ (hit) a patch of ice.
8) You would have saved money if you ________ (buy) that DVD in the sale.
Show answers
1) had broken 2) hadn’t left 3) had chosen 4) had lost
5) had paid 6) had brought 7) had hit 8) had bought
2. Complete the sentences with the past perfect continuous form of the verbs below.
cook hurt learn look travel try wait work
1) We ________. for less than an hour when the coach broke down.
2) I ________. for friend for an hour when he phoned to say he couldn’t come.
3) When I met Dean, he ________. as a teacher in Argentina since 2012.
4) I could tell mum ________. because the kitchen smelled of curry.
5) They ________. for their dog for two days when it turned up outside their house.
6) cousin ________. to drive for over a year before she passed her test.
7) He eventually went to the doctor because his leg ________. for a week.
8) I ________. to get a ticket to the show for several minutes when the website crashed.
Show answers
1) had been travelling 2) had been waiting
3) had been working 4) had been cooking
5) had been looking 6) had been learning
7) had been hurting 8) had been trying
3. Write the words in the correct order to make sentences.
1) you / went / eaten / Had / you / breakfast / out / before / ?
________
2) long / They / bus / waiting / the / hadn’t / arrived / been / when
________
3) been / swimming / because / just / was / he / cold / he’d
________
4) before / London / he / living / to / Where / he / had / been / moved / ?
________
5) so / expected / presents / get / hadn’t / She / to / many
________
6) before / for / long / married / they / dating / they / Had / been / got / ?
________
Show answers
1) Had you eaten breakfast before you went out?
2) They hadn’t been waiting long when the bus arrived.
3) He was cold because he’d just been swimming.
4) Where had he been living before he moved to London?
5) She hadn’t expected to get so many presents.
6) Had they been dating for long before they got married?
4. Complete the sentences with the words in brackets. Use the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous.
1) I (never / snorkel) before Mia took me last year.
________
2) Clara was annoyed because the book she’d ordered (not / arrive).
________
3) How long (you / play) the guitar before we met?
________
4) By the time the shops opened, (they / queue) for nearly an hour.
________
5) I looked for bag, but (I forgot) where I’d put it.
________
6) Greg was tired last night because (he / play) basketball.
________
Show answers
1) I had never snorkelled before Mia took me last year.
2) Clara was annoyed because the book she’d ordered hadn’t arrived.
3) How long had you been playing the guitar before we met?
4) By the time the shops opened, they had been queuing for nearly an hour.
5) I looked for bag, but I’d forgotten where I’d put it.
6) Greg was tired last night because he had been playing basketball.
5. Complete the text with the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous form of the verbs below.
date enjoy find not imagine live star think
Jennifer Lawrence was born in the United States in 1990. Once, before she became famous, she 1) _____. about being a doctor and 2) _____. that she’d ever become an actress. That changed when she was fourteen. She 3) _____. a spring break with her parents when a stranger spotted her and asked to do a screen test. Then things progressed fast. Not long after she 4) _____. work in commercials for MTV, she appeared in a TV series. Her family 5) _____. in Kentucky for many years, but they moved to Los Angeles when her career took off. Two years before filming The Hunger Games in 2012, she 6) _____. in Winter’s Bone and been nominated for an Oscar. She 7) _____. Nicholas Hoult, her co-star from X-Men, for two years when they split up in 2013.
Show answers
1) had thought 2) hadn’t imagined 3) had been enjoying
4) had found 5) had been living 6) had starred 7) had been dating
6. Complete the second sentence with a past perfect tense so that it means the same as the first.
1) It was months since he’d played tennis.
He ________. for months.
2) She ate her dinner and then went to bed.
After she ________, she went to bed.
3) Zoe saved for ages and then bought a new watch.
Zoe ________. before she bought a new watch.
4) Eric broke his arm so he couldn’t go to school.
Eric couldn’t go to school ________.
5) We sat in the park for an hour and then it got dark.
By the time it ________. in the park for an hour.
6) It was his first visit to Europe.
He ________. Europe before.
Show answers
1) hadn’t played tennis 2) had eaten her dinner
3) had been saving for ages 4) because he had broken his arm.
5) got dark, we had been sitting 6) had never visited / had not visited
7. Complete the text with the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous form of the verbs in brackets.
Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zaidan 1) _________ (make) films for years before they took over the organisation of the Oscars ceremony in 2012. In fact, they 2) _________ (win) an Acade award themselves – for the musical Chicago. Once they 3) _________ (accept) the job, they set about giving the event a facelift. They felt that the winners 4) _________ (take) too long to get to the microphone in recent years, which meant that the ceremony 5) _________ (become) tedious. They changed the seating arrangements and they also tried to make the show more entertaining. A good example of this was with a mid-show pizza delivery during the 2014 ceremony. Meron and Zaiden 6) _________ (worry) about this moment since the host 7) _________ (suggest) it to them. They were relieved when it was over as they 8) _________ (not tell) the delivery boy he would be on the Oscars, so they didn’t know how he would react.
Show answers
1) had been making 2) had won 3) had accepted
4) had been taking 5) had become
6) had been worrying 7) had suggested 8) hadn’t told