Solved exercises: Past Perfect tense

These solved exercises will help you understand the form and uses of the Past Perfect Tense. You will also find a couple of exercises about American and British English differences in spelling and vocabulary.
Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: Past Perfect tense

1. When John got home, I ____ the washing up.

a.  have already done . b.  already did the washing up.

c.  have already did. d.  had already done.

2. By the time John arrived, we _____ to London, so we didn't see him.

a. have gone  b.  went .

c.  had gone  d. had went 

3. Breakfast ___ great so we were really looking forward to lunch.

a. was been  b.  had been .

c. has been  d.  had was.

 

 

Which is the correct past perfect form of these statements?

Icono de iDevice Reflexión

Forming the past perfect tense

This tense is formed by using two components: the verb HAVE in the past tense= HAD, and the past participle form of a verb. With a regular verb the past participle ends in -ED, the same as the simple past. Irregular verbs have a special past participle form that you have to learn by heart.
Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: Past Perfect: affirmative form

1. The teacher gave us the test we __________ (do) the week before.

2. I forgot to pick up the jacket I __________ (take) to the cleaner's.

3. My sister left the house after she __________ (finish) breakfast.

4. We couldn't get into the house because we __________ (lose) our keys.

5. He failed the exam because he __________ (make) a lot of mistakes.

 

Put the verbs into the correct form of the Past Perfect.

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: Past Perfect: negative form

1. He __________ ( leave) when the doctor arrived.

2. We were able to see her because she __________ ( start) working yet.

3. I was really hungry because __________ ( eat) for 8 hours.

4. Paco was really tired because he __________ ( sleep) at all.

5. My grandfather was afraid of taking a plane because he __________ ( fly) before.

Perfect landing.
By atomicshark. Creative Commons.

 

Complete the sentences above using the negative form of past perfect. Use the short form.

Icono IDevice Important

Remember the uses of the Past Perfect Tense:

Completed Action Before Something in the Past:

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past:

She liked the movie a lot because she had read the book before.

Duration Before Something in the Past with Non-Continuous Verbs:

We use the Past Perfect Tense to show that something started in the past and continued up until another action in the past:

By the time Paco finished his journey, he had been abroad for over two years.

 

 


Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: Past Perfect: interrogative form

1. Where _____ the president _____ ( live) before coming to Madrid?

2. _____ Paco ever _____ (be) to the USA?

3. _____ the students _____ ( book) their rooms before they went to New York?

4. Why _____ the children _____ ( eat) before I came home?

5. Where _____ your parents _____ (live) before you were born?

Complete the questions in Past Perfect Simple.

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: Past Perfect vs Simple Past

1. After my parents __________ ( spend) their vacations in France, they __________ ( want) to learn French.

2. When Alex and Paco ________ (arrive), the tennis match _____ already ________ ( start).

3. We __________ ( watch) our favourite film after the children __________ ( go) to bed.

4. Paco __________ ( telephone) his parents before he __________ ( leave) for his journey to Australia.

5. Sonia __________ ( teach) English to Paco when he __________ ( be) at university.

Put the verbs in brackets into the gaps in the correct tense, Past Perfect or Simple Past.

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: American English spelling
The Star and Stripes American flag.
By scruffdog1231. Creative Commons.

Remember that American spelling tends to shorten words.

program - programme / counsellor - counselor / color - colour / license - licence

catalogue - catalog / kilogramme - kilogram / center - centre / check - cheque

travelling - traveling / dialog - dialogue / defence - defense / apologise - apologize

 

Place the words above in the right column according to their spelling: American or British?

We hope these solved exercises helped you with your English. See you in topic 3.
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