Past Continuous/Past Perfect or Past Simple

Exercise 1. Make the past simple, positive, negative or question:

1. I _________________ (not / drink) any beer last night.

2. She _________________ (get on) the bus in the centre of the city.

3. What time _________________ (he / get up) yesterday?

4. Where _________________ (you / get off) the train?

5. I _________________ (not / change) trains at Victoria.

6. We _________________ (wake up) very late.

7. What _________________ (he / give) his mother for Christmas?

8. I _________________ (receive) £300 when my uncle _________________(die).

9. We _________________ (not / use) the computer last night.

10. _________________ (she / make) good coffee?

11. They _________________ (live) in Paris.

12. She _________________ (read) the newspaper yesterday.

13. I _________________ (not / watch) TV.

14. He _________________ (not / study) for the exam.

15. _________________ (he / call) you?

16. _________________ (I / forget) something?

17. What time _________________ (the film / start)?

18. He _________________ (have) a shower.

19. Why _________________ (you / come)?

20. _________________ (he / go) to the party?

Exercise 2. Make the past continuous (you need to choose positive, negative or question):

1. (he / cook)

2. (she / play cards?)

3. (I / not / cry)

4. (you / not / feel well)

5. (where / I / go when I met you?)

6. (she / not / sleeping at midnight)

7. (I / work?)

8. (you / sleep when I got home?)

9. (it / rain at lunchtime)

10. (what / you / do?)

11. (why / she / run?)

12. (you / not / read)

13. (how / we / do at that time?)

14. (he / not / watch a film at 3pm)

15. (I / do my homework at eight o’clock)

16. (where / it / rain?)

17. (you / shop when I called you)

18. (she / eat dinner when we arrived)

19. (he / live in Tokyo at the time?)

20. (it / rain?)

Exercise 3. Make the past perfect:

1. When I arrived at the cinema, the film ____________________ (start).

2. She ____________________ (live) in China before she went to Thailand.

3. After they ____________________ (eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick.

4. If you ____________________ (listen) to me, you would have got the job.

5. Julie didn’t arrive until after I ____________________ (leave).

6. When we ____________________ (finish) dinner, we went out.

7. The garden was dead because it ____________________ (be) dry all summer.

8. He ____________________ (meet) her before somewhere.

9. We were late for the plane because we ____________________ (forgot)our passports.

10. She told me that she ____________________ (study) a lot before the exam.

11. The grass was yellow because it ___________________ (not / rain) all summer.

12. The lights went off because we ___________________ (not / pay) the electricity bill.

13. The children ___________________ (not / do) their homework, so they were in trouble.

14. They ___________________ (not / eat) so we went to a restaurant.

15. We couldn’t go into the concert because we ___________________ (not / bring) our tickets.

16. She said that she ___________________ (not / visit) the UK before.

17. Julie and Anne ___________________ (not / meet) before the party.

18. I ___________________ (not / have) breakfast when he arrived.

19. He ___________________ (not / use) email before, so I showed him how to use it.

20. You ___________________ (not / study) for the test, so you were very nervous.

Exercise 4. Make past perfect simple ‘yes / no’ or ‘wh’ questions:

1. _______________________ (you / go) there before we went together?

2. _______________________ (she / see) the film already?

3. Why _______________________ (he / forgot) about the meeting?

4. _______________________ (it / be) cold all week?

5. _______________________ (I / read) the book before the class?

6. When she arrived, _______________________ (we / eat) already?

7. Where _______________________ (you / be) when I saw you?

8. _______________________ (they / travel) by bullet train before?

9. _______________________ (John / meet) Lucy before they went on holiday together?

10. _______________________ (you / do) your homework before I saw you?

11. Where _______________________ (she / work )?

12. _______________________ (I / pay) the bill before we left?

13. _______________________ (we / visit) my parents already that winter?

14. When you called, _______________________ (they / eat) dinner?

15. How _______________________ (he / manage) to fix the cooker?

16. _______________________ (my sister / be) sick for a long time?

17. How much _______________________ (she / study) before the exam?

18. What _______________________ (you / cook) for dinner that night?

19. When _______________________ (they / arrive)?

20. How many coffees _______________________ (she / drink) before the interview?

Exercise 5. Choose the past perfect, or the past simple:

1. We had already eaten when John ________________________________ (come) home.

2. Last year Juan ________________________________ (pass) all his exams.

3. When I _____________________ (get) to the airport I discovered I had forgotten my passport.

4. I went to the library, then I ________________________________ (buy) some milk and went home.

5. I opened my handbag to find that I ________________________________ (forgot) my credit card.

6. When we ________________________________ (arrive) at the station, the train had already left.

7. We got home to find that someone ________________________________ (break) into the house.

8. I opened the fridge to find someone ________________________________ (eat) all my chocolate.

9. I had known my husband for three years when we ________________________________ (get) married.

10. Julie was very pleased to see that John ________________________________ (clean) the kitchen.

11. It ________________________________ (not / rain) all summer, so the grass was completely dead.

12. When he ________________________________ (arrive) at the party, Julie had just left.

13. After arriving home, I realised I ________________________________ (not / buy) any milk.

14. The laundry was wet – it ________________________________ (rain) while I was out.

15. William felt ill last night because he ________________________________ (eat) too many cakes.

16. Keiko ________________________________ (meet) William last September.

17. First I tidied the flat, then I ________________________________ (sit) down and had a cup of coffee.

18. John _________________________ (play) the piano when he was a child, but he doesn’t play now.

19. When I opened the curtains the sun was shining but the ground was white. It ___________ (snow) during the night.

20. When Julie got home from her holiday, her flat was a mess. John__________________ (have) a party.