Comparing Past Tenses

A. Choose the correct tenses to complete the sentences below:

1. I told John not to drive because he ________ all night.

a) Drank
b) Was drinking
c) Had drunk
d) Had been drinking

2. Why did you change the channel? I _______that movie.

a) Watched
b) Was watching
c) Had watched
d) Had been watching

3. When I _____out of the shower, the light ____________.

a) Got/ were getting off
b) Had got/ were getting off
c) Was getting/ Went off
d) Had been getting/ had got off.

4. When I saw Clara I realised that she _______ much in all those years.
a) Didn’t change
b) Wasn’t changing
c) Hadn’t changed
d) Hadn’t been changing

5. When he entered the room, somebody ______him in the head.

a) Hit
b) Was hitting
c) Had hit
d) Had been hitting

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6. He admitted that he ______all the money from the box.
a) Took
b) Was taking
c) Had taken
d) Had been taking

7. The burglar ______to open the safe when he _____ the owner come in.
a) Was trying/ heard
b) Tried/ heard
c) Had been trying/ had heard
d) Tried / Was hearing

8. I knew _________ becauase his eyes were red.

a) Cried
b) Was crying
c) Had cried
d) Had been crying

9. The plane in which the football team _______crashed and none of them survived.
a) Travelled
b) Were travelling
c) Had travelled
d) Had been travelling

10. We _________ for about 20 minutes when the plane was hit by turbulence.
a) Flew
b) Were flying
c) Had flewn
d) Had been flying

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B. Choose the correct option to complete the text below (You can find the
multiple options after the text)

Many years ago I (1)________ to spend New Year’s Eve with my family. I (2) ________ new
year with my parents but I had nowhere to go, and being with my family seemed preferable to
being on my own.

When my parents (3) ________ the door I could see they (4) ________ and that they were
genuinely happy to see me. I (5) ________ addicted to heroin for 10 years, and for them,
seeing me was the confirmation that I wasn’t dead in an alley. Unfortunately, I (6) ________
nothing new or exciting to tell them, just the same sad stories. I (7) ________ from crappy job
to crappy job, being invariably sacked, and I (8) ________ to crime whenever I was out of
money. Same old, same old.

During dinner, I (9) ________ a few glassfuls of whisky. I (10) ________ something to make
ease the pain, because the whole evening my sisters (11) ________ at me with such contempt
that it was unbearable. My own sisters (12) ________ me. Then I had a moment of
realisation; I (13) ________ that they would never hate me as much as I hated myself.

When we finished dinner, I (14) ________ my glass. ”I’m going into rehab,” I said. My
parents (15) ________ at me with some kind of hope. Parents never lose hope. But my sisters
just (16) ________ down with disdain. They (17) ________ perfectly well that I had been in
rehab centers many times before, and that this time wouldn’t be different.

But this time it was different. After that day, I (18) ________ that look in my sisters’eyes
every day, every time! I (19) ________ to shoot some heroin. 10 years later, on a New Year’s
Eve, I thanked my sisters because they (20) ________ my life. They kissed me with their new
look in their eyes, the look of love.

1. A. Decided, B. Was deciding; C. Had decided

2. A. Didn’t normally spent; B. Wasn’t normally spending; C. Hadn’t normally spent
3.A. Opened; B. Were opening; C. Had been opening
4.A. Smiled; B. Had smiled; C. Were smiling
5. A. Was; B. Had been; C. Was being.
6. A. Was having; B. Had Had; C. Had

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7. A. Had been going; B. Was going; C. Went
8. A. Had been resorting; B. Was resorting; C. Resorted
9. A. Was drinking up; B. Drank up; C. Had drink up
10. A. Was needing; B. Needed; C.Had needed
11. A. Had looked; B. Had been looking; C.Looked
12. A. Were hating; B. Had hated; C. Hated
13. A. Was discovering; B. Had discovered; C.Discovered
14. A. Was raising; B. Had raised; C. Raised
15.A. Had looked; B. Had been looking; C. Looked
16. A. Had looked; B. Looked C. Had been looking;
17. A. Were knowing; B. Had known; C. Knew
18. A. Remembered; B. Was remembering; C. Had remembered
19. A. Had wanting; B. Wanted; C. Was wanting
20.A. Had been saving; B. Were saving; C. Had saved

C. Fill in the gaps with the most appropriate narrative tenses of the verbs in
brackets: past simple, past continuous, past perfect simple or past perfect
continuous.

We thought that we were on the right path when suddenly we (1)____________ (run into) a
very familiar rock and (2)___________ (realise) that we (3)___________ (walk) in circles
for quite a long time. We (4)___________ (be) totally lost, and the fact that we
(5)___________ (already/finish) our water provisions wasn’t very promising.

We (6)___________(decide) to go uphill because according to John, it would be easier to

spot a way out from an elevated point. We (7)___________(learn) that from a documentary
he (8)___________ (see) about survival. But what the documentary (9)___________ (not
teach) John was that maybe it’s not such a good idea to go up a mountain when you are
exhausted and waterless.

We (10)___________(trek) one mile when we (11)___________ (started) to have a horrible

feeling that that might be our last trek. Of course, we (12) ___________ (say) anything, but
we could see in each other’s eyes that at that precise moment we (13) ___________ (think)

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precisely the same. We couldn’t walk any longer, so we (14) ___________ (decide) to sit and
rest, quietly, because neither of us wanted to share any of our gloomy thoughts.

”Hello, can I help you?” We suddenly (15)___________ (hear). We (16) ___________(raise)

our heads and (17)___________ (see) a little man with slanted eyes and a childish grin. He
(18) ___________ (stand) right next to us. I wondereed where he (19) ___________ (come)
from and how long he (20) ___________ (stand) here. But it didn’t matter really, because we
were safe.