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ESL / EFL RESOURCES Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous

Both the past perfect and the past perfect continuous describe actions or situations that
happened before another point in time in the past.
The past perfect (had + past participle) describes an action or situation that was completed
before another action, situation or point in time.
Example: We didn't realize that we had left the bag at the train station until we got home.
The past perfect continuous (had + been + verb+ing) describes an action that had been
continuing before another action, situation or point in time.
Example: We had been waiting for over half an hour when the bus arrived.

A. Match the sentence halves together.

1. By the time I got to their bedroom, ...... a. just before my computer crashed.

2. I had saved my document ...... b. the kids had scribbled all over the wall.

3. I had been looking for my keys for a while ...... c. when I started walking across the field.

4. My back hurt ...... d. how long my tooth had hurt.

5. The dentist asked me ...... e. because I'd been shovelling snow all day.

6. It had already been raining for an hour ...... f. when I found them under the sofa.

B. Highlight the past perfect and past perfect continuous forms in the sentences above
using your PDF software's highlighting tool.

C. Complete the sentences with the past perfect or past perfect continuous form of
the verbs in brackets.

1. He didn't go on the skiing trip because he ........................................ (break) his arm.

2. When I found the remote, I ........................................ (look) for it for an hour.

3. I ........................................ (want) to visit Japan for years before I finally went there.

4. It ........................................ (snow) all day before the snow plow arrived to clear it
away so people could leave.

5. She ........................................ (run) for almost an hour, and she needed a break.

6. T
 hey were very hungry. They ........................................ (not eat) anything since the day
before.

7. W
 hen they met at the party, they realized that they ........................................ (met)
each other before.

8. Paul ........................................ (swim) one kilometer a day before he got sick.

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 PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

ESL / EFL RESOURCES Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous

D. Answer the questions using the words and expressions in brackets in the past
perfect or past perfect continuous tense.

1. Why was the field so muddy? (rain / hard / the day before)

..................................................................................................................................

2. When did you arrive? (after / storm / end)

..................................................................................................................................

3. Why didn't she recognize him? (not see / for 15 years)

..................................................................................................................................

4. When did you buy a new car? (after / save money / for a year)

..................................................................................................................................

5. Why was the little girl's face so dirty in the picture? (eat / chocolate cake)

..................................................................................................................................

6. When did they decide to come? (after / airline fares / go down)

..................................................................................................................................

7. Why was the man so happy? (just / be accepted / into medical school)

..................................................................................................................................

8. Why didn't you come running with us? (walk / all afternoon)

..................................................................................................................................

E. Complete the sentences with your own ideas using the past perfect or past perfect
continuous.

1. By the time I got back from my trip, ...........................................................................

2. He didn't have time to finish his homework because ......................................................

...............................................................................................................................

3. We didn't call the police because .................................................................................

4. When she discovered the money in the suitcase on the front porch, ................................

...............................................................................................................................

5. Although they followed the instructions, ......................................................................

6. Before the teacher arrived, ........................................................................................

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