Unit 3: PAST CONTINUOUS – PAST PERFECT

Exercise 1: Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct from: past continuous or past simple.

1. When john………….( arrive ) home, Janna ………(talk) to someone on the phone.

2. While Tom (read) …………., John (watch)……….a film on TV
3. I………( call ) Garen at nine last night, but he ( not/be)………..at home
He..........( study ) at the hospital.
4. I ........(see) Anie in school yesterday but she……….. ( not/see) me
She ……..(look) the other way
5. Shona ( come )…….. home, (turn)……..on the computer and (check)……..her emails
6. How…………(you/break ) your foot ?
7. A: What …………(you/do) this time yesterday?
B: I……….(watch) TV
8. She (turn)………..on her computer, (read)………the message on Facebook and (answer)………..it
9. We (sit)……….in the café when they saw us
10. She ( go )………to shool, (take)……our her textbook and ( begin )……..to learn
11. When he ( come)…….., I ( have )…… breakfast
12. My mom (wash)…….dishes while I ( work )……….in the garden
13. Mr Jin ( watch )……television while his wife ( read )……..a magazine
14. Darcy (talk)……..to his friends when I (see)………him
15. We ( see) ……. a bad accident while we ( wait) …….for you
16. I ( have ) ………dinner when I suddenly (hear)………a loud bang
17. That tourist ( lose )………his wallet while he ( walk )……..around the museum
18. Albert Einstein (die)…….in 1955
19. Thomas ( go )……..to the hospital twice yesterday
20. Max (fall)…….while he (go)…….down the stairs
21. A: What ( Robin, do)……..when you ( arrive ) …….there?
B: She ( write )………..a letter
22. He (have)……… her bath while his sister ( cook ) ……….
23. He ( drink ) …………. Some juice and then he (eat)……..a few chips
24. While I (write)……….the letter, the inkpot ( fall)……over
25. Mr.Shamon ( cook)…….. dinner when we ( arrive)……..
26. What (you/do)………when I (call)……….you last night?
27. While Mai (read)……….book, Hoa (watch )………. A concert on TV
28. This morning, he ( wake)……..up and (look)…………at his watch
29. When I ( have )……..lunch, the phone suddenly ( ring )…….
30. Yesterday, the car (break)……….down and we ( have )…….to walk home
31. She ( not be )………very happy last night because of having lost money
32. He ( wake )………up, (have )………a breakfast and ( go ) ……..to school
33. The receptionist ( welcome)…….. the guests and ( ask )………….. them to fill in the from
34. What ……….you (do)……at 8pm yesterday?
35. ……….(he, miss)………..the train yesterday?
36. My father ( come )…………..in, ( look )……….around and (tell)…..me to tidy up my room
37. He ( not come )………to school last week
 38. While the parents ( have )……….breakfast, their children ( run )……..
39. Martha ( turn )……. Off the lights and ( go )………..to bed
40. While I ( d0 )………… the washing up, I ( break )……… a plate
41. While Tom ( play )………the piano, his mother ( do )…….. the washing- up
42. Where ……….you ( go )……….when I saw last week?
43. I ( have )………dinner when I suddenly (hear )……a loud bang
44. While my father ( work )………..in the garden, an old friend (pass)…….by to see him
45. Yesterday I ………(cycle ) home when a man ……..(step) out into the road in front of me

Exercise 2: Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct from: past simple or past perfect

1. My parents ………….( go ) to bed when I ………….( get ) home.

2. My room was hot, so I ……..( turn ) on the air conditioner.
3. A: …………(you/meet) David at the restaurant yesterday?
B: No, he ……….(already/go) home when I ………(arrive)
4. I ……….. (feel) a little better after i………….. (take) the medicine
5. I was late. The teacher …………..( already/ get ) here when I ……….(get) to class
6. By the time the class…………….( be ) over, the rain ………..( stop).
7. When we saw that Ly was having trouble, we …………..( help) her. She ………….(be) very
appreciative
8. I was strolling along the road when I ………….( see ) a truck which…………..(break) down, so I
…………(stop) to help
9. We …………..(get) home in the evening and ………….( find ) that somebody……….(break) into my
house during this morning. So my wife………( call ) the police
10. Yesterday I ………….( go ) to the museum. I …………(be/never) to a museum before
11. They ( go ) …………….swimming after they ( finish )…………..their homework
12. I ( already/see) ……..Dr. Mike before he ( come )……….home
13. When we (come )………..to the theater, the performance ( already, begin )………
14. I (finish )……….my homework before my parents ( arrive)………….home
15. He ( come)……….so early before the semilar (begin)…………
16. After they ( go )………………, they ( turn )…………..on their computer
17. Before Marili ( watch )…………….movies, she ( d0 )………….her house chores
18. Last night Ba ( go ) ………..to the post office before he ( go )……………….home
19. When John and I got to the sradium, the concert ( already start )…………..
20. Before Ryo ( go ) ………..to sleep, he ( call )…………her friend
21. What………….. you ( do )…………before 6pm yesterday?
22. DR.RON ( teach )………..in this university before he (leave)………..for US
23. My friend ( leave )………..by the time I ( arrive )……………
24. Before Mike ( go)…………to bed, he ( read )…………..a comic book
25. You ( learn )………vietnamese before you ( move ) ……….to Hn
26. Before I ( go )……………to bed, I ( take )……………the medicine
27. After I ( finish ) ………….my house chores, I ( watch )…………….movies
28. Hariwon ( live ) …………in Korea for 20 years before she ( move)………… to VN
29. We ( not/call) …………anybody before they ( come )………….
 30. They ( finish )………….. their project before their exam
31. ( he/tell )…………you about them before the birthday party ?
32. I ( cry ) ……………….. by the time my dad ( tell )…………..me about this news?
33. She ( write )…………the letter by the time her mother (ask )………..her
34. By the time they ( come )…………. my family ( have )…………..lunch.
35. I ( not go )………….out before I ( finish )…………..my homework
36. He ( cleaned )…………the house by the time her mother came back.
37. The light ( go )…………..out before we ( get )…………out of the office
38. My parents ( not eat )…………anything at the party because they…………(eat )at home.
39. By the time my son ( go )……….to the library, he had been at home
40. We ( finish )………..our exam when the bell ( ring )
41. I only ( eat )…………lunch after I ( watch )…………..this cartoon
42. I ( already/ come)………..to VN, so I ( not to )……………with her
43. After janna ( explain )……..everything clearly, we ( start )………….our work
44. My father ( water )…………….all the plants in the garden by the time my mother ( come )
……….home
45. We………..(have) lunch before we took a look around the shops.

Exercise 3: Underline the correct answer

1. I listened/ was listening to the radio when you arrived/ was arriving.
2. When the examiner said/ was saying “ Time up “, I still tried/ was still trying to finish mt test
3. I feel really painful! While I run/was running, I fell/ was falling and broke/was breaking my foot
4. Tom played/was playing an online game when his dad called/ was calling him for dinner
5. I looked/ was looking for a file on my computer when I noticed/was noticing there was an error
6. Shyvana found/ was finding a really great page about K-pop music while she surfed/ was
surfing the internet
7. While my sister had/was having lunch near my computer, she spilled/ was spilling her cup of
coffee on the keyboard
8. When you saw/ were seeing my yesterday, I didn’t go/ wasn’t going to school, I went/was
going to the post office
9. How many photos did you take / were you taking when you travelled / were travelling around
the world
10. Why did you chat / were you chatting to Syndra while I tried / was trying to tell you something
really importain?
11. When Mini arrive / had arrived at the cinema, the film started / had started
12. She had lived / lived in SG before she went / had gone to Nha Trang
13. After we ate / had eaten seafood, we began / had begun to feel sick
14. I met / had met him before somewhere
15. My friends were / had been late for the train because we forgot / had forgotten our passports
16. The plants were / had been yellow because it had rained / rained all summer
17. The lights went / had been off because we hadn’t paid / didn’t pay the electricity bill
18. We couldn’t go into the theater because we didn’t bring / hadn’t brought our tickets
19. She didn’t use / hadn’t used computer before, so I showed her how to use it
 20. He didn’t study / hadn’t studied for the test, so he was very nervous

Exercise 4: Fill in the blanks with ‘ WHEN’ or ‘WHILE’

1. …………my father was reading a book, my mother was looking at the family album
2. I was having a shower…………my friend broke my mother’s favourite vase
3. ……….the teacher came into the classroom, some students were arguing with each other
4. I arrived home ………… all the guests were having tea and biscuits
5. ……………she was a little girl, she visited her relatives with her mother
6. I liked working in group and pairs………….i was a secondary school student
7. ………Sue was waiting for the 12 o’clock train, she met an old friend
8. The Pearsons were having a large breakfast…………the doorbell rang
9. My father was waiting in the car………..my mother was doing shopping
10. What were you doing……… the teacher looked at you suddenly?
11. …………the train left, Thomas was rushing to the station
12. The electricity went off…………… we were watching horror film
13. ………..Mathew was going to the library, he saw a car accident on Mapple Street
14. The baby boy started crying ……….his mother was cooking