PAST PERFECT

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

1 The neighbours complained after the band _______________ (play) loud music for three
hours.
2 Mandy borrowed my phone because hers _______________ (stop) working.
3 Kate wasn't surprised when she received a watch for her birthday, because she
_______________ (ask) for one.
4 My friends _______________ (wait) for a long time when I finally arrived.
5 It was a relief to find the documents. I _______________ (look) for them all afternoon.
6 He was dismissed, even though, in his opinion, he _______________ (not/do) anything
wrong.
7 It was not the first time I'd met him. We _______________ (meet) many times before.
8 He called me at eleven in the evening to tell me that he _______________ (finally/find)
a solution.
9 When he _______________ (finish) his speech, he waited for the reaction of the
audience. But no one said a word.
10 By the time I came back from my business trip, a lot of things _______________
(change).
11 It was more than a month before we realised what _______________ (happen) to him.
12 We _______________ (already/work) on this project for a month before we found a
fundamental flaw.
13 I _______________ (lose) my keys, so I had to knock on the door.
14 I _______________ (look) forward to watching TV, but my brother wanted to play a
game.
15 They went to bed early because they _______________ (work) hard all day.

2 Complete the text with the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous form of the
verbs in brackets.

In December 1945, five military planes were on a training flight after they _______________
(take off) from a location in Florida in the US. The planes _______________ (fly) for about
an hour and they _______________ (travel) about 300 miles when some of their
equipment, which _______________ (work) perfectly up to that point, suddenly stopped
working. Radio contact was then lost. None of the planes or crew were ever seen again. The
official explanation is that before they vanished, the planes _______________ (fly) into an
area of unusual magnetic activity. It is believed that this _______________ (cause) their
equipment to stop working. The planes were flying over the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda
and the story of the Bermuda Triangle was born. By the mid-1970s, 16 more planes
_______________ (disappear) in the same area. And it appears that in almost all cases, the
equipment _______________ (stop) working just before the planes disappeared.

3 Adam is on holiday with his parents. He's on the phone with his sister. Complete the
conversation with the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous form of the verbs in
brackets.

BECKY: You said Dad _______________ (go) to hospital.

ADAM: Yes. I couldn't believe it when I saw him yesterday. He was all red!
BECKY: What _______________ (happen) to him?
ADAM: He _______________ (feel) ill all day, and he _______________ (fall) asleep in the
sun. He _______________ (lie) there all afternoon when I woke him up. And he was covered
in red spots. A mosquito _______________ (fly) into his bedroom. It _______________ (fly)
around his room all night, he said, and it _______________ (bite) him at least fifty times!
BECKY: _____ he __________ (forget) to close the window before he went to bed?
ADAM: No. There was a hole in the mosquito net.
BECKY: I thought he _______________ (mend) that.
ADAM: He _______________ (mend) it when mum called him for dinner last night, so he
never finished the job.
BECKY: So how did he feel when you saw him?
ADAM: He said his head _______________ (ache) all morning, and that's why he
_______________ (decide) to lie down in the sun.

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

1 Peter was Sally's best friend. She _______________ (know) him all her life.
2 The children were wet because they _______________ (play) football in the rain.
3 We were very hungry because we _______________ (not/eat).
4 I was delighted when I found my keys. I _______________ (look) for them for hours.
5 She was exhausted because she _______________ (work) since eight o'clock that
morning.
6 Everything was white because it _______________ (snow).
7 The passengers were cross because the airline _______________ (lose) everyone's bags.
8 I _______________ (not/see) Jacob for several years, but I recognised him immediately.
5 Complete the text with the past perfect simple or past perfect continuous form of the
verbs in brackets.

I'm sorry I left without you last night, but I told you to meet me early because the show
started at 8:00. I _______________ (try) to get tickets for that play for months, and I didn't
want to miss it. By the time I finally left the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet, I
_______________ (have) five cups of coffee and I _______________ (wait) for over an hour.
I had to leave because I _______________ (arrange) to meet Kathy in front of the theatre.
When I arrived at the theatre, Kathy _______________ (already/pick up) the tickets and she
was waiting for us near the entrance. She was really angry because she _______________
(wait) for more than half an hour. She said she _______________ (almost/give up) and
_______________ (go) into the theatre without us.
Kathy told me you _______________ (be) late several times in the past and that she would
not make plans with you again in the future. She mentioned that she _______________
(miss) several movies because of your late arrivals. I think you owe her an apology. And in
the future, I suggest you be on time!