Ejemplos:

He had been waiting for an hour before her phone call. Había estado esperando
durante una hora antes de su llamada.
Mike   hadn’t   been   running   for   the   marathon.   Mike no habiá estado corriendo
para la maratón.
Usos del Pasado Perfecto Continuo
. Se utiliza para hablar de una acción continua y que es anterior a un punto
específico del pasado. Indica que la acción continuaba hasta el momento de la
acción principal que suele ser otra oración en pasado simple.
Ejemplos:
He finally arrived alter I had been waiting for 3 hours. Finalmente llegó después
de que había estado esperando durante 3 horas.
It was now six and she was tired because she had been working since 5 am.
Eran las 6 y estaba cansado porqué había estado trabajando desde las 5.

EJERCICIOS
1. Complete with PAST PERFECT or PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
2. Astronauts (fly) ............... through space for hours.
3. The boys (steal) ............... the bicycles.
4. They (have) ............... a long and uncomfortable trip.
5. The beggar (find) ............... five bottles of beer.
6. He (show) ............... me the content of the parcel.
7. My sister Ann (begin) ............... her diet a week ago.
8. She (think) ............... a good idea.
9. The postman (deliver) ............... my letter.
10. He (retire) ............... from political life.
11. Alice (leave) ............... her bag on a chair.

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 2. Fill in the gaps with PAST PERFECT or PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

1. She (buy) ............... a new pair of red shoes.

2. We (have) ............... lunch at a village inn.
3. He (drink) ............... whisky before dinner.
4. My sister (lose) ............... U$S 50 in the street.
5. The children (kick) ............... a ball very hard.
6. My mother (receive) ............... a letter from Canada.
7. My father (give) ............... me some money.
8. Jenny (finish) ............... her job at the office.
9. They (enjoy) ............... Roy's party.
10. Pupils (learn) ............... the English lesson.

3. Complete the following sentences with PRESENT PERFECT,

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS, PAST PERFECT and PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. It is already  9:30  and  I  (wait)……………………….  here  for  over  an  hour.  If  
Juan  doesn’t  arrive  in  five  minutes,  I  leave.

2.   Did   you   hear   that   Ben   was   fired?   He   (work)………….   for   an   important  
company   for  more   than   ten   years   and   he   (work)……………in   almost   every  
department.

3. I  (see)……………..  many  pictures  of  the  Pyramids  before  I  went  to  Egypt.  
Pictures of the monuments are very misleading. Pyramids are quite small.

4. When Melanie came into the office yesterday, her eyes were red and
watery.  I  think  she  (cry)……………….

5. Sarah (climb)………………the   Matterhorn,   (sail)………………around   the  

world  and  (go)……………on  Safari  in  Kenya  by  the  time  she  turned  25.  She  
(experience)……………..more   by   that   age   than   most   people   do   in   their  
entire lives.

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 4. Complete with PAST PERFECT or PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

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)…………… over an hour. I had to leave because I
(arrange)………….  to  meet  Kathy  in  front  of  the  theater.

When I arrived at the theater, Kathy (pick, already)…………… 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   (give,  
almost)…………..  up  and  (go)…………….  into  the  theater  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!

5. Complete with PAST SIMPLE or PAST PERFECT

1.- (immigrate) He ___________________ to Toronto five years ago.

2.- (look) When he finally found a good job there, he _________________

for more than a year.

3.- (have) He was eventually able to find a good job because he

______________________a good education in his native country.

4.- (be) His first day at work _____________________very exciting.

5.- (see) I ______________________ a very good movie a couple of nights

ago.

6.- (see)  We  didn’t  want  to  watch  the  late  movie  on  TV  last  night  because  we  
______________________________ it already at the theater.

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 7.- (take) I ___________________ three aspirins an hour ago.

8.- (take) My headache went away because I ________________________

some aspirins.

9.- (eat) I ______________________ chicken for dinner last night.

10.- (eat) When I got home late last night, everyone in my family
_____________________already.

11.- (do) I __________________________ my homework last night.

12.- (do) I was able to go to the game yesterday because I

________________________ my homework the night before.

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www.academic-englishuk.com

Past perfect simple & continuous Exercise 1

(Intermediate level)

Put the verbs in brackets into their correct forms.

1. After I _____________________ the letter, I _____________________ that I ________________

the wrong address on it. (post, realise, write)
2. John asked me where I _____________________ the day before. (be)
3. At this time yesterday, we ___________________________ for 6 km. (already walk)
4. When I _____________________ through the streets of Madrid, I _____________________
about the magnificent time I _____________________ there as a student. (walk, think, spend)
5. It was the first time that she _____________________ me to dinner. (invite)
6. As soon as the maid _____________________ scrubbing the kitchen floor, she
_______________ working in the garden. (finish, start)
7. We started to worry about Jimmy because we _____________________ him all afternoon. (call)
8. They _____________________ their way out of town before the sun __________________.
(already make, rise)
9. We _____________________ for two hours when we finally got to our hotel. (drive)
10. When I _____________________ home, I saw that the children _______________________.
(arrive, leave)
11. While I _____________________ in the garden it __________________ me that I ____________
off the oven. (work, strike, not turn)
12. I _____________________ my best friend to the party, but he couldn't come because he
_____________________ other plans. (invite, already make)
13. I _____________________ out of the window because I _____________________ I
_____________________ some noises. (look, think, hear)
14. We _____________________ TV when we saw that a devastating earthquake
________________ California. (watch, hit)
15. The police told me that someone __________________ into our neighbour's house. (break)
16. When I finally _____________________ at the airport, he told me that he
_____________________ for half an hour. (arrive, wait)

Adapted from: www.english-grammar.at

www.academic-englishuk.com/grammar-workshop
www.academic-englishuk.com

Past perfect simple & continuous Exercise 2

(Advanced level)

Put the verbs in brackets into their correct forms.

1. We were all happy because we __________________ in our homework in time. (HAND)

2. Mrs Shilton __________________ a primary school teacher for twenty years before she became
headmaster of the school. (BE)
3. When we got there, we saw that they ______________________ for over 20 minutes. (REST)
4. We ________________________ dance moves for over two hours, so you can imagine we were
very tired. (PRACTICE)
5. The film ______________________ when we finally got to the cinema. (ALREADY START)
6. By the time I __________________ to school the lesson had already started. (GET)
7. I ____________________________ up for a few minutes when the doorbell rang and our friends
arrived. (ONLY WASH)
8. He __________________ about the accident before he saw it on TV. (HEAR)
9. I __________________ the office after I had finished writing my last email. (LEAVE)
10.The car __________________ down shortly after we had got on the motorway. (BREAK)
11.We _________________________ for an hour when we finally arrived at the remote village.
(WALK)
12.I saw the film after I __________________ the book. (READ)
13.I had already thought of that before you __________________ it up. (BRING)
14.She was so tired because she _________________________ football the whole afternoon. (PLAY)
15.As soon as the girls had cleaned the house the visitors __________________. (ARRIVE)
16.By the time I was 16 I ______________________ to become a scientist. (ALREADY DECIDE)
17.Suddenly I realised that I _________________________ at the wrong person. He was absolutely
innocent. (SHOUT)
18.I ____________________ from my job because I had received an offer from another company.
(RESIGN)
19.The teacher gave us a break because we ______________________ on the project for several
hours. (WORK)
20.After dad had finished mowing the lawn, he ____________________ repairing the car. (START)

Adapted from: www.english-grammar.at

www.academic-englishuk.com/grammar-workshop
www.academic-englishuk.com

Answer Key Exercise 2

1. We were all happy because we had handed in our homework in time. (HAND)
2. Mrs Shilton had been a primary school teacher for twenty years before she became headmaster
of the school. (BE)
3. When we got there, we saw that they had been resting for over 20 minutes. (REST)
4. We had been practicing dance moves for over two hours, so you can imagine we were very tired.
(PRACTICE)
5. The film had already started when we finally got to the cinema. (ALREADY START)
6. By the time I got to school the lesson had already started. (GET)
7. I had only been washing up for a few minutes when the doorbell rang and our friends arrived.
(ONLY WASH)
8. He had heard about the accident before he saw it on TV. (HEAR)
9. I left the office after I had finished writing my last email. (LEAVE)
10.The car broke down shortly after we had got on the motorway. (BREAK)
11.We had been walking for an hour when we finally arrived at the remote village. (WALK)
12.I saw the film after I had read the book. (READ)
13.I had already thought of that before you brought it up. (BRING)
14.She was so tired because she had been playing football the whole afternoon. (PLAY)
15.As soon as the girls had cleaned the house the visitors arrived. (ARIVE)
16.By the time I was 16 I had already decided to become a scientist. (ALREADY DECIDE)
17.Suddenly I realised that I had been shouting at the wrong person. He was absolutely innocent.
(SHOUT)
18.I resigned from my job because I had received an offer from another company. (RESIGN)
19.The teacher gave us a break because we had been working on the project for several hours.
(WORK)
20.After dad had finished mowing the lawn, he started repairing the car. (START)

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