B1

There + Other Tenses Exercises PDFSet 3: There has been & There had been: Perfect Tenses

20 questions·14 min·Answers included·Explanations included

Preview: Questions

Fill in the blank with the correct option.

1.There ___ an accident on the motorway. The traffic is still very slow.

a) wasb) had beenc) has beend) were

2.By the time the firefighters arrived, there ___ a fire in the building for over an hour.

a) has beenb) wasc) had beend) were

3.There ___ three robberies in our neighbourhood since January.

a) have beenb) werec) had beend) was

4.There ___ a lot of rain last month.

a) wasb) had beenc) has beend) have been

5.There ___ several complaints about the noise recently.

a) had beenb) werec) have beend) was

... and 15 more questions in the PDF

Preview: Answers

1.has been

2.had been

3.have been

4.was

5.have been

... and 15 more answers in the PDF

Preview: Explanations

1."has been"(c)

The traffic is still slow now, so the accident has a connection to the present. We use present perfect 'has been'. There has been an accident on the motorway.

2."had been"(c)

The fire started before the firefighters arrived — it's the 'past before the past'. We use past perfect 'had been'.

3."have been"(a)

'Since January' signals a period from the past to now, so we use present perfect. 'Three robberies' is plural → 'have been'.

4."was"(a)

'Last month' is a finished past time. We use past simple 'was', not present perfect. There was a lot of rain last month.

5."have been"(c)

'Recently' connects the past to the present. 'Several complaints' is plural → present perfect 'have been'.

... and 15 more explanations in the PDF

Prefer practicing online?

Try our interactive exercises with instant feedback.