Past Perfect Continuous Exercises PDFSet 6: Narrative Tenses Review
20 questions·15 min·Answers included·Explanations included
Preview: Questions
Fill in the blank with the correct option.
1.When I ___ (arrive) at the station, the train ___ (already / leave).
a) arrived ... was already leavingb) arrived ... had already leftc) had arrived ... was leavingd) was arriving ... already left
2.She ___ (look) tired because she ___ (work) all night.
a) looked ... had been workingb) was looking ... workedc) had looked ... had been workingd) looked ... was working
3.While I ___ (walk) home, I ___ (meet) an old friend.
a) walked ... metb) walked ... was meetingc) had been walking ... metd) was walking ... met
4.The ground ___ (be) wet because it ___ (rain) all morning.
a) was ... was rainingb) was ... has rainedc) was ... had been rainingd) had been ... was raining
5.I ___ (read) a book when the phone ___ (ring).
a) read ... rangb) was reading ... rangc) had read ... was ringingd) read ... was ringing
... and 15 more questions in the PDF
Preview: Answers
1.arrived ... had already left
2.looked ... had been working
3.was walking ... met
4.was ... had been raining
5.was reading ... rang
... and 15 more answers in the PDF
Preview: Explanations
1."arrived ... had already left"(b)
Use Past Simple for the main event ('arrived') and Past Perfect for the earlier completed action ('had already left').
2."looked ... had been working"(a)
Use Past Simple for the observation ('looked') and Past Perfect Continuous for the ongoing action that caused it.
3."was walking ... met"(d)
Use Past Continuous for the background action ('was walking') and Past Simple for the interrupting event ('met').
4."was ... had been raining"(c)
Use Past Simple for the state ('was wet') and Past Perfect Continuous for the earlier ongoing cause ('had been raining all morning'). 'Has rained' (Present Perfect) is wrong in a past narrative.
5."was reading ... rang"(b)
Use Past Continuous for the ongoing activity ('was reading') and Past Simple for the sudden interruption ('rang'). 'Had read ... was ringing' reverses the tense logic incorrectly.
... and 15 more explanations in the PDF
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