Past Perfect Exercises PDFSet 5: Past Simple vs Past Perfect
20 questions·14 min·Answers included·Explanations included
Preview: Questions
Fill in the blank with the correct option.
1.When I ___ (arrive), the meeting ___ (already/start).
a) had arrived ... already startedb) arrived ... already startedc) arrived ... had already startedd) had arrived ... had already started
2.She ___ (be) tired because she ___ (not/sleep) well.
a) was ... didn't sleepb) was ... hadn't sleptc) had been ... hadn't sleptd) had been ... didn't sleep
3.I ___ (not/recognise) him because he ___ (grow) a beard.
a) didn't recognise ... grewb) didn't recognise ... had grownc) hadn't recognised ... grewd) hadn't recognised ... had grown
4.They ___ (watch) a film that evening. Earlier, they ___ (finish) dinner at a restaurant.
a) watched ... had finishedb) had watched ... finishedc) watched ... finishedd) were watching ... had finished
5.The children ___ (go) to bed. They ___ (already/do) their homework earlier that evening.
a) went ... had already doneb) went ... already didc) had gone ... already didd) were going ... had already done
... and 15 more questions in the PDF
Preview: Answers
1.arrived ... had already started
2.was ... hadn't slept
3.didn't recognise ... had grown
4.watched ... had finished
5.went ... had already done
... and 15 more answers in the PDF
Preview: Explanations
1."arrived ... had already started"(c)
Use Past Simple for the main event (arrive). Use Past Perfect for the earlier action (start). The meeting started before I arrived.
2."was ... hadn't slept"(b)
Past Simple 'was' describes her state. Past Perfect 'hadn't slept' explains the earlier cause.
3."didn't recognise ... had grown"(b)
Growing the beard happened before I saw him, so use Past Perfect. Not recognising is the main past event.
4."watched ... had finished"(a)
Watching the film is the main past event (Past Simple). 'Earlier' signals that finishing dinner happened before — use Past Perfect 'had finished' for the earlier action.
5."went ... had already done"(a)
Going to bed is the main past event (Past Simple). 'Earlier that evening' plus 'already' forces Past Perfect — the homework was completed before bedtime.
... and 15 more explanations in the PDF
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