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Past tenses 1 Bookmark and Share

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In these sentences you have to choose either the Past Simple, Past Continuous or Past Perfect. Then click the check button to see if you are right.

1. Everybody was hungry so ____ dinner as soon as we arrived home.
we had
we were having
we'd had

2. Thanks for telling me about John's birthday party. ____ about it.
I forgot
I was forgetting
I'd forgotten

3. I'm sorry I'm late, but I ____ my connecting flight from London to Manchester because the flight from Tokyo was late.
didn't catch
wasn't catching
hadn't caught

4. When I got home everyone ____ so I ate alone in the kitchen.
ate
was eating
had eaten

5. ____ a shower when the phone rang, so I had to run to get it. That's why the floor's wet.
I had
I was having
I'd had



6. It was crazy! When I arrived at the stadium, I found out that ____ the game the day before. How could they do that?
they played
they were playing
they'd played

7. "There was a really good film on TV last night. Did you see it?"
"I'm sorry. I ____. What did you say?"
didn't listen
wasn't listening
hadn't listened

8. Last year we ____ in Paris long enough to se the whole city, so this year we're going to stay there for two weeks.
didn't stay
weren't staying
hadn't stayed

9. When I checked the students' exam results, they were all good except Andrew's. It was clear that he ____ any work to prepare for it.
didn't do
wasn't doing
hadn't done

10. Terry wanted to come with me but ____ such a long time to get ready that I left without him.
he took
he was taking
he'd taken

11. That's the last time that I travel by train. It ____ five times on the way here.
stopped
was stopping
had stopped

12. This is my my wife, Jenny. ____ on the same course at university when we met.
We studied
We were studying
We'd studied


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