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Past Simple or Past Perfect

The document provides examples of sentences using different tenses in English including the past simple, past perfect, past continuous, and simple past versus past continuous. There are over 30 examples illustrating how to use these tenses in sentences when recounting events that took place entirely in the past. The examples cover a wide range of scenarios involving actions that were ongoing, completed, or had already happened by a certain past time. A second section of the document focuses specifically on examples differentiating between the simple past and past continuous tenses.

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Ana Kos
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590 views4 pages

Past Simple or Past Perfect

The document provides examples of sentences using different tenses in English including the past simple, past perfect, past continuous, and simple past versus past continuous. There are over 30 examples illustrating how to use these tenses in sentences when recounting events that took place entirely in the past. The examples cover a wide range of scenarios involving actions that were ongoing, completed, or had already happened by a certain past time. A second section of the document focuses specifically on examples differentiating between the simple past and past continuous tenses.

Uploaded by

Ana Kos
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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past simple or past perfect

1. When their mum _______________ (come) home last night, the children _______________ (eat)
their dinner.
2. Yesterday I _______________ (see) a woman who _______________ (be) at school with my
grandfather. Isn't it strange?
3. It started to rain and I _______________ (remember) that I _______________ (forget) to close my
bedroom window.
4. I _______________ (find) a book that I ______ never _______________ (read)
5. We _______________ (try) to change the plane tickets but it was too late they ______ already
___________ (edit) the boarding pass.
6. I _______________ (think) I _______________ (met) this girl before.

1) We had already eaten when John ___________________ (come) home. .


2) Last year Juan ____________________ (pass) all his exams. .
3) When I ________________________ (get) to the airport I discovered I had
forgotten my passport. .
4) I went to the library, then I _______________(buy) some milk and went home. .
5) I opened my handbag to find that I ___________________(forget) my credit card. .
6) When we ___________________ (arrive) at the station, the train had already left. .
7) We got home to find that someone _____________________ (break) into the
house. .
8) I opened the fridge to find that someone ______________________ (eat) all my
chocolate. .
9) I had known my husband for three years when we ___________________ (get)
married. .
10) Julie was very pleased to see that John __________________ (clean) the kitchen.
.
11) It ________________________ (rain) all summer, so the grass was completely
dead. .

12) When he _____________________ (arrive) at the party, Julie had just left. .
13) After arriving home, I realised I ________________(buy) any milk. .
14) The laundry was wet - it _____________________ (rain) while I was out. .
15) William felt ill last night because he ____________________ (eat) too many
cakes. .
16) Keiko ___________________ (meet) William last September. .
17) First I tidied the flat, then I __________________ (sit) down and had a cup of
coffee.
18) John _________________ (play) the piano when he was a child, but he doesn't
play now. .
19) When I opened the curtains the sun was shining and the ground was white. It
_____________________ (snow) during the night. .
20) When Julie got home from her holiday, the flat was a mess. John______________
(have) a party.

THE PAST SIMPLE VS. THE PAST CONTINUOUS.


1.- I lit the fire at 6.00 and it ___________________ (burn) brightly when Tom came in at 7.00.
2.- I ___________________ (make) a cake when the light went out. I had to finish it in the dark.
3.- I didn't want to meet Paul so when he entered the room I ___________________ (leave)
4.- He (watch) TV when the phone rang. He ___________________ (turn) down the sound and
___________________ (go) to answer ti.
5.- He always ___________________ (wear) a raincoat and ___________________ (carry) his
umbrella when he walked to the office.
6.- He ___________________ (play) the guitar outside her house when someone opened the window
and ___________________ (throw) out a bucket of water.
7.- I just ___________________ (open) the letter when the wind ___________________ (blow) it out
of my hand.
8.-The burglar ___________________ (open) the safe when he ___________________ (hear)
footsteps.
He immediately ___________________ (put) out his torch and (___________________crawl)
under the bed.
9.- When I ___________________ (look) for my passport I ___________________ (find) this old
2

photograph.
10.- He___________________ (clean) his gun when it accidentally ___________________ (go) off
and ___________________ (kill) him.
11.- As I ___________________ (cross) the road I ___________________ (step) on a banana skin
and ___________________ (fall) heavily.
12.- I ___________________ (call) Paul at 7.00 but it wasn't necessary because he already
___________________ (get) up.
13.- While the guests ___________________ (dance) thieves___________________ (break) into the
house and___________________ (steal) a lot of fur coats.
14.- The murderer ___________________ (carry) the corpse down the stairs when
he___________________ (hear) a knock on the door.
15.- While I ___________________ (cook) breakfast he ___________________ (read) the
newspaper.

SIMPLE PAST/PAST CONTINUOUS & PAST PERFECT


1. I decided to learn English when we (live) _________________ in Sydney.
2. I (drive) ________________ my car for more than 11 hours when we reached the border.
3. The competitors (shake) _________________ hands after the ceremony ended.
4. I went to the box office at lunch-time, but they (already, sell) _______________ all the tickets.
5. Prof. Powell (teach) ______________ his grammar class for 20 minutes only when an explosion
occurred in the main hall of the building.
6. I saw them as I (drive) ______________to work.
7. Unfortunately his girlfriend was not there because she (already, leave) ______________ when he
arrived.
8. I saw her at the party and I realised that we (already, meet) ______________one week earlier.
9. When John arrived, I (still, work) ______________in the garden.
10. Cindy started to feel very cold because she (stand) ______________ in the snow for over three
hours.

SIMPLE PAST/PAST CONTINUOUS & PAST PERFECT


Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who _____________ (be) usually very late in the mornings, save upon those
not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I
______________ (stand) upon the hearth-rug and ______________ (pick up) the stick which our
visitor ______________ (leave) behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood,
bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer." Just under the head
______________ (be) a broad silver band nearly an inch across. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from
his friends of the C.C.H.," was ______________ (engrave) upon it, with the date "1884." It was just
such a stick as the old fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified, solid, and reassuring.

"Well, Watson, what ______________ (you make) of it?"

Holmes ______________ (sit) with his back to me, and I ______________ (give) him no sign of my
occupation.

"How ______________ (you know) what I ______________ (do)? I ______________ (believe) you
have eyes in the back of your head."

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