40 multiple-choice questions across four sets: affirmative (had), negative (hadn't), questions + short answers, and mixed including sequence of events.
Set:
Set 1: Affirmative
Choose the correct auxiliary to complete each sentence in the Past Perfect affirmative (had + past participle).
Set:
1
She ___ already left when I arrived.
2
They ___ finished the project before the deadline.
3
By the time he called, I ___ eaten dinner.
4
We ___ never seen anything like it before.
5
He ___ lived in Paris for three years before moving to London.
6
The children ___ gone to bed before their parents came home.
7
She told me she ___ already heard the news.
8
By 2010, he ___ written three novels.
9
I ___ just finished packing when the taxi arrived.
10
After she ___ read the letter, she started to cry.
+ Affirmative
Subjecthadpast participle.
She had left before he arrived. · They had eaten. · It had happened before.
− Negative
Subjecthadn'tpast participle.
He hadn't seen it before. · We hadn't met yet. · She hadn't finished.
? Question
Hadsubjectpast participle?
Had they finished? · Had she ever been there? · Had it started?
When to use Past Perfect
Before another past action
She had already left when I arrived.
By the time he called, I had eaten.
They had been friends before they met at work.
Reported speech (backshift)
He said he had finished the report.
She told me she had never been to Rome.
They explained they had already tried.
Third conditional
If I had known, I would have helped.
If she had studied, she would have passed.
If we had left earlier, we would have arrived on time.
After wish / if only
I wish I had listened.
If only she had told the truth.
I wish we had seen each other more.
Past Perfect vs Past Simple
Past Perfect
Past Simple
Action before another past event
Action at a specific time in the past
By the time, before, after, when + sequence needed
Yesterday, last week, in 2020, at 5pm
She had left before I arrived.
She left at 8am.
By the time he called, she had finished.
She finished and then he called.
I wish I had known.
I knew it then.
Key words for Past Perfect
alreadyjustnevereverby the timebeforeafterwhenas soon asuntilby 5pmby then