Practice Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous

1. Match parts of the sentences.

   1. Fleming was studying influenza.....................

   2. Columbus discovered America.....................

   3. Hillary and Tenzing reached the top of Everest.............

   4. Scott reached the South Pole in 1912.................

   5. Franklin was flying a kite when...................

   6. Before Columbus discovered America..................

   7. Newton made his great discovery .............

   8. Climbers had been trying to cinquer Everest.................

a. after they had been climbing for several days.

1. when he discovered penicilin.

2. but Amundsen had beaten him by a month.

3. though at first he believed he had reached Asia.

4. he discovered the principle of the lightning conductor.

5. and several had lost their lives in the attempt.

6. people had believed that the Earth ws flat.

7. while he was sitting uder an apple tree.

2. Complete the sentences using the Past Continuos, Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous. Use the verb given in brackets. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

   1. They stood under the shelter because it ...................... (rain).

   2. The roads were wet because it .............. (rain) all night.

   3. He was broke. He ................. (spend) all his money.

   4. I.................. (have) a nightmare when thae alarm went off and woke me up.

   5. His hands were covered in oil because he............... (try) to fix the car all morning. Unfortnately, he ................... (manage) to make it start.

   6. When she opened the window she was happy to see it ................ (snow) lightly. In fact, it.................. (snow) all night and snow ................. (cover) all the rooftops.

   7. When Mrs Morgan came into the classroom, the pupils ................. (run) around and ....................(scream) at the tops of their voices. They ...................... (knock) over chairs and desks and someone ..................... (draw) funny pictures on the board.

   8. Although I ..................... (set) off early, I got there late and everyone ...............(wait) for me to start the meeting; the chairperson told me they ..................... (wait) for a whole hour.

   9. When we got back from our holiday we discovered that someone ............... 9break) into the house. The burglars, however, ......................(drop) a piece of paper with an address on it as they .................... (climb) out of the window.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous.

The sun 1) was shining (shine) and the birds 2) .................. (sing) as Mike 3) (drive) down the country lane. He 4)............... (smile), because he 5)................... (look forward) to the journey ahead. Mike 6) ....................... (enjoy) driving, especially when he 7) ....................... (go) somewhere new.then, suddenly, the engine 8) ..................... (begin) to make a strange noise and the car 9) ....................... (stop) dead in the middle of the road. Mike 10)............. (try) to start it, but nothing 11)........................ (happen). He 12) .................. (sigh), then 13) ....................(get out) the car. As he 14) ......................(push) the car to the side of the road, Mike 15) ................. (start) to wish he stayed at home.