Past Tenses and Used To: B1 Exercises

Every answer with the reason behind it. Read the explanation for the ones you got right as well — that is where you find out whether you were right for the right reason.

Multiple choice questions — answers

1. While I ___ dinner, the doorbell rang. → was cooking

The past continuous provides the longer background action that a past simple event interrupts.

2. She ___ in Prague for years before she moved to Vienna. → had lived

Before another past event, the earlier situation takes the past perfect.

3. I ___ play the trumpet, but I gave it up at eighteen. → used to

Used to marks a past habit that has stopped. The base form follows it.

4. He is not ___ to driving on the left. → used

Be used to means 'be accustomed to' and is followed by a noun or an -ing form.

5. The sun ___ when we finally reached the summit. → was setting

The past continuous paints the scene in progress at the moment of arrival.

6. Which sentence is correct? → I didn't use to like olives.

After did, the verb returns to its base form: use, without the d.

7. When I got home, someone ___ through my window. → was climbing

The past continuous shows the action already under way as the speaker arrived.

8. We ___ spend every August at my grandmother's cottage. → would

Would can replace used to for a repeated past action, though not for a past state.

9. Which of these cannot be rewritten with would? → We used to own a caravan.

Would works for repeated actions but not for states such as owning something.

10. By the time the police arrived, the thieves ___. → had escaped

The escape was complete before the arrival, so it takes the past perfect.

11. I was exhausted because I ___ since five that morning. → had been working

The past perfect continuous explains a past state by the duration of an earlier activity.

12. 'She was living in Rome' rather than 'she lived in Rome' suggests the stay was ___. → temporary

The continuous marks a limited or temporary period, exactly as it does in the present.

13. They ___ television when the power went off. → were watching

A long action interrupted by a short one: continuous for the long, simple for the short.

14. I ___ to the noise of the traffic now, though it kept me awake at first. → am used

Be used to in the present describes a state of being accustomed that exists now.

15. He realised that he ___ his wallet at the restaurant. → had left

The past perfect places the loss before the moment of realisation.

16. What ___ you doing at ten o'clock last night? → were

A question about an action in progress at a stated past time takes the past continuous.

17. Choose the natural narrative sequence. → I opened the door and saw him.

Two consecutive events in a story both take the past simple.

18. There ___ to be a bakery on this corner. → used

There used to be describes something that existed in the past and no longer does.

19. She spoke as though she ___ the film before. → had seen

As though with an earlier past reference takes the past perfect.

20. The children ___ quietly while their mother worked. → were playing

Two simultaneous background actions in the past both take the continuous.

Fill-in-the-blank questions — answers

1. I ___ reading when the lights suddenly went out. → was

The past continuous gives the longer action that a sudden event interrupts.

2. She ___ to live in Manchester before the family moved south. → used

Used to marks a past state that has now ended.

3. By nine o'clock everybody ___ already gone home. → had

The past perfect places the departure before the stated past time.

4. We didn't ___ to have a car when I was a child. → use

After didn't, used loses its d and returns to the base form.

5. The kitchen was warm because somebody ___ been baking. → had

The past perfect continuous explains a past condition by an earlier activity.

6. He is not ___ to getting up at five in the morning. → used

Be used to means accustomed to, and takes an -ing form after it.

7. What ___ you doing when I called yesterday? → were

A past action in progress at a specific moment takes the past continuous.

8. They ___ walk five miles to school every day in those years. → would

Would expresses a repeated past action, though it cannot express a past state.

9. The train ___ left by the time we reached the station. → had

The earlier of two past events takes the past perfect.

10. I ___ never seen so much snow before that morning. → had

Before a stated past point, an experience takes the past perfect.

11. It ___ raining hard when the referee abandoned the match. → was

The past continuous supplies the conditions surrounding a past event.

12. There ___ to be a cinema where the supermarket stands now. → used

There used to be describes something that existed in the past but does not now.

13. She looked as though she ___ been crying. → had

An appearance explained by an earlier activity takes the past perfect continuous.

14. While my parents ___ arguing, I quietly left the room. → were

The past continuous describes the ongoing situation the speaker escaped.

15. He ___ smoke twenty a day until his doctor intervened. → used to

A past habit that has stopped, introduced by used to plus the base verb.

16. Nobody ___ warned us about the roadworks, so we were late. → had

The past perfect marks the missing warning as prior to the lateness.

17. I ___ getting used to the cold, but then winter really started. → was

Was getting used to describes a process of becoming accustomed in the past.

18. The dog barked all night, which ___ why we look so tired. → is

A past cause can have a present result, and the result clause returns to the present.

19. When I was young I ___ to spend every summer by the sea. → used

Used to introduces a repeated past holiday habit that has ended.

20. They ___ been driving for six hours when the engine failed. → had

The past perfect continuous measures how long an activity had lasted before a past event.

Sentence structure: word ordering — answers

1. Interrupt a long action with a short one. → I was cooking when the phone rang.

Interrupt a long action with a short one.

2. Describe a past habit that has stopped. → She used to play the cello at school.

Describe a past habit that has stopped.

3. Put one past event before another. → The film had already started when we arrived.

Put one past event before another.

4. Use the alternative to used to for repeated actions. → We would spend every Christmas in Scotland.

Use the alternative to used to for repeated actions.

5. Say somebody has not become accustomed to something. → He is not used to working nights.

Say somebody has not become accustomed to something.

6. Set the weather scene for a journey. → It was snowing heavily as we set off.

Set the weather scene for a journey.

7. Measure a duration before a past event. → They had been waiting for hours before anyone came.

Measure a duration before a past event.

8. Make the past habit negative correctly. → I did not use to enjoy classical music.

Make the past habit negative correctly.

9. Describe something that no longer exists. → There used to be a post office here.

Describe something that no longer exists.

10. Contrast two things happening in the past. → While she was studying, her brother watched television.

Contrast two things happening in the past.

11. Report a discovery about an earlier oversight. → He realised he had forgotten the tickets.

Report a discovery about an earlier oversight.

12. Ask about an action in progress at a past time. → What were you doing at midnight?

Ask about an action in progress at a past time.

13. Explain a past scene by an earlier action. → The streets were empty because everyone had left.

Explain a past scene by an earlier action.

14. Say you have become accustomed to something. → I am used to the noise now.

Say you have become accustomed to something.

15. Put two story events in sequence. → She opened the letter and read it twice.

Put two story events in sequence.

16. Describe a past possession, not a past action. → We used to own a boat on the canal.

Describe a past possession, not a past action.

17. Describe a situation found on arrival. → The children were sleeping when we got back.

Describe a situation found on arrival.

18. Explain ignorance by a prior failure. → Nobody had told him about the meeting.

Explain ignorance by a prior failure.

19. Describe a process of becoming accustomed. → He was gradually getting used to the climate.

Describe a process of becoming accustomed.

20. Notice something during a longer action. → As I was leaving, I noticed the open window.

Notice something during a longer action.