Advanced Past Tenses: B2 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. By the time the inspectors reached the warehouse, the manager ___ every relevant file. → had shredded

The past perfect marks an action completed before the later past event in the same sentence.

2. His eyes were bloodshot — he ___ at a screen for nine hours without a break. → had been staring

Past evidence of an activity that ran up to that past moment takes the past perfect continuous.

3. We ___ by the coast, and every evening we ___ along the shore before supper. → used to live / would walk

Used to covers past states; would covers only repeated actions, so live cannot take would.

4. I ___ to call you last night, but I heard you were away at the conference. → was going

Was going to reports an intention that was formed in advance and then abandoned.

5. She ___ to leave when the call from Geneva came through. → was about

Was about to describes being on the very point of acting when something interrupts.

6. Which sentence correctly places two past events in sequence? → When I arrived, the meeting had already started.

The earlier of two past events takes the past perfect; the later one stays in the past simple.

7. The orchestra ___ the second movement when the power failed across the entire building. → was playing

The past continuous supplies the background action that a sudden past simple event interrupts.

8. Which sentence is INCORRECT? → He would own a small vineyard.

Would cannot express a past state; ownership is a state, so only used to works there.

9. Nobody realised how ill he ___ until the obituary appeared in the paper. → had been

The illness preceded the realisation, so the earlier state takes the past perfect.

10. She ___ for the same firm for eleven years before the takeover was announced. → had been working

Duration running up to a stated past point takes the past perfect continuous.

11. The difference between 'I was reading when she called' and 'I had read when she called' is that ___. → in the first the reading was still going on, in the second it was finished

The past continuous leaves the action unfinished; the past perfect closes it before the other event.

12. As a child I ___ terrified of thunderstorms, though I ___ hide it well. → used to be / would

A past state needs used to be, and a repeated past action can take would.

13. The train ___ for twenty minutes before anyone thought to make an announcement. → had been standing

A period of time completed before a later past event takes the past perfect continuous.

14. Which sentence reports an intention that was never carried out? → We were going to move to Cardiff, but the offer fell through.

Was going to plus a contradicting clause is the standard way to report an abandoned plan.

15. It ___ heavily all night, so by dawn the lower fields ___ completely. → had been raining / had flooded

Both clauses sit before the narrative's present, so both take perfect forms in the past.

16. He insisted he ___ the email, although the server log said otherwise. → had never received

Reported speech about a still earlier past shifts the past simple back to the past perfect.

17. Which sentence uses the past continuous for a temporary situation rather than an interruption? → That summer I was working nights at a bakery in Leeds.

That summer frames a temporary arrangement with no interrupting event at all.

18. Only after the accounts ___ audited did the discrepancy come to light. → had been

The audit preceded the discovery, so the passive takes the past perfect after the fronted only.

19. I ___ the film before, so I knew exactly which scene she meant. → had seen

Before signals an event earlier than the past narrative, which is the past perfect's job.

20. Which sentence describes a habit that has definitely stopped? → I used to go running before work.

Used to always implies the habit belongs to the past and no longer continues.

Fill-in-the-blank questions — answers

1. By the time we reached the platform, the last service ___ already left. → had

The past perfect is had plus the past participle and marks the earlier of two past events.

2. She ___ to work in television before she retrained as an architect. → used

Used to introduces a finished past occupation, which is a state rather than an action.

3. Every Sunday my grandfather ___ take us to the harbour to watch the boats come in. → would

Would expresses a repeated past action, which is exactly what a weekly outing is.

4. The kitchen was full of smoke because something ___ been burning for some time. → had

The perfect continuous in the past uses had plus been plus the -ing form.

5. I ___ about to sign the contract when my solicitor rang with a warning. → was

Was about to describes an action interrupted at the very last moment.

6. They ___ going to expand into Poland, but the currency collapsed first. → were

A plural subject takes were with going to for an intention that was dropped.

7. While the delegates ___ debating the amendment, reporters filed their copy from the corridor. → were

The past continuous supplies the longer background activity that a past simple event happens inside.

8. He denied that he ___ ever met the claimant, which the photographs disproved. → had

Reporting a denial about an earlier past shifts the verb into the past perfect.

9. The village ___ not have a doctor of its own until the practice opened in 1974. → did

A negative past simple with a stative verb takes the auxiliary did plus the base form.

10. By the following spring she ___ been living out of hotels for almost a year. → had

Duration measured up to a past reference point takes the past perfect continuous.

11. I did not recognise the street because so much ___ changed since my last visit. → had

The changes preceded the visit being described, so the earlier event takes the past perfect.

12. We ___ not used to the noise at first, but after a fortnight we stopped noticing it. → were

Be used to means accustomed to, which is a state and takes the verb be, not did.

13. As I ___ locking up, I noticed the back window had been forced. → was

The past continuous supplies the background activity during which something is noticed.

14. Hardly anyone ___ up for the first rehearsal, which set the tone for the whole production. → turned

A single completed past event takes the past simple, whatever the adverb in front of it.

15. She said she ___ been thinking about resigning for months before she finally did. → had

A reported period running up to a past moment needs had plus been plus the -ing form.

16. The building ___ stood empty for a decade before the trust bought it. → had

A completed period before a later past purchase takes the past perfect.

17. Back then we ___ not afford a car, so everything arrived by bicycle. → could

Could not expresses past inability across a whole period rather than on one occasion.

18. No sooner ___ the results appeared than the phones started ringing. → had

No sooner is followed by inversion of had and the subject in the past perfect.

19. I remember he ___ always arriving late and blaming the traffic. → was

Was plus always plus the -ing form reports a past habit with a note of irritation.

20. Nobody ___ told us about the change of venue, so half the audience went to the wrong hall. → had

The failure to tell preceded the journey, so it takes the past perfect.

Sentence structure: word ordering — answers

1. Put two past events in order using the past perfect. → By the time the police arrived, the crowd had dispersed.

Put two past events in order using the past perfect.

2. Measure how long something went on before a later past event. → She had been working there for years before the merger.

Measure how long something went on before a later past event.

3. Describe a finished holiday habit. → We used to spend every August on the same island.

Describe a finished holiday habit.

4. Use the alternative to used to that only works for actions. → My father would read to us before bed.

Use the alternative to used to that only works for actions.

5. Report a plan you never carried out. → I was going to apply, but the deadline passed.

Report a plan you never carried out.

6. Describe being interrupted at the very last second. → He was about to speak when the chair cut him off.

Describe being interrupted at the very last second.

7. Paint a background scene around a single past event. → The sun was setting as we crossed the border.

Paint a background scene around a single past event.

8. Say that something failed to happen earlier than the story. → Nobody had warned us about the roadworks.

Say that something failed to happen earlier than the story.

9. Combine duration with an interrupting arrival. → They had been arguing for an hour when I walked in.

Combine duration with an interrupting arrival.

10. Make a finished past habit negative. → She did not use to enjoy public speaking.

Make a finished past habit negative.

11. Describe a state that had continued up to the moment of discovery. → The letter had been sitting unopened on the hall table.

Describe a state that had continued up to the moment of discovery.

12. Ask about a temporary past arrangement. → Were you living abroad when the referendum was held?

Ask about a temporary past arrangement.

13. Report an admission about a still earlier past. → He admitted that he had misread the figures.

Report an admission about a still earlier past.

14. Describe a reliable seasonal repetition. → Every winter the river would freeze solid.

Describe a reliable seasonal repetition.

15. Say that something had not happened up to a past point. → I had never seen the sea before that summer.

Say that something had not happened up to a past point.

16. Say you were not yet accustomed to something. → We were not used to the heat at first.

Say you were not yet accustomed to something.

17. Describe an activity in progress at a stated past hour. → The committee was still deliberating at midnight.

Describe an activity in progress at a stated past hour.

18. Use once with the past perfect to mark a point of no return. → Once she had signed, there was no way back.

Use once with the past perfect to mark a point of no return.

19. Give a starting point for work that continued up to a past moment. → They had been planning the exhibition since the previous autumn.

Give a starting point for work that continued up to a past moment.

20. Contrast a past state with the present. → He used to be far more patient than he is now.

Contrast a past state with the present.