Past Perfect Continuous or Past Perfect?

Exercise 218

Choose the Past Perfect Continuous form of the verb if appropriate. If not, use the Past Perfect.

1. I _____ the view many times before, but it never failed to impress me. (see)

2. The opposing sides in the war _____ since the president was overthrown. (fight)

3. I _____ Megan since we were at school together. (know)

4. For years we _____ about buying new carpets, and last weekend we finally went out and ordered some. (talk)

5. My car was once again in the garage for repairs. This was the third time it _____ since I got it. (break down)

6. Before now we _____ on where to go on holiday. (always agree)

7. She took a bottle from the bag she _____ all the way from home. (carry)

8. We _____ for visas well before our departure date, but still hadn't heard

anything by the day we were due to leave. (apply)

9. He _____ all the way from New York to see me. (fly)

10. When the plane was diverted, it _____ from London to Frankfurt. (fly)

11. The avalanche _____ some people 500 meters down the mountain but no

one was hurt. (carry)

12. She _____ for the same company since she qualified. (work)

13. He _____ for jobs, without success, since leaving university. (apply)

14. He _____ finally _____ his way up from the shop floor to a management

position.

15. Ken gave up smoking two years ago. He _____ for 30 years. (smoke)

Exercise 219

Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Perfect Continuous or Past Perfect.

Mr. Thomas was exhausted. He 1 had had (have) the worst morning of his life! Everything 2 _____ (go) wrong. He 3 _____ (drive) for work for half an hour when suddenly his car broke down. Not wanting to be late he decided to start walking and try to catch a bus. After he 4 _____ (walk) for over an hour, it began to rain. However, just at that moment a taxi appeared and Mr. Thomas jumped in. When he arrived at the office, he realized that he 5 _____ (leave) his wallet in his own car and he had no money to pay the driver.! He rushed into the office, followed by the angry taxi driver. However, an important business meeting 6 _____ (just / start). Mr. Thomas was wet and dirty because it 7 _____ (rain) and his boss was very angry because he 8 _____ (wait) for him to arrive for over an hour. After explaining what 9 _____ (happen) to his boss, Mr. Thomas borrowed a car and went home to change. When he arrived home he realized to his horror that someone 10 _____ (break into) his house. What a morning!

Exercise 220

Fill in with the Past Perfect Continuous or the Past Perfect.

When I entered the house something smelt awful. Someone 1 had been cooking (cook) and 2 _____ (burn) the meal. I 3 _____ (visit) the house once before and 4 _____ (meet) the family but I didn't know what 5 _____ (happen) since then. The house was a mess. The children 6 _____ (play) in the living room and 7 _____ (leave) their toys all over the floor. Someone 8 _____ (leave) all the windows open. It 9 _____ (rain) for hours and all the curtains 10 _____ (get) wet and dirty. I asked the children where their parents were. They told me that their mother 11 _____ (be) in hospital for the past two weeks. Their father 12 _____ (look after) them since then. Obviously he 13 _____ (do) his best, but he couldn't do any better since he worked all morning and had to leave them alone most of the day. I had to do something to help them.

Exercise 221

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences.

1. She has written three books before she became famous.

2. After Jim and Terry had been finishing their breakfast, they took their bags

and go to the river to fish.

3. Her eyes were wet. She has been crying.

4. He was driving for an hour when he reached the village.

5. Kate had black ink on her hands. She had written for three hours.

7. Dave had stains on his shoes. He had cut the grass. He had been cutting

all the grass in the yard.

8. You were out of breath. Were you running?

9. How long did he live there before you got acquainted with each other?

10. He looked angry. Has he been arguing?

CONVERSATIONS

Exercise 222

Complete these dialogues. Use the Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous.

Dialogue 1

ane: Mum: Jane:

Mum, Last night i woke up and thought I _____ (eat) a huge sponge cake. _____ you _____ (dream), dear? Well, I'm not sure, but when I made my bed, Half my pillow _____ (go)!

Dialogue 2