Secondary 2 - Grammar - Unit 11

Secondary 2 - Grammar - Unit 11

Past perfect simple and continuous


Name ______________________________________ Date _____________


1. Choose the correct answer from a, b, c or d.

1. By the time my mother was aged 30, she _____ five children.
a. was had b. had had c. had been having d. have had

2. I _____ for half an hour before I realised that I was dangerously far away from the beach.
a. had been swimming b. had swum c. swam d. was swimming

3. Years ago, after Zakaria _____ school, he worked on a farm.
a. was leaving b. had been leaving c. left d. had left

4. Professor Williams _____ his important book about life and science at the time of his death.
a. finished b. had not finished c. had not been finishing d. had not finishing

5. I'm sorry I didn't answer your call yesterday. I _____ with my friends when my family had an emergency and I completely forgot to return your call.
a. was studying b. had studied c. had been studying d. studied

6. Mariam looked so happy when we saw her last week. Perhaps she _____ good grades on her exams?
a. got b. had been getting c. had got d. has got

7. By the time Herman Melville was in his mid twenties, he _____ all over the world.
a. already travelled b. had already travelled c. had already been travelling d. has already travelled

8. On the day before my grandfather died, he _____ with my father. It had been a special day out for them.
a. had been sailing b. had sailed c. was sailing d. sailed



2. Complete the sentences using the words in brackets.

1. Every time Maha reads too much, she gets headaches. (Whenever)
________________________________________________________________

2. The holiday was over. I read the whole book before that. (By the time)
________________________________________________________________

3. Sara and Nesma had been talking for more than an hour. Then their friend Hana arrived. (when)
________________________________________________________________

4. I travelled to France. I had been studying French for ten years. (Before)
________________________________________________________________

5. I turned 18. Before that I studied all the plays written by Shakespeare. (By the time)
________________________________________________________________

3. Find the mistakes and correct them.

I saw my old friend, Sameh, the other day. I hadn’t been seeing him for several years. He looked a lot older and very tired. I asked him what he was doing since I saw him last. He told me that he had been moving away from Cairo, and that for the last three years he worked as a nurse in a hospital in Minya. He has now returned to Cairo and has a new job. He told me that he looked tired because the day before he was helping with an operation for eight hours, and then he had to help with some emergency cases. He did not sleep at all! But he was happy that he had been leaving his job in Minya, because his family live in Cairo.






4. Match the phrases, then rewrite each sentence below.


A B
1. I had eaten five chocolate bars a. and I felt very tired.
2. Emad had been travelling for five months b. while I was going there.
3. Before I met you, I had been running for two hours c. by the age of 23.
4. Ehab had finished reading his book d. before I started to feel sick.
5. Tamer had travelled to five countries e. and he missed home.
f. so he was looking for a new one.



1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________


5. Read the paragraph. Underline the correct words in parentheses.

The strangest thing happened yesterday evening. I (meet - had met – was meeting) one of my friends on the street and we had decided to go for a coffee. We (were sitting and talking – had sat and talked – had been sitting and talking) in the coffee shop for one hour, when suddenly there was a loud bang and all the lights went off. All the customers were very worried. Fortunately my friend and I (had drunk – had been drinking – drank) only one coffee each, so we paid for our coffees and left, to find out what had happened. When we went outside, we (had seen – had been seeing – saw) a very strange sight. There was a goat standing in the street outside the coffee shop, and it had something long and thin in its mouth. The goat (was eating – had eaten - had been eating) the electricity cables, and this is why the electricity (was stopping – had been stopping - had stopped)!

Secondary 2 - Grammar - Unit 11

Past perfect simple and continuous
ANSWERS


1.
1 - b 2 - a 3 - d 4 - b
5 - c 6 - c 7 - b 8 - a

2.
1. Whever Maha reads too much, she gets headaches.
2. By the time the holiday was over, I had read the whole book.
3. Sara and Nesma had been talking for more than an hour when their friend Hana arrived.
4. Before I travelled to France, I had been studying French for ten years.
5. By the time I turned 18, I had studied all the plays written by Shakespeare.

3.
I saw my old friend, Sameh, the other day. I hadn’t seen him for several years. He looked a lot older and very tired. I asked him what he had been doing since I saw him last. He told me that he had moved away from Cairo, and that for the last three years he had been working as a nurse in a hospital in Minya. He has now returned to Cairo and has a new job. He told me that he looked tired because the day before he had been helping with an operation for eight hours, and then he had to help with some emergency cases. He had not slept at all! But he was happy that he had left his job in Minya, because his family live in Cairo.


4.
1 - d I had eaten five chocolate bars before I started to feel sick.
2 - e Emad had been travelling for five months and he missed home.
3 - a Before I met you, I had been running for two hours and I felt very tired.
4 - f Ehab had finished reading his book so he was looking for a new one.
5 - c Tamer had travelled to five countries by the age of 23.


5.
The strangest thing happened yesterday evening. I had met one of my friends on the street and we had decided to go for a coffee. We had been sitting and talking in the coffee shop for one hour, when suddenly there was a loud bang and all the lights went off. All the customers were very worried. Fortunately my friend and I had drunk only one coffee each, so we paid for our coffees and left, to find out what had happened. When we went outside, we saw a very strange sight. There was a goat standing in the street outside the coffee shop, and it had something long and thin in its mouth. The goat had been eating the electricity cables, and that is why the electricity had stopped!