2E Past perfect and past perfect continuous

A Work in pairs. Find out if your partner had done the following by the time he/she was fourteen. Use the past perfect
simple in your questions and answers.
• go abroad
Had you been abroad by the time you were fourteen?
• eat Japanese food
• read a book by JK Rowling
• move house
• climb a mountain Yes, I’d already been to France and China by then.
• meet your best friend
• save up for something
• sleep in a tent
• win a prize

B Complete the sentences using the verbs from the box in the past perfect simple or continuous.

break down eat forget listen live not know  not make not ride offer spend

My brother and his fiancée

1 each other for very long when they got engaged.
Sara was broke because she
2 money like water for months.
The squatters
3 in the house for months before they were evicted.
Soon after we
4 the seafood, we began to feel sick.
The kids were so embarrassed when they realised the teacher
5 to their conversation.
The electricity was cut off because we
6 to pay the bill.
Polly was feeling a bit nervous as she
7 a horse before.
The students were delighted that the central heating
8 because they were
allowed to go home early.
9 I was so relieved when I found out that the firm me the job.
10 My dad had to shut down his business last year. It a profit for years.

C Complete the sentences with your own ideas. Use a past perfect simple or continuous form in each. Try to make your
sentences as witty and original as possible!
1 Chloe felt exhausted and depressed. She
2 My granddad wasn’t wearing his glasses so didn’t realise
3 The Manchester United fans went wild because
4 When I looked in the mirror this morning, I was surprised to see that
5 Ella was too ashamed to admit that
6 Oscar was feeling a bit anxious. It was the first time
7 My parents were shocked when my brother told them
8 The students couldn’t help laughing when they heard

Solutions 2nd edition  Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press • Photocopiable

 2E Past perfect and past perfect continuous

Aims  To review and practise past perfect simple

and continuous
Time  10−15 minutes
Materials  1 handout for each student
• Give each student a handout and tell them to complete task
A in pairs, following the example given. Get feedback from
the class on anything of interest that they found out about
their partner.
• Tell students to complete task B. Check answers as a class,
ensuring that students can explain their choice of tense in
each case.
Answer Key
1 hadn’t known 6 had forgotten
2 had been spending 7 hadn’t ridden
3 had been living 8 had broken down
4 had eaten 9 had offered
5 had been listening 10 hadn’t been making
• Draw students’ attention to the first unfinished sentence in
task C. Elicit from the class a few different ways in which it
could be completed. Tell students to complete the remaining
sentences, trying to make them as amusing/original as possible.
• Circulate and monitor the activity, ensuring students are
using the past perfect forms accurately and prompting self-
correction where necessary.
• When students have finished, they should read their
sentences out to a partner. Get feedback from the class on
their partner’s wittiest/most original answer.

Solutions 2nd edition  Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press