Worksheet 4

Grammar
Past Perfect Simple vs
Past Perfect Continuous

Name  No. Class

Date/ /  Teacher

1 Choose the correct option. Revise:

Student’s Book, p. 20
a. It was a relief to hear of the news of the firemen. They for days Workbook, p. 8
and nobody knew if they were alive or . Study Guide, pp. 16, 36

1. had been going / had perished 2. had been gone / had perished
b. The environmentalists the factory’s illegal chemical dumpage into the river for the
last couple of months.
1. had been investigating 2. had investigated
c. The doctor asked the worker how long he the wheeze in his lungs.
1. had been having 2. had had
d. Susie for the preservation of the woods in her neigbourhood for the last five years
when the local government gave in to her plea.
1. had fought 2. had been fighting

2 Write sentences with the given words. Use the Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous.
a. for the harsh Norwegian Winter / Mary / gather firewood.

b. The firefighters / fight the furious flames / for over an hour.

The firefighters had been fighting the furious flames for over an hour.
c. The environmentalists / barricade / themselves in the woods.
The environmentalists had barricaded themselves in the woods.
d. The community / alert / the city council to the smog present at dawn.
The community had alerted the city council to the smog present at dawn.

3 Complete the story with the verbs in the box. Use the Past Perfect Simple or the Past
Perfect Continuous.

be * not travel * relaxing * sleep * prepare * not eat * sail

Greta Thunberg was about to start her crusade around the world fighting for environmental awareness.
She was excited because she (a) hadn’t travelled around the world by herself before. She was pressing on
a political climatic change and (b) had been preparing for this adventure for five months. On the
day of her departure, Greta had a lot of energy because she (c) had slept well the night before.
She
(d) had been sailing for several hours when she got caught in a storm. Fortunately, the storm dissipated in
half an hour and Greta got hungry. She (e) hadn’t eaten anything since her departure, so she made herself
a sandwich. Later, she decided to rest, so she put a sleeping bag on the deck and fell asleep. She
(f) had been relaxing for two hours when she was woken up by the screeching seagulls. The seagulls that
(g) had been the first ones to alert her to the dangers of climate change.