Past perfect continuous exercises worksheet
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How this practice helps you
- Print the questions without the answers beside them.
- Use the explained key to review your choices.
- Continue the same topic online when you are ready.
Name: ____________________ Date: ____________________
At noon, we were tired because we ___ for three hours.
had been walking / have walked / are walking
My answer: ________________________________________
Choose the correct structure.
had been study / had studying / had been studying
My answer: ________________________________________
When we met again, I ___ her for ten years.
had been knowing / had known / was been knowing
My answer: ________________________________________
The ground was wet because it ___ all night.
had been raining / has rain / rains
My answer: ________________________________________
Which sentence focuses on a completed quantity?
She had been writing. / She had written three pages. / She was writing.
My answer: ________________________________________
She was tired because she ___ all morning.
has been work / had been working / had working
My answer: ________________________________________
How long ___ you ___ before the bus arrived?
had / been waiting / have / been waiting / did / been waiting
My answer: ________________________________________
Choose the correct negative form.
We had not sleeping. / We had not been slept. / We had not been sleeping.
My answer: ________________________________________
His clothes were muddy. He ___ in the garden.
has digging / had been digging / had been dug
My answer: ________________________________________
Which sentence emphasises duration before a past event?
I had been studying for two hours when she called. / I studied tomorrow. / I have studied since she calls.
My answer: ________________________________________
Answer key & explanations
- had been walking — The activity lasted up to a past point and explains the tiredness.
- had been studying — Had been is followed by the -ing form.
- had known — Know is normally a state verb, so use the simple form.
- had been raining — A continuing earlier activity explains a past result.
- She had written three pages. — Had written three pages emphasizes completed output.
- had been working — Had been plus -ing describes an ongoing activity leading up to a past result.
- had / been waiting — Past perfect continuous questions use had before the subject, then been and the -ing form.
- We had not been sleeping. — Use had not been followed by the -ing form.
- had been digging — The ongoing earlier activity explains the visible result in the past.
- I had been studying for two hours when she called. — Had been studying highlights the activity’s duration up to a later past call.
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Next worksheet: Present perfect vs past simple →Want more past perfect continuous exercises practice?
The online topic pack has 40 exercises across four sets, including sentence work and original writing. This printable covers the ten-question warm-up.
Open all four practice sets →Skills to work on in this practice
- Describe activity before a past point
- Build had been + -ing forms
- Connect duration with a past result