Revision 2: Compare and study the sentences with two actions in past tenses

Past simple: When Jim came, they watched a film on TV. (Jim came home and then they watched a film together – actions happened immediately one after the other in the past.)

Past Continuous: When Jim came home, Mary was watching a film on TV. (She was still watching TV when Jim came home – one longer action was interrupted by a shorter one.)

Past Perfect: When Jim came home, Mary had already watched the film on TV. (She watched the film first. Jim came home afterwards – a past action which preceded another past action.)

Past Perfect-Continuous: By the time Jim came home, Mary had been watching the film on TV for an hour. (Mary started and finished the action in the past before Jim came – emphasis was put on the duration of an action which started and finished in the past before another past action.)

Practice – Grammar in use

Task 1: Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form of the past perfect-continuous.

1. Sophie ________ (paint) the walls all day before she finished her work.

2. _________ (you / wait) for long when the boss announced that he couldn’t see you?

3. Tom ________ (look) for a job for six months by the time he found one.

4. They ________ (sunbathe) for an hour when it started to rain.

5. They were tired. They_______ (discuss) business problems for an hour.

6. Jim gave up smoking two months ago. He ________ (smoke) for 30 years.

Task 2: Put the verbs in brackets into the present / past perfect-continuous.

1. What you (to do) for the past two weeks until today?

2. Suddenly she understood that she (to speak) for a long time and it was time to stop.

3. He (to paint) this picture for two years and I don’t know when he is going to finish it.

4. The children (to fight) for some time when the door opened and the teacher came into the classroom.

Task 3:Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous in this dialogue?

A: Are you alright? You look tired.

B: Yes, I am. I didn’t sleep very well. I ________ (just / go) to sleep last night when a lot of noise outside woke me up. I got up and went to the window. I ________ (stand) there for a few minutes when two police cars stopped outside the house. I went downstairs and a policeman told me that two prisoners ________ (escape) from prison and were hiding in the area.

A: Did they catch them again?

B: Yes, but I didn’t t sleep very wellafter that.