Past simple and past perfect simple | Free practice exercises

Present perfect and past perfect

Past perfect simple

contrast: past perfect simple vs past simpleb1

Past simple and past perfect simpleI ran to the station, but the train had already left. I arrived at the bank, but it had just closed.I was happy because I'd got tickets for the festival.‘Had she already finished?’ ‘Yes, she had.’We can use the past perfect with the past simple when we talk about two actions or events in the past. I phoned the office, but Emma had already left.We use the past perfect for the action that happened first. We often use already/just with the past perfect to say when it happened.I ran to the station, but the train had already left (some time earlier).I arrived at the bank, but it had just closed (a very short time earlier).We use the past simple for the most recent action.When I got there, the train had already left.After he'd done the washing, he cleaned the windows.We can use the past simple when one action comes immediately after another.He did the washing and then he cleaned the windows.We use the past perfect with the past simple to give a reason for a situation. We use the past simple for the situation, and we use because + past perfect for the reason. I was happy (the situation) because I'd got tickets for the festival (the reason).

Complete the text with the past perfect or past simple form of the verbs in brackets. Use short forms (I've), not full forms (I have) where possible.

Question: 1 /

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When I was growing up I

(be) terrified of snakes, even though I

never actually

(see) one in real life. I

(see) them on TV, though. Then one day I

(read) a newspaper article about a man who

(die) after being bitten by a snake, and that

(be) enough to fill with me with a terrible fear of them. I

(avoid) going to zoos or walking in the countryside in case I saw one.
A few years ago, I

(meet) someone who

(have) a phobia of spiders, but who now wasn't frightened of them at all. He

(give) me the name of the woman who

(help) him and I arranged to meet her. Elizabeth was fantastic. We

(talk about) why my fear of snakes

(start) in the first place then she

(ask) me to look at some pictures of snakes. It was difficult, but once I

(do) it a few times, I slowly started to feel less frightened. We

(repeat) the process with some plastic snakes and finally the day came when I was able to touch a real snake that someone

(bring) to Elizabeth's office.
My fear of snakes has completely disappeared now and I can even hold them without feeling afraid. I should have asked for help earlier!