Past Perfect Continuous: Complete the Sentences
Focused past perfect continuous sentence practice with generous writing space and a separate answer key for quick checking.
What’s in the worksheet?
- Focused sentence-completion practice
- Generous answer spaces
- Separate answer key on page 2
- Printable student and teacher pages
Practise had been + verb-ing for activities preceding a later past event or explaining a past result. Twenty items include waiting for a bus, wet ground and a computer crash.
Worksheet preview
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Page 1 of 2 · A4 printable PDF
Page 2 of 2 · Answer key · A4 printable PDF
A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Use the two-page B1-B2 sheet with the key reserved. Review the earlier activity and later past reference point.
- Model the hour of waiting before the bus came. Compare this duration with rain explaining wet ground.
- Complete the 20 gaps, keeping had been for every subject and checking running, writing and feeling.
- Check page 2 and draw a timeline for one duration sentence. Explain the relationship between the activity and the later event.
Support and extension
Support with a had been frame and reference guide. Extend by comparing an earlier activity with an earlier completed result, rather than choosing a tense solely from for or before.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
