This page is part of a publication called Number One ESL Discussion Book & Reference Guide.
Simple Past Tense
Example question: What did you do last Sunday?
Example answer: I went to the beach.
Practice questions:
1. What did you do last Sunday?
2. What did you eat for breakfast yesterday?
3. Where did you go on your last vacation?
4. Who was your best friend in elementary school?
5. When did you learn to ride a bike?
6. What movie did you watch last weekend?
Past Continuous Tense
Example question: What were you doing at 8 o’clock last night?
Example answer: I was watching TV.
Practice questions:
1. What were you doing at 8 o’clock last night?
2. What were you watching on TV when I called you?
3. Where were you going when it started raining?
4. What were you cooking when the power went out?
5. Who were you talking to on the phone when I walked in?
6. What were you reading when your friend arrived?
Past Perfect Tense*
Example question: How many times had you been to that gym before you decided to become a member?
Example answer: I had been there a few times with friends.
Practice questions:
1. How many times had you been to that gym before you decided to become a member?
2. Had you even considered moving to Europe before your company transferred you to the Paris office?
3. How many times had he been married before he met your cousin?
4. Who had told you the news before you got the email?
5. How many houses had you looked at before you made your decision?
6. Had you even heard of that restaurant before they took you there?
| * Note about Wh-questions in the Past Perfect Tense: The Simple Past Tense might be a smoother choice for Wh-questions depending on the specific emphasis you want in your question. A general guideline: – Use the Simple Past Tense for general questions about past actions, especially when the timeframe isn’t crucial. Example: “What did you do before you went to bed?” sounds more natural than “What had you done before you went to bed?” – Use the Past Perfect Tense to emphasize the completion of an action before another past action, especially when the relative timing is important. Example: “Who had fixed the flat tire by the time the tow truck arrived?” (In this case, the Simple Past Tense wouldn’t be as clear. “Who fixed the flat tire?” could imply they fixed it either before or after the tow truck arrived.) |
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Example question: How long had you been studying English before you joined this class?
Example answer: I had been studying English for three years (before I joined this class).
Practice questions:
1. How long had you been studying English before you joined this class?
2. How long had you been waiting for the bus before it finally arrived?
3. Had he been working in Shanghai for long before his family joined him?
4. How long had you been working at your previous job before you decided to quit?
5. How long had you been living in that apartment before you moved to your current one?
6. Had she been traveling for a long time when you two met?