Late one night, while grading my students’ English papers, I noticed a pattern.

Many struggled with past tenses, especially mixing up past simple and past perfect.

That’s when I decided to create this comprehensive quiz.

As an English teacher for over five years, I’ve seen how these tenses can be a real headache.

I’ve crafted these questions around real-life situations, from missing buses to traveling abroad.

Each question is designed to help you naturally grasp when to use “had” versus “did” or “was.”

Let’s dive in and master these tricky tenses together!

Past Perfect Tense Quiz for Everyone!

1. We ________ finished eating dinner.

A. is
B. are
C. have
D. was
Answer: C. have

2. We _______ the clues.

A. finding
B. finds
C. found
D. have
Answer: C. found

3. Had they _____ to her before?

A. speaking
B. speaks
C. spoke
D. spoken
Answer: D. spoken

4. You _____ not left yet.

A. have
B. has
C. had
D. was
Answer: A. have

5. I had never _____ her before.

A. meeting
B. meets
C. met
D. meet
Answer: C. met

6. We arrived at 8:05, but the train _____ already left.

A. has
B. had
C. was
D. were
Answer: B. had

7. Sarah thought she ________ to that zoo before.

A. has gone
B. have gone
C. had gone
D. goes
Answer: C. had gone

8. Nobody explained why the project had ________ on time.

A. finished
B. finishing
C. finishes
D. finish
Answer: A. finished

9. He _____ us the item had been shipped.

A. told
B. tell
C. tells
D. telling
Answer: A. told

10. Dad explained ________ his job due to stress.

A. quit
B. quitting
C. quits
D. had quit
Answer: D. had quit

11. Where _____ the security guard gone?

A. has
B. had
C. was
D. have
Answer: B. had

12. I _______ any money on the weekend because I _______ my wallet on Friday.

A. didn’t spend, lost
B. don’t spend, had lost
C. haven’t spent, was losing
D. wasn’t spending, lose
Answer: A. didn’t spend, lost

13. When we went to Osaka, my friend _______ a lot about the city because she _______ there many times.

A. know, had been
B. knew, has been
C. knows, was being
D. knew, had been
Answer: D. knew, had been

14. Airi _______ at school, she realized she _______ her textbook.

A. arrive, forgetting
B. arrived, has forgotten
C. arrives, forgot
D. arrived, had forgotten
Answer: D. arrived, had forgotten

15. When I _______ the new teacher, I was so surprised. I _______ his class before!

A. meet, didn’t take
B. met, haven’t taken
C. meets, hadn’t taken
D. met, hadn’t taken
Answer: D. met, hadn’t taken

16. Fraser _______ sushi before he _______ to Japan.

A. hasn’t tried, goes
B. hadn’t tried, went
C. doesn’t try, gone
D. didn’t try, going
Answer: B. hadn’t tried, went

17. When Yuka _______ washing the dishes, she _______ the TV on.

A. finish, turned
B. finishes, turns
C. finishing, turning
D. finished, turned
Answer: D. finished, turned

18. It was a very difficult movie, but I _______ it because I _______ the book.

A. understand, read
B. understood, had read
C. understanding, was reading
D. understands, reads
Answer: B. understood, had read

19. Yuka _______ English for eight years by the time she _______ from university.

A. studied, graduated
B. had studied, graduated
C. was studying, graduates
D. studies, graduating
Answer: B. had studied, graduated

20. When we went camping, we _______ outside because we _______ our tent!

A. didn’t sleep, forget
B. haven’t slept, had forgotten
C. didn’t sleep, had forgotten
D. wasn’t sleeping, forgotten
Answer: C. didn’t sleep, had forgotten

21. Fraser _______ scuba diving many times before he _______ his scuba license.

A. has gone / got
B. went / gets
C. has been / got
D. was going / got

ANSWER: C. has been / got

22. “By the time the movie started, we ___ all the popcorn we had bought.”

A. are eating
B. had eaten
C. were eating
D. have eaten

ANSWER: B. had eaten

23. After he ___ the guitar, he realized he was missing a string.”

A. buys
B. buying
C. had bought
D. buy

ANSWER: C. had bought

24. “They ___ to the library because they had finished their homework early.”

A. go
B. went
C. gone
D. goes

ANSWER: B. went

25. “Emma ___ the news until she checked her phone notifications.”

A. hadn’t known
B. didn’t know
C. doesn’t know
D. hasn’t known

ANSWER: A. hadn’t known

26. “Before the teacher arrived, the students ___ all the assignments.”

A. completed
B. complete
C. had completed
D. have completed

ANSWER: C. had completed

27. Helen and I bought the scarf for Mum that _______ earlier.

A. we see
B. we had seen
C. we have seen
D. we saw

ANSWER: B. we had seen

28. Oscar gave Ted back the CDs that he _______ the day before.

A. borrowed
B. has borrowed
C. had borrowed
D. borrows

ANSWER: C. had borrowed

29. I wanted to go to the cinema, but _______.

A. I have missed it
B. I missed
C. I had missed
D. I was missing

ANSWER: C. I had missed

30. The room was bright because Mum _______ the curtains.

A. had opened
B. has opened
C. opened
D. was opening

ANSWER: A. had opened

31. Theo _______ so he was very sleepy.

A. hadn’t slept
B. didn’t sleep
C. doesn’t sleep
D. isn’t sleeping

ANSWER: A. hadn’t slept

32. We _______ so many discoveries there.

A. made
B. had made
C. make
D. makes

ANSWER: B. had made

33. By the time we left the house, the ice _______.

A. melts
B. melted
C. had melted
D. was melting

ANSWER: C. had melted

34. My dad _______ cleaned his shoes for him.

A. always
B. had always
C. has always
D. always had

ANSWER: B. had always

35. Cathy didn’t want to borrow the book because _______ it.

A. she has read
B. she had read
C. she read
D. she was reading

ANSWER: B. she had read

36. _______ the man before in my life?

A. Did I see
B. Do I see
C. Had I seen
D. Have I seen

ANSWER: C. Had I seen

37. We were called ‘Team A’ because we _______ on a name.

A. didn’t decide
B. hadn’t decided
C. don’t decide
D. hasn’t decided

ANSWER: B. hadn’t decided

38. We took a map with us to the shops because we _______ there very long.

A. haven’t been
B. hadn’t been
C. weren’t
D. aren’t

ANSWER: B. hadn’t been

39. Billy and Frank agreed that they _______ the film.

A. liked
B. had liked
C. likes
D. have liked

ANSWER: B. had liked

40. How far _______ when you realized you were lost?

A. had you gone
B. did you go
C. have you gone
D. you went

ANSWER: A. had you gone

41. _______ abroad before you went to New Zealand?

A. Had you been
B. Have you been
C. Did you go
D. Do you go

ANSWER: A. Had you been

42. Before the boat sank, _______ a rock or an iceberg?

A. had it hit
B. it had hit
C. it hits
D. does it hit

ANSWER: A. had it hit

43. Had the weather been fine before then? _______.

A. No, it hadn’t
B. Yes, it has
C. No, it didn’t
D. Yes, it had

ANSWER: A. No, it hadn’t

44. Had the meals been good before they changed the chef? ~ No, _______.

A. they hadn’t
B. they haven’t
C. they didn’t
D. they aren’t

ANSWER: A. they hadn’t

45. Where _______?

A. have you been
B. had you been
C. did you be
D. are you

ANSWER: B. had you been

46. I was really hungry because I _______ anything all day.

A. haven’t eaten
B. hadn’t eaten
C. didn’t eat
D. wasn’t eating

ANSWER: B. hadn’t eaten

47. The coins _______ them in mud.

A. bury
B. buried
C. had buried
D. were buried

ANSWER: D. were buried

48. Leo and Tara ran to the bus stop, but _______.

A. had missed it
B. missed it
C. miss it
D. were missing it

ANSWER: B. missed it

Conclusion 

Looking back at these 48 questions, you’ve practiced every possible scenario where past tenses come into play.

The quiz covers everything from simple daily activities to complex time sequences.

If you scored well, congratulations – you’ve mastered one of English’s trickiest concepts!

If not, now you know exactly which areas need more attention.

Remember to check the explanation for any question you got wrong.

The key takeaway? Past perfect is all about showing what happened before another past action.

Keep this simple rule in mind and you’ll nail these tenses every time!