Past tenses Practice

Choose the right form of the verb in brackets:1) I ___________ (buy) this car in January.

2) I had ________________ (finish) high school when the Great Depression ______________ (strike) the country.

3) We ____________ (take) a walk in the park when a heavy thunderstorm suddenly ____________ (break) out.

4) When I finally ______________ (wake) up, the clock radio ______________ (blare) for a good couple of hours.

5) Butch __________ (sniff) the plate and ____________ (woof). He _____________ (tremble)with anticipation.

6) I __________ (buy) a diamond ring for my future wife yesterday.

7) I ___________________ (wait) for half an hour when she finally ________________ (arrive).

8) The car _____________ (service) before it was _____________ (sell).

9) Condensed milk ________________ (produce) in America since the mid 1850s.

10) She __________________ (already, leave) when I ______________ (come).

11) I __________________ (talk) on the phone when she _______________ (run) into the room.

12) I _______________ (be) at work yesterday.

13) Her hair _____________ (be) wet, she ____________________ (swim).

14) I _____________ (eat) frogs when I _______________ (be) in France.

15) He ___________________ (repair) the car during the whole week before he _____________ (decide) to ask me to help him.

16) I ________________ (do) homework at 5 o'clock yesterday.

17) While I _____________ (write) a letter, my father was looking through the newspaper.

18) The Jurassic period ______________ (last) about 62 million years.

19) I _______________ (not, know) who he ________________ (be). I ________________ (see) him before.

20) He ______________ (write) the letter, ________________ (put) it in the envelope, ______________ (leave) it on the table and ______________ (go) out.

21) The house _____________ (be) dirty. They _______________ (clean it for weeks.
22) He _______________ (know) that she ________________ (work) in this company for five years.

1 bought 2 finished,  struck 3 were taking;  broke 4 woke up;  had blared5 sniffed;  woofed;   was trembling 6 bought 7 had been waiting;  arrived8 had been serviced; was sold9 has been producing10 had already left; came11 was talking; ran12 was13 was; had been swimming14 ate; was15 had been repaiting; decided16 was doing17 was writing18 lasted19 didn't know; hadn't seen20 wrote; put; left; went out21 was; hadn't cleaned22 knew; had been working