Past tenses

(Context: You arrived late to an event and missed something important.)
I __________ (arrive) at the party after everyone __________ (leave).

• arrived / left

• arrived / had left

• had arrived / left

• had arrived / had left

(Context: Describing an ongoing past action that was interrupted.)
I __________ (have) dinner at a famous restaurant when I __________ (see) an old friend.

• had / was seeing

• had had / saw

• was having; saw
• was having / had seen

(Context: A story about an unexpected discovery while traveling.)
While I __________ (travel) in Italy last summer, I __________ (discover) a small, hidden café in Florence.

• travelled / discovered

• had travelled / was discovering

• was traveling / discovered

• had traveled / discovered

(Context: Talking about life changes over the past few years.)
Over the past five years, I __________ (learn) how to speak French fluently.

• learned

• have learned

• was learning

• had learned

(Context: A surprising event that happened recently.)
I __________ (never/see) such an amazing performance before I __________ (go) to the theater last night.

• had never seen / went

• never saw / was going

• haven’t seen / wenthadn’t seen / went

(Context: Describing a recent accomplishment.)
My students __________ (improve) their speaking skills a lot this year.

• improved

• were improving

• have improved

• had improved

(Context: Describing a task that you started earlier and are still doing.)
I __________ (clean) the windows – that’s why there’s water on the floor.

• was cleaning

• cleaned

• have been cleaning

• had cleaned

(Context: Talking about a surprise event from the past.)
When I __________ (arrive) at the restaurant, I realized I __________ (forget) my wallet at home.

• arrived / forgot

• was arriving / forgot

• had arrived / had forgotten

• arrived / had forgotten

Over the last decade, the government __________ (build) several new bridges to reduce traffic.

I __________ (drive) to work when I saw an accident on the highway.