Test Past Perfect Quiz 1 — 10 Exam-Style Question with Explanation & Word Meaning (Past Perfect Tense With Vocabulary Builder)
Past Perfect Tense — Exercise 1 (Q&A with Solution’s Explanation and Vocabulary Builder, Learn English)
This practice test trains you to recognize and use the Past Perfect Tense (had + verb 3rd form) in real contexts. Each question includes the correct past-perfect form, a short verb definition (vocabulary builder + POS notes), and detailed one-sentence explanations for every option (A–D) that tell why the option is correct or incorrect and what choosing it would mean. Practice, prepare and improve both English grammar and vocabulary.
English Grammar Definition: Past Perfect (had + past participle form)
- Form: had + past participle (Verb 3rd form).
- Examples: She had finished; They had gone; Had you seen it before?
- Main uses:
- An action completed before another past action or past time.
- To show the earlier of two past events in a narrative.
- Signal words: already, by the time, before, after, until, when, prior to.
- Negatives / Questions: had not (hadn’t) + V3; Had + subject + V3?
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Quiz Instructions
- Read each question and choose the best answer out of four given options.
- On top, header section of the quiz, you will see the “title of the quiz,’ ‘spending-time,’ ‘value of question in points,’ and ‘number of questions.”
- Below on footer, you will see Full Screen mode. As the name suggests, it covers the whole screen. It will save a lot of your time attempting the quiz.
- You can zoom the images given in the questions.
- After submitting the quiz, you can see your score and compare with other users.
- The Full Leaderboard link will take you to a page, where you can see all users attempts.
- Below the quiz box, there are explanation of each options. You can study and try again.
- Best of Luck!
Quiz Question, Answer and Explanation
Note: Do remember in the quiz box above, the questions and options will shuffle, so they won’t have the same sequence like 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C as below.
1. They __ the agreement before the board meeting began.
A) signed B) had signed C) have signed D) were signing
Verb (POS & meaning): sign — verb. To write one’s name on a document; signature (noun).
Correct: B) had signed
B) Correct: Past perfect — shows the signing was completed prior to the meeting.
A) Wrong: Past simple — would only state the signing happened, not that it occurred before the meeting’s start.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — links to the present; does not clearly indicate the earlier-past relationship.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — indicates ongoing action, not a completed past action before another past event.
2. By the time I arrived, she __ the slides and left.
A) prepared B) had prepared C) has prepared D) was preparing
Verb: prepare — verb. To make ready; preparation (noun).
Correct: B) had prepared
B) Correct: Past perfect — makes clear the slides were ready earlier than my arrival.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t emphasise that preparation finished before my arrival.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — connects past action to now, not the sequence in the past.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — would say she was in the middle of preparing at that moment.
3. They __ all dependencies before they launched the service.
A) installed B) had installed C) have installed D) were installing
Verb: install — verb. To set up software/hardware so it’s ready to use; installation (noun).
Correct: B) had installed
B) Correct: Past perfect — indicates completion before launch.
A) Wrong: Past simple — does not express the action happening prior to the launch.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — implies relevance now rather than earlier sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — means they were in the process, not finished before launch.
4. She __ the anomaly report before compliance reviewed it.
A) submitted B) had submitted C) has submitted D) was submitting
Verb: submit — verb. To present a document for consideration; submission (noun).
Correct: B) had submitted
B) Correct: Past perfect — shows the submission occurred earlier than compliance’s review.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral past, not clearly prior to compliance review.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — ties action to present relevance, not the past sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — suggests an action in progress.
5. By the time the client called back, we __ a fix.
A) developed B) had developed C) have developed D) were developing
Verb: develop — verb. To create or build a software feature; development (noun).
Correct: B) had developed
B) Correct: Past perfect — indicates the fix was already completed when the client called.
A) Wrong: Past simple — would say a fix existed but not emphasise it was ready before the call.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — focuses on present result, not the earlier-past relation.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — indicates work was ongoing, not complete.
6. They __ the risk matrix before the planning session started.
A) finalised B) had finalised C) have finalised D) were finalising
Verb: finalise — verb. To complete something so it becomes final; finalization (noun).
Correct: B) had finalised
B) Correct: Past perfect — clearly places finalisation before the session.
A) Wrong: Past simple — lacks clarity about the earlier completion relative to the session.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong nuance for past sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies process, not prior completion.
7. He __ his travel expense before he submitted the reimbursement.
A) calculated B) had calculated C) has calculated D) was calculating
Verb: calculate — verb. To work out a numerical value; calculation (noun).
Correct: B) had calculated
B) Correct: Past perfect — indicates calculation completed before reimbursement submission.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t highlight the prior-to-submission timing.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — implies present relevance.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — indicates ongoing calculation at that time.
8. By the time they posted the update, engineers __ the bug.
A) fixed B) had fixed C) have fixed D) were fixing
Verb: fix — verb. To repair or correct a fault.
Correct: B) had fixed
B) Correct: Past perfect — emphasises the bug was already fixed before posting.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral past; doesn’t show it happened prior to posting.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong temporal relation.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — would mean fixing was in progress.
9. She __ the minutes before the stakeholders asked for them.
A) circulated B) had circulated C) has circulated D) was circulating
Verb: circulate — verb. To distribute documents among people; circulation (noun).
Correct: B) had circulated
B) Correct: Past perfect — makes clear circulation occurred before stakeholders’ request.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t show the prior completion.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — not the right sequence marker.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies distribution in progress.
10. They __ the prototype before seeking user feedback.
A) refined B) had refined C) have refined D) were refining
Verb: refine — verb. To improve by making small changes; refinement (noun).
Correct: B) had refined
B) Correct: Past perfect — shows refinement finished prior to feedback gathering.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral; does not show earlier completion.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — focuses on result now.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — indicates process, not completion.
