Test Past Perfect Quiz 3 — 10 Exam-Style Question with Explanation & Word Meaning (Past Perfect Tense With Vocabulary Builder)
Past Perfect Tense — Exercise 3 (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?
- To learn more about it – Visit Here
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. By the time we reviewed the logs, the analyst __ the root cause.
A) identified B) had identified C) has identified D) was identifying
Verb: identify — verb. To recognise or establish identity; identification (noun).
Correct: B) had identified
B) Correct: Past perfect — indicates identification happened earlier.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral past, not establishing precedence.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — not the right sequence marker.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies process, not completion.
2. They __ the SLA terms before customers complained.
A) revised B) had revised C) have revised D) were revising
Verb: revise — verb. To review and amend; revision (noun).
Correct: B) had revised
B) Correct: Past perfect — revision completed prior to complaints.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t clearly place the revision before complaints.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — incorrect temporal relation.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies revision ongoing.
3. She __ the encryption keys before the transfer began.
A) rotated B) had rotated C) has rotated D) was rotating
Verb: rotate — verb. To replace regularly (keys); rotation (noun).
Correct: B) had rotated
B) Correct: Past perfect — key rotation done earlier than transfer.
A) Wrong: Past simple — does not show it was done prior to the transfer.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — not appropriate for past sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies rotation was in progress.
4. By the time the press released the story, the company __ a statement.
A) issued B) had issued C) has issued D) was issuing
Verb: issue — verb. To formally publish or release; issue (noun).
Correct: B) had issued
B) Correct: Past perfect — company statement completed earlier.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t show that issuance happened before the press action.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong time relation.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — suggests ongoing issuance.
5. They __ the final budget prior to sending it to finance.
A) authorised B) had authorised C) have authorised D) were authorising
Verb: authorise — verb. To give formal permission or approval; authorisation (noun).
Correct: B) had authorised
B) Correct: Past perfect — authorisation finished before sending.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral past, not showing earlier precedence.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong nuance.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — suggests ongoing authorisation.
6. He __ his resignation before the merger announcement was published.
A) tendered B) had tendered C) has tendered D) was tendering
Verb: tender — verb (formal). To offer officially (resignation); tender (noun).
Correct: B) had tendered
B) Correct: Past perfect — resignation submitted prior to announcement.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t show it occurred before the announcement.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong temporal relation.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies process.
7. By the time the demo started, the script __ test cases.
A) passed B) had passed C) has passed D) was passing
Verb: pass — verb. To succeed in a test; pass (noun).
Correct: B) had passed
B) Correct: Past perfect — tests completed successfully before demo.
A) Wrong: Past simple — neutral past, not clearly prior to demo.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong nuance for prior sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — indicates ongoing testing.
8. They __ the incident timeline before presenting to executives.
A) compiled B) had compiled C) have compiled D) were compiling
Verb: compile — verb. To collect and assemble materials or data; compilation (noun).
Correct: B) had compiled
B) Correct: Past perfect — timeline ready ahead of presentation.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t show precedence.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong temporal emphasis.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — suggests compilation in progress.
9. By the time the outage resolved, they __ a permanent solution.
A) devised B) had devised C) have devised D) were devising
Verb: devise — verb. To invent or plan a solution; device (noun is different).
Correct: B) had devised
B) Correct: Past perfect — shows solution already developed before resolution.
A) Wrong: Past simple — doesn’t clarify it happened before resolution.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong sequence.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — implies work ongoing.
10. She __ several vendors before the deadline was extended.
A) contacted B) had contacted C) has contacted D) was contacting
Verb: contact — verb. To get in touch with someone; contact (noun).
Correct: B) had contacted
B) Correct: Past perfect — contacts completed before extension.
A) Wrong: Past simple — does not make the earlier-past relation explicit.
C) Wrong: Present perfect — wrong nuance.
D) Wrong: Past continuous — would imply ongoing contact.
