Past Perfect: Complex Narrative Flashbacks (B2)

Your task

Fill in the gap in each sentence with the correct word or phrase.

0 / 15 answered

Your score

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Keep practising! Focus on the explanations below.

As she stood by the window, she remembered the summer she her grandmother. (visit)

Correct answer: had visited

The narrative present is past simple ("stood", "remembered"); the visit happens in an earlier layer → past perfect "had visited".

He paused in the doorway, recalling how his father him those same words years before. (tell)

Correct answer: had told

A recollection from years before the narrative moment → past perfect "had told".

The old letters revealed that her parents each other since childhood. (know)

Correct answer: had known

The discovery (past simple "revealed") sits above an earlier, long-standing acquaintance → past perfect "had known".

Marta stared at the photograph and thought of the friend she . (lose)

Correct answer: had lost

The loss precedes the staring moment → past perfect "had lost". Past participle of "lose" is "lost".

Walking through the village, she felt as though she there before. (be)

Correct answer: had been

"As though" + a sense of prior experience → past perfect "had been". Past participle of "be" is "been".

He spoke softly, as if he the question many times. (rehearse)

Correct answer: had rehearsed

The smoothness of his speech in the present narrative suggests earlier practice → past perfect "had rehearsed".

By the time the inspector arrived, the suspect . (disappear)

Correct answer: had disappeared

The disappearance happened before the inspector's arrival → past perfect "had disappeared".

The chef admitted to himself that he the recipe his mother taught him. (forget)

Correct answer: had forgotten

The forgetting precedes the admission → past perfect "had forgotten".

Anna stared at the canvas she the day before. (paint)

Correct answer: had painted

The painting happened the previous day; the staring is the narrative present → past perfect "had painted".

The detective realised that someone the safe before him. (open)

Correct answer: had opened

The realisation comes after the prior opening → past perfect "had opened".

He thought of all the things he never to do, and felt a sting of shame. (promise)

Correct answer: had promised

The promises were made long before the moment of thought → past perfect "had promised". The negative "never" lives inside the infinitive complement, not the participle.

The captain looked out at the sea where his crew a year earlier. (sail)

Correct answer: had sailed

The earlier voyage frames the present-narrative gaze → past perfect "had sailed".

She found the diary in which her grandmother every detail of the war. (record)

Correct answer: had recorded

The grandmother's recording precedes the discovery → past perfect "had recorded".

He recognised the necklace his sister at their wedding. (wear)

Correct answer: had worn

The wearing happened at the past wedding; the recognition is the present-narrative moment → past perfect "had worn". Past participle of "wear" is "worn".

The author opened the chapter with a memory: she the rain on the roof that summer. (love)

Correct answer: had loved

The loving belongs to an earlier summer; the chapter's opening is the narrative present → past perfect "had loved".

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