100+ Past Perfect Conversation Questions for English Learners
- Alex
- Sep 8
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 1
Recommended Level: intermediate (B1) / pre-advanced (B2)
Go to the English Conversation Questions Hub for more discussion topics you can use for self-study or for the ESL classroom.
This page is intended to be a discussion resource for English learners and teachers. You can practice answering these B1 and B2 past perfect conversation questions by yourself or with a partner. You can also write the answers in a notebook, in a digital document, or in the comments section below. To help learners feel more confident and to develop grammatical accuracy, the warm-up questions have some suggested answer beginnings, which makes them ideal for beginners. For questions without answer beginnings, move on to the "Let's go!" section.
When and how do we use the past perfect?
The past perfect is the past of the past. It is used to describe a past action which happened before another past action. We usually need additional context with the past simple to use the past perfect. Here is the structure of the past perfect, and an example:
Structure: Subject + had (not/never) + past participle
Example: We were surprised to meet Maria's husband because Maria hadn't told anyone that she was married.
How can we understand this sentence? Which action was first?
First action: Maria didn't tell anyone that she was married. (Maria hadn't told anyone...)
Second action: We met Maria's husband, and we were surprised.
Here are some other examples that use the past perfect:
When I came home last night, my family had already finished dinner.
First action: My family finished dinner. (my family had already finished...)
Second action: I came home.
She was exhausted because she had studied all night for her exam.
First action: She studied all night for her exam. (she had studied...)
Second action: She was exhausted.
I had never visited Vienna, Austria before last year.
First action: I didn't visit Vienna, Austria. (I had never visited...)
Second action: I visited Vienna, Austria.
Past Perfect Conversation Questions for English Learners
Answer the questions and try to continue the conversation with your partner if possible.
Warm-up
What had you done by 9 a.m. this morning?
By 9 a.m. this morning, I had (already) _____.
Had you studied another language before you started studying English?
Yes, I had. I had studied _____.
No, I hadn't. English is the first new language I've studied.
What is something you had learned before you were 16?
Before I was 16, I had (already) learned _____.
Had you tried alcohol before you turned 18?
Yes, I had.
No, I hadn't.
What had you done by the time you went to bed last night?
By the time I went to bed, I had _____.
Had you traveled by plane before you turned 10?
Yes, I had taken a plane to _____.
No, I hadn't. I was _____ years old the first time I was on a plane.
No, and I've still never been on a plane.
Where had you lived before moving to your current city?
Before moving to _____, I had lived in _____.
I've never lived anywhere else.
Which books had you read by the time you finished [elementary school/high school]?
By the time finished [elementary school/high school], I'd read _____.
How many bikes had you had by the age of 12?
By the age of 12, I'd had _____ bike(s).
Had you ever saved up your money to buy something big in the past?
Yes, I had saved up for _____ [weeks/months/years] to buy [a/an] _____.
Let's go! Mixed past perfect conversation questions
For yes or no questions, you can answer them with "Yes, I had," or "No, I hadn't," and do your best to continue the conversation.
Had you learned to read before you started school?
Had you studied the past perfect tense before today?
What had your parents taught you before you started school?
How many cars had you driven before getting your driver's license?
Do you know where your parents had worked before their current jobs? (Example: "Before his current job, my dad had worked at a restaurant.")
Do you know how long your parents had been together before you were born?
Had you heard of English with Alex before you started doing this activity?
Had you had dinner by 7 o'clock last night?
Had you put your phone away for the evening before 8 o'clock last night?
How many years of school had you attended before you got your first job?
Had you had any hobbies before your current interests? If so, what are you interested in now, and what had you been interested in before?
What food had you never tried before you turned 18?
What English grammar mistakes had you made in the past before you corrected them?
What's a place that you had only seen in pictures before you finally saw it in person?
Past perfect questions in context
Imagine that these are real scenarios. Answer the question appropriately and creatively.
How many times had you tried calling the head office before you went to talk to them in person?
Did the teacher send you an email to tell you that the project deadline had changed?
Why hadn't you paid back the money in time?
Had you finished washing the dishes before going out with your friends?
Are you sure you knew him? Where had you met him before?
How much money had you already spent by the time I arrived?
How long had you known each other when you took your first trip together?
That's a nice picture! Was that your first motorbike, or had you had one before then?
Was that when you discovered that you were allergic to raw fish? Had you ever tried sushi before then?
Would you have bought it if it had been on sale?
How many hot dogs had you eaten before you started feeling sick?
Past perfect picture practice
You told Lisa to clean her room yesterday. When you checked on her, she still hadn't done ANYTHING. Look at the picture. What had she done? What had she not done? You can use these sentence starters to help you:
She had left _____ on the floor.
She still hadn't _____.
She hadn't [cleaned up/picked up/put away/hung up/folded] _____.
The past perfect with "by"
Answer these yes or no questions with "Yes, I had" or "No, I hadn't," then keep the conversation going.
By the time you turned 12, had you...?
tried spicy food
finished reading a novel
seen a movie in a theatre
been to a concert
got your first phone
learned to swim
tried coffee or alcohol
played on a sports team
tried learning a musical instrument
started taking English classes
Passive sentences with the past perfect
The passive form of the past perfect is subject + had (not/never) been + past participle. For example, "He had been given a lot of responsibility." Practice using the past perfect to answer these questions. Use your imagination!
What had already been invented before you were born?
Had the store already been closed by the time you arrived?
Had your team been given clear instructions about the project?
How many tables had been served before the server finally paid attention to you?
By which day had the invitations been sent?
Do you remember where your birthday present had been hidden by your parents?
Had she been reprimanded more than once for doing a poor job, or was that her first time?
Do you think you had been lied to by the salesperson?
How many times had you been robbed before you finally got a security system for your home?
I saw a police officer talking to you in your car. Why had you been stopped by the police?
Past wishes with the past perfect
To talk about past wishes, you must use the past perfect. For example, "I wish I hadn't bought this car. It has caused me nothing but problems." Answer these questions and do your best to use the past perfect.
Do you ever wish you had grown up somewhere else?
Is there a concert or a movie you wish you had gone to see when you were younger?
Do you ever wish that you had tried opening your own business?
What is something you wish you had done more of when you were younger?
Is there anyone you wish you had stayed friends with?
What do you wish you had taken more seriously when you were younger?
What is something you wish you had learned earlier in life?
Is there a class, sport, or activity that you wish you had quit earlier?
Is there a place you wish you had visited more often in the past?
Is there a friendship in your past that you wish had gone differently?
Is there a musician, artist, or athlete that you wish you had had the chance to see in person? (This can be someone who is not active anymore, or who is not alive anymore.)
Past conditionals / Third conditionals with the past perfect
The third conditional uses the past perfect in the "if" clause. For example, "If you had come to work on time, you wouldn't have received a warning from your manager." Imagine that these scenarios are real. Answer them appropriately and creatively.
If you had known that I was available, would you have invited me to the café with you and Mark?
Do you think it would've made a difference if you had given the presentation instead of Rocco?
What would you have done if your parents had caught you drinking with your friends?
Do you think the team could've won if the coach had made the substitution earlier?
Do you think you would have gotten the job if you had applied for it?
If you had gone to private schools when you were a kid, would your life have been much different?
Mixed Conditionals with the past perfect
You can mix the second (present/future) and third (past) conditionals. Read the questions and do your best to answer them. Make sure you use the past perfect.
If you had gone to bed earlier last night, how would you feel right now?
Would you be rich today if you had made a different choice in the past?
If you had spent less time on your phone in the past, do you think your life would be different now?
If you hadn't had breakfast this morning, how would you feel at this moment?
If you had been famous when you were a child, how would your life be better or worse today?
Past reported speech with the past perfect
You can use the past perfect to report what someone said about the past. For example, if someone says, "I went to a concert," you can report that by saying, "He said he had gone to a concert."
"What did he say?"
Report the following statements orally. Start by saying, "He said" and then use the past perfect to report the following:
"I needed more time to prepare."
"She was the one who wanted to break up." (Use the past perfect two times here.)
"I didn't want to go with them."
"I failed the test."
"Jack left early."
"We went to a coffee shop."
"I had to arrive earlier than everyone else."
"Sarah made the soup."
"There was a lot of traffic."
"They didn't give us any instructions."
Can you answer these trivia questions with the past perfect?
Try to answer these trivia questions with the past perfect, then double check the answers at the bottom of the page. The first two questions give you an idea of how to answer with the past perfect.
Who had Spider-Man been played by before Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield?
Before Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield, Spider-Man had been played by _____.
Which World War had J.R.R. Tolkien survived before he started writing The Hobbit?
Before he started writing The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien had survived World War _____.
Which famous actor had starred in Titanic before he won an Oscar for his performance in The Revenant?
What was the name of the famous wall that had divided Germany before the wall was destroyed in 1989?
Before Blu-ray discs, what type of discs had been used to play movies?
That's it! You have done it! Great work. If you enjoyed these conversation questions and you would like to support my work, please consider buying one of my books. They are available in PDF, e-book, and paperback formats. Take a look!
Related pages
Past Perfect Trivia Answers
Toby Maguire
World War One / The Great War
Leonardo DiCaprio
The Berlin Wall
DVDs