Present Tenses: Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect

1) Derek _____________ flowers for his mom every Mothers day.

1. buys
2. to buy
3. will bought

4. Buying

2) We usually _____________ to the beach with our friends every week.

1. have gone
2. going
3. goes
3) The Sun _____________ in the east and _____________ in the west.
1. rising, setting
2. rises, sets
3. rise, set

4. Go
4. to rise, to set

4) Tom and Linda _____________ the subway train to work every day.
1. takes
2. took
3. take

4. have taken

5) He _____________ the car at the moment.

1. is washing
2. are washing

3. washed

4. has washed

6) Shh! Be quiet the baby _____________ now.

1. sleeps
2. has slept

3. are sleeping

4. is sleeping

7) I _____________ him since yesterday morning.

1. hadnt seen
2. hasnt seen

3. havent seen

4.havent seeing

8) The Prime Minister _____________ a speech in the television right now.

1. is giving
2. was give
3. are giving
9) We _____________ cleaning the kitchen.
1. had just finished
2. have just finished

3. Just have finished

10) For three hours, Jim _____________ for his mother at the airport.
1. have waited
2. is waiting
3. waited

4. Given
4. had just finished
4. has waited

Past tenses Practice. Choose the right form of the verb in brackets

1) I ___________ (buy) this car in January.

2) I had ________________ (finish) high school when the Great Depression ______________ (strike)
the country.
3) We ____________ (take) a walk in the park when a heavy thunderstorm suddenly ____________
(break) out.
4) When I finally ______________ (wake) up, the clock radio ______________ (blare) for a good couple
of hours.
5) Butch __________ (sniff) the plate and ____________ (woof). He _____________ (tremble)with
anticipation.
6) I __________ (buy) a diamond ring for my future wife yesterday.
7) I ___________________ (wait) for half an hour when she finally ________________ (arrive).
8) The car _____________ (service) before it was _____________ (sell).
9) Condensed milk ________________ (produce) in America since the mid 1850s.
10) She __________________ (already, leave) when I ______________ (come).

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Complete the sentences with the Simple Present, the Present Continuous, the
Simple Past, the Past Continuous or the Present Perfect of the verbs in brackets
and put the adverbs in the correct place.

Portuguese banks _______________ (to open) at 8 o'clock.

They always _______________ (to play) the piano in the evening.
Yesterday she ___________ (not/to be) in a good mood because she__________ (to lose) her keys.
Last year she _______________ (to spend) most of her time on the beach.
I _________________ (not/to eat) fish since I was eleven.
I ________________ (to listen) to music when you _______________ (to phone) last night.
______________ (she/to go) to Spain two years ago?

8. She _______________ (usually/to go) to school by bus.

9. She ________________ (to give) him a watch yesterday but he _________________ (already/to lose)
it.
Fill in the blanks with the Present Perfect Simple or the Present Perfect
Continuous of the verbs in brackets. Put the adverbs in the correct place when
necessary.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

This room is a mess! What _________________ (you/to do) all day?

Look at that man over there. He _________________ (to stand) there for hours.
He _________________ (to clean) the windows and he _________________ (not/to finish) yet.
The magazine _________________ (to publish) a report on English-speakers. Its excellent!
The teacher was late. When he arrived, the students said We _________________ (to wait) for
you for half an hour, teacher!.
6. The teacher was late. When he arrived, someone told him The students _________________ (to
wait) for you for half an hour and then they have gone! You were so late!.
7. They _________________ (to live) there for ages but they moved last week.
8. They _________________ (to live) here for ages and they love this place.
9. Peter _________________ (to finish) his book at last.
10.They _________________ (to queue) since midday and they are still waiting for their turn.
11.She _________________ (to wait) for one hour but she has left because they had to go to work.
12.He _________________ (to play) golf for ten years but then he stopped due to health problems.

Correct the mistakes

1. They have seen a lot last week.

2. She hurted her knee.
3. Childs wore nice uniform when they went to the cinema.
4. I has learned a lot this year.
5. We did not wrote the essay.
6. She go to work every day.
7. Went you to school last week?
8. Do you gone there yet?
9. She did drive home after the party.
10.We not worked hard.

Mixed Tenses

-Ming: Hello May. I havent seen you for a long time. How (1)________ you?
-Jo: Im great. Thanks! Right now, I (2) ________ (try) to find a job.
-Ming: Oh, that must be very hard. But I thought you (3) ________ (work) in a law firm before?
-Jo: Yes, but I (4) ________ (quit) 2 months ago. I (5) ________ (not/like) the boss. She was
annoying. What about you?
-Ming: Well, I (6) ________ on my way to (7) ________ (watch) a movie. Thats my job now. Movie
reviewer.
-Jo: How nice! How many movies (8) ________ you ________ (watch) a day?
-Ming: Six. I (9) ________ (watch) 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. My boss (10) ________
crazy yesterday. He (11) ________ (make) me watch 10 movies!
-Jo: So horrible. I bet you (12) ________ (sleep) while watching the movies.
-Ming: Haha. How (13) ________ you ________ (guess)?

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Jane ________________ to school by bus. (go).

Peter and Sam ________________ in London, they ________________ English. (live, be)
Last Summer I ________________ to France, my aunt ________________ there. ( go, work)
My sister ________________ cinema, she ________________ concerts (not like, prefer)
He ________________ ill yesterday, so I ________________ him to go to the doctor.(feel, tell)
Mary always ________________ alone but today she ________________ with Peter. (study)
Why ________________? Because I ________________ purse. ( you/cry,) (lose)
________________ me as soon as the taxi arrives? (tell)

i) When Charles ________________ the office, he ________________ a strange man. ( leave,

notice)
j) I ________________ Paris since we ________________ you three years ago. (not leave, visit)
k) I know my clothes are dirty. I.(wash) them tomorrow.
l) He(sleep) at the moment.
Write the verbs in the proper tenses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

I _________________ (not/to buy) a carpet yet.

He _________________ (to swim) three miles every day.
Let's go away! We _________________ (to be) here for more than half an hour.
Where _________________ (you/to go) for a holiday last year? I _____________ (go) to London.
She is very tired because she _________________ (not/to sleep) for two days.
My mother _________________ (just/to go) to the market.
Mr. Morgan is the tallest man I _________________ (ever/to know).
My mother _____________ (not/to like) vegetables and so we _____________ (not/to eat) soup
very often.
9. She usually ________________ (to go) to work by car but this week she _______________ (to go)
by bus.
10.Peter can't come to the phone right now. He _________________ (to have) a shower.
11.While they _________________ (to have) dinner, someone ______________ (to knock) at the
door.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb.

1. I (see) you in town the other day. You (sit) in a caf with
Linda. You were both so excited that you . (not/see) me. What
.. (you/talk) about?
2. John .. (read) three books this week. He usually .. (not/like) to read,
but last week he . (get) two bad marks as he had not read the books for
school.
3. I .. (not/eat) anything today. I am so hungry! I . (think) I will go to the
caf and buy a sandwich!
4. I (practice) the piano twice a week. My sister also .. (like) music, but
she .. (not/play) any musical instruments. She (sing) in a choir.
5. We usually (eat) our lunch at home but today we .. (eat) at a
famous restaurant.
6. When she . (come) into the room she (see) that the children
.. (play) with the cat.
7. While they (have) lunch their cat .. (run) into the room with a mouse
in its mouth.
8. She (be) deaf since she was born. She (visit) many famous
doctors with no result so far. She (hope) that one day she will hear.
9. She .. (not/decide) where to go after school yet. When she .. (be) a
little girl, she . (want) to be a teacher, but now she .. (not/want) to
do it any more.
10.Mark (get) up early in the mornings. He .. (start) his work at 6
oclock and it . (mean) that he .. (have) to get up at 4:30. Yesterday
he . (be) late as he had forgotten to set his alarm clock.

Complete the letter with the correct tense of the verbs in brackets.

Dear Ruth,
How are you? What (1)__________ (you/do) now? How (2) __________ (you/feel)? I (3) __________
(know) you (4) __________ still sad about the death of your cat, but please (5) __________ (cheer)
up. Your mum already (6) __________ (buy) you another cat. Please dont (7) __________ (ignore)
her love and concern for you!
Im fine here in Haiwaii. Theres a show called Lion Dace today, and it (8) __________ (begin) at
7pm. I (9)__________ (attend) with Sarah. I think we (10) __________ both enjoy the show.
Before I (11) __________ (come) to Haiwaii, mum (12) __________ (worry) about me. Could I take of
myself? Would it be safe to travel with friends to a strange place? She (12) __________ (ask) me

questions about the trip from the time of planning till the day I (13) __________ (leave) HK! And
now that I (14) __________ in Haiwaii? She just cant (14) __________ (stop) calling me!
Write back soon.
Kate
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.
a) John ________________ a new house. he ________________ in tomorrow ( just / find, move)
b) Just as he ________________on the bus he realized that he ________________ his wallet(get,
forget)
c) The bus she ________________ had come at last ( wait for)
d) Fred ________________ at 10 oclock ( probably / arrive)
e) They are very generous. They ________________ some money. (lend)
f) She ________________ when the phone ________________ (cook, ring)
g) While she ________________ the baby, her mother ________________ (feed, cook)
Correct the mistakes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

She are writing a poem now.

They buyed a new car last year.
Did she knew the answer?
She have cooked a lot yesterday.
Do she knows the right answer?
They run along the sea last summer.
They knows what it mean.
Does he works very hard?
Have you already ate?

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

I __________________ (talk) on the phone when she _______________ (run) into the room.
I _______________ (be) at work yesterday.
Her hair _____________ (be) wet, she ____________________ (swim).
I _____________ (eat) frogs when I _______________ (be) in France.
He ___________________ (repair) the car during the whole week before he _____________
(decide) to ask me to help him.
6) I ________________ (do) homework at 5 o'clock yesterday.
7) While I _____________ (write) a letter, my father was looking through the newspaper.
8) The Jurassic period ______________ (last) about 62 million years.
9) I _______________ (not, know) who he ________________ (be). I ________________ (see) him
before.
10)
He ______________ (write) the letter, ________________ (put) it in the envelope,
______________ (leave) it on the table and ______________ (go) out.
11)
The house _____________ (be) dirty. They _______________ (clean it for weeks.
12)
He _______________ (know) that she ________________ (work) in this company for five
years.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb

1. How is Peter? I dont know. I ..( not hear) from him for months.
2. Tom ..(wait ) for a taxi.
3. My cousin .(see) Mark for only six months before she
married him.
4. Im afraid I (not /finish) this essay tomorrow.
5. It is the first time she ..( have) a car accident.
6. Lucy was very depressed because she ...( fail) her exam.
7. .(not/ interrupt) her! She .(do)
homework now.
8. She (make/always) this mistake! Its irritating!
9. I .( work )in the garden all day yesterday.
10.We .( currently/learn) Spanish.
11.My plane ( take off) at 6 tomorrow morning.
12.I ..( eat) many Italian dishes so far.

Complete the text with the correct tenses

Everything (1) __________________ (happen) so fast as if it was all a dream. Suddenly, the bridge
(2) __________________ (collapse) and all the cars (3) __________________ (plunge) into the ocean. A
survivor (4) __________________ (believe) he (5) __________________ (feel) something strange in the
air just before the bridge (6) __________________ (break) into chunks. Another survivor (7)
__________________ (see) a strange object in the sky pointing a beam of light at the bridge which
probably then (8) __________________ (cause) the tragedy. I myself find this very strange, but it is
a fact that no one (9) __________________ (know) if this accident (10) __________________ (has)
anything to do with ETs and UFOs. Experts of the paranormal field (11) __________________ (be)
quick to point to the eye-witnessed accounts of the survivors to support their conclusion that
this incidence was really related to ETs. Within a day after the accident (12) __________________
(occur), the experts (13) __________________ (manage) to call a conference about their conclusion.