Exercises

Present simple or continuous

1.
2.

This (be)

3.

He (wear)

4.

He (eat)

5.

Marc (like)

6.

He (eat)

7.

Marc (know)

Marc.
a t-shirt and shorts today.
an apple at the moment.
fruits and vegetables.
some every day.
that apples (be)

good for his

health.
1.

This (be)

2.

Caroline (have)

3.

Caroline.
long blond hair.

She usually (wear)

contact lenses.

glasses, but now she (wear)

4.

Caroline (like)

5.

She (play)

1.

Joe and Dennis (be)

2.

They often (meet)

3.

What (do / they)

4.

They (play)

football.

5.

They (love)

football.

6.

Joe (practise)
play)

sports.
handball every Monday and Thursday.
best friends.
in the afternoon.
at the moment?

with his father every weekend, but Dennis (not /

football very often.

1.

These (be)

Linda and Jeff.

2.

Linda (be)

Jeff's little sister.

3.

At the moment, the two kids (sit)

4.

Jeff (hold)

on the floor.

a book right now, he (read)

a story to

Linda.
5.

Look! Linda (listen)

the beautiful pictures.

6.

Linda (love)

carefully and she (look)

Jeff's stories.

at

7.

He (read)

a story to her every day.

8.

Jeff sometimes even (write)

his own stories.

Complete the story. Use Simple Present and Present Progressive.

1.

It (be)

2.

Sally (get)
and (go)

early in the morning.

out of bed, (open)

the window

into the bathroom.

3.

Then she (have)

4.

After breakfast, Sally usually (cycle)

5.

After school, she (go)

6.

Sally usually (eat)

7.

In the afternoons, she first (do)

she (meet)

breakfast.
to school.
back home.
her lunch at home.
her homework and then

her friends in the park.

8.

What (do / she)

now?

9.

She (play)

10.

Her friends (listen)

and some of them (sing)

When Sally (come)

home in the evening,

the guitar.

along.
11.

she (have)
12.

She (go)

dinner and then she (watch)

to bed at about 8 o'clock every day.

Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present and Present Progressive.

1.

I (be)

very busy today.

2.

At noon I (visit)

3.

We (want)

4.

In the afternoon I (play)

squash with Emily.

5.

In the evening, I (meet)

Rob.

6.

We (go)

7.

The film (start)

my friend Tanya.
to have lunch together.

to the cinema.

Write the verbs in Present Progressive.

1.

speak - I

2.

jump - you

at 8 pm.

TV.

3.

bake - she

4.

play - they

5.

run - we
Write the verbs in Simple Present, 3rd person singular.

1.

be - it

2.

have - he

3.

eat - she

4.

can - he

5.

wash - she
Use
When to use which tense?

1.

For actions happening regularly, often or never, we use

2.

For actions happening now, we use

3.

The verbs 'be', 'have', 'like' and 'want' are normally only used in

4.

The signal word 'usually' indicates that we have to use

5.

The signal word 'now' indicates that we have to use

Positive sentences
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

The lesson (start)

2.

He often (wear)

3.

I (meet)

4.

My friend (move)

5.

My birthday (be)

at 9 o'clock.
a black cap.
my friends in the youth club tonight.
house tomorrow.
in September.

Negative sentences
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

She (not / ride)

her bike right now.

2.

We (not / stay)

at home tonight.

3.

I (not / like)

4.

They (not / know)

5.

I (not / sit)

bananas.
the answer.
in the garden at the moment.

questionn
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.

.
.
.

1.

When (arrive / the plane)

2.

(visit / you)

3.

What time (get up / you)

4.

Why (cry / she)

5.

(swim / they)

?
Jane in hospital today?
in the mornings?
now?
in the pool at the moment?

Text
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

I (live)

in London.

2.

This weekend, I (visit)

3.

The train to Brighton (leave)

4.

In the early afternoon, we (want)

5.

In the evening, we (go)

6.

The concert (start)

7.

I (come)

8.

My train (arrive)

my friends in Brighton.
London at 6.45 in the morning.
to go on a sightseeing tour.
to a concert.
at 8 o'clock.
back to London on Sunday.
in London at 7.50 in the evening.

Positive sentences
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

We (help)

2.

Martin usually (drive)

3.

But today, he (take)

4.

Listen! She (practise)

5.

My friend (play)

in the canteen this week.

to work.
the bus.
the piano.
the guitar every evening.

Negative sentences
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

He (not / spend)

his holidays in Spain each year.

2.

I (not / meet)

3.

They (not / fly)

to London tomorrow.

4.

We (not / work)

this week.

5.

The film (not / begin)

Francis tonight.

at 7 o'clock.

questionn
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

(leave / you)

the party now?

2.

(have / you)

3.

(love / she)

4.

Who (cook)

5.

(send / he)

any brothers or sisters?

him?
dinner tonight?
you an e-mail every day?

Text
Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1.

Maria (want)

to improve her English.

2.

Therefore, she (do)

3.

She (stay)
tube to get to her language school.

a language course in London at the moment.

4.

It (be)

5.

The tube (leave)

6.

The first lesson (begin)

7.

with a host family and (must)

only a five-minute walk to the nearest tube station.
at half past eight.
at 9 o'clock.

In the afternoons, the school (offer)

London.

8.

take the

sightseeing tours in and around

Tomorrow, the students of the language school (go)

to Windsor.

Past Simple
Put the verbs into the simple past:
1. Last year I (go)
2. It (be)
3. I (visit)
mine .

to England on holiday.
fantastic.
lots of interesting places. I (be)

4. In the mornings we (walk)

in the streets of London.

5. In the evenings we (go)

6. The weather (be)

to pubs.
strangely fine.

7. It (not / rain)

a lot.

8. But we (see)

some beautiful rainbows.

9. Where (spend / you)

your last holiday?

Write the past forms of the irregular verbs.

Infinitive
1.

meet

2.

drive

Simple Past
.
.

with two friends of

3.

speak

4.

put

5.

write

6.

sing

7.

do

8.

sit

9.

stand

10.

run

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Complete the table in simple past.

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

He wrote a book.
He did not sing
Was she pretty?
Put the sentences into simple past.
1. We move to a new house.
2. They bring a sandwich.
3. He doesn't do the homework.
4. They sell cars.
5. Does he visit his friends?
Write sentences in simple past.
1. Janet / miss / the bus
2. she / tidy / her room
3. Nancy / watch / not / television
4. she / read / a book
Choose "Was or "Were:
1. The teacher

nice.

2. The students

very clever.

3. But one student

4. We
5. He
Test

in trouble.
sorry for him.
nice though.

Write the past forms of the irregular verbs.

1.

feel

2.

cost

3.

drive

4.

catch

5.

feed
Complete the table in simple past.
positiv

negativ

Frage

The ship disappeared.

He did not criticise you.
Was Amy depressed?
She did not teach in London.
Did the passengers panic?
Put the sentences into simple past.
1.

They repeat the question.

2.

She hugs her little brother.

3.

The snowman melts in the sun.

4.

The candle does not burn.

5.

Do they chat in a forum?

Write sentences in simple past.

1.

Jim / his head / cover

2.

she / the chapter / copy

3.

not / the clouds / disappear

4.

he / to our question / refer

5.

not / we / our punishment / escape

Was or Were?

1.

It

the right thing to do.

2.

The shop

open.

3.

The men

very strong.

4.

The weather

5.

My father and I

great.
in the car.

Ask for the bold part of the sentence.

1.

He clicked the mouse button.

2.

Robby Robber robbed a bank.

3.

The house burnt down.

4.

The children respected their teacher.

5.

They welcomed the new pupil warmly.

Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive)
have been playing

1.

I (play)

football for five years.

2.

My team (win / only)

3.

The others (be / always)

4.

Are we not there yet? We (walk)

5.

But we (cover / only)

6.

I (finish/just)

7.

I (work)

8.

Jane (go out)

with Bob for seven years.

9.

Martin (date)

three girls this week.

10.

How long (wait / you)

two matches so far.

better.
for hours.
an area of five miles so far.
my homework.
on this essay since two o'clock.

for us?

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).
1.

A: (you / play / ever)

2.

B: I (play / only)

3.

A: I (learn)

4.

B: (you / take)

5.

A: I (participate)

6.

B: (you / win)

7.

A: No, I (win / not)

ever)

8.

tennis?
tennis once or twice. And you?
tennis for two years.
part in any competitions yet?
in four contests this year.
any prizes so far?
anything yet. I'm not that good yet. (you / enter /

a contest?
B: I (swim)

already)

for seven years and I (receive /

some trophies.

Which form is correct (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive)?

1.

We want to tell how we have spent our time:

We have played football.
We have been playing football.

2.

The action is completed now:

Charly has sent the letter.
Charly has been sending the letter.

3.

I want to tell how I have spent my time:

I have watched TV.
I have been watching TV.

4.

I want to emphasise that the door is open now:

Elizabeth has opened the door.
Elizabeth has been opening the door.

5.

I want to emphasise that the house is ready now:

My friends have built a house.
My friends have been building a house.
Put the verbs into the correct tense (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).

1.

Why are you out of breath? - I (run)

2.

The toaster is okay again. Dad (repair)

3.

I am so tired, I (work)

4.

Your shirt is clean now. Maggie (wash)

5.

I'm afraid, I'm getting a cold. I (walk)

6.

Your clothes smell awful! (you / smoke)

7.

Peggy is ready for her exam now. I (help)

8.
9.

.
it.
all day.
it.
home in the rain.
?

It is dark in here because we (close)

film and that's better in the dark.

her preparing for it.

the curtains. We want to watch a

His voice is gone now because he (shout)

all morning.

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).
1.

I (play / not)

2.

Bob (drive / not)

3.

Carla (go / not)

4.

We (run / not)

5.

They (smoke / not)

6.

I (eat / not)

7.

Anna (work / not)

8.

I (read / not)

the computer for half an hour, only for about 5 minutes.

a car for eight years.
on holiday for three years.
for 40 minutes yet - there are still 10 minutes left.
for 10 days now.
anything since two o'clock.
here for five years, but for seven years.
for a long time - just 10 minutes, not more.

9.

You (cycle / not)

10.

Catherine (speak / not)

good now.

for two hours. It was only about one hour.

French for 10 years, so her French isn't very

Fill in the correct form (pronoun + verb).

Present Perfect Simple Present Perfect Progressive
I / speak
he / write
they / do
you / swim
she / live
Use
When to use which tense?
1.

'5 times' is a signal word for ...

2.

'for two hours' is a signal word for ...

3.

'since 9 o'clock' is a signal word for ...

Positive Sentences
Fill in the correct form (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).

1.

I (practise)

2.

Bob (run)

3.

The children (be)

4.

The dog (bark)

5.

We (miss)

the piano for 30 minutes.

10 km.
on holiday for six days.
since midnight.
the bus twice this week.

Negative Sentences
Fill in the correct form (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).
1.

You (eat / not)

up yet.

2.

He (speak / not)

3.

They (work / not)

4.

We (know / not)

them for a long time.

5.

She (hang / not)

up all the pictures yet.

on the phone for half an hour, just a couple of minutes.

since 5 o'clock. They just started an hour ago.

Questions
Fill in the correct form (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).
1.

How long (wait / she)

for us?

2.

How many times (tell / I)

3.

How often (clean / you)

4.

How many months (take / you)

5.

(stay / you / ever)

you?
the windows this year?
piano lessons?
in a castle?

Text
Fill in the correct form (Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Progressive).
1.

Tom: Hi Ana. I (try)

be)

2.

to ring you several times today. Where (you /

Ana: I (be)
at home all the time. But I (clean)
house all day, so maybe I didn't hear the phone ring.

3.

Tom: (you / clean)

4.

Ana: No, not yet. I (tidy / not)

the

everything now?
up the kitchen yet. But why are you

here?
5.

Tom: Don't you remember? Jane (invited)

we (buy / not)

6.
7.

us to her birthday party and

a present for her yet.

Ana: Oh, that's right. (you / find out / already)

what she wants?

Tom: Well, she (learn)

Spanish for a year and wants to spend her next
holiday in Mexico. Maybe we could get her a guide book.

8.

Ana: That's a good idea. There is a good bookshop in the big shopping centre.
I (see)

some nice books about Mexico there recently.