Academic Writing

Global Learning Center

Present Tenses Review

Name: Leonardo Hernández Hernandez________ Degree: ______________________

INTRODUCTION

Present tense is used to express actions that occur in the present. The present
tense may refer to an action or event that is ongoing or that takes place at the present
moment.

Forms of the present tense in English include

 the simple present,
 the present progressive,
 the present perfect, and
 the present perfect progressive.

The following link provides a visual comparison of the above-mentioned tenses along
with signal words, forms, and examples:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/present_tenses_contrasted.htm

DIRECTIONS

1. Click on the provided link(s) to review the tense’s rules (use, form, and
examples).
2. Answer the exercises.

PRESENT SIMPLE

Link: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqppa-sjoqI

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lu4_5F0hg
Use one of the following verbs to complete these sentences. Sometimes you need the
negative.

believe eat flow go grow make rise tell translate

1. The earth __________ round the sun

2. Rice __________ in Britain.
3. The sun __________ in the east.
4. Bees __________ honey.
5. Vegetarians __________ meat.
6. An atheist __________ in God.
7. An interpreter __________ from one language to another.
8. A liar is someone who __________ the truth.
9. The river Amazon __________ into the Atlantic Ocean.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS

Link: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCHXY5BL2hM

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjWd8U-6jbA

Read this conversation between Brian and Sarah. Put the verbs into the correct form.

SARAH: Brian! How nice to see you! What (1) ______________ (you / do) these days?
BRIAN: I (2) ________________________ (train) to be a supermarket manager.
SARAH: Really? What’s it like? (3) ___________________________ (you / enjoy) it?
BRIAN: It’s all right. What about you?
SARAH: Well, actually I (4) ______________________ (not / work) at the moment.
I (5) ________________________ (try) to find a job but it’s not easy.
But I’m very busy. I (6) __________________ (decorate) my flat.
BRIAN: (7) __________________________ (you / do) it alone?
SARAH: No, some friends of mine (8) ____________________________ (help) me.
PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS

Link: http://www.englisch-
hilfen.de/en/grammar/simple_present_progressive_contrasted.htm

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDuZNqIeURA

Link: Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDuZNqIeURA

Put the verb in the correct form, present continuous or present simple.

1. Let’s go out. It ____________________ (not / rain) now.

2. Julia is very good at languages. She ____________________ (speak) four
languages very well.
3. Hurry up! Everybody ____________________ (wait) for you.
4. “____________________ (you / listen) to the radio?”
“No, you can turn it off.”
5. “____________________ (you / listen) to the radio everyday?
“No, just occasionally.”
6. The River Nile ____________________ (flow) into the Mediterranean.
7. Look at the river. It ____________________ (flow) very fast today – much
faster than usual.
 8. We usually ____________________ (grow) vegetables in our garden, but this
year we ____________________ (not / grow) any.
9. “How is you English?”
“Not bad. It ____________________ (improve) slowly.”
10.Ron is in London at the moment. He ____________________ (stay) at the Park
Hotel. He ____________________ (always / stay) there when he’s in London.
11.Can we stop waling soon? I ____________________ (start) to feel tired.
12.“Can you drive?” “ I ____________________ (learn). My father
____________________ (teach) me.”
13.Normally I ____________________ (finish) work at 5:00, but this week I
____________________ (work) until 6:00 to earn a bit more money.
14.My parents ____________________ (live) in Bristol. They were born there and
have never lived anywhere else. Where ____________________ (your parents
/ live)?
15.Anna ____________________ (look) for a place to live. She
____________________ (stay) with her sister until she finds somewhere.

PRESENT PERFECT

Link: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt7O2w1Fpxc

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vJOJrVIgek

Complete these sentences using today / this year / this term, etc.

1. I saw Tom yesterday but I haven’t seen him today.

2. I read a newspaper yesterday but I _________________________ today.
3. Last year the company made a profit but this year
_____________________________.
4. Tracy worked hard at school last term but _____________________________.
5. It snowed a lot last winter but _____________________________.
6. Our football team won a lot of games last season but we
_____________________________.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Link: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfectcontinuous.html

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDCB8bIcudM

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4LNCzd5JU4

Write questions for each situation.

1. John looks sunburnt. You ask: (you / sit in the sun?)

How long have you been sitting in the sun?

2. You have just arrived to meet a friend who is waiting for you. You ask: (you /
wait / long?)
______________________________________________________________.

3. You meet a friend on the street. His face and hands are very dirty. You ask:
(what /you / do?)
______________________________________________________________.

4. A friend of yours is now living on Barker Street. You want to know “how long…?”
You ask: (how long / you / live / in Barker Street?)
______________________________________________________________.

5. A friend tells you about his job – he sells computers. You want to know “how
long…?” You ask: (how long / you / sell / computers?)
______________________________________________________________.
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE AND PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Link: http://www.englisch-
hilfen.de/en/grammar/present_perfect_progressive_contrasted.htm

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oODlA-r7HU

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLxnRQZrhc0

Read the situations and write two sentences using the words in brackets.

1. Ton started reading a book two hours ago. He is still reading it and now he is on
page 53.

(read / for two hours) He has been reading for two hours.
(read / 53 pages so far) He has read 53 pages so far.
 2. Linda if from Australia. She is travelling round Europe at the moment. She
began her tour three months ago.

(travel / for three months) She _____________________________________.

(visit / six countries so far) _________________________________________.

3. Jimmy is a tennis player. He began playing tennis when he was ten years old.
This year he is national champion again – for the fourth time.

(win / the national championship 4 times) She _________________________.

(play / tennis since he was ten) ____________________________________.

4. When they left college, Mary and Sue started making films together. They still
make films.

(make / ten films since they left college) She __________________________.

(make / films since they left college) _________________________________.

REFERENCES

-Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use. Great Britain: Cambridge University

Press, 1999.

“English Tenses” http://www.englishtenses.com/past_tenses. 2 March 2016.

-Youtube. Accessed 5 October 2016. Crown Academy of English. www.youtube.com

-About education.com http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/prestenseterm.htm

-Englisch-hilfen.de http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/