VERB TENSES
PRACTICE
A) Complete the text with the correct form of
the verbs in brackets. Use the past simple or
the past continuous.
My friends and I ______________
WERE ENJOYING (enjoy) my birthday party when suddenly
the lights
WENT_____ (go) out. I _________ (think) that my brother
THOUGH WAS _____________
(try) to scare everyone.
SHOUTE T I ________ (shout), ‘Switch theTRYING
lights on!’, HAPPENED
but
nothing _____________D (happen).
WERE While we ________________ (wait) in theSCREAMED
darkness, somebodyWAITING _____________ (scream). Suddenly, I felt scared!
B) Complete the passage with the correct form of the verbs in
brackets. Use the Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple
or the Past Continuous.
Today, it __________
SEEMS (seem) that everyone recognises the paintings of Vincent
Van Gogh. However, few people ______________
KNOW (know) the sad details of his difficult
life. Van Gogh was born in 1853 in a small village in the Netherlands. He _______
DREW
(draw) pictures when he was a boy, but ______________
DIDN’T CONSIDER (not consider) art as a
career. When he was 16 years old, he _________WENT (go) to work for a company which
AFFECTED (affect)
bought and sold art. He had periods of deep depression, which ___________
his work, and as a result, the company ___________
DISMISSED (dismiss) him 1876. Van Gogh
then __________
TAUGHT (teach) in England and later ___________
GAVE (give) Bible lessons in
Belgium. He finally decided to become an artist. Between 1880 and 1890, while he
_______________
WAS PRODUCING (produce) his famous paintings and drawings, he suffered from
frequent periods of depression. On 27 July 1890, when he was 37, he
SHOT
____________ (shoot) himself. He died two days later.
C) Complete the text with the correct tense of the verbs in brackets.
Use the present simple, present continuous, past simple, past
continuous, present perfect or present perfect continuous.
My brother, Sam, _____(go) to a gallery last week to see an exhibition
WEN
by a new artist. While
T WAS
Sam______ ______ (look) at one of the paintings, a
man ___________ (appear)LOOKING next to him. The man asked,
ARE YOU ENJOYING
APPEARED
‘___________________ (you, enjoy) the exhibition?’ Sam said, ‘It’s very
DON’T
good, but I ____________ (not understand) this painting.’UNDERSTAND‘Really? That’s
interesting,’HAVE
the manBEEN
replied. Sam said, ‘I _________________ (stare) at it
HAVEN’T
for a long time, but I ___________ (not decide) if I like it yet. The
STARING subject is
DECIDED
interesting, but the style and coloursHAVE are aYOU
bit simple.
EVER
What do you
think? ___________________ (you everSEEN see) this artist before?’
BLUSH ‘Yes,’ he
replied, ‘I am the artist.’ Sam _______________ (blush) ED but the man said,
‘Don’t
PREFEworry. I like talking about my paintings and I _____________
(prefer)
R people to be honest.’
D) Fill in the gaps with the right form of the verbs
in brackets.
IS
1- Julia ____________ LOVE
(study) in London this year, and she really ____________ (love) being there.
STUDYING S
RANG (ring), I was having a bath, so I couldn’t answer
2- When you ________ the phone.
HAS ALREADY
3- The meeting ________________________ (already/finish). We can go home now.
FINISHED
HAS JUST ARRIVED (just/arrive) home. I’ll give her your message.
4- She ________________________
HAVE YOU BEEN
5 - “How long _______________________ (you/live) in this flat?” _ “I bought it last summer”
ARELIVING
6- They __________________ (get) married next month.
GETTING THREW BROKE
7- When we were children, we never ___________ (throw) stones or ________ (break) anything.
We were very peaceful and quiet.
WERE WAS
8 - While my brothers STUDYING
________________ (study), LISTENING
I ________________ (listen) to music in my room.
I didn’t want to disturb them.
TAUGH
T
9- Who _____________ (teach) you toTO
IS GOING play tennis? _ My father did.
10- She has decided she STUDY
__________________ (study) Economics at University next year.
11- I _________________ (not go) to school yesterday because I
DID NOT GO
____________________________ (not feel) well. WASN’T FEELING/DIDN’T
FEEL
12- Ann __________________________________ (wait) for me when I ____________________
(arrive).WAS WAITING/ WILL BE ARRIVED/
ARRIVE
13- Can WAITING
you ski? _ No but I ‘M LEARNING/ ‘M GOING TO LEARN
__________________________________________ (learn).
14- I am so tired! IHAVE BEEN
_________________________ (work) non-stop for the last four hours!
WORKING
HADN’T
15 - She ___________________ (not/ be) to Athens before she went with her friends last
summer. BEEN
WILL BE
16 - Tomorrow at this time, weHAVING
__________________ (have) our maths class.
WILL HAVE
17- By the end of this term, you __________________ (do) many exams.
DONE
E) Complete the sentences with the correct tense
of the verbs in bracket
WAS
1- Amy __________________ PHONED
(write) a text message to Carl when Rob _______________ (phone) her.
WRITING
2- Tidying CONTROL
every room in the house becomes the most important thing in life for some people, and it __________
(control) their lives completely. S
3- He is usually very serious. He DOESN’T OFTEN (not / often / smile), but he _________________
________________________ IS (smile) at
them now because he is happy. SMILE SMILING
HAVE YOU EVER
4- ____________________________ (you/ ever / ride) a horse? _ No, never. This is the first time.
RIDDEN WAS
BURNE(burn) his hand when he ___________________
5- Tom _______________ (cook) his dinner.
HAVE BEEN COOKING
D dirty because I ___________________________
6- My hands are
HAVE JUST
(repair) my bike. I ________________________
(just/finish)! REPAIRING FINISHED
IS IS
7- At the moment, Sonia _______________ (look) for a place to live. She __________ __ (stay) with her sister until she
finds somewhere. LOOKING STAYING
DO YOU
8- How often __________________________ (you / clean) your car? _ It depends on how dirty it is.
CLEAN HAVE JUST
9- Would you like something to eat? _ No, thanks, I ___________________________ (just / have) lunch.
DROPPED WAS HAD
10-DIDN’T
Last night I _____________ (drop) a plate when I _____________
DOING
(do) the washing up. Fortunately, it
__________________ (not / break).
BREAK
11- There is an ambulance over there because there _______________________
WAS/ HAS (be) an accident.
12- In ten years’ time, youWILL HAVE BEENuniversity and perhapsWILL
______________________(leave) BE
you _________________
(live) in another country. LEFT LIVING
SHAKE
13- People __________________ (shake) hands in most countries.
14- This animal sometimes CHANGE IS itNOT
_______________ (change) colour. At the moment ____________________ (not /
IS WATCHING
move); S (watch) its next meal.
it ___________________ MOVING
HAVE SAW
15- I can’t believe how much you ____________________ (change) since the last time I __________ (see) you.
WERE CHANGED SENT
16- In 1967, two men _________________ (sail) near Miami when they _____________ (send) a message
asking WA
for help.
SAILING
WEREN’
S
17- I ____________ (be) angry because thereT_____________ (be / not) enough eggs in the fridge when I
needed them. HAVE
KNOWN
18- My best friend and I ______________________ (know) each other for over fifteen years. We still get
together once a week. WILL BE
WILL between
19- Tonight, YOU HAVE9.00 and 9.30, weWATCHING
__________________________ (watch) our favourite TV show.
DONE
20- _____________________________ (you/do) your homework before 5 tomorrow?
Back from the holidays
LIV (live) in a small house in London. Right now theyARE
George and Joan __________ ________________
(stand) in the sitting room
E HAVE
of their house. JUST
They ___________________ (just come) back from a holiday
STANDING
ARRIVE
in the country . They _______________ (COME
arrive) at the house five minutes ago.
D
HAPPEN (happen)?" said Joan, as she ______________
"What ______________ LOOKED (look) round at the untidy room.
"SomeoneED WAS
__________ TOOK
(be) in the house. They ____________ (take) everything out of the cupboards
THRE
and BROK
____________ (throw) it on the floor. Look, George, they ______________ (break) all those glasses
and
WPOURE
______________ (pour) wine on the carpet. Look, I´m going
E to cry."
D was very angry. He _______________
George PICKED WAN
(pick) up the telephone. "I ____________ (want) the
police", he said. "Someone
BROK _______________ (break) into our house whileT we ___________ (be) away. I
WERE
don´t know what theyTOOK
___________
E (take). The place is very untidy."
LEFT
"Look!" said Joan "They _______________ (leave) their gloves."
DON’T
"_____________ (not pick) them up, "said George. " _______________
LEAVE (leave) everything for the police.
When
PICKthe police are gone you can tidy up."
F) Use the simple future or the future continuous in this dialogue:
SITUATION: Susan and her family will be setting out on holiday tomorrow morning.
WILL YOU BE LEAVING/
MEG: So, you are off on holiday tomorrow. How exciting! What time ______________________
(you leave)?
SUE: We __________________
WILL BE LEAVING (leave) the house at about 6 a.m.
MEG: 6 a.m.! Why so early? You don’t have to check in till 9.45. You WILL PROBABLY ARRIVE
________________
(probably/arrive) at the airport terribly early!
SUE: I know, but the airport is terribly busy at this time of the year and we want to avoid the rush. We
_______________
WILL CHECK IN (check in) as quickly as we can, then we_______________
WILL HAVE (have) breakfast at
the cafeteria.
WILL BE LYING
MEG: I’m sure that’s wise of you. Imagine! By this time tomorrow evening, you ________________
WILL BE DOING
(lie) on the beach and I __________________ (do) the ironing or something!
SUE: I hope you’re right! I hope we ___________________
WON’T BE SITTING (not sit) around at the airport. You
never know these days.
G) Choose the correct answer
Next week, our final-year students (will have celebrated/ will be celebrating,
celebrates) the end of school. By the end of the summer,will many
be of them (will have
found/ find/ are finding/ will not find) jobs and (willwill
have been starting/ are
celebrating
have
starting/ start/ will be starting) new chapters in their lives in various fields and
found will be
occupations.
starting
No matter where they (will go, go, will have gone, will have been going), we hope
g
to see them next week. We also expect that many parents (want, will want, , will have
o will
wanted, will have been wanting) to be here in this auditorium to watch the
want
celebrations, which (began, will have begun, begins, are going to begin) at 7:30
are going to
pm.
begin
will have
By 10:00 pm, we (will have completed, are completing, complete, won’t have
completed
completed) all the formal business and the presentations. are Then,going to
the students (are going
will
to provide, will have provided, provides, is providing)provide musical entertainment, and of
be
course, there (are, will be, are going to be, will have been) food and refreshments for
willevening (will have been, is, is being, will
parents, visitors and students. We are sure the
be
