PRESENTS AND PASTS

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE - PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Put the verb in brackets in the correct tense. Justify your choice.
1. Anne _______________ (make) all her own clothes.
2. At the moment she _______________ (make) a dress for herself.
3. What's that smell ? Something _______________ (burn) in the kitchen.
4. I _______________ (work) overtime this month because I ______________ (save
up) to buy a car.
5. He _______________ (smoke) thirty cigarettes a day, but at the moment he
_______________ (try) very hard to cut down.
6. The sun _______________ (rise) in the east.
7. She usually _______________ (learn) languages very fast, but she
_______________ (have) problems with Chinese.
8. We _______________(live) in a hotel until we can find a house to buy.
Finish these sentences, and include an adverb of frequency.
Be careful with the word order.

how often ? always, usually, often,

sometimes, not often, rarely, seldom, never,...

1. He's a vegetarian, so he _____________________________________ (meat)

2. We ___________________________________________ Italy for our summer
holidays because we have a villa there.
3. In winter we __________________________________ go skiing in France, or we
_____________________________ at home. It depends.
4. We _________________________________________ fish because it's difficult to
buy fresh.
Write some sentences about yourself, using an adverb of frequency.
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Contradict these sentences.

example : It doesn't rain in Britain.

Yes, it does.

1. Children start school when they're ten.

__________________________

2. Nurses don't wear uniforms.

__________________________

3. You aren't learning English.

__________________________

4. It's snowing.

__________________________

5. Aspirin is good for a cough.

__________________________

6. You don't work hard.

__________________________

7. The best wine comes from Spain.

__________________________

8. Water doesn't boil at 1OO centigrade.

__________________________

Write an appropriate question for these answers.

example :

A. Where do you come from ?

B. I come from Manchester.

1. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. I'm a teacher.
2. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. Twenty-five hours a week. But of course I prepare lessons and mark exercises at
home as well.
3. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. At Manchester Grammar School.
5. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. 15,000 a year.
6. A. ___________________________________________ abroad ?
B. Once or twice a year, usually to Germany.
7. A. ___________________________________________ evenings ?
B. No, not a lot. I'm usually too tired, but I sometimes go to the cinema.
8. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. I like all sorts, but especially westerns and comedies.
9. A. ___________________________________________ ?
B. I'm going to the pub to meet some friends. Would you like to come too ?

SIMPLE PRESENT OR PRESENT CONTINUOUS.

Some of these sentences are wrong. Say why. Correct them if necessary.
1. It rains at the moment.
2. I'm liking black coffee.
3. He's speaking three languages.

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4. I think Mexico is a beautiful country.

5. Restaurants are staying open late in Spain.
6. We usually eat at one o'clock.
7. He's having a flat near the centre.
8. What are you thinking of Shakespeare ?
9. I'm so dirty I need a bath right now.
10 Peter's in the kitchen. He cooks breakfast.
11 What are you thinking about ?
12 That soup tastes good.
13 The Germans are making very good cars.
14 What do you do these days ?
15 I go to the dentist every six months.

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Ask for the underlined. Use the right question-words

1. Peter likes sherry as an aperitive.
2. That's my neighbour's dog.
3. I'm looking for my keys.
4. A good bike costs more than 10,000 .
5. I've come because I want to talk to you.
6. The girl on the left is my best friend.
7. The weather is very nice today.
8. I always come to school by bus.
9. My bus leaves at 7.15 sharp.
10 The Belgian flag is black, yellow, red.
11 He works for an American company.
12 It takes him 1 hour to come to school.
13 My little sister is only 8 years old.
14 They record all their songs in England.
15 Sometimes hooligans attack the police.
16 Young ones often drive wrecklessly.

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SELF CHECK
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE - PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Decide which is the correct verb form.
1. Carmen comes / is coming from Spain.
2. She speaks / is speaking French, Spanish, and English.
3. Today she wears / is wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
4. She smokes / is smoking twenty cigarettes a day.
5. She doesn't smoke / isn't smoking now. She's in class.
6. I meet / am meeting Miss Boyd at ten o'clock tomorrow.
7. Do you like / are you liking Coke ?
8. Who do you speak / are you speaking to on the telephone ?
Make negative.
1. My mother works in a hospital.

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2. I'm still reading that boring book.

3. I like cooking very much.
4. Take the third street on the left.
5. This shop sells good cakes.
6. She's wearing a new blouse today.
7. The headmaster wants to see me.
8. They've got a dog and two cats.
9. Tennis is my favourite sport.
10 Pigs eat grass.

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SIMPLE PAST TENSE - PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

I. Find the correct action for each person.
Carl Lewis
Marilyn Monroe
Andr Dumont
Agatha Christie
Picasso
Henry Ford
Shakespeare
Adolf Hitler
Columbus
Ivan Lendl
Elvis Presley
(play judo - paint pictures - play tennis - sail to America -write plays - act in films - sing
songs - kill Jews - make cars - discover coal - write detective stories - run the 100 m )
Melinda Burns is a famous film star. Two weeks ago she suddenly disappeared, and no
one knew where she was. The police looked everywhere for her. Yesterday she arrived
home, and now she is speaking to reporters for the first time. Read what the reporters are
thinking and ask their questions.
examples : (She went somewhere. Where ?)
Where did you go ?
(Perhaps someone kidnapped her.) Did someone kidnap you ?
- (She disappeared. Why ?)
- (Perhaps she left the country.)
- (She travelled. How ?)
- (Perhaps her friends hid her.)
- (She did something in all that time. What ?)
- (Perhaps she read the stories about her in the newspapers.)
- (She came home. Why ?)
- (Perhaps her husband found her ?)
Bob had a lot of jobs to do last weekend.
He didn't have time to do all of them. Which one did he do ?
EXAMPLE : He washed the car.
He didn't buy a new battery for the car.
wash the car
paint the back door
buy new battery for car
clean windows
repair broken window
go shopping
book holiday
watch TV all evening
write to bank
cook a nice dinner
phone sports club
have a walk with wife
pay electricity bill
read a book
Answering about the past. WHAT DID SUSAN DO LAST FRIDAY ?
1. Did she get up at seven ? (at eight) No, she _______________________

2. Did she go to work by car ? (by bus)

_______________________________
3. Did she start work at nine ? (at ten)
_______________________________
4. Did she have lunch in a restaurant ? (at home)
__________________________
5. Did she finish work at six ? (at five)
_______________________________
6. Did she meet her brother in the evening ? (a friend)_________________________
7. Did she go to the cinema ? (a disco)
_______________________________
Asking about the past.
1. She was born in Chicago. (Where ?) __________________________________
2. I left work at five. (When ?)
__________________________________
3. He got up at seven. (What time ?)
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4. I was born in 1975. (When ?)
__________________________________
5. They saw Kenny McKay. (Who ?)
__________________________________
6. We bought two bottles of wine. (How many ?) ___________________________
7. I had spaghetti for lunch. (What ?)
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Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense,
simple past or past continuous tense
1. Last year I _______________ (go) to Greece for my holidays.
2. I _______________ (decide) to fly because it is much quicker than going overland.
3. On the morning I _______________ (leave) London, it _______________ (rain), but
when I _______________ (step) off the plane in Greece, it was a beautiful day. The sun
_______________ (shine) and a cool wind _______________ (blow) from the sea.
4. I _______________ (take) a taxi to my hotel. As I _______________ (sign) the register,
someone _______________ (tap) me on the shoulder. I _______________ (turn) round. It
was a friend I hadn't seen for ten years. He_______________ (stay) at the same hotel.
5. That evening we _______________ (go) for a walk. The town was still very busy. Street
traders _______________ (sell) souvenirs, and the foreign tourists _______________
(try) to bring down the price with the aid of a Greek phrase book. We _______________
(listen) to their chatter for a while, then returned to our hotel.
Write an appropriate question for these answers.
example :
A. How old were you when you started school ?
B. I was six years old.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. I went to two schools.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. The first was a junior school, the second was a grammar school.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. No, I didn't. I really hated them. I was very unhappy at school.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. I took 'O -levels' when I was 15, and 'A-levels' when I was 17.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. Yes, I did. I went to Oxford University.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. Modern languages - French and German.
A. ____________________________________________________
B. I was there for four years.
A. ___________________________________________________

B. I left in 1988.

Make inversion-questions. The answer is YES or NO

Ask your friend
if he got up early
if he drank tea this morning.
if he had breakfast before coming to school.
if he came to school by bike.
if he left before eight o'clock
if he arrived in time.
if he bought a magazine.
if he studied hard last night.
Make negative.
1. Mr Brown took a taxi to the station.
2. He went to his office.
3. He began work at 9 a.m. yesterday.
4. He told the boss he was wrong.
5. He met several customers.
6. I saw a good film last night.
7. Last summer we enjoyed ourselves.
8. They stood up when the judge came in.
9. The police caught a dangerous thief.
10 She posted the birthday card.

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Ask questions.
1. My brother hurt his leg in an accident.
2. He drank four glasses of beer at the party.
3. I heard a dog barking all night.
4. Susan found her gloves in the garden.
5. Our team lost their first match last Sunday
6. My father gave me a nice mountain bike.

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Pronunciation There are three different pronunciations of the -ED in regular past tenses
[d] [id] [t]
[d] [id] [t]
[d] [id] [t]
to hope
to crash
to rescue
to visit
to climb
to rain
to arrive
to miss
to plant
to finish
to wash
to move
to walk
to land
to post
to clean
to stay
to help
to hurry
to decide

Irregular past tenses

breken
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ to buy
_______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ drove

_______________
_______________ _______________ _______________ flown
geven
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ to hide
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________ knew
_______________
_______________ _______________ _______________ lain
bellen
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ to see
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________ slept
_______________
_______________ _______________ _______________ worn
Simple past tense or past continuous tense
1. It was 8.00 in the morning. A lot of people stood / were standing at the bus stop, waiting
to go to work.
2. A magnificent oak tree stood / was standing in the middle of the garden.
3. I studied / was studying politics at university.
4. He studied / was studying the effects of radiation when he died.
5. When I woke up this morning it rained /was raining.
6. It rained / was raining every single day of the holidays.
7. I asked him what he thought / was thinking about.
8. I thought / was thinking the play was extremely good.
9.
A. What did you do / were you doing with that electric drill ?
B. I as putting up some book shelves in my bedroom.
10
A. What did you do / were you doing with that electric drill ?
B. I put it back in its box in the tool cupboard.
11
A. What did you do / were you doing before you took this job ?
B. Nothing, actually. I only left school a few months ago.
12
A. What did you do / were you doing in my bedroom just now ?
B. The light was on, so I just went in to turn it off.
13 The poor chap died / was dying. All we could do was comfort him.
14 The poor chap died / was dying early next morning.
15 When she paid / was paying for the petrol, a boy stole / was stealing her wallet from
her car.
16 While I shopped / was shopping this morning, I lost / was losing my money. I don't
know how.
17 Last week the police stopped / were stopping Alan in his car because he travelled / was
travelling at over eighty miles an hour.

SELF CHECK

SIMPLE PAST TENSE -- PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

Fill in the right form of the verb (present or past)

1. When there's an accident, people usuall (phone) for an ambulance

___________

2. The driver of the car (wear) his seat belt when the accident (happen)

___________

3. We (drive) along the main road when we (see) the accident

___________

4. Ambulance drivers always (wear) a uniform.

___________

5. The number of accidents (increase) nowadays, and there

___________

(be/not) enough doctors to deal with all the emergencies.

___________

Simple past tense or past continuous tense

I _______________ (live) in Amsterdam when I was young.
2. Our daughter was born when we (live) _______________ in Antwerp.
3. I _______________ (want) to talk to her, but she had already left.
4. I managed to catch Ricky just as he _______________ (leave).
5. When I ________ (come) in she ____________ (learn) to play the guitar
6. All the lights _________ (go out), while we (have) ___________ dinner
A journalist talked to a witness of a robbery.
Choose and adapt a verb from from the list below to complete the story.

I ________________ some magazines in the newsagent's when suddenly the door

________________ with a bang. A man wearing a black mask and carrying a gun
_____________ in. He _______________ to the counter and __________ "Hands up!
Give me the money or I'll shoot." The shop assistant was very frightened and gave him
some money. I _____not_______
The masked man stuffed the money into his jacket pocket and ran out.
Another man _______________ on a motor-bike. I ______________ to the telephone and
dialled 999 for the police, but it __________ too late.
The robbers had already escaped.
[to buy, to open, to come, to run, to shout,]
[ to move, to wait, to go, to be]
Ask for the underlined.
1. Elvis Presley died in 1977.

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2. He gave up smoking 2 years ago.

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3. He kissed the bride.

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4. We had a good time at the seaside. _________________________________

5. I took a holiday job in the summer.

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6. People were singing in the street.

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Make negative.
1. The customer paid by cheque.

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2. I knew all the answers of the quiz.

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3. The drank two bottles of wine.

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4. He told me my car lights were on.

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5. They were carrying heavy suitcases.

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6. She was playing the piano when I arrived.

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Supply the correct forms, either simple or past continuous of the verbs.
1. While I ............... (peel) potatoes, I .......... my thumb. (cut)
2. Our guests ............ (leave) at midnight in a taxi that .............. (just pass) by chance.
3. The old lady ......... (fall) as she .............. (get off) the bus
4. When Tom ........... (see) her she ...............(lie) on the ground
5. He ............... (go) to town, so he .............(give) us a lift.