Review of Verb Forms

1. Match the form in the left-hand with a meaning in the middle column and a grammar word in the right-
hand column

1. Sales increase every a. Completed action in a Past simple

year
2. Sales are increasing at
the moment
3. Sales have increased
by 6% this year
4. Sales have been
increasing rapidly this
year
5. Sales increased
significantly last year.
6. Sales were increasing
all through last year.
7. Sales had just started
to improve when the
Sales Manager
resigned
completed period of
time
b. Action and situations Past continuous
repeated regularly
over a long period of
time
c. Action or situation in Present simple
progress from the past
up to the present
d. Temporary action and Present continuous
situation in progress
now
e. Action or activities in Present perfect
progress in the past
f. A past event or Present perfect continuous
situation that is
connected with the
present
g. A past event that Past perfect
preceded another past
event

2. Time phrases are very helpful when deciding which tense to use. Write the time phrases from the box
below in the column where they are used most often. Some of the phrases can be used in more than
column.
ago already always/often/never at the moment currently ever every day
from time to time in the nineties just last week not yet now nowadays once a year
over the last few months recently so far this year these days yesterday

Present simple Present continuous Present perfect Past simple

I do I am doing I have done I did

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1. Complete the email by putting the verb in brackets into either the present simple (I work), present
continuous (I am working), or the present perfect (I have worked).

Every year at this time we (1) ________________ (interview) candidates for positions across the company.
This week I (2) ___________________ (plan) that process, so I (3) ____________ (need) an estimate of
staffing needs from every department. In the past years we (4) _____________________ _________
(always/be able) to recruit the numbers asked for, but this year will be different. At the moment we (5)
____________________ (operate) in a difficult market, and sales (6) ________________ (fall) considerably
over the last year. This (7) _______________ (mean) that we will have to reduce our staffing costs. Of
course I (8) _______________ (hope) it will only be temporary.
2. Complete the email by putting the verb in brackets into either the present simple (I work), present
perfect (I have worked), or past simple (I worked).

I (1) ____________________ (just/receive) an email from our subsidiary in Poland. They (2) __________
(need) more brochures as they (3) _________________ (give out) their entire stock over the last few
months. They (4) _________________ (have) a stand at the Warsaw Trade fair last week and (5)
_______________ (distribute) hundreds of brochures. Now they (6) ____________ (want) us to send
another 4 000 copies. I (7) _________ ___________ (already/contact) Sales to see if they have any spare,
but I (8) ____________ (think) we’ll need some more. Can you get a quotation for the printers?

3. Complete the informal email by putting the verb in brackets into either the present perfect (I have
worked), past simple (I worked) or past continuous (I was working).

Hello Diana, Sorry I (1) ___________________ (not/be) in touch recently. I hope you’re well. Guess what!
The other day I (2) ______________ (meet) Katia while I (3) _______________ (wait) at the underground.
Do you remember her? The girl from Romania who (4) _______________ (be) in our English class last year?
I almost (5) ___________________ (not recognise) her because she (6) _________________ (wear)
sunglasses and had green spiky hair red.

4. Complete the informal email by putting the verb in brackets into either the present perfect (I have
worked), or the present perfect continuous (I have been working).
Are you there? I (1) _____________________ (phone) all week and there´s no answer. I couldn’t email you
because I (2) ___________________ (wait) to get my computer fixed. What is your news? (3)
_______________________ (you/find) a job yet? As for me, I (4) ___________ (decide) to get fit. Yes,
really. I (5) __________________ (eat) healthy food, and I (6) _______________ (start) yoga classes as well.
I (7) _________________ (go) for a couple of weeks now and I’m really enjoying it. (8)
______________________________ (you/ever/do) yoga? Anyway get in touch when you have a chance.

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5. Complete what Peter says about his last job with the best form of the verb in brackets. Choose between
the past simple, past continuous or past perfect.
It was January and I (1) ____________________ (graduate) from university the previous summer. I was
really fed up of being unemployed – I (2) _______________________ (just/sit) at home doing nothing. To
be honest I (3) ________________________ (nearly/give up) hope. Then a friend told me about a graduate
recruitment fair. I (4) __________________ (not /decide) what kind of job I wanted to do, and I (5)
__________________ (think) the fair would be interesting. While I (6)_________________ (look) at some
information on one of the stands, a recruiter came up to me and (7) ______________ (tell) me about
openings in a well-known company – an accountancy firm. I thought it would be opportunity for me, as I (8)
__________________ (already/take) some accountancy exams as part of my business degree and I did well
in them, I’ve always been good with figures. So I (9) ______________ (complete) an application form and
gave it to the recruiter. They (10) ____________________ (interview) me the following week and I got the
job. In the end I was there for three years. You want to know why I left? Well, the situation was like this. I
(11) ____________ (work) for a person who was very demanding and gave me very little space to take
initiative on my own. Also, I (12) _______________ _________ (not have) a salary increase since I (13)
___________ (start). They (14) __________________ (really/exploit) me. Then, on top of that, the job (15)
___________________ (become) quite repetitive after three years and I really wanted to something
different. So I (16) _________________ (resign). I (17) _________________ (not/have) another job to go to
but I just knew I (18) ______________ (have) to make a change. It was a pity because I
(19)______________ (put) a lot of effort into that job and I (20) ___________________ (always want) to
work for an international company like that, but it was the only thing to do.

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