1.

Complete with the correct form of the verbs in brackets (present

simple/continuous, past simple).

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

- ...2... (you / listen) to the radio every day? No, just ocasionally.
- Can you drive? I ...3... (learn). My father ...4... (teach) me.
- The film wasn’t very good. I ...5... (not / enjoy) it very much.
- What ...6... (your father / do)? He’s an architect, but he ...7... (not / work) at the
moment.
- It was a funny situation but nobody ...8... (laugh).
- Ann ...9... (spend) a lot of money yesterday. She ...10... (buy) a dress
which ...11... (cost) 200 E.
- The train is never late. It ...12... (always / leave) on time.
- Who is that man? Why ...13... (he / look) at us?
- She ...14... (visit) her grandfather tomorrow morning.
- Who ...15... (write) that book? Byron did.
- It was hard work carrying the bags. They ...16... (be) very heavy.
- The sun ...17... (shine). Why don’t you go for a walk?
- ...18... (you / usually / spend) a lot of money on clothes?
- How ...19... (you / travel). I travelled by train.
- Who ...20... (you / see)? I saw Michael and Tom.
- She never ...21.. (finish) work before eleven so she always ...22...(arrive) home
when her children are in bed.
- He ...23... (teach) in a language school, although he ...24... (work) in a factory
at the moment because the school is on holiday.

2. Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in brackets (present
simple/continuous, past simple/continuous).

Sarah is a police officer. She usually (1) …................... (work) in an office at the
police station, but at the moment she (2) …................... (interview) a suspect about
an attempted robbery this morning. She (3) …................... (not enjoy) this part of
her job because the criminals often (4)…................. (tell) lies and they (5)
…................. (not confess) to their crimes. In this case a passer-by (6)
…................... (walk) down the street when he (7) …................... (see) the suspect
in front of a neighbour’s house. He (8) …................ (try) to open the window. The
suspect says that he (9) …................... (not try) to break into the house – he (10)
…................... (clean) the window because he’s their window cleaner!
3. Write the correct form of the verbs in brackets (present simple/continuous, past
simple/continuous).

 I ...1... (not/visit) my parents very often.

 I ...2... (live) in Paris right now, but I ...3... (come) from Belgium.
 He ...4... (talk) on the phone when I ...5... (arrive), but when he ...6... (see) me,
he ...7... (finish) the call. Perhaps he ...8...(think) that I ...9...(listen) to his
conversation.
 “...10... (you/be) in South America last year?”
 “Yes, I ...11...(be) in Bolivia on business and then my wife and I ...12... (travel)
to Brazil for a holiday”.
 “...13... (your mother/usually/help) you with your homework?”
 “Yes, we ...14... (always/do) it together after school”.
 I nearly ...15... (have) an accident yesterday. A car ...16... (come) towards me,
but I ...17... (move) quickly out of the way and fortunately nothing ...18...
(happen).
 “...19...(he/watch) TV?”
 “No, he ...20... (read) a book at this moment”.

4. Complete with the correct form of the verbs in brackets (present

simple/continuous, past simple/continuous)

- A lot of people ...1... (hate) the cold English weather.

- She ...2... (get) ready to go out at the moment.
- While Martin ...3... (go) to the airport, someone stole his passport.
- When I looked out of the window, we ...4... (fly) over the ocean.
- “I ...5... (phone) you yesterday morning but you ...6... (not/answer). Were you
out?” “Yes, I ...7... (be) at the sports centre”
“What ...8... (you/do)?”
“I ...9... (play) ice hockey.
- Tina is a teacher. She ...10... (teach) Mathematics to young children.
- My brother ...11... (suffer) from allergies when the season ...12... (change).
- The baby ...13... (sleep) right now, but I’m sure he’ll wake up soon for his feed.
- “...14... (he/usually/take) milk and sugar in his coffee?” “Well, he ...15...
(always/take) milk but he ...16... (not/take) sugar.
- “How often ...17... (he/change) his car?” “He ...18... (change) it every five years,
but that ...19... (depend) on the condition of the car”
- At half past eight last night I ...20... (not/read), I ...21... (write) a letter.
- I ...22... (not/be) very well last week, that’s why I ...23... (not/come) to school.
- Vicky ...24... (have) a beautiful dream last night when the alarm clock ...25...
(ring).
- Something very strange ...26... (happen) to me on my way home from work
yesterday afternoon. I ...27... (drive) my car when suddenly I ...28... (see) my
mother in the seat beside me! But it was impossible because she ...29... (die)
three years ago!
- My friend is finding life in Paris very difficult because she ...30... (not/speak)
French.
 5. Write the correct form of the verbs in brackets (present simple/continuous, past
simple/continuous).

- When I ...1... (come) into the room, they ...2... (stop) talking about clothes and
they ...3... (tell) me that they ...4... (study) really hard.
- “What ...5... (you / do) when I called you last night?” “I ...6... (try) to solve the
maths problem”
- Yesterday I ...7... (drive) from Santiago to Vigo and back. At night I ...8... (be)
really exhausted.
- When I went into the office, everybody ...9... (work). Pat ...10... (write) a letter,
Sam ...11... (phone) a customer and the accountants ...12... (complete) some
documents.
- Prince Felipe ...13... (marry) a journalist, Letizia Ortiz, in 2004.
- I ...14... (not send) you a Christmas card because I ...15... (not / know) your
address.
- Why ...16... (those people / look) at me? Perhaps they have never seen such an
unusual coat.
- I asked for permission to go to that concert buy my parents ...17... (not / agree).
They ...18... (say) that it ...19... (start) too late.
- John ...20... (tidy) his room every weekend.
- The fast train ...21... (not / stop) at this station.
- It’s a nice party. ...22... (you / enjoy) it? Yes, it’s great!
- We ...23... (meet) Tom’s friends tomorrow evening.
- She...24... (usually / work) in an office but at the moment she ...25... (interview)
a suspect.
- You ...26... (not / wear) your usual glasses. Are they new?
- She often ...27... (read) novels and magazines, but now she ...28... (read) a
biography.
- The suspects ...29... (try) to escape when they ...30... (have) the accident.

Key
1.
1. isn’t raining
2. Do you listen
3. am learning
4. is teaching
5. didn’t enjoy
6. does your father do
7. isn’t working
8. laughed
9. spent
10. bought
11. cost
12. always leaves
13. is he looking
14. is visiting
15. wrote
16. were
 17. is shining
18. Do you usually spend
19. did you travel
20. did you see
21. finishes
22. arrives
23. teaches
24. is working

2.

1. works
2. is interviewing
3. doesn’t enjoy
4. tell
5. don’t confess
6. was walking
7. saw
8. was trying
9. wasn’t trying
10. was cleaning

3.

1. don’t visit
2. am living
3. come
4. was talking
5. arrived
6. saw
7. finished
8. thought
9. was listening
10. Were you
11. was
12. travelled
13. Does your mother usually help
14. always do
15. had
16. was coming
17. moved
18. happened
19. Is he watching
20. is reading
4.

1. hate
2. is getting
3. was going
4. were flying
5. phoned
6. didn’t answer
7. was
8. were you doing
9. was playing
10. teaches
11. suffers
12. changes
13. is sleeping
14. does he usually take
15. always takes
16. doesn’t take
17. does he change
18. changes
19. depends
20. wasn’t reading
21. was writing
22. wasn’t
23. didn’t come
24. was having
25. rang
26. happened
27. was driving
28. saw
29. died
30. doesn’t speak

5.

1. came
2. stopped
3. told
4. were studying
5. were you doing
6. was trying
7. drove
8. was
9. was working
10. was writing
11. was phoning
12. were completing
13. married
14. didn’t send
15. didn’t know
16. are those people looking
17. didn’t agree
18. said
19. started
20. tidies
21. doesn’t stop
22. Are you enjoying
23. are meeting
24. usually works
25. is interviewing
26. aren’t wearing
27. reads
28. is reading
29. were trying
30. had