All About Tenses!

1. Fill in the correct form of the verb.

1. They ___________________ in Chicago for 20 years (be).
2. I ___________________ a wonderful film in the cinema last night. (see)
3. The sun ___________________ at 6:38 yesterday morning (rise)
4. The sun ___________________ when the climber reached Mount Everest. (shine)
5. I promise that I ___________________ this secret to anyone (not tell)
6. Unfortunately, just as we got to the airport their plane ______________ off (take).
7. They ___________________ to the movies only once in a while (go)
8. I was tired yesterday because I _______________ well the night before (not sleep).
9. Sh! Someone ___________________ to our conversation (listen)!
10. When I left the house this morning, it ___________________ (already rain)
11. I think Bob ___________________ for London this very moment.(leave)
12. The plane ___________________ off in a few minutes. (take)
13. I _________________ up at 7 every morning but this morning I
_________________ long and I _______________ up until 8. (get, sleep, not get)
14. I ________________________ my watch because it is being fixed (not wear).
15. This ___________________ an easy quiz so far (be).
16. They _____________ with uncle right now because they can’t find a house. (live)
17. Everyone ___________________ when the earthquake hit the small town. (sleep)
18. He _________________________ by herself since her divorce (live)
19. I was angry that I ___________________ such a stupid mistake (make).
20. I predict that by 2020, man __________________________ on Mars (land)

2. Fill in the blanks with the suitable form of the verbs in brackets.
(a) I love travelling in the country, but I _________________ (not like) losing my
way. I _________________ (go) on a trip the other day, but my trip took me longer
than I _________________ (expect). 'I'm going to Woodford Green’, I
_________________ (say) to the conductor as I _________________ (get) on the
bus, 'but I _________________ (not know) where it is.' - 'I _________________ (tell)
you where to get off,' _________________ (answer) the conductor. I
_________________ (sit) in front of the bus to get a good view of the countryside.
After some time, the bus _________________ (stop). I realized with a shock that I
_________________ (be) the only passenger left on the bus. 'You
_________________ (must, get) off here', the conductor said, ‘This is as far as we
go.' We _________________ (go) back now,' _________________ (say) the
conductor.

(b) Mary and Jane are twin sisters. When they (be born)_______________ their
mother (die)_______________ . They (be separated) _______________ . Mary (go)
_______________ to live in France and Jane to England. They (be) ______________
16 years old now and they (not see) _______________ each other since they (be)
_______________ 3 years old. Nowadays they (be) _______________ in touch, they
(write) _______________ letters twice a month. They (speak) _______________
different languages but Mary (learn) _______________ English, Jane (learn)
_______________ French for 3 years now to be able to communicate. They
(discover) _______________ they were sisters when they (see) _______________ a
picture at school while they (do) _______________ an international student

All About Tenses! Page 1 of 3

exchange. Next summer they (visit) _______________Germany together, they hope
they (have) _______________ a great time.
(c) Dear Ellen,
You probably _______________ ( not imagine) where I _______________ (write)
you from. This the most wonderful experience of my life. Two months ago I
_______________ (read) on the paper that a wood company_______________
(want) to cut some very old trees in a forest and I_______________ (decide) I
_______________ (have) to do something about it. So I_______________ (make) a
tree house in one of the biggest trees. I_______________ (climb) up to it and here I
am. I_______________ (climb) up here last September, so I _______________
_______________ (be) here for almost 4 months. All the media _______________
(show) a lot of interest in me and I _______________ (answer) thousands of
questions. Some journalists_______________ (even, take) pictures of me from a
helicopter. I can say I _______________ (have) a wonderful time, although
sometimes at night it_______________ (get) very cold. I think I _______________
(stay) up here for another 2 or 3 months and during this time I_______________
(write) a diary I _______________ (hope) some newspaper _______________
(publish) when I _______________ (get down).

3. Choose the correct verb tense to complete each of the following sentences:

1. I ________ for seven hours last night.

1. was slept 2. slept 3. has slept

2. I ________ that you were here.

1. wasn't knowing 2. didn't knew 3. didn't know

3. When I came to this city, I ________ anyone.

1. haven't known 2. didn't know 3. wasn't knowing

4. You know where I live - I ________ in the same place for the past three years.
1. have been living 2. had lived 3. was living

5. You ________ my brother, have you?

1. haven't seen 2. didn't see 3. didn't saw

6. Where ________ last night?

1. have you gone 2. did you went 3. did you go

7. I ________ in bed when I heard the accident outside.

1. was lying 2. lay 3. have lain

8. Did you just _________ me a liar?

1. call 2. called 3. have called

9. She is a mean person. I don't like ________ to her.

1. talk 2. talking 3. have talk

10. I don't know how ________.

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 1. dance 2. dancing 3. to dance

More Fun with Tenses!

4. Fill in the correct form of the verb.
1. My family have ___________________ (buy) some land in Southern France
recently. They ___________________ (build) a summer house there at the moment.
2. Andy and Mary ___________________ (go) to a concert tomorrow night. They
____________________________ (look forward to) it the whole week.
3. Jonathon ___________________ (watch) the news on TV every day and it
___________________ (help) him with his English.
4. An accident ___________________ (happen) near my house last night. A car
_______________ (hit) a young man. He ___________________ (ride) his bike when
someone in front of him suddenly ___________________ (open) a car door. Many
people ___________________ (see) the accident. The police ___________________
(interrogate) them last night.
5. I ______________________ (not sleep) at all last night. Someone _____________
(listen) to music all night.
6. I ___________________ (see) a film a week ago, but I ____________________
(not enjoy) it very much because I _______________________ (already read) the
book. If I ___________________ (not read) the book I ______________________
(probably enjoy) the film more.
7. The judge sentenced the man to eight years in prison because he ______________
(rob) a bank.
8. They ________________________ (stand) in the queue for over an hour when the
manager ________________ (tell) them that there were no more tickets.
9. Alan ________________ (be) in the car accident yesterday. The other driver
________________ (lose) control of his car because he ______________ (fall) asleep
10. I ___________________ (sleep) when the fire broke out.
11. Linda phoned and explained that she _________________________ (not can)
come to the party the next day because she ___________________ (be) still sick.
12. I ________________________ (just see) the film “The Da Vinci Code”. –
___________________ (you see) it too? – No, I ___________________ (not have)
but I ___________________ (read) the book.
13. My sister ___________________ (fly) home from London today. Her flight
___________________ (arrive) in an hour so I ___________________ (leave) for the
airport right now to get there in time.
14. Unless he ___________________ (sell) more he won’t get much money.
15. While he ___________________ (wait) for the bus there ___________________
(be) a robbery at the bank. After the robbers ___________________ (go) away the
police ___________________ (come) but they ___________________ (not can) to
catch them.
16. I ___________________ (use) to ski when I was at the university but I
___________________ (break) a leg five years ago and since then I
___________________ (not ski) any more.

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