Present continuous tense

Exercise 1
Complete the sentences below with the present continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.
1 He _________________________ (play) computer games with his brother.
2 Mr and Mrs Lee _________________________ (visit) Ocean Park.
3 Sarah _________________________ (write) a postcard to her friend.
4 Mr Cheung _________________________ (sit) next to me on the plane.
5 You _________________________ (talk) on the telephone.
6 Billy _________________________ (not do) his homework.
7 Paul and Patrick _________________________ (surf) on the waves in the sea.
8 I _________________________ (hike) on Lantau Island.
9 We _________________________ (pull) down the blinds to make the room dark.
10 Grandma _________________________ (begin) to cook our dinner.
11 ____________ you ____________ (play) computer games?
12 I _________________________ (take photographs) on top of the Eiffel Tower.
13 Kevin and I _________________________ (shop) in Festival Walk.
14 They _________________________ (lie) on the beach.
15 Chris and Francis _________________________ (ride) horses.
16 ____________ you ____________ (book) tickets for our holiday?
17 They _________________________ (not listen) to our advice.

Exercise 2

Complete the passage below using the present continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.
The Cheung family (1) __________________ (go) to the airport to meet their grandmother. She (2)
_____________________ (arrive) from Singapore at 6 p.m. They (3) _______________ (travel)
to the airport on the MTR. Mr and Mrs Cheung (4) ___________________ (sit) and their son,
Jason, and daughter, Mary, (5) __________________ (stand). Jason (6) ___________
__________ (look) out of the train window at the green hills. The sun (7) _________________
(set) in the sky. Mary (8) ________________ (smile) because she likes the view very much. Many
planes (9) __________________ (fly) overhead. ‘Look,’ says Jason, pointing at the sky, ‘that
plane (10) ___________________ (land). Maybe Grandma is on it.’

Simple past tense

Exercise 1
Complete the sentences below using the simple past tense of the verbs in brackets.

1 The classroom was very dark after we ___________________ (lower) the blinds.
2 Patrick ___________________ (run) down the stairs and into the playground.
3 I ___________________ (bring) my coin collection to school yesterday.
4 My sister’s school team ___________________ (win) the volleyball match.
5 Susan said that she ___________________ (enjoy) her holiday very much.
6 Aunt Sally ___________________ (sing) my favourite song last night.
7 Tom ___________________ (spend) all his money on a new computer game.
8 Yesterday, we ___________________ (take) a bus to Lantau Island and stayed the day.
9 My little brother ___________________ (try) very hard to finish the jigsaw puzzle.
10 The magic show was fantastic and we ___________________ (clap) loudly.
11 Yesterday the school bus ___________________ (break down).
12 Last summer, you ___________________ (go) to mainland China, didn’t you?
13 Joe ___________________ (lose) his stamp album at school.
14 Last night, they ___________________ (watch) the World Cup on TV.
15 She ___________________ (buy) ten new CDs last week.
16 Two days ago, we ___________________ (travel) to Lantau to see The Big Buddha.
17 Last night, my mother ___________________ (fry) some noodles for dinner.
18 We ___________________ (dance) to pop music at last term’s class party.
19 I ___________________ (rub) out my mistake with an eraser.
20 Mary ___________________ (ask) me to explain the homework.

Exercise 2
Complete the questions and answers below using ‘did’, ‘didn’t’ or the simple past tense of the
verbs in brackets.

1 _________________ John leave an hour ago?

No, he _________________. He _________________ (leave) five minutes ago.

2 _________________ they buy these comics?

Yes, they _________________. They _________________ (buy) them when they were on
holiday.

3 _________________ you see Kate yesterday?

Yes, I _________________. I _________________ (see) her at about 6 p.m.

4 _________________ Tina join the Stamp Club last week?

No, she _________________. She _________________ (join) a long time ago.

5 _________________ the cat eat my sandwich?

No, it _________________. The dog _________________ (eat) your sandwich.

Exercise 3
Answer the following questions in complete sentences using the time expressions in brackets.
Add any other necessary words to help the sentence make sense.

1 When did you wake up this morning? (half past seven)

_________________________________________________________________
2 When did Julie move to Canada? (last year)
_________________________________________________________________
3 When did you visit your grandmother? (Saturday)
_________________________________________________________________
4 When did you first perform on stage? (at primary school)
_________________________________________________________________
5 When did you make your first million dollars? (when I was thirty years old)
_________________________________________________________________
6 When did you first meet your wife? (ten years ago)
_________________________________________________________________
7 When did you move the furniture? (last night)
_________________________________________________________________
8 When did you finish reading the book? (last week)
_________________________________________________________________
9 When did you plant that tree? (when I was six years old)
_________________________________________________________________
10 When did you go to the zoo? (during the summer holidays)
_________________________________________________________________

Exercise 4
Complete the following passage by putting the verbs in brackets into the simple past tense.

When I (1) _______________ (be) a teenager, I (2) _______________ (go) to work in a small
supermarket, stacking groceries. Later I (3) _______________ (move) up to the checkout counter.
My work was so good that the manager (4) _______________ (promote) me to Deputy Manager. I
(5)
_______________ (work) in that position for two years, then the manager (6) ______________
(retire) and I (7) _______________ (take over) his job. I
(8)
______________ (enjoy) working at the supermarket so much that I (9) _______________
(buy) it. It has been my store for five years now, and it is very popular — it is so successful that
yesterday I (10) _______________ (open) my second store.

Exercise 5

Complete the following sentences using ‘was’ or ‘were’ for each blank.
1 These comics _________________ very expensive.
2 The stamps he collected _________________ very rare.
3 I _________________ very happy to see you last weekend.
4 The man _________________ very rich.
5 Yesterday _________________ your birthday.
6 You _________________ very tired last night.
7 My lunch _________________ really delicious.
8 The old book _________________ extremely valuable.
9 We _________________ (not) free last weekend.
10 Sue _________________ (not) at home this morning.

Exercise 6
Write questions in the simple past tense for the ten sentences in Exercise 1. The first one
has been done for you.

1 Were these comics very expensive?

_______________________________________________________________________
2 _______________________________________________________________________
3 _______________________________________________________________________
4 _______________________________________________________________________
5 _______________________________________________________________________
6 _______________________________________________________________________
7 _______________________________________________________________________
8 _______________________________________________________________________
9 _______________________________________________________________________
10 _______________________________________________________________________

Exercise 7
Complete the dialogue below using the correct form of the simple past tense of the verb ‘to be’.

Cathy: Where (1) _______________ you this morning? I waited half an hour for you at the train
station.

Peter: I’m sorry but I (2) _______________ very busy. I had a lot of work to do.

Cathy: We (3) _______________ supposed to go to the Hong Kong Collectors Show together.
Anyway, I went on my own. I enjoyed it very much. I saw a lot of things. There
(4)
_______________ a man there with over 1,000 key rings. His key rings
(5)
_______________ very interesting. One (6) _______________ over fifty years old. I
also went to the matchbox stall and the magnet stall but they (7) _______________
very busy. Not many people visited them.
 (8)
Peter: _______________ the yo-yo man there?

Cathy: No, he (9) _______________. I heard that his yo-yos (10) _______________ lost at the
airport last night!

Exercise 8
Read the passage below about a collector. Complete the questions with ‘Was’ or ‘Were’. Then
write short answers.

My Uncle Jack was a coin collector. He started collecting coins when he was a child. He
was a coin collector for nearly sixty years and sold his collection last year. He had 415
coins. Some of the coins he collected were very old. My friend Debbie and I visited him
many times but we were not allowed to touch his coins. His favourite coin was gold and
from Japan. He was happy when he sold his coins for a lot of money. He used his
money to travel around the world. There were many places he wanted to visit. He was
also able to start a new hobby — collecting bank notes.

1 ______ Uncle Jack a postcard collector?

_______________________________________________________________
_____.
No, he

2 ______ he a collector for a long time?

____________________________________________________________________

3 ______ there 500 coins in his collection?

____________________________________________________________________

4 ______ some of his coins very old?

____________________________________________________________________

5 ______ Debbie allowed to touch the coins?

____________________________________________________________________

6 ______ his favourite coin from Germany?

____________________________________________________________________

7 ______ Uncle Jack sad when he sold his coins?

____________________________________________________________________

8 ______ he able to travel to a lot of places?

 ____________________________________________________________________

9 ______ there many countries that he wanted to visit?

____________________________________________________________________

10 ______ his new hobby travelling?

____________________________________________________________________

Simple future tense with will

Exercise 1
Rearrange the words below to form sentences in the simple future tense.

1 ice cream / they / dessert / order / for

____________________________________________________________________
2 reply / she / to / as / your / possible / soon / e-mail message / as
____________________________________________________________________
3 at / have / the / we / lobster / banquet
____________________________________________________________________
4 we / twenty / invite / to / people / the / party
____________________________________________________________________
5 come / to / the / banquet / he / not be able / to
____________________________________________________________________
6 eat / the / a lot of / at / we / seafood / restaurant
____________________________________________________________________
7 mum / birthday / fifty years old / her / on / my / next / be
____________________________________________________________________
8 in / for / they / not arrive / the / time / party
____________________________________________________________________
9 I / money / contribute / the / for / present / remind / to / her
____________________________________________________________________
10 our / we / at / friends / meet / airport / the
____________________________________________________________________

Exercise 2
Complete the sentences below using ‘will’ and the verbs in brackets.

1 Tom __________________ (have) a birthday party on Sunday.

2 It __________________ (be) hot tomorrow.
3 We __________________ (go) to the cinema tonight.
4 I __________________ (write) an e-mail message to my friend in America.
5 Alison and May __________________ (do) their homework later.
6 My friends __________________ (learn) how to swim in the summer holidays.
7 I __________________ (study) Japanese next year.
8 The school football team __________________ (play) their first game this afternoon.
9 You __________________ (not speak) during the performance.
10 You __________________ (visit) your aunt during Chinese New Year.

Exercise 3
1 abalone / have / at / we / banquet / the
____________________________________________________________________
2 wedding gift / you / money / the / for / collect
____________________________________________________________________
3 to / on / Friday / Hong Kong / fly / he
____________________________________________________________________
4 invite / they / Wong family / the
____________________________________________________________________
5 very / be / she / surprised
____________________________________________________________________
6 at / Grandma / I / airport / the / see
____________________________________________________________________
7 banquet / in time / the / for / arrive / they
____________________________________________________________________
8 be / the / at / your / party / teacher
____________________________________________________________________
9 this / it / evening / cold / be
____________________________________________________________________
10 roast chicken / you / dinner / for / cook
____________________________________________________________________
Be going to
Exercise 1
Rearrange the words below to form sentences in the simple future tense with the correct form of
‘be going to’. The first one has been done for you.

1 we / have lunch / McDonald’s

We are going to have lunch at McDonald’s.
____________________________________________________________________
2 I / see / a / film / tonight
____________________________________________________________________
3 Peter / me / drive / to / the party
____________________________________________________________________
4 Rachel / pizza / buy / a
____________________________________________________________________
5 ‘Happy Birthday’ / sing / we
____________________________________________________________________
6 Thursday / have / test / a / next / you
____________________________________________________________________
7 buy / computer / I / a
____________________________________________________________________
8 Nick / TV / and I / watch / tonight
____________________________________________________________________
9 family / my / fast food / for dinner / eat
____________________________________________________________________
10 Maths / you / study / next week
____________________________________________________________________
11 sleeping bag / buy / new / I / a
____________________________________________________________________

Exercise 2
Complete the passage below using the correct form of ‘be going to’.

We (1) ___________________ have a party for my grandfather this weekend. He

(2)
___________________ be eighty years old. The banquet (3) ___________________ be held at
a Chinese restaurant. There (4) ___________________ be a lot of good food at the banquet. I (5)
___________________ eat a lot of seafood and dumplings.

My aunt and uncle (6) ___________________ fly back from Canada to attend the banquet. We (7)
___________________ meet them at the airport tomorrow. My uncle (8)________________
give my grandfather a gold watch for his birthday. My older sister and I (9) _______________
give him a beautiful jade pendant. We (10) ___________________ have a lot of fun.

Exercise 3
Complete the questions below using the correct form of ‘be going to’.

1 ____________ it _______________ (rain)?

2 ____________ you _______________ (cook) your dinner?
3 ____________ your grandfather _______________ (exercise) in the afternoon?
4 ____________ your class _______________ (have) a test tomorrow?
5 ____________ they _______________ to invite Mr Chan to the party?
6 ____________ Kitty _______________ (take) some cakes to the party?
7 ____________ you _______________ (borrow) this book again?
8 ____________ Eddie and Joe _______________ (walk) to school today?
9 ____________ I _______________ (pass) the test Miss Lee?
10 ____________ I _______________ (be) in the football team this year?

Exercise 4
Complete the questions and answers below. Use the correct form of ‘be going to’ in each
question.

1 ____________ you ____________ have steamed fish for dinner tonight?

Yes, ____________.
2 ____________ he ____________ play basketball with us tomorrow?
No, ____________.
3 ____________ we ____________ have a birthday celebration for her?
Yes, ____________.
4 ____________ your mum ____________ cook a western meal?
No, ____________.
5 ____________ they ____________ meet you after the game?
Yes, ____________.
6 ____________ Mr Chan ____________ give you a test tomorrow?
No, ____________.
7 ____________ you ____________ get a job as a waiter?
No, ____________.
8 ____________ we ____________ look at the menu first?
Yes, ____________.
9 ____________ John ____________ have chicken curry?
Yes, ____________.
10 ____________ I ____________ choose the food for the banquet?
No, ____________.
Present continuous tense to talk about the future
Exercise 1

Complete the sentences below using the present continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.

1 The minibus ________________________ (leave) soon. Let’s go!

2 I ________________________ (go) to a French restaurant for dinner tonight.
3 He ________________________ (meet) us at the train station tomorrow.
4 We ________________________ (take) the bus to Kennedy Town.
5 She ________________________ (start) school in the autumn.
6 They ________________________ (visit) the centre next Tuesday.
7 The new restaurant ________________________ (open) on 3rd May.
8 My uncle ________________________ (move) to a new flat next week.
9 I ________________________ (have) red bean soup for dessert.
10 Mrs Kwok ________________________ (arrive) at four o’clock.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences below with the present continuous tense of the verbs in the word box.
contribute order cook invite meet
organise stay send study start
1 I _________________________ Susan outside the restaurant.
2 The film ________________________ in ten minutes.
3 I can’t go to the party. I ________________________ for a test tomorrow.
4 The desserts are very good at this restaurant. We ________________________ some after
we’ve finished the main courses.
5 Jane ________________________ me an e-mail message this afternoon.
6 My mum ________________________ barbecued ribs tonight.
7 They ________________________ ten people to the party.
8 You ________________________ the meeting place and time for Jack’s birthday party this
weekend
9 My classmates ________________________ at a camp this summer.
10 Thomas ________________________ $500 for Grandma’s birthday present.

Exercise 3

Put a tick () in the box beside the sentences which refer to the future and a cross () beside
the sentences which refer to the present.

1 My father is coming tomorrow. 

2 I am playing volleyball tonight. 
3 The film is starting later this afternoon. 
4 Your brother is playing well. 
5 They are eating pizza at the moment. 
6 David is meeting me next Monday. 
7 I am writing a book. 
8 His mother is working next Monday 
9 Some students are not listening to me. 
10 I am waiting for the rain to stop. 

Exercise 4

Complete the sentences below using the present continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.

1 Tim ______________________ (leave) tonight.

2 Be quiet! The film ______________________ (starts) soon.
3 I ______________________ (go) to Central.
4 They ______________________ (play) basketball in the park this afternoon.
5 We ______________________ (eat) dinner at my aunt’s house.
6 Jill ______________________ (study) this weekend. She has a test on Monday.
7 My father ______________________ (cooks) dinner for us tonight.
8 I ______________________ (help) her clean the kitchen on Saturday.
9 We ______________________ (dance) at Shirley’s party.
10 Eva and Kelly ______________________ (make) breakfast tomorrow morning.

Simple present tense to talk about the future

Exercise 1
Complete the passage below with the simple present tense of the verbs in the word box.

leave do pick up eat return

put on take wake up finish start
I have a very busy day tomorrow. I (1) ____________ at 7 a.m. Then I (2) ____________ my
school uniform and (3) ____________ my breakfast. The school bus (4) ____________ me
____________ at 8 a.m. School (5) ____________ at 9 a.m. and (6) ____________ at 3 p.m. After
school, I (7) ____________ a minibus to Wan Chai for my piano lesson. After my
piano lesson, I (8) ____________ my homework at home. At 6.30 p.m., my family and I
(9)
____________ our flat to attend a banquet. We (10) ____________ home at 9.30 p.m. I’ll be
very tired by then!

Exercise 2
Rearrange the words below to form sentences in the simple present tense. Use the correct form
of the verbs.

1 travel / Japan / next / to / they / week

___________________________________________________________________
2 shop / at / 11 p.m. / on / the / close / Saturdays
___________________________________________________________________
3 begin / the / soon / concert
___________________________________________________________________
4 we / Hong Kong / 13th / arrive / in / April / on
___________________________________________________________________
5 hiking / go / I / afternoon / this
___________________________________________________________________
6 end / in / film / about / minutes / the / ten
___________________________________________________________________
7 have / volleyball / he / this / practice / morning
___________________________________________________________________
8 depart / their / Tuesday / flight / on / evening
___________________________________________________________________
9 tomorrow / my / birthday / be / friend’s
___________________________________________________________________
10 start / holidays / the / on / Friday / New Year
___________________________________________________________________
 Yan Chai Hospital Lan Chi Pat Memorial Secondary School
F.1 English
Easter Holiday Homework (II)
Name: ___________________ Class: _________ ( )
Prepositions of time
Exercise 1
Complete the sentences below with the correct prepositions of time (‘at’, ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘during’).

1 We’re going on vacation ________ March.

2 I usually do my homework ________ the afternoon.
3 ________ Monday, our class is having a picnic at the beach.
4 I was born ________ 1982.
5 The students are having a swimming lesson ________ 2 p.m.
6 ________ the week, I usually stay home in the evening.
7 ________ my birthday, I’m going to have a party.
8 They always eat chicken and rice ________ dinner.
9 We should not talk ________ lessons.
10 ________ Christmas Day, I’m going to eat turkey.
11 My plane leaves tonight ________ eleven o’clock ________ the evening.
12 Mrs Li often goes swimming ________ the morning.
13 ________ the summer holidays, Lily has a part-time job.
14 I arranged to meet Mark ________ a few days.
15 There was a strong wind ________ the rainstorm.
16 Fiona’s driving test was ________ a quarter to three ________ Monday afternoon.
17 ________ the weekend I think I’ll go shopping in Sha Tin.
18 One day ________ April, a man with a gun walked into the bank.
19 The sun started to shine ________ six o’clock.
20 We are going to a party ________ Saturday evening.
Exercise 2
Complete the passage below with the correct prepositions of time (‘at’, ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘during’).

(1)
________ Sunday, 10th July, my class and I went on a school outing to the Action Camp. We
arrived (2) ________ 1.30 p.m. The camp was crowded. (3) ________ July, it is a very popular
place for people to spend a holiday. Many schools have outings there (4) ________ summer. (5)
________ the afternoon, we played a lot of games and sports. (6) ________ 6 p.m., we went to the
canteen. We ate a lot of food (7) _______ dinner because we were all really hungry.
(8)
________ Monday, we went hiking and learnt rock climbing. Then we had a barbecue
(9)
________ night. Some of my classmates were so tired, they fell asleep (10) ________ the
barbecue!

Exercise 3
Complete the passage below using the correct prepositions of time (‘at’, ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘during’).

(1)
__________ last year’s Christmas holidays my family and I went to Thailand for one week.
(2)
__________ the first day, we arrived in Bangkok (3) __________ the morning and got a taxi to
our hotel. We went shopping (4) __________ the afternoon, then we had a Thai meal
(5)
__________ the evening. We went for a walk (6) __________ night and finally went to bed (7)
__________ midnight. The next day we got up very early (8) __________ the morning. We left
Bangkok and flew to Phuket in the south of Thailand. We stayed there for six days.
(9)
__________ Christmas Day, we went to a dance at our hotel. We returned to Hong Kong
(10)
__________ the 29th December.