THE PRESENT SIMPLE & THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

I. Complete the sentences, putting the verbs into the present continuous or present simple:
1. Tim (live) _______ in Manchester but he (spend) _______ this month in Wales
2. A: _______ (you/work) today?
B: No, I _______. I usually (work) _______ on Fridays but I’ve got the day off
3. A: What _______ (Josephine/do)
B: She (be) _______ a teacher but she (not teach) at the moment. She (look) _______ for a
job.
4. A: Can I have that paper or _______ (you/read) it?
B: No, I (not read) _______ it. I never (read) _______ that paper. I (prefer) _______ the Daily
News
5. A: _______ (This bag/belong) to you?
B: No, It _______, but I (know) _______ Anita (look) _______ for her bag
6. I (not smoke) _______ but my husband _______. He (try) _______ to stop at the momet but
it’s not easy
7. _______ (you/remember) my friend Matthew? He (stay) _______ with me at the moment
8. A: _______ (you/speak) German?
B: No, I _______, but I (want) _______ to learn. I (look) _______ for a coursebook.
9. Emma and Katie usually (visit) _______ me on Saturdays but they _______ (camp) in the
New Forest this weekend.
10. A: _______ (Simon/help) you very much?
B: No, not usually, but he (help) me today
11. A: What _______ (you/do)?
B: I (write) _______ a letter to my parents. I (write) _______ them every weekend
12. A: Let’s go out B: Look! It (snow) _______ outside. It (come) _______ down
quite hard
13. A: What time _______ (you/usually/start) work?
B: Normally, We (start) _______ work at eight o’clock, but we (start) _______ at seven this
weekend. We’re very busy at the moment
14. A: _______ (you/listen) to the radio? B: No, You can turn it off
15. A: _______ (you/look) for someone?
B: Yes, I (need) _______ to sepak to Neil. Is he in?
A: Yes, but I (think) _______ he’s busy. He (talk) _______ to the boss at the moment.
16. A: I (want) _______ a new computer. I (save) _______ up to buy one.
B: But computers (cost) _______ so much money. What’s wrong with the one we’ve got.
A: It (get) _______ out of date. Now
17. A: What _______ (you/do)?
B: I (weigh) _______ this letter. I (need) _______ to know how many stamps to put on it
18. A: I (think) _______ this road is really dangerous. Look how fast that lorry (go) _______
B: I (agree) _______. People shouldn’t go so fast
19. A: I (always/fall) _______ asleep. I just can’t keep awake.
B: What time _______ (you/go) to bed?
A: About ten o’clock usually. But It (not/make) _______ any difference
20. A: Are you free on Friday?
B: No, We’re very busy now. We (have) _______ a party on Sunday.
II. Are the underlined verbs right or wrong? Correct the verbs that are wrong
1. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius _______
2. The water boils. Can you turn it off? _______
3. Let’s go out. It doesn’t rain now _______
4. Listen to those people. What language do they speak? _______
5. The moon goes round the earth _______
6. I must go now. It gets late _______
7. I usually go to work by car _______
8. “Hurry up! It’s time to leave”. “I come” _______
9. I hear you’ve got a new job. How do you get on? _______
10. John is never satisfied. He always complain _______

THE SIMPLE PAST & THE PAST CONTINUOUS

I. Complete the sentences, putting the verbs into the past continuous or past simple:
1. When the postman (come) _______, I (have) _______ breakfast
2. My sister (wash) _______ dishes while I (work) _______ in the garden
3. While I (talk) _______ to John, the telephone (ring) _______
4. Mr. Taylor (watch) _______ television while his wife (read) _______ a newspaper
5. When I (leave) _______ the house this morning, It (rain) _______ very hard
6. John (talk) _______ to his friends when I (see) _______ him
7. I (see) _______ a bad accident while I (wait) _______ for you in this corner
8. As we (cross) _______ the street, the policeman (shout) _______ at us
9. That tourist (lose) _______ his camera while he (walk) _______ around the city
10. It (snow) _______ when I (get) _______ up this morning
11. Albert Einstein (die) _______ in 1955
12. Tom (go) _______ to the post office twice yesterday.
13. He (fall) _______ while he (go) _______ down the stairs
14. What _______ she (do) when you (arrive) _______ there? She (write) _______ a letter
15. She (have) _______ her bath while her sister (get) _______ the breakfast ready
16. I (go) _______ to ask you to help me, but you (sleep) _______ so peacefully when I (look)
_______ into your room that I (decide) _______ to do it alone
17. I (look) _______ up at the sky, dark clouds (gather) _______
18. Just as I (write) _______ the letter, the inkpot (fall) _______ over
19. Mr. Nam (cook) _______ dinner when we (arrive) _______
20. What _______ (you/do) when I (telephone) _______ you last night?

II. Complete the sentences, putting the verbs into the correct tenses:
1. I (get) _______ hungry. Let’s go and have something to eat
2. Be quiet! I (want) _______ to hear the news broadcast
3. What _______ you (do) yesterday?
I (get) _______ up very early, (have) _______ my breakfast and then I (go) _______ to my
office
4. Egypt (produce) _______ some of the finest cotton in the world
5. What _______ she (do) when you (arrive) _______ at her house yesterday morning?
She (cook) _______ her breakfast in the kitchen
6. What _______ you usually (read) when you (be) _______ on holiday?
I (read) _______ detective stories. Now I (read) _______ “The Shut door” by Ivor Lock
7. Ann (wait) _______ for me when I (arrive) _______
8. Mary (usually/phone) _______ me on Fridays but She (not phone) _______ last Friday
9. What’s the noise? What (happen) _______ ?
10. Yesterday evening, the phone (ring) _______ three times while we (have) _______ dinner
11. Why are you under the table? You (look) _______ for something?
12. _______ You (watch) TV last night? No, I (have) _______ supper and (go) _______ straight
to bed
13. I (not like) _______ staying at hotels, but last summer, we (spend) _______ a few days at a
very nice hotel by the sea.
14. Linda (be) _______ busy when we (go) _______ to see her yesterday. She (study) _______
for an exam. We (not want) _______ to disturb her, so we (not stay) _______ very long
15. When I first (tell) _______ Tom the news, he (not believe) _______ me. He (think) _______
that I (joke) _______
16. We usually (go) _______ to Spain on holiday, but this year we (go) _______ to France
17. We can go out now. It (not rain) _______ any more
18. The sun (warm) _______ the air and (give) _______ us light
19. What speed _______ the car (do) at the time of the accident?
20. They (study) _______ in the library when the fire alarm (go) _______ off
III. Circle the best option to complete each sentence:
1. She usually _____ two hours a day
a. work b. is working c. works d. working
2. Don’t make noise. My mother _________ with her friends
a. is talking b. was talking c. talks d. talked
3. Listen! They _________ about the exhibition . Let’s join them
a. talk b. talked c. are talking d. have talked
4. Where _____ your sister born?
a. were b. was c. did d. is
5. We _____ have white wine, but we _____ red wine
a. didn’t/had b. don’t/had c. did/didn’t d. didn’t/have
6. When did you _________ see him?
a. recently b. already c. last d. lately
7. I _________ a bath when the phone rang
a. was having b. had c. am having d. have
8. I _____ her two week ago
a. seen b. was seeing c. saw d. have seen
9. I _____ to his house in 1991
a. moved b. have been moving c. have moved d. was moving
10. He came into the room while they _________ television
a. have watched b. watched c. were watching d. have been watching
11. I fell asleep when I _____ television
a. am watching b. am being watched c. was watching d. All are correct
12. They _____________ last week
a. didn’t come b. came not c. don’t come d. did come
13. Where are Geoff and Anne? _____________ in the garden
a. They’re sitting b. They sitting c. There sitting d. They’re siting
14. It’s very cold today and _____
a. It’s snowing b. it snows c. its snowing d. it snowing
15. She goes to the library twice a week. She _____________ read books there
a. never b. usually c. rarely d. once
16. At nine o’clock yesterday morning, we _____________ for the bus
a. are waiting b. waited c. were waiting d. was waiting
17. Tom _________ his hand when he was cooking the dinner
a. burnt b. was burning c. has burnt d. had burnt
18. He _________ me every Sunday, and we often go fishing together
a. came to see b. comes to see c. will be coming to seed. All answer are correct
19. The phone rang while she _________ dinner
a. cooks b. was cooking c. is cooking d. has cooked
20. My sister _________ trouble with her motobike now, so she has to take the bus to work
a. have b. is having c. was having d. had
21. When my mum got home, _________
a. the dinner be cooked b. I was cooking dinner
c. I am cooking dinner d. the dinner deing cooked
22. Emma and Katie usually _________ their grandmother at weekends
a. have visited b. visits c. visit d. are visiting
23. Peter was reading a book by Mark Twain _________ his friends came
a. while b. when c. during d. if
24. Look! That boy _________ an elephant over there
a. fed b. was feeding c. feeds d. is feeding
25. He _________ in London at the moment
a. studies b. has studied c. is studying d. will study