Exercise 3. Write the correct form of the verb.

Pay attention to the adverbs of time

because they will tell you if it is Present Simple or Past Simple.
1. Gina GOES (to go) to school by buss every day because she does not LIKE (to like) to
walk even if she LIVES (to live) very close.
2. Last winter we VISITED (to visit) our grandparents, but we did not VISIT (to visit) our
uncle because he WAS (to be) not at home. He WAS (to be) in France at that time.
3. Two days ago I BROKE (to break) a vase with my football because I did not LISTEN (to
listen) to my mother and I PLAYED (to play) football in the house, with my dog. Of course,
my dog KICKED (to kick) the ball! What a brilliant idea! Mom, Blackie BROKE (to break)
the vase, I did not BREAK (to break) anything!
4. Why does Santa Clause always BRINGS (to bring) me books to read? He BROUGHT (to
bring) my sister dolls, he BROUGHT (to bring) my little brother toys, but he does not
BRING (to bring) me anything that I really want. By the way, does anyone KNOW (to
know) how many times I used the verb “to bring” in the sentence above?
5. Two days ago I WROTE (to write) a poem, but I did not WRITE (to write) a short story
because I do not like short stories. After I WROTE (to write) it, I GAVE (to give) it to my
father to read it, but he did not GIVE (to give) it back to me the same day because he READ
(to read) it the next day. He just did not HAVE (to have) time to read it immediately, but
after he READ (to read) it, he TOLD (to tell) me that I should study Math more seriously...
6. Nelly LIKES (to like) pizza very much but she does not LIKE (to like) to make pizza. She
only LIKES (to like) to eat it and she EATS (to eat) three slices of pizza every Saturday.
Yes, my mother does not LET (to let) her eat pizza every day because, if she EATS (to eat)
pizza every day, she does not WANT (to want) to catch and eat mice anymore. Oh, I
FORGOT (to forget) to tell you: Nelly is our cat.
7. Did you SEE (to see) the UFO that LANDED (to land) in front of our house yesterday?
Boy, it WAS (to be) huge! When my father SAW (to see) it, he CALLED (to call) the police.
Yes, he DID (to do) that because he WAS (to be) very angry: parking if forbidden on our
street!

This is what I know, in a nice table called The Tense Review Table:

WHEN? not moving moving

in Present I write something every day. I am writing something right now.
in Past I wrote a poem yesterday. I was writing yesterday, when you called.
in Future I will write a story tomorrow. I will be writing tomorrow, around 7 p.m.
Repeated, between two points Moving, between two points in time
in time
in Present I have written five books since I I have been writing poems for over 20
moved to London. years, since I moved to New York.
in Past I had written many short stories I had been writing for that newspaper for
before I wrote my first novel. 10 years before I became the chief editor.
in Future Next year by March I will have Next year, by March, I will have been
written my second novel, writing poems for 21 years.

I am sure that things are very clear, now. So, why don’t you go ahead and complete
the table below? After all, this table is going to be your guide for the rest of the exercises.
PRESENT PAST FUTURE

1
Simple S + V1 (s) S+V2 S + will + V1
Continuous S +TO BE +V+ING S + to be2,
Perfect Simple S + to have2 + V3
Perfect Cont. S + to have1 + to be3 S + will + to have1 + to
+ Ving be3 + Ving
Now, ask yourselves these questions and give answers: 1) What do Perfect Simple
tenses have in common? 2) What do Perfect Continuous Tenses have in common? 3) What
do Continuous Tenses have in common? 3) What do Simple Tenses have in common? 4)
What do this book and a torture instrument have in common?

Exercise 5. Use the subjects, the verbs and the adverbs given to make sentences in
Present Simple or in Present Continuous. See the model: Now, read the
models:
Models: she – to swim – at this moment. She is swimming at this moment.
they – to fly – usually to Paris ? Do they usually fly to Paris?
Mother – not drink coffee – morning Mother doesn’t drink coffee in
the morning.
1. my best friend – to chase squirrels in the park – sometimes
MY BEST FRIEND SOMETIMES CHASES SQUIRRELS IN THE PARK

MY BEST FRIEND DOES NOT ALWAYS CHASE SQUIRRELS IN THE PARK

2. Billy – cry like a baby – now

BILLY IS CRYING LIKE A BABY NOW.

BILLY IS NOT CRYING LIKE A BABY NOW.

3. Jill and Hill – to sing – at this moment ?

ARE JILL AND HILL SINGING AT THE MOMENT?

ARE NOT JILL AND HILL SINGING AT THE MOMENT?

4. my father – not to play football – this month

MY FATHER IS NOT PLAYING FOOTBALL THIS MONTH.
5. Carmen – not to like – pizza with fish and pineapple
CARMEN DOES NOT LIKE PIZZA WITH FISH AND PINEAPPLE.
6. Their parents – to visit their parents – twice a month ?
DO THEIR PARENTSVISIT THEIR PARENTSTWICE A MONTH?

DON` NT THEIR PARENTS VISIT THEIR PARENTS TWICE A MONTH?

7. I – to do homework – tomorrow morning

I AM DOING MY HOMEWORK TOMORROW MORNING.

I AM NOT DOING MY HOMEWORK TOMORROW MORNING.

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 8. She – not to have classes – on Thursdays
SHE DOES NOT HAVE CLASSES ON THURSDAYS.
9. The Browns – have dinner – at this moment ?

ARE THE BROWNS HAVING DINNER AT THE MOMENT?

AREN`T THE BROWNS HAVING DINNER AT THE MOMENT?

10. Chris – wash his car – once in a blue moon.

CHRIS WASHES HIS CAR ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

CHRIS DOESN ` T WASHE HIS CAR ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

11. John’s parents – to travel around the world – on bikes

JOHN `S PARENTS TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD ON BIKES.

JOHN `S PARENTS DO NOT TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD ON BIKES.

12. George – not to go to work by car – this week.

GEORGE IS NOT GOING TO WORK BY CAR THIS WEEK.
13. It – not to rain – anymore
IT IS NOT RAINING ANYMORE.

Exercise 6. Take all the sentences that are not negative in Exercise 1 and
turn them into negative.

Exercise 7. Take all the sentences that are not interrogative in Exercise 1
and turn them into… Guess into what? Into interrogative, duh!

Exercise 8. Put the verbs in parentheses in the right tense. Remember: if it is moving
now, it is to be and Ving.
1. Look, Jimmy ARE PLAYING (play) video games with his friends. You ARE NOT
PLAYING (not, to play) video games, now, because you ARE SITTING (to sit) on a chair
and you ARE DOING (to do) this grammar exercise. Life IS NOT (not, to be) fair, is it?
2. Greg IS (to be) a good boy. He HELPS (to help) his mother in the
kitchen after every lunch, he BORROWS (to borrow) books from
the library every week, he READS (to read) a book every three days,
but he DOES NOT LIKE (not, to like) to walk his dog because his
dog always ESCAPES (to escape) and STARTS (to start) chasing
penguins. Yes, Greg LIVES (to live) at the South Pole!
3. Look at Mr. Brown! What IS that old man DOING (to do)? I
THINK (to think) that he IS TRYING (to try) to put on a pair of rollerblades! This IS (to be)
hilarious! Everybody KNOWS (to know) that old people ARE NOT ROLLERBLADING
(not, to rollerblade) well, especially when they DO NOT KNOW (not, to know) the
difference between rollerblades and roller skates!

3
4. “Watch out! A car is IS COMING (to come)!”
“Thank you, sir! I never PAY (to pay attention) when I CROSS
_____________ (to cross) the street. By the way, DO you KNOW (to know) where the
Public Library is?”
“Oh, so you ARE GOING (to go) to the Public Library. It means that you READ (to read)
very often.”
“Not really. I AM TRYING (to try) to get to the Public Library because next to it there is a
famous bowling alley.”
5. DO you KNOW (to know) Vicky? What do you mean “what Vicky”? Vicky! She is that
tall girl in the 8th grade who never SAYS (to say) hello to anyone at school. Yes, she
THINKS (to think) that she is so cool because she PLAYS (to play) piano very well and she
WINS (to win) almost every musical contest. I AM THINKING (to think) of how to make
her say hello to everybody. I know! Right now, she IS PLAYING (to play) piano on the
second floor of our school. Everybody HEARS (hear) her. I will go there and ask her to play
the song Hello, by Lionel Richie. I am sure that she will do it because she LOVES (to love)
that song.

Differences – Part Two

Exercise 9. Match the clauses in column A to those in column B and find the differences
between them.
A B
1. I have fish, so… F a ___... stays home and looks after him/her.
2. I am having fish and… E b ___... this rose because I want to buy it.
3. She has a baby, so she… A c ___... tastes a little salty. I don’t like it.
4. She is having a baby, so she… H d ___... smoke. Is there a fire
somewhere?
5. I see that beautiful girl every day, butG e ___... chips. My favourite food!
6. I am seeing Anna every day because…J f ___... I will boil it and eat it.
7. I hear noises coming from the kitchen, maybe L... g ___... I don’t know who she is.
8. I am hearing that rock band, maybe K h ___... is in the hospital, now.
9. I am smelling…B i ___... is tasting your cookies.
10. I smell… D j ___... she is my girlfriend, dude!
11. I think that my pet chicken… I k ___... I will hire it for my party.
12. I think that my chicken…C l ___... it’s a thief, stealing our
spoons!

What would your conclusion be? Circle the one that you think it is true.
a) Grammar is an instrument of torture.
b) Some verbs change their meaning depending on
the tense.
c) English verbs are really strange!
Hm… Now, do you think that there are verbs
which cannot be used in Present Continuous?
a. No, God, please let the answer be “no”!
b. Yes, there are. Unfortunately…
b. Who cares? Maybe the English teachers.

4
 Booky’s conclusion: In the English grammar, some verbs have one meaning in
Simple tenses and another in Continuous tenses, and some verbs cannot be used in
Continuous Tenses, except a few cases with which I am not going to bother you. Happy?

Exercise 10. Underline the mistakes in the text below. (Clue: it is about verbs. But you
knew that, didn’t you?)
“Isn’t that Nicole?” Sam said, pointing to a girl crossing the street against the red
light.
“What girl? Oh, yes, I am seeing her. No, it is not Nicole. Nicole is taller and this one
is looking a lot shorter”, Jim was answering.
”Oh, I am understanding… I was really thinking that it was being her”, Sam said.
“I am believing that your English is not very good”, Jim told Sam.
“Why do you say that? I am thinking that my English is being exceptionally good!”
Sam said, a little angry.
“You are having problems with the verbs that cannot be in continuous tenses, pal!”
“That is not true! What I am having, now, is a headache!” Sam answered.

Exercise 11. Put the verbs between brackets in the right tense. (Remember: Present and
Past Continuous are for actions that are moving, while Present and Past Simple are not.)
1. Yesterday, when I WAS WALKING (walk) to school, I REALIZED (realize) that it WAS
(be) Saturday and that we DIDN`T NEED TO GO
(not need) to go to school.
2. Jim is in his room and he IS READING (read) a book, but I THINK (think) that he
DOING (do) this because he IS (be) bored and because he BROKE (break) his play station
yesterday.
3. I SAW (see) the Brown family two days ago, at the restaurant. Mr. Brown WAS HAVING
(have) chicken and the rest of the family WAS HAVING
(have) a hard time reading the menu, which WAS (is) written in Chinese!
4. I REMEMBER (remember) how happy Sam WAS (be) last year, when he SAW (see) that
girl from Spain, who WAS STUDYING (study) in our school, but she LEFT (leave) this
year in January, and now Sam WAS THINKING (think) of seeing another girl.
5. Watch out! That skunk SMELLS (smell) so bad that my nose IS
THINKING think) of packing its things and leaving me!
6. Well, Mr. Police Officer, I really DID NOT SEE ( not see) who
CRASHED (crash) into this electricity pole two days ago because I WAS
(be) too busy driving with 190 kilometers per hour. I THINK (think) that
Jim did it, on his bike, because he always RIDES (ride) his bicycle like a
maniac!

Exercise 13. You know what you have to do.

1. The queen WAS MOPPING (to mop) the floor when the king
ENTERED (to enter) the room and said (say): “Why did you mop (to mop)
the floor yesterday, when I DID NOT TELL to tell) you to do so?” The
queen PUT (put) the mop in the bucket and ANSWERED (to answer):
“Because yesterday, while you WERE TELLING to tell) me to mop the
floor, I WAS LISTENING (to listen) to music. I WAS HAVING (to have) the earphones in
my ears, but you SAW to see) them, did you?” “By the way, WERE you WEARING

5
 (to wear) the same clothes yesterday?” “No, I wasn’t. Yesterday, when you ENETERED (to
enter) my room to tell me to mop the floor, I WAS WEARING
(to wear) the space suit that you GAVE (to give) me as a present last Christmas,
remember?” “This is a strange dialogue…” the king SAID
(to say) and LEFT (leave) the exercise.
2. While little Jimmy WAS TRYING (to try) to pick his teeth with a pitchfork, his brother
WAS PAINTING (to paint) the cat blue and his sister WAS
FEEDING (feeding) the dog. Suddenly, little Jimmy STOPPED
(to stop) and LOOKED (to look) up because he HEARD
(to hear) a strange noise coming from that direction. Indeed, it
WAS (to be) a flying saucer which WAS GETTING READY (to
get ready) to land. When it LANDED (to land), a king GOT (get) out
of it, LOOKED (to look) around for a couple of seconds and SAID (say): “Man, I am still in
this exercise. How can I get out if it?”
3. It WAS (to be) a beautiful day in January. The wind WAS BLOWING
_______________ (to blow) very hard while the snow WAS HITTING (to hit) the windows
of the houses like bullets. A huge truck STOPPED (to stop) in front of a house and a man
GOT (to get) out of it. He KNOCKED (to knock) on the door of that house. As he WAS
KNOCKING (to knock), another man OPENED (to open) the door and ASKED (to ask) him
what he WANTED (to want). The truck driver, who ______WAS SHIVERING (to shiver)
with cold, TOOK OFF___ (to take off) his hat. Under the hat, he WAS WEARING (to wear)
a crown. He ASKED (to ask) the man who had opened the door: “Can you, please, tell me
how I can get out of this exercise?”
4. The bullets WERE FLYING (to fly) over the heads of the soldiers who
WERE HIDING (to hide) in the trenches. Two of them WERE
actuallyPLAYING (to actually play) cards because they HAD (to have)
nothing else to do. While they WERE PLAYING (to play) cards, their
commanding officer, the king, APPROACHED (to approach) them and
TOLD (to tell) them to gather around. “I give up”, he SAID (to say), and
he SURRENDERED to surrender) to the enemy, only to escape from this exercise.

The Big Fish

1 It is Sunday morning. Bill, Phil and Seal IS (to be) in a boat, in the middle of the
Nofish Lake. They ARE FISHING (to fish). They LIKE (to like) fishing very much and
they GO
(to go) fishing every Sunday. Sometimes, Phil GOES (to go) fishing on Monday morning,
too, because he DOES NOT HAVE (not to have) a job. He IS (to be) retired.
DO you REMEMBER (to remember) how I CAUGHT (to catch) that big fish last
year?” Phil asks.
2 “Yes, I DID (to do)”, Seal says. “I remember that while you WERE STRUGGLING
(to struggle) to get the fish in the boat, I LAUGHED
(to laugh) my heart out because it WAS (to be) so funny to see how you WERE FIGHTING
(to fight) and SWEATING (sweat).”
3 “Yes, I REMEMBER (to remember) that. It WAS (to be) a big fish”, Bill says. “I
WANTED (to want) to help you, then, but I WAS (to be) busy fighting with my own fish,
that’s why I COULD NOT (can, not) give you a hand. Next time, if anything like this
HAPPENS (to happen), I WILL HELP (to help) you no matter what.”
4 “You CAN (can) help me now”, Phil says. “Look, a fish IS BITING

6
 (to bite)! I THINK (to think) that it IS (to be) a big one.”
5 All three friends ARE now TRYING (to try) to get the fish on the boat. It seems to
be a very big one. They MANAGED (to manage) to bring the capture closer to the boat. It
WAS (to be) a scuba diver, with a crown on his head!
6 “I WAS DOING (to do) so well, here, on my own, in this
Nofish Lake where there are no fish, d’oh, when you CAME (to
come) and DISTURBED (to disturb) my peaceful life. Now, I
HAVE TO (to have to) find another way to get out of this book.
Man!”

Exercise 16. Mr. Brown is an old man and he cannot do many of the things that he
could do when he was young. Help him talk about those things. See the model below.
The model below: young – walk to work / now – drive. When I was young, I used to walk to
work, but now I drive. Young – did not walk in the park / now – walk every day. When I was
young, I did not use to walk in the park, but now I do it every day.
a) young – play football / now – play chess
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO PLAY FOOTBALL. NOW I PLAY CHESS.
b) young – eat fast food / now – eat only vegetables and cry
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TOEAT FAST FOOD, BUT NOW I EAT ONLY
VEGETABLES AND I CRY.

c) young – did not listen to Beethoven / now – listen to his music daily.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO

d) young – play computer games / now – read books and get smarter every day
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO PLAY COMPUTER GAMES , BUT NOW I read
books and get smarter every day

e) young – party all night / now – go to bed before 10:30 p.m.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO party all night BUT NOW I go to bed before 10:30
p.m.

f) young – did not dance waltz / now – dance waltz every Friday evening
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I DID NOT USE TO DANCE WALTZ TO BUT NOW I DANCE
WALTZ EVERY FRIDAY EVENING

g) young – did not use to have a pet / now – has two cats, three mice, and a clown. A
clown fish, of course!
h) WHEN I WAS YOUNG IDID NOT USE TO HAVE A PET TO BUT NOW I
HAVE two cats, three mice, and a clown. A clown fish, of course!

i) young – lifted weights every day / now – wait for the lift…
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO lifte weights every day BUT NOW I AM WAITING
FOR A LIFT

j) young - kicked trees and electricity polls / now – walk with a cane…

7
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO KICK TREES AND ELECTRICITY POLES BUT
NOW I WALK WITH A CANE

k) young – did not wear a tie / now – wear a tie and a suit.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I DID NOT USE TO WEAR A TIE TO BUT NOW I WEAR A
TIE AND A SUIT

STOP! “Used to” has a friend: “would”: When she was living in New York,
Jane used to / would call us on the phone every evening. Check this table
out:

used to would
Whenever I did not do my homework, my Whenever I did not do my homework, my
teacher used to call my parents and tell them teacher would call my parents and tell them
about it. about it.

Use me with verbs talking about past DO Not, I repeat, DO NOT use me with
states verbs talking about past states
I used to live in Bedford when I was a I would live in Bedford when I was a
child. child.
I used to own a green car when I lived in I would own a green car when I lived in
Paris. Paris.
I used to like sleeping in the afternoon I would like sleeping in the afternoon
when I was a teenager. when I was a teenager.
I used to believe that Santa Clause was I would believe that Santa Clause was real
real when I was a little child. when I was a little child
When I was in Rome, I used to understand When I was in Rome, I would understand
what the Italians were saying in Italian. what the Italians were saying in Italian
Etc. Etc. (Just kidding!)
Exercise 17. Turn the sentences below into past habits using would. If you cannot use
would, then use plastic or metal. (Just kidding… You see, would – wood… No? Not
funny? Really? Okay, just use used to when you cannot use wood. Ha!).
a) When I was in school, I knew how to solve an equation. WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL
I USED TO KOW HOW TO SOLVE AN EQUATION.

b) I did not forget my friends’ birthdays before I turned 50.

BEFORE I TURNED 50 I DID NOT USE TO FORGET MY FRIEND S BIRTHDAYS.

c) I played football with my dog every day, when my parents were not home.

WHEN MY PARENTS WERE NOT HOME, I USED TO PLAY WITH MY DOG

EVERY DAY

8
d) My brother gave me gifts on my birthday. (For example, when I was ten, he gave me the
gift of doing the homework for him…)

MY BROTHER USED TO GIVE ME GIFTS FOR MY BIRTHDAY

d) When he was younger, Mr. Thompson saw everything very well.

WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER MR. THOMPSON USED TO SEE EVERYTHING VERY

WELL

e) As a child, I believed that Tooth Fairy was real and that she gave me a dollar for
every tooth. AS A CHILD I USED TO BELIEVE THAT TOOTH FAIRY WAS
REAL. SHE USED TO GIVE ME A DOLLAR FOR EVERY TOOTH.

g) As a teenager, I doubted everything grownups were telling me and I believed that I was
smarter than they were. I USED TO DOUBT WHAT MY PARENTS WARNED ME NOT
TO DO AND I USED TO THINK THAT I WAS SMARTER THAN THEM.

h) In my childhood, I visited my grandparents very often and they gave me money every
time I visited them.

I USED TO VISIT MY GRANDPARENTS VERY OFTEN AND I USED TO RECEIVE

MONEY FROM THEM.

i) When I was young, I remembered the names of all the characters in all the books
that I read.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO REMEMBER THE NAMES OF ALL THE

CHARACTERS IN ALL THE BOOKS.

j) As a teenage daughter, Samantha always helped her mother in the kitchen.

SAMANTHA USED TO HELP HER MOTHER IN THE KITCHEN.

Exercise 18. Correct the text below and then say what Mr. White used to do or did not
use to do when he was a child. Use “would” whenever possible.
Mr. White is 57 years old and he WENT to church every Sunday. When he were a

teenager, he never USED TO GO to church and he did not gave money to charity. Ever! He

never bought flowers for his mother and he always bullied his classmates and TOOK their

pocket money. He did not DO his homework and he SKIPPED classes every week. When

the teachers WERE TRYING to help him change his behavior, he shouted at them and

9
TOLD them to live him alone. Yes, he WAS doing so many bad things back then. Now, he is

a totally different person: he helps everybody who needs good advice, he TEACHES HIS

kids how to read good, he MENDS his neighbors` fences and roofs and he gives old people

rides to the train station, for free.

(Did you find 16 mistakes? Not good, because there are only 15. By the way, the verbs
which cannot work with “would” in exercise 3 are: know, forget, see, believe, doubt,
remember. You wish you had read this earlier, don’t you?)

I used to VS I am used to

Read and compare.

used to to be used to
Janice used to fall off the bike a lot when she Sam is used to falling off the bike, that is
was a little child. why he knows how to fall without getting
hurt.

Janice used to eat pizza without a fork and a Sam is used to eating pizza without a fork
knife before she became a princess. and a knife because he always hurts himself
when he eats, so his mother does not give
him any forks or knives.

Janice did not use to drink orange juice when Sam is used to not drinking anything at all all
she was a child, but now she drinks one litre day because he thinks that he is a camel and
of orange juice a day. his mother forgets to give him water to drink,
anyway.

Circle the correct conclusions:

1. Sam is a very unlucky boy.
2. Janice does not fall off the bike and does not eat pizza without a fork and a knife any
longer, but she drinks a lot of orange juice every day.
3. Sam falls off the bike, eats pizza without a fork and a knife and does not drink
anything all day long, but he is okay with those things because, well, this is what he
does every day.
4. After “used to” we use V1 (the first form of the verb, d’oh!) and after “to be used to”
we used V-ing.
5. Santa Clause likes to eat fresh cucumbers with catchup, on hot days, at the North Pole.

Exercise 19. Choose between “used to + V1” and “is used to + Ving” to say what Jack
used to do (or not) when he was a child or what he is used doing in the present.
1. Sam went swimming in the river behind his house, when he was a child.

SAM USED TO GO SWIMMING WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.

2. Sam does not mind doing the work for his bigger, stronger, meaner brother. He does it
every day.

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SAM IS USED TO DOING THE WORK FOR HIS BIGGER , STRONGER, MEANER
BROTHER

3. Sam spends many hours at the library, where he reads books standing.

SAM IS USED TO SPENDING HOURS AT THE LIBRARY, WHERE HE READS

BOOKS STANDING.

4. Sam eats his bread without any butter.

SAM IS USED TO EATING HIS BREAD WITHOUT ANY BUTTER.

5. Sam always studies for his tests until late at night. SAM IS USED TO STUDYING FOR
HIS TESTS UNTIL LATE AT NIGHT.

6. Sam never wore new shoes when he was a child. SAM USED TO WEAR NEW SHOES
WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.

7. Sam always wore his older, bigger, stronger, meaner brother’s old shoes. SAM USED TO
WEAR HIS OLDER , BIGGER, STRONGER, MEANER BROTHER`S OLD SHOES.

8. Sam usually walks back home because his older, bigger, stronger, meaner brother does not
let him get in the car.

SAM IS USED TO WALKING BACK HOME because his older, bigger, stronger, meaner
brother does not let him get in the car.

9. Sam usually shares his sandwich with his brother. He takes a bite and his brother takes the
rest of the sandwich.

SAM IS USED TO SHARING HIS SANDWICH WITH HIS BROTHHER. HE TAHES A

BITE AND HIS BROTHER TAKES THE REST OF THE SANDWICH.

10. Sam never played sports when he was a child, but now he plays chess every day.

SAM NEVER USED TO PLAY SPORTS WHEN HE WAS A CHILD, BUT NOW HE
PLAYS CHESS EVERY DAY.

11. Sam often rids his bicycle in the rain (this is how he washes it!)

SAM IS USED TO RIDING HIS BIKE IN THE RAIN

12. Sam was very short, when he was young. Now, he is tall.

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SAM USED TO BE VERY SHORT WHEN HE WAS YOUNG.

Some Verbs Like the Continuous Tenses… Not

Exercise 23. Circle the correct meaning of the fragments of sentences below:
1. I am thinking… a) to reflect, to meditate; the thinking process; b) to believe
2. I imagine… a) to think to believe, to suppose; b) to draw an image.
3. I am expecting… a) I think that you will do a certain thing; b) I am waiting for
something.
4. She thinks that… a) she reflects, meditate; b) she believes that…
5. She is imagining things. a) she lives in an unreal world; b) she believes, she supposes.
6. They expect you to… a) they are waiting for me; b) they consider that I am going to do
what they think that it is normal for me to do.

Exercise 24. The verbs between the brackets are not new for you. Write them in
Present Simple or Present Continuous, as necessary.
1. I do not care that Mr. Brown IS (to be), most of the times, a very unpleasant man, I am
still going to help him because, look, he IS BEING ROBBED (to be) robbed by those nuns!

2. From where I am, I SEE (to see) Jack and Jane.

3. Because I have been feeling sick these days, I AM SEEING (to see) a doctor today.
4. It is useless to invite Sandra to go out with you, because she IS SEEING (to see) Marcel
tonight.
5. I think that I am really sick because I AM SEEING (to see) things!
6. My handbag SMELLS to smell) so funny because I HAVE (to have) my lunch in it:
spaghetti with lots of garlic and onions!
7. It is 12 o’clock and the Browns ARE HAVING (to have) lunch in their kitchen.
8. “Why did Jane go to the hospital?” “She IS HAVING (to
have) a baby.”
9. “Dear Mom, I AM HAVING (to have) such a
great time here, in this boot camp for kids. Thanks
a lot!”
10. Every time we go to Paris, we ARE HAVING
(to have) such a great time!
11. “I do not know about you, guys, but I HAVE (to have)
such a hard time to understand what the sergeant is yelling!”
12. George has just bought a Ferrari, and now he HAS (to have) the coolest car in our
neighborhood.

Exercise 25. Find the mistakes, underline them and then write the correct word (words)
on the empty line. If there are no mistakes, write the word “correct”.
1. We are seeing our relatives to the railway station this evening. CORRECT
2. Your clothes are smelling very nice! What do you use? SMELL
3. My uncle is hearing a rock band tonight, for the competition. CORRECT
4. The flower I bought for Samantha smells incredibly well. CORRECT
5. I am feeling that I have something important to do, but I do not know what. FEEL
6. Vicky is feeling that fabric. She needs some for her new skirt. CORRECT
7. That piece of cloth is feeling really rough. Not good for dusting! CORRECT
8. I was hoping that you would be our driver. CORRECT

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9. I am hoping that everything will be fine at the end of the day. HOPE
10. I am hearing you, you do not need to shout like that! HEAR
11. I hear that you want to leave early in the morning. Where are you going? CORRECT
12. I am begging you, please, do not buy that
car! CORRECT
13. Suzan is tasting the soup and I can say that
she doesn’t like it too much. CORRECT
14. I beg your pardon! CORRECT
15. We are regretting to hear that you will not
come with us tomorrow. REGRET
16. This fish is tasting like dirt! TASTES

Present Perfect Simple

Affirmative: S + have1 + V3
Negative: S + have1 NOT + V3
Interrogative: Have1 + S + V3?

Exercise 27. Make sentences in Present Perfect Simple. Flip a coin in order to establish
if you use the adverbs given or the word “never”.
Model: My sister – dye her hair twice – this year. For “yes”: My sister has dyed her hair
twice this year. For “no”: My sister has never dyed her hair.
1. I – eat only squid – since 2010.
I HAVE ONLY EATEN SQUID SINCE 2100

2. I – do my homework – already
I HAVE ALREADY DONE MY HOMEWORK

3. I – read many books – this year.

I HAVE READ MANY BOOKS THIS YEAR

4. My friend – cook dinner – just.

MY FRIEND HAS JUST COOKED DINNER

5. I – cheat on a test – this week.

\I HAVE CHEATED ON A TEST THIS WEEK

6. My best friend – write three letters – since yesterday.

MY FRIEND HAS WRITTEN THREE LETTERS SINCE YESTERDAY.

7. My father – talk to my teachers three times – this month.

MY FATHER HAS TALKED TO MY TEACHERS THREE TIMES THIS MONTH.

13
8. My best friend – help me many times.
MY BEST FRIEND HAS HELPED ME MANY TIMES.

Exercise 28. Fill in the blank with one of these words: since, for, just, already, yet.
1. Have you eaten, YET?
2. I haven’t seen her SINCE January.
3. She has lived in this city FOR 12 years.
4. Have you JUST called me a liar?!
5. We have ALREADY visited Japan, so let’s go to Turkey. It’s Thanksgiving, anyway…
6. They haven’t been here SINCE two years ago.
7. Haven’t they called you, YET? Strange…
8. She has JUST finished her homework, so now she is allowed to play outside.

Exercise 29. Rephrase these sentences using Present Perfect Simple. Use the given
word.
1. The last time when I saw her was 1987. (since)

I HAVEN T SEEN HER SINCE 1897.

2. She arrived at school only seconds ago. (just) SHE HAS JUST ARRIVED SECONDS
AGO.
3. Today is Friday. Marrie broke her scooter twice: once on Monday and once yesterday.
(this week) MARRIE HAS BROKEN HER SCOOTER TWICE THIS WEEK.

4. George doesn’t learn too hard, but he got an A last week and an A+ two days ago.
(recently) GEORGE HAS GOT TWO As RECENTLY.

5. Sam has to write a poem, but he didn’t write it yesterday or the days before. (yet)
SAM HAS NOT WRITTEN A POEM YET

6. Carmen has to paint four walls and she painted two of them yesterday. (already)
CARMEN HAS ALREADY PAINTED TWO WALLS.

7. It is 2013, now, and I bought this computer in 2010. (have, for three years)
I HAVE HAD THIS COMPUTER FOR THREE YEARS.

Exercise 30. Present Perfect Simple or Past Simple?

1. “Hi, Jasmine! I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU (to see) you in ages! You look perfect! HAVE
you HAD (to have) surgery?”
“Oh, Cindy, you HAVE always BEEN (be) nice to everybody. As a matter of fact, yes, I
HAVE HAD (to have) surgery.”
“Really? When DID you HAVE (to have) it?”
“I HAVE HAD (to have) it about five weeks ago, when I WENT (to go) to England. They
have fine doctors there.”
“Yes, England. I HAVE BEEN (to be) to England for many years. The last time I WENT
(to go) there, if I remember, was April 1994.”

14
 “Well, England HAS CHANGED (to change) quite a lot in the last two decades. They
HAVE BUILT (to build) more skyscrapers downtown London. The tallest one, which they
FINISHED (to finish) building just weeks ago has seventy-nine floors.”

2. “Hello, Marcus, this is your aunt, Sarah, speaking.”

“Hi, Aunt Sarah! I HAVE BEEN WAITING (to wait) for you all week.”
“Yes, I know, I am sorry, but I HAVE BEEN (to be) extremely busy this week. For
example, two days ago I STARTED (to start) changing the pipes in the bathroom, and I
HAVE NOT FINISHED (to finish) doing that, yet, but I FINISHED (to finish) polishing
the floors yesterday night!”
“But why didn’t you say anything? You SHOULD HAVE LET (to let) us help you with
anything. So far, you HAVE DONE (to do) everything by yourself, but do you remember
how sick you GOT (to get) last year, after five weeks of working from dawn till dusk?”
“Yes, I remember… And, after I GOT (to get) well, I SHAVED (to shave) your sister’s
head.

Exercise 31. There is one mistake in each sentence. Find it and correct it.
1. She haven’t told anybody the truth, yet. HAS NOT

2. Two weeks ago, the wind started blowing and it hasn’t stop since. STOPPED

3. The waiter didn’t bring us the menus, yet. HAS NOT

4. They have been here since many years. FOR MANY YEARS

5. In the last couple of weeks of 2008 she has visited her parents twice. SHE VISITED

6. Did you ever think of how birds fly? HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT

7. I just realized who stole my golden piece of wood last Monday! HAVE JUST
REALIZED

8. My sister has never shaved her head when she was a child. NEVER SHAVED HER
HEAD

Exercise 32. Put the verbs in parentheses in the right tense and fill in the blanks with:
this + week, month etc., lately, recently, in the last three hundred years, today.
a. Last week we CAUGHT (to catch) a lot of fish, but we DID NOT CATCH (not to catch)
anything because we WERE (to be) fishing at all.
b. Are you angry with me? In the game that we HAD (to have) yesterday, you PASSED (to
pass) all the balls to Jeremy, and you DID NOT PASS (not to pass) any balls to me! In fact,
you DID NOT PASS (not to pass) the ball to me at all YESTERDAY!
c. The scientists DISCOVERED (to discover) lots of dinosaur fossils in THE LAST three
hundred years, and I HEARD (to hear) that they FOUND (to find) numerous dinosaur eggs
LATELY.
d. The C.M.S.A. (Cuca Măcăii Space Agency)HAVE LAUNCHED (to
launch) more than three space shuttles LATELY, and yesterday they
LAUNCHED

15
(to launch) only one. All in all, the C.M.S.A. LAUNCHED (to launch) ten space shuttles,
five rockets and three rocks from a sling FOR A COUPLE of weeks.
e. Last month I WAS ABLE (to be able to) read five books, fifty poems and three milk
bottle labels, but I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO (not to be able to) write anything, yet,
because I WAS BUSY (to be busy) writing my name in the sand.
f. You have no idea how many of my former classmates I HAVE MET (to meet) LATELY
seven! Two of them I MET (to meet) last month, when I WENT (to go) to that conference in
Bali. With the next five of them I HAD (to have) lunch two weeks ago, in Amsterdam.
g. I don’t know what is wrong with me, but I HAVE NOT BEEN (not to be) myself
LATELY. For example, I HAVE NOT PLAYED (not to play) tennis FOR THE LAST three
weeks, and you know that I usually play tennis every other day.

Exercise 33. Fill in the blanks with one of the adverbs for Present Perfect Simple.
a. Has she ALREADY arrived? She is fast!
b. We can’t leave now. I have JUST broken the engine.
c. I haven’t eaten any meat SINCE last week.
d. Have you JUST called me a liar?
e. The bus hasn’t arrived, HAS IT?
f. Our boss has JUST told us not to paint the walls, but we have ALREADY painted three
of them!
g. Sandra has had that computer FOR three weeks.
h. They have worked on this project SINCE three weeks ago.
i. Has Ralph JUST graduated from the university? How time flies!
j. You speak as if you have ALREADY graduated from the Law School, even though you
haven’t entered the school, YET

Exercise 34. Flip a coin. Heads means “can” and tails means “no”. Say why you can or
you can’t do something using Present Perfect Simple with “just”, “already” or “yet”.
I can go to Paris because I have just won a free trip with Air France! I can’t go to Paris
because I haven’t got my passport, yet.
1. I can CALL Sarah on the phone because I HAVE JUST RECEIVED HER PHONE
NUMBER
2. I can’t do bungee jumping because I HAVE JUST BROKEN MY LEG
3. I can’t go to school because THE SCHOOLS HAVE JUST BEEN CLOSED
4. I can’t watch television because THE LIGHTS HAVE JUST GONE OFF
5. I can climb that tree because I HAVE JUST CLIMBED ANOTHER TREE.
6. I can’t go to that party because I HAVE ALREADY BEEN TO ANOTHER ONE.
7. I can’t believe you because YOU HAVE ALREADY LIED TO ME.
8. I can do this exercise because I HAVE LEARNED THE PRESENT PERFECT.

Exercise 35. Miss Take has to write a dialogue using Present Perfect Simple whenever
possible, but she does not know Present Perfect Simple too well. Correct her mistakes.

A Dialogue

Yes, I know, this is not the best title for a composition, but I have never beEN good at
choosing titles. Anyway, this is the dialogue that I HAVE already finishED:
“Hi, Angela. I HAVEN`T seen you in ages! How HAVE
you beEN?”
16
 “Hi, Monica! I HAVE BEEN better… Many bad things HAVE happened to me
lately, that is why I HAVE NOT callED you in the last couple of months.”
“Let me guess: your boyfriend HAS left you for another girl.”
“No, don’t be silly! My boyfriend and I HAVE BEEN together since we were in the
kindergarten. As a matter of fact, he has just TOLD me how much he loves me.”
“I am happy for you… Wait, I know: The iPhone that you have HAD since last
Christmas HAS just BROKEN and that explains why you HAVE NOT called me in the last
couple of months!”
“Don’t be sillier! My father gave me two more cellular phones this month for
improving my school performance. Yes, he has given me one two weeks ago and the second
one just hours ago. I got a lot of C+-s lately, and I even GOT a B- two days ago!”
“Wow, you’ve TURNED into a geek! No wonder you haven’t come to Irvin’s party
last Friday.”
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t been invited to that party… Irvin and I HAVE NOT
SPOKEN to each other since I refused to help him with the math homework. I haven’t
helped him because I have wanted him to understand one thing: he has to start learning
numbers and the multiplication table! We are in the ninth grade, for crying out loud!”
“Yes, you are right. Irvin HAS NOT doNE any Math homework in his life, and I
know for sure that last year he haven’t even opened his notebooks! Isn’t that awful?”
“Yes, indeed. Well, I have to go, now. My mother has called me right before you and
I have met. She is at that new supermarket that HAS open last week. She wants to buy me
new clothes because she HAS NOT bought any new clothes for me since yesterday. See
you!”
“See you around, girl. By the way, if you see my boyfriend, tell him that my father
HAS just bought a new shotgun and he has learnED how to use it.”
“But you have said that…”
“I know what I have said. Hurry up, your mom’s waiting for you.”

Present Perfect Continuous

Let me put it this way: Present Perfect Continuous is like a Present Perfect Simple
who wants to draw attention towards it. I mean, who wants to stress that fact that it started
doing something in the past and that it has never stopped doing it. Okay, I will let you
discover the truth about Present Perfect Continuous.

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- +
I have written two emails in the last couple of hours.

- +

I have been writing emails since a couple of hours ago.

Exercise 36. Fill in the blanks with Present Perfect Simple or Continuous.
1. Sandra HAS BEEN READING (read) since 8 a.m. and she HAS already READ (read) a
hundred pages.
2. My uncle HAS BEEN WORKING (work) as a mechanic for over thirty years and he HAS
REPAIRED (repair) thousands of cars.
3. HAVE you BEEN WAITING (wait) for me for a long time?” “Not really. I HAVE
WAITED (wait) for you for only two hours, but the waiting was not boring because I HAVE
BEEN HELPING (help) a little old man to cross the street, and it took me almost two hours
to do it because he did not want to cross it.”
4. HAVE you SEEN (see) my notebook? I am sure that I HAVE
BROUGHT (bring) it to school today because I HAVE NOT FINISHED
(not finish) my Math homework and I hoped that I could copy the homework from you.”
“No, I HAVE NOT SEEN (not see) your notebook, but it’s okay because I HAVE DONE
(do) my Math homework, yet. I HAVE BEEN TRYING (try) to do it since yesterday, but in
vain.”
5. Samantha and I HAVE BEEN (be) friends since we were in the second grade. We HAVE
PARTICIPATED (participate) in many competitions together, in the same team or in
opposite teams, but lately she HAS BEEN COMPLAINING (to complain) too much about
the fact that I HAVE NOT CALED (not to call) her this year as often as I called her last
year.
6. HAS Jim BEEN RUNNING (run)? He is covered in sweat.” “Yes, he HAS BEEN
RUNNING (run) for thirty minutes. He HAS ALREADY RAN (already run) five miles.”
HAS he SIGNED (sign up) for a competition or something?” “Yes, he HAS SIGNED UP
(sign up) for this major athletic competition next month. He signed up last week and he HAS
BEEN TRAINING (train) since them.”
7. HAVE you BOUGHT (buy) this jacket or you HAVE GOT (get) it as a present?” HAVE
you BEEN LIVING (live) under a rock? I HAVE BEEN WEARING (wearing) this jacket
for more than half a year and you HAVE JUST NOTICED (notice) it just now?!”

Exercise 37. Question: Past Simple, Present Perfect Simple, or Present Perfect
Continuous? Answer: Yes!
1. Sam HAS BEEN THINKING (think) of that for weeks, but he HAS NOT MADE UP
__________________ (make up) his mind, yet.
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2. Two days ago Anna STARTED (start) playing this computer game, and she HAS BEEN
PLAYING (play) it since then.
3. It HAS BEEN RAINING (rain) since last week. I HAVE NEVER SEEN (see) such a
rain, but my grandmother says that she SAW (see) something like this when she WAS (be) a
child.
4. “Why HAS she BEEN ACTING (act) like a child lately?” “Because her parents HAVE
NOT GIVEN (give) her any pocket money since she GOT (got) a C- at Math.”
5. Kate BROKE (break) Mike’s bike last week and they HAVE NOT SPOKEN
(speak) to each other since then. What a pity!
6. The wind HAS BEEN BLOWING (blow) since yesterday and it HAS ALREADY
BLOWN (already, blow) off the roof of a house.
7. I HAVE NEVER RIDDEN (never ride) a horse, but some years ago I RODE (ride) a
camel. Word!
8. DID you JUST SAY (just say) out that the exercise is over? Cool!

Exercise 38. Let’s make things more difficult! Fill in the blanks with the verbs that you
think match the best. Pay attention to the tenses, also!

1. Today IS Sunday. The Browns are going to go to the mall. Mother IS PUTTING her
shoes on while the rest of the family IS STAYING in the car. They usually WALK to the
mall, because it is not that far from where they LIVE but today they ARE GOING
to the mall by car because it IS RAINING heavily.

2. Yesterday WAS such a crazy day! First, my father CAME into my room and ASKED me:
“Son, WHERE ARE my glasses? I am sure that I PUT them on the coffee table, in the
living room, but now they ARE gone!”
I THOUGHT for a while, then I LOOKED at him and SAID
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT the glasses my mom BOUGHT
for you last year? The ones that you almost LOST when you WENT to ride the bicycle
without your hands and you FELL off the bike?”
“Yes, those ones!” Father SAID full of hope. HAVE YOU SEEN them?”
“No, I HAVE NOT SEEN them”, I SAID, and then I WENT back to what I WAS
DOING when he STOPPED me with his question.

3. I think that this WAS back in 1965, when I WAS just a child. I WAS RIDING my bicycle
along with other boys from my street. My bicycle WAS the most beautiful and I USED TO
ride it every day around the block, I WAS all proud and cocky. Suddenly, the wind
STARTED blowing very hard.
LET US LOOK for cover!” one of the boys ____________________ “This HA
BEEN one of the most devastating storms in the history! I HAVE NEVER seen clouds
darker than the ones that ARE COMING straight to us!”
Well, he WAS right. The wind simply BLEW us up from the
ground and TOOK us all the way to France, right in front of a finish
line. And this is the way we INVENTED the Tour de France!

Exercise 39. Circle and correct the mistakes. There are 13

mistakes. Word!
Dear Mom,
I HAVE just cOme back home from work, where I fixed a couple of cars, and now I
AM thinkING to opening a bottle of milk to drink it. I haven’t drank milk since I LEFT

19
home, because I DO NOT LIKE the milk that they are having here, but yesterday I decided
to start drinkING milk again. Do you remember how I used to open the milk bottles with
your car key? I REMEMBER that once, while I WAS TRYING to open a bottle, you saw me
and you told me not to do that again.
Love, your son, Jimmistake
Exercise 40. I have two perfect presents for you: one simple and one continuous. Which
one will you choose?
1. The Browns HAVE HAD (have) that car for ages!
2. You HAVE BEEN HAVING (to have) lunch for over forty minutes, how come you
HAVE NOT FINISHED (to finish) it yet?
3. We HAVE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS problems with our neighbours since we moved
here.
4. Sam HAS BEEN SEEING (to see) Gina for years and they are
going to get married next year.
5. HAVE YOU SEEN (you, see) Mary since we finished school?!
________ HAS SHE BEEN LIVING (to live) under a rock or
something?
6. Lately, Tom HAS BEEN HEARING (to hear) voices, so he
has to see a doctor.
7. Nice to meet you! I HAVE HEARD (to hear) so much about
you!
8. Ramon finished his one and a half hour match and he HAS
BEEN SMELLING (to smell) flowers since then. He has this strange habit, yes.
9. The worker HAS SMELLED the paint for a couple of minutes, to see if they are good, and
he has gotten a little dizzy.
10. He HAS BEEN SMELLING (to smell) bad this many times before, but nothing
compares to what is happening now! Run!
11. We HAVE BEEN SWIMMING (to swim) in circle for hours. I think that we HAVE
SWUM (to swim) about five kilometres, but we HAVE GOT (to get) to far. How do I know
that? Well, the shark that HAS BEEN LOOKING (to look) at us from a short distance HAS
NOT MOVED (to move) a muscle and, yet, it is still here!
12. Where HAVE YOU BEEN (you, to be) all day? I HAVE BEEN LOOKING
(to look) for you all over the place! I HAVE even CALLED
(to call) the cups... and I HAVE JUST REALIZED (just, realize) that the reason for which
they HAVE NOT CALLED (to call) back, even though I HAVE BEEN WAITING
(to wait) for their answer for hours is that I should have called the cops, not the cups...

Exercise 41. Drag and drop. I mean, choose the words and write them on the empty
lines: has been stealing, joined, did not buy, have been writing, wore, do not like, entered,
has been wearing, has just bought, steals, was doing, is wearing.
1. Many students JOINED school, but they still go there.
2. The floor lamp that you DID NOT BUY yesterday is not in the store anymore because
somebody HAS JUST BOUGHT it.
3. Somebody HAS BEEN STEALING my socks since I ENTERED this gym. Who on earth
STEALS socks which another guy WORE for weeks?!
4. Jim WORE a very nice jacket last week, but today he IS WEARING
a very ugly sweater.
5. When I ENTERED his room, he was DOING push-ups.
6. They HAVE BEEN WRITING their homework for two hours and
they are a little tired.

20
 Passive Voice for Active Students

What does the apple say when we are eating it? It says “I am being eaten!” Of course,
if it is the talking apple, because if it is the annoying orange, the orange would say “Hey,
apple, apple, guess what: you are being eaten!”
Read these two sentences which say the same thing and then circle the correct
conclusions:

Sam is eating an apple.

The apple is being eaten by Sam.

Conclusions:
1. Sam is an alien who dances cha-cha to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
2. Snow White was born in Papua New Guinea and knew why the chicken crossed the road.
3. Both sentences say the same thing, but from different points of view.
4. Passive Voice is always made of to be and V3 (Past Participle of the main verb)

Yes, 3 and 4 are correct. In the Exercise 1. Circle the sentences in the
Passive Voice, the subject is the Passive Voice.
victim. The subject does not do 1. The fence is painted by the workers.
anything, it just sits and talks 2. The apple is rolling down the alley.
about the things that happen to 3. The film was seen by million of
people.
it. Just like the apple. Well,
4. He will be doing homework.
apples do not do too many things, 5. The homework will be done by him.
anyway. 6. The car is being washed.
Here is one more example of the 7. The money has just been transferred.
difference between the 8. Money has always been important.
executioner and the victim. By the 9. I am interested in painting.
way, can you guess who the 10. The house was being repaired.
victim is? 11. The girl has been being waited for by
the boy.
12. The patient has been being treated
well.
I am the
teacher, and I I am the student,
and I will be Exercise 2. Turn these sentences into
will give you
such given, by my Passive Voice:
homework teacher, such 1. The noise woke him up.
that it will homework that it 2. Millions of people have bought that.
take you will take me 3. The thieves are robbing a store.
years to do it! years to do it! 4. Tim was looking after his brother.
5. Mike has been reading that book for
overor
Exercise 42. Fill in the blanks with Past Simple three
Pasthours.
Continuous and then turn the
sentence into Passive Voice if possible. 6. I have never visited that museum.
1. When she ______________________ (to see) 7. He
me,will be driving this time tomorrow. (to
I __________________________
ride) my bicycle in the park. 8. I have never seen such a thing before.
9. He trains thousands every year.
10. I did not break that base.

21
2. Sam _______________________ (to give) Marcus the book back and then he
____________________ (to leave) the room while _________________________ (to
mumble) something.
3. When I ________________________ (see) him for the first time, his face _____________
(to turn) red while we ______________________ (to shake) hands.
4. We __________________________ (to get) to London sooner than we _______________
_______________ (to expect).
5. When I _________________________ (to be) in Idaho I __________________________
(to see) a girl who _________________________ (like) to go to a country club and dance
every time we _________________________ (to go) out.
6. Paul ________________________ (to open) the window because it __________________
hotter and hotter inside.
7. ________ she ___________________ (to open) the umbrella when she _______________
_______________ (to notice) that the rain __________________________ (to start)?
8. The Browns ______________________ (to have) dinner when their little son, Jack,
________________________ (to say) his first words: “I love grammar!”

Exercise 43. Fill in the blanks with Present Perfect Simple or Past Simple and then turn
the sentences into Passive Voice.
1. I __________________ (to see) Angela since that dog __________________ (to bite) her.
2. An hour ago, Daniel ___________________ (to stop) the car at a gas station and
_____________________ (to put) gas in the gas tank.
3. My father _________________________ (to take) me hunting with him since last year.
4. My uncle _________________________ (to mend) the fence, ______________________
(to paint) the house and then ________________________ (to wash) his car.
5. Kim _______________ (to say) a prayer before he _______________ (to cross) the river.
6. Sam ____________________________ (to dust) the furniture in his room since three
months ago.
7. Two days ago, Jim ________________________ (to see) an alien.
8. When he was in the elementary school, the teacher _____________________________
(to punish) him a lot for not doing his homework.

Exercise 44. Fill in the blanks with Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect
Continuous and then turn the sentences into Passive Voice.
1. The teacher _______________________ (to finish) grading all the test papers, but he
________________________________ (already, to grade) twenty of them.
2. ___________ Jim ______________ (to paint, negative) the fence, yet?! Man, he
_____________________________ (to paint) that fence for weeks, now!
3. The Browns ____________________________ (to build) their house for years, but they
_________________________ (to put) the roof on top of it, yet!
4. ________ you ________________ (to play) those drums since last night?! No wonder you
neighbours _______________________ (to call) the cops on you twice!
5. You have no idea how many windows ________________________ (to break) so far!
6. Tim _____________________ (to sweep) the floors so many times this week. I think that
something ________________________________ (to bother) him since Monday and he
sweeps the floor only to have time to get away of his problem.
7. _________ the workers _________________________ (to mend) the roof of your house
all week? They are a little slow because they ___________________ (to fix) only half of it.
8. For his party, Jack ______________________ (to buy) fifteen litres of soft drinks, he
______________________ (to make) a five-hour long play list on his computer and he

22
______________________ (to invite) more than twenty people. Right now he is in his room,
making some decorations for the room. He _________________________ (to make)
decorations for ten hours!

Exercise 45. Be careful, it is a mix of tenses! Fill in the blanks with the right tense and
then turn the sentences into Passive Voice, whenever possible.
1. When I GOT (to get) to the office, my colleagues WERE
REFILLING (to refill) the cartridges.
2. The engineers BUILT (to build) a new car from scratch next
year. They WERE GOING TO REPLACE (to go to) replace all the
old cars with the new model.
3. “What ARE YOU THINKING OF (to think) of?”
“I AM THINKING (to think) of how to save the world from
pollution and bad music.”
“And I THINK (to think) that you ARE THINKING (to think) too much!”
4. DO you HEAR (to hear) this? I THINK (to think) that our neighbour IS HAVING (to
have) a party.”
“Not really. I THINK (to think) that you ARE HEARING (to hear) things. Our neighbour
LEFT (to leave) yesterday morning. He actually LIVES (to live) in Italy, DID you FORGET
(to forget)?”
5. HAVE you SEEN (to see) Gina lately? She HAS DYED (to dye) her hair pink and now
she IS LOOKING (to look) like a clown!”
6. When I OPENED (to open) the door, Jane WAS SMELLING (to smell) a flower. I am
sure that the flower SMELT (to smell) nice, because she WAS LOOKING (to look) so
happy.
7. If you LOOK (to look) outside, you WILL SEE (to see) a woman who IS CARRYING
(to carry) a refrigerator on her shoulders!
8. Hundreds of birds HAVE BEEN FLYING (to fly) South since the beginning of the fall.
Some of them HAVE BEEN FLYING (to fly) for weeks and they still HAVE NOT
REACHED(to reach) their destination.

Exercise 46. Correct the mistakes. There are all kind of mistakes, so be very careful!
1. The house have be built in ten days. WAS BUILT
2. The plane is been fly by a pilot. IS BEING FLOWN
3. She does not cooks on Sundays. COOK
4. I have ate less apples than you did! I HAVE EATEN
5. Have you already been writing two letters? WRITTEN
6. They did not remembered me. REMEMBER
7. When I entered, they watched TV. WERE WATCHING
8. My money are being spend on junk food! SPENT
9. Watch out, a car comes fast! IS COMING
10. Who have seen my sheeps? HAS SEEN MY SHEEP
11. This sentence is more long, so maybe you are seeing more mistakes. LONGER
12. Mine father have ate more sugars then we! MY FATHER HAS EATEN
13. A UFO has been spotted near the city of Nottingham. WAS SPOTTED
14. This have be one of the most long exercises in this book! HAS BEEN LONGEST
Past Perfect Simple

Quick review:
Formulae: S + have2 (had) + V3; Have2 + S + V3?; S + have2 + NOT + V3.

23
Meaning: an action or a series of actions completed before a moment in the past. He had
lived in B (Ohio, U.S.A) before he moved to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokai-
whenuakitanatahu (New Zeeland)

Exercise 47. Change the sentences below from Present Perfect Simple to Past Perfect
Simple by changing the form of the verb to have and the adverbs. Add your own
moment in the past, if necessary.
Model: I haven’t seen him today. I hadn’t seen him that day.
She has already found about being fired. By the time I got there, she had
already found about being fired.
1. Mike has already watched five terrible movies this month. MIKE HAD ALREADY
WATCHED FIVE TERRIBLE MOVIES LAST MONTH
2. Nate has painted the fence pink. By THE TIME I GOT THERE, NATE HAD ALREADY
PAINTED THE FENCE PINK
3. Have they lived in Wagga Wagga since graduation?! HAD THEY LIVED IN WAGGA
WAGGA SINCE THEY HAD GRADUATED?
4. This week, Jeffery has met five of his ex classmates! THAT WEEK THEY HAD MET
FIVE OF HIS CLASSMATES
5. It is five p.m. and Jim hasn’t arrived, yet. AT FIVE PM JIM HAD NOT ARRIVED YET
6. How many letters has your friend written so far? HOW MANY LETTERS HAD HE
WRITTEN UNTIL THEN?
__________________________________
7. I haven’t seen such a huge atom until today! I HAD NOT SEEN
SUCH A HUGE ATOM UNTIL THAT DAY
8. He has lied before, so I don’t believe him. HE HAD LIED BEFORE
SO I DID NOT BELIEVE HIM

9. It has rained a lot this week, that is why the ground in soaked in
water. IT HAD RAINED A LOT THAT WEEK AND THE GROUND IN SOAKED IN
WATER
__________________________________________________________
10. I am looking for my glasses because I haven’t seen them since this morning. __________
I WAS LOOKING FOR MY GLASSES BECAUSE I HAD NOT SEEN HIM SINCE THAT
MORNING

Explanation: in 8, 9 and 10 you also had to change the other verbs, to: I don’t believe him in
I didn’t believe him, that is why the ground is soaked in water in that is why the ground was
soaked in water and I am looking for my glasses in I was looking for my glasses. What did I
tell you? When Past Perfect Simple enters, Present exits.

Past Perfect Simple with since, for and... the rest of them!

As I said, it is just like Present Perfect Simple, but for the past:

Sam had helped Gina many times since she moved in his neighborhood, when he
asked her to marry him. Gina had thought for a couple of years about Sam’s proposal
before she said “yes”. Of course, at that time Sam had already married another woman.

Exercise 48. Put the pair of sentences together using Past Perfect Simple, using just, yet,
already, since, for and that day. See the model.

24
Model: It was Wednesday. Tim watched a movie. Tim had watched a movie that week.
1. Mike bought a computer in 1993. In 1998 he still had that computer.
2. Jim wanted to tell Fanny to take the garbage out. Fanny took it two hours before.
3. Erwin arrived home. He immediately saw that the dog was missing.
4. It is 2014 and Kate met Kim at the supermarket. Last time she saw Kim was in 2012.
5. Mother came back from work. Jeffery did not finish his homework.
6. It was Sunday afternoon. Greg did not catch any fish.

Exercise 49. Read the text below and then re-write it for a moment in the past. The
beginning is done for you. Also, the last clause must be turned to affirmative. (Am I a
nice guy, or what?)
Today, somewhere on a strange planet. Captain’s log.
"We have just landed on this planet. The first officer has already run a check on the
atmosphere. The atmosphere contains more air that New York at rush hour, so we are
getting ready to go outside. I haven’t received the analysis of the soil, yet, but I have decided
to step on this planet anyway. I have already put the protection suit on. I have had this suit
for decades, but it is still functional. Of course, I have patched it many
times, but it is my favourite protection suit even if it doesn’t have the
zipper any longer and it has been completely burned twice so far. It is
a miracle that I still have it! Anyway, we are ready to get out. It has
been a long flight to this planet and we all need to stretch our legs a
little. Because nobody wants to stay inside and save the others if
anything goes wrong, we have decided to lock the spaceship and
swallow the key. Well, we have flown for more than ten years, but we
have not gone bananas…”
One year later, in a newspaper, an article entitled Crazy
Astronauts Swallow the Key and Die of Starvation: They had just landed on that planet.
The first officer had already run a check on the atmosphere. The atmosphere contained more
air…

Exercise 50. Complete the sentences with a Past Perfect clause. You may use, if you
want, to paint, to fall, to go to the cinema, to get married, to visit Wagga Wagga, to eat, to
forget, to see (big atoms).
1) _____________________________________________________ when he found out that
it was not his car. 2) _______________________________________________ that month.
3) _____________________________________________________ before they bought a
DVD player. 4) ________________________________________________________ by
the times she was 30. 5) ______________________________________________________
five times that year. 6) ______________________ already __________________________
_________________ when you got there? 7) The pirate ____________________________
__________________________________, so they had to look for the map. 8) __________
__________________________________________________ before, but this one was huge!

Exercise 51. Past Simple or Past Perfect Simple?

1. When we ______________________(to get) there, we _____________________ (to see)
that someone ______________________ (already, to build) a house on the sea shore.
2. What he _____________________ (not to know) is the by the time he _______________
______________(to try) for the first time to sell me that insurance policy, I _____________
______________ (to buy) three insurance policies from different insurance agents.

25
3. The scientists in that research facility ____________________ (to try) many times to
discover the huge atom that they ___________________________ (to read) about in an
ancient book, until they ___________________________ (to be told) that the book
_________________________ (to be) just a joke and that it
__________________________(to be written) by a compulsive liar in a mental institution.
Of course, come of them ___________________________ (can not accept) that they
__________________________ (to be fooled) by a lunatic an they _________________ (to
continue) the research.
4. The lion ________________________ (can not) remember how many times he _______
____________________ (to fight) against that tiger that ________________________ (to
escape) from a zoo years before, but everybody ________________________ (to know) that
he ____________________________ (to win) every time until that day, when the tiger
finally __________________________ (to win). Well, the lion _______________________
(to be) too old for a difficult sport such as “paper, scissors, stone”.
5. “You may laugh, but when I _______________________ (to see) my teacher of Math for
the first time, I ______________________ (to think) that he _________________________
(to be) an extraterrestrial! He ___________________________ (to look) as if he _________
______________________ (never, to use) a hairbrush in his life! His hair _______________
_______________ (to be) a pile on the top of his head, and his moustache
_____________________________ (to look) as if someone with no talent
________________________ (to draw) it under his nose. Even his name
______________________ (to be) strange: Einstein!

Hardly, Scarcely or Barely? Answer: No Sooner

What a title! Read the following sentences and then circle the correct conslusions:

No sooner had Vicky opened the door than she saw the thief trying to
steal her Maths book and do the homework for her…
Hardly had John started the engine, without using a car key, when he
realized that the car was not his. He told the police that it was an honest
mistake…
Scarcely had the movie started when the power went off and people
started screaming. It was a horror movie, anyway.
Barely had the people in the movie theatre started screaming when the
actors in the movie got scared and ran away. What a nightmare!

Now, let’s see the conclusions:

1) Thieves usually break into houses and do homework for the people living there.
2) “No sooner” works with “than” and “hardly,” “scarcely,” and “barely” work with
“when.”
3) When you start the engine of a car without having a key, the police will find you.
4) After these words, “no sooner,” “hardly,” “scarcely,” and “barely,” Past Perfect
comes.
5) This type of a sentence is used when there are two or more events, in the past, that
occurred one right after the other.

26
 6) The clause expressing the first event is in Past Perfect Simple and the clause
expressing the event that occurred after that is in Past Simple.
7) Santa Clause is not the Easter bunny.

Exercise 52. I am sure that you got the theory, so put the two sentences together using
the word in parentheses. See the model.
The model to be seen: John saw the model. Then he quickly understood what he had to do.
(no sooner) ___No sooner had John seen the model than he understood what he had to
do.___
1) The rain started. They realized that they did not have umbrellas. (scarcely)
2) The train arrived. They saw that they were on the wrong platform. (barely)
3) He started solving the problem. He finished solving it in no time. (no sooner)
4) She saw that her bicycle was missing right after she tried to hop on it (hardly)
5) The football match finished seconds before it started raining. (no sooner)
6) Greg started speaking English. They realized that he was Spanish. (Hardly)

Exercise 53. Do the same thing as in Exercise 1 to write this unbelievable story:
1) They got off the bus. Immediately, they realized that it was the wrong bus stop. (barely)
2) They saw that it was the wrong bus right after they took it. (scarcely)
3) They saw that the bus was the wrong bus. Then the bus started going backwards. (hardly)
4) The bus started going backwards seconds before they saw that there was nobody driving
it. (no sooner) (page 35)
5) They jumped off the bus seconds after they saw that nobody was driving it. (hardly)
6) A movie director saw them jumping off the bus and hired them as stuntmen. (barely)
In a nutshell

Of course, do not forget the Past Simple

No sooner + had + S + V3 after that: No sooner had he said that
than... when everybody started using the Past
Simple after “no sooner had he said that.”
Hardly
Got it? Prove it by finishing these:
Scarcely had + S + V3 when…
Barely
1. Hardly had she opened the door when...
2. Scarcely had I said that when…
3. No sooner had they arrived when…

Exercise 54. Underline the mistakes and then write the correct word or form of the
verb on the empty line. There is one sentence which is not wrong. Only one!
1) Hardly had he woken up when he remembered that he did not have to go to school that
day, so he started crying like a little girl. _______________
2) No sooner had they reached the town when they started looking for a hotel. ___________
3) He had hardly fixed his watch than it broke again. _____________
4) Hardly had the turkey found out that Thanksgiving Day was close when it starts running
like a bat out of hell. _______________
5) Barely have I opened my eyes when I saw that it was total dark. ____________
6) No sooner had she rang the doorbell when a voice shouted from inside: “We are not home,
right now. Come back on August 32nd!” ______________

27
7) Hardly we had taken off our shoes when mom told us to go back to
the market and buy more fruits. _______________
8) Barely had the cowboy draw his guns than he got shot by a monkey.
____________
9. No sooner had George, the surgeon, came back from work than they
called him back to operate on a cowboy shot by a monkey. __________
10) Barely had the airplane touched the ground than it had to take off
again and try a better landing. _____________

So, you thought that sentence number 3 is wrong. Surprise: it is not! Sentence number 1
is wrong, but I had told this to you before. Anyway, it is very possible to build that kind
of sentences this way: I had hardly closed my eyes when I saw the stars. She had
scarcely got home when the phone rang.

Exercise 55. Match the ones on the left with the ones on the right.
1. Hardly had he drank his coffee… … when his boss asked him to go back.
2. No sooner had he left the office… … when they told me that she had a boyfriend.
3. Barely had she bought that dress… … when they found out that it was haunted.
4. Scarcely had we finished lunch… … when we got hungry again.
5. No sooner had the dog started barking… … than a tire exploded with a loud noise.
6. Hardly had they bought the house… … when she found out that it was in England.
7. She had scarcely moved to London… … when he fell asleep again.
8. I had hardly found her name… … than the thief started doing the same thing.
9. No sooner had the car stopped… … when she put it on and started dancing.
Exercise 56. Evelyn does not know how to use the Past Tenses properly. Circle her
mistakes and then correct them.

A Beautiful Evening

It was Saturday evening and it was snowing all day long, so little Johnny, my

neighbours’ boy, has come outside and starts making a snowman. He was never made a

snowman before, so he didn’t knew where to start. I have put my winter clothes on and I

goed out to help him. First, we had made a huge snowball. Then, we maked a smaller one

and had put it on the top of the first one. Then little Johnny start making the head. While

he had been making the head, I go back inside and had looked for a carrot, an old pot and

a broomstick. I had found what I have been looking for, I went out and I had given the

snowman a hat, a nose and an arm. Little Johnny, who had finishing the head before I

found out a hat for the snowmen, was now sing a carol. I joined him and we both sung all

the carols that we had known. When people have started giving us money, we felt the

28
luckiest people children on earth. Merry Christmas every one!
 The Hidden Talent of Past Perfect Simple

Past Perfect Simple has the talent to be useless, sometimes. Yes, it can express a
condition that has no chance to be fulfilled because the time when it could have been
fulfilled is gone. Therefore, the action that depended on the fulfilling of the condition
expressed through Past Perfect Simple has no chance to be done. You got it: I was talking
about Conditional Sentence of Type III!

Exercise 57 Use Past Perfect Simple to express the condition that cannot be fulfilled any
longer. (Am I obsessed with this word, “fulfil”?) Sometimes the verb is missing.
1. I would have come to your party if you _________________________
(to invite) me!
2. The car wouldn’t have broken if you ___________________________
(to try) to climb a tree with it!
3. Our football team would have won the game if ___________________
___________________________________________________________
4. I would have forgiven you if you _____________________________________________
5. Our guests would not have left in a hurry if our son ______________________________
(cut) their jackets with a pair of scissors.
6. The dog wouldn’t have bitten you if you _______________________________________

The Conditional Sentences

I bet that you did not see this coming! And, yet, here we are, ready to talk about the
Conditional sentences. Let’s take them one by one.

Type Zero Conditional or The Fake Conditional

This Zero Conditional is such an intruder! It does not even show a condition, but a
logic consequence of facts. Compare the sentences in the left with the sentences in the right.

Table one – consequences Table two – pure conditions!

1. If it rains, the ground gets wet. 1. If it rains, I will not go for a walk.
2. The water freezes if you put it in the 2. If you want more ice, I will put the
freezer. water in the freezer.
3. If I am on vacation, I play a lot. 3. If I get an A+, I will play a lot.
4. The dogs bark if they are hungry. 4. These dogs will bark if you move!
5. I eat if I am hungry. 5. I will eat if you eat with me.

Read the observations below and mark with a tick the correct ones and with
an X the wrong ones.
1. Table one shows consequences and Table two shows pure
conditions. (This was a hard one!) ____

29
2. All the “if”-s in the sentences in Table one can be replaced with the word “when” or the
words “every time”. ____
3. If we replace the “if”-s in sentences in Table two with the words “when” or “every time”,
they will not sound strange. ____
4. Some sentences in Table two may sound pretty normal if we replace the “if”-s with the
word “when”, but our instincts say that the sentence in Table one are consequences, whereas
the sentences in Table two are conditions. _____
5. The sentences in Table two are in Type One Conditional ____
6. The drawing in the right shows that the sentences in Table one stole the word
“Conditional”, but they are still a big zero! ____

Type One Conditional or The Happy Conditional

It is happy because it has the most chances to happen. It will either happen or it will
not, which means 50-50 chances for it: If it rains, I will not go for a walk
(but if it doesn’t rain, I will go for a walk). What are the chances to rain?
Exactly 50-50, which means that it is very possible not to rain, in which
case I will go for a walk and I will be happy! The word “if” cannot be
replaced with the word “when”, because it is absurd to assume that every
time it does not rain, I go for a walk. What am I, a dog?

Important!
Type Zero Conditional = Present Simple – if – Present Simple
Type One Conditional = Present Simple – if – Future Simple

Exercise 58. Try to make the difference between Conditional Type One and
Conditional Type Zero (between the happy conditional and the intruder).
1. The soldiers ______________ (to start) shooting immediately if their enemies
_______________ (to try) to get out of their trenches.
2. You ______________________ (definitely to pass) the exams if you _________________
(to start) start studying right now!
3. Maybe the engine _____________________ (to start) if you ___________________ (to
put) more gas in the gas tank.
4. If our neighbours ____________________ (to listen to music) as loud as last night one
more time, I _______________________ (to call) the police on them!
5. Cats ______________________ (to be) very happy if people ___________________ (to
step) on their tails.
6. If you ______________________ (to step) that cat on the tail, it ___________________
(to jump) straight up and sing Billie Jean!
7. The students ____________________ (to have) good results if they __________________
(to listen) to what the teachers tell them.
8. The students ____________________ (to have) good results if they __________________
(to read) this book.
9. She _________________________ (never, to tell) you the truth if you _______________
(to treat) her like this.
10. She ________________________ (never, to tell) you the truth if her sister
______________________ (to be) around.

Exercise 59. Think of ten possible conditions for the action below to happen. After you
think them, tell them to your teacher. Write one of them. Use Type One Conditional,
d’oh!
30
_________________________________________, your mother will buy you a new laptop.

Exercise 60. Write the consequence of the actions below. Use Zero Type Conditional.
D’oh!
1. If I move my arm like this, _________________________________________________
2. If I do not get to school on time, _____________________________________________
3. If you put oil in water, _____________________________________________________
4. If it is winter, ____________________________________________________________
5. If the car makes too much smoke, ____________________________________________
6. If you break the speed limit, _________________________________________________

Type Two Conditional – The Worried Conditional

It is worried because the chances for the action to happen

are very small. They are so small that they cannot be seen with the
naked eye. Nope, they can’t! You need a microscope to see them.
Yep, you need that. Maybe even an electronic microscope. Yep, it
has to be electronic. This is the image of Type Two Conditional
seen with a microscope:
S + would + V1 – if – S + V2

E.g. I would come with you if my mom let me (but I know that she will not!)
It takes a miracle for the condition to be fulfilled. The poor boy knows that his mom
will not let him go with his friends, because his mother never lets him
go out and play after he breaks the windows with the cat. Yes, he
always forgets to open the window before he throws the can out the
window. But do not worry: they live on the ground and the cat
actually loves that. She would love it more if the boy remembered to
open the window before, but the cat loves being thrown anyway.

Exercise 61. Match the actions with their conditions, and then make a short comment.
See the model.
Model: She would be more polite with you… … if you treated her nicely (but we all
know how rude you are, so there is a snowball chance in hell for this to happen.)

1. Sam would win the race… … if they stopped jumping on beds.

2. The coffee would be a lot better… … if that did not make us sad.
3. The milk would become brown… … if he changed the engine on his race car.
4. Karen would come to your party… … if they did not have anything else to do.
5. Jim would pass the driving test… … if you put coffee in it.
6. Carmen would not shout at her children… … if you boiled it slowly.
7. They would do their homework… … if you sent her an invitation.
8. We would be happy to help you… … if he learned how to read and write.

Exercise 62. Read the following sentences and make Type Two Conditional sentences.
See the model.
Model: Jim can’t fix his car because he does not have the right tools. He would be able to fix
his car if he had the right tools.
1. Samantha always comes late at school because she lives very far. ____________________

31
___________________________________________________________ 2. Her father
does not drive her to school because they do not have a car. __________________________
________________________________________________________. 3. Her father has not
bought a car, yet, because he does not have enough money. __________________________
____________________________________________ 4. Samantha cannot ride her bicycle
to school because she cannot ride it. _____________________________________________
_______________________ 5. Her father hasn’t bought a bicycle for her, yet, because she
never gets A-s at Math. _______________________________________________________
_________________________________ 6. She does not get A-s at math because the
classes are very boring. 7. The classes are boring because she is a genius and knows
everything. _________________________________________________________________
__________________________ 8. Nothing goes well because she does not like school very
much. _____________________________________________________________________

Have you noticed? No matter the person, we use were in

Conditional sentences: If I were you, I would use only
were. She would be number one if she were a little more
hard working.
Exercise 3. Say at least three things about these unlikely
to happen situations:
1. If I were a billionaire… 2. If I were the president of the
world… 3. If I had Superman’s powers… 4. If I were a
wizard… 5. If I did not have to go to school…

Type Three Conditional or The Tragic Conditional

It is tragic because, for this type of Conditional sentence, all is lost. There is no
chance for the action to be completed because the condition is in the
past. Imagine that yesterday you saw a very nice box of toothpicks
that cost only 20 dollars, but all you had in your pocket was 19.99
dollars, and that today your mother gives you 1 cent so you can buy
the box, but when you go back to the store, the box is gone!
Somebody bought it yesterday, after you left the store, and there is
nothing you can do about it, because yesterday you did not have the
money. You put your hands on your head and ask: “Why me, why? If
I had had one more cent, I would have bought that box of
toothpicks yesterday, but now all is lost!” Let’s calm down and see
what Type Three Conditional is made of. Who needs toothpicks, anyway?! We floss!

S + would have + V3 – if – S + have2 (had) + V3

E.g. I would have come with you if my mom had let me. (but she did not let me
because this is what she always does after I draw something on the furniture… with a nail!)

Exercise 63. Fill in the blanks with whatever you know that you have to use in order to
get Type Three Conditional sentences.

32
1. I _______________________________________ (not to scratch) the furniture if the nail
__________________________________ (not to tell) me to do that! It is such an evil nail…
2. Our football team ________________________________ (to win) if the adversary
_____________________________ (to play) blindfolded, but they refused to do that.
3. The little boy ______________________________ (to fall) into that pit if he
_____________________________ (to continue) to walk straight.
4. Chuck Norris ____________________________ (to save) the Titanic if he ____________
____________________ (to play) in the movie.
5. We _________________________________ (to calm down) down if we _____________
________________ (to know) that we did not need toothpicks anyway, because we floss.
6. They ________________________________(to go) on that trip if the weather _________
_____________ (to be) fine.
7. Your teacher ______________________________ (not to give) such huge homework if
you _______________________________ (not to tell) him that homework was your life.
8. They _______________________________ (not to paint) your car pink if you _________
_______________ (to tell) them that you hated pink!

Exercise 64. Think of at least two actions that would have been completed if the
following conditions would have been fulfilled:
1. If you had given him the book back, he …
2. If they had run faster than that, they…
3. If the world had been flat, then…
4. If I had been able to dance, she…
5. If I hadn’t had my amazing reflexes, …
6. If the driver hadn’t paid attention, he…
7. If the singer hadn’t been the restaurant owner’s cousin, he...

33
 Past Perfect Continuous

Choose the correct continuation: Past Perfect Continuous is for past…

A. …what wings are for elephants.
B. …what elephants are for porcelain stores.
C. … what Present Perfect Continuous is for present.

If you chose A, you need to see a doctor. If, after seeing the doctor, you chose B, your
doctor needs to see a better doctor. If you chose C, you probably cheated. But it is C, indeed.

S + have2 (had) + be3 (been)+ Ving

S + have2 NOT + be3+ Ving
Have2 + S + be3 + Ving?

Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

Marry has been sleeping since yesterday. Marry had been sleeping since the day
before.
Jim has been trying to open the door for Jim had been trying to open the door for
hours, and he is very tired now. hours, that day, and he was very tired.
Marcus has been playing football for ten ____________________________________
years, and now he is thinking of taking up ____________________________________
basketball. _______________before he took up
basketball. ___________________________

It is 10 a.m. and I have just gotten home, My parents ___________________________

where my parents have been watching __________________________ for three
television since 7 p.m. hours when I _________________________

Sheila has been going to school No. 5 for two ____________________________________

years, but tomorrow she will be transferred to ____________________________________
School No. 1. ____________________________________
____________________________________

Today I have met my neighbour, Jack ____________________________________

Broawn. He has been living in this ____________________________________
neighbourhood for over 20 years. ____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

I hope that your last two sentences are Sheila had been going to School No. 5 for two
years before she was transferred to School No. 1, respectively When I met my neighbour,
Jack Brown, he had been living in that neighbourhood for over 20 years. You wish you had
read these lines earlier, don’t you?

34
 Let’s talk about differences!
(pag. 47)
1. Past Perfect Continuous VS Present Perfect Continuous: Past Perfect Simple does not
reach the present, as Present Perfect Simple does.

Present Perfect Continuous

- +

Past Perfect Continuous

- +

It is time for you to complete another table! Don’t you love tables?
It is the year of 1735 and you have just met It is the year of…whatever year it is now.
Dracula. This is what you have just found You met Dracula in 1735 and, now, you tell
out about him. everybody what he had been doing at that
time and since when.
He has been drinking only grape juice since ___He has been drinking juice for 20 years
1715. when I met him.____
His friends have been trying to convince him _____________________________________
to drink water, too, since 1725.
He hasn’t been sleeping since 1635.
He has been learning Chinese since 1730. _____________________________________
Just in case.
He has been speaking English with a fake _____________________________________
Romanian accent since 1600.
Many people have been chasing him with ____________________________________
pitchforks since 1600. ____________________________________

35
He has been being chased buy people with
pitchforks in their hands since 1705…
2. Past Perfect Continuous VS Past Continuous: Past Perfect Continuous likes heavy
metal, while Past Continuous likes dubstep. Just kidding! Past Perfect Continuous says
since when till when, or for how long, while Past Continuous says only that the action was
in progress, but does not mention for how long because it does not care about it.

Compare these sentences and say which is which, and then complete the table.
When I got home, they were sitting on VS When I got home, they had been sitting
the couch, watching television. on the couch and watching television
for two hours.
Yesterday, at 8 p.m. sharp, my VS Yesterday, at 8 p.m., my neighbour was
neighbour had been listening to music listening to music.
for exactly 3 hours and 25 minutes.
_______________________________ VS Two days ago, when I arrived at his
_______________________________ place, he was dusting the furniture in
_______________________________ his house.
_______________________________

I called him around 5:30 p.m., that VS ________________________________

day, and he was typing something on ________________________________
his computer. (He told me that he ________________________________
started typing at 3:30) ________________________________

3. Past Perfect Continuous VS Chuck Norris: Chuck Norris put the “C” and the “N” in
“Continuous”. Before him, “Continuous” was spelled like this: Otiuous

Exercise 70. Past Continuous, Past Simple or Past Perfect Continuous? I don’t know,
I’m just asking…
1. Last Monday I ______________________ (to visit) the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura.
2. Before I visited Bujumbura, I __________________________ (to visit) the capital of
Honduras, Tegucigalpa. Word!
3. And, then, the alien _________________________ (to draw) his weapon… on a piece of
paper, in pencil.
4. The crusaders ____________________________ (to fight) against those people for ages
when they were told that those people were also crusaders.
5. When I _______________________ (to enter) the room, George ____________________
(to see) me.
6. Five monkeys ________________________ (to jump) from tree
to tree while the zoo keeper _________________________ (to
throw) bananas at them.
7. There were many workers on that site, that morning, but only one
of them __________________________ (to work).
8. In 1790, the great inventor who had invented many things,
Noneof Themuseful, ____________________________ (to look
continuously) for a solution to separate the two sides of the sheet of paper, but with no luck.
9. The rain ____________________________ (to fall) for days when we got there.
10. The children __________________________ (to run) after that poor cat when the police
officer arrested the cat for breaking the speed limit.

36
11. It was about 11:30 a.m. when he ________________________ (to think) of writing an
exercise with eleven sentences. (page 48)
Exercise 71. Fill in the blanks with the Past Perfect Continuous or the Past Continuous
of the verbs in parentheses.
1. When I met Jane, on that hot day in June, last year, she ________________________ (to
plant) trees in the park. According to her, she __________________________ (to do) that
since she had moved to that city, three years before.
2. When we got there, the store keepers ______________________________ (to close) their
stores, the majority of the farmers ______________________________ (to take) their
animals to higher grounds and an old man ____________________________ (to build) a
huge boat. The cause was the rain that ____________________________ (to pour) for days
and days, without stopping.
3. By the time he found out that the war was over, Private Billy _______________________
_____________ (to march) for ten days, believing that he had to go as far as possible from
the front line. As a matter of fact, when they found him, he ___________________________
(to almost run).
4. “What ____________ you __________________ (to do) when you heard the gunshot?”
detective John Clueless asked the blacksmith.
“I ________________________________ (to make) some horseshoes for my neighbour,
Robb Erbank. I know this for sure because, in that particular case, I ____________________
______________ (to try) to fit those horseshoes for over an hour, but they wouldn’t fit!”
“What about this Robb Erbank? What ___________ he ________________ (to do) while
you ____________________________ (to try) to fit the horseshoes to his horse?”
“I think that he ____________________________ (to box) with his rival, All
Knockedout.”
This time, the blacksmith _________________________ (not to lie). The detective knew
that Robb Enker ________________________________ (to try) for years to knock old All
out, but in vain.
5. When I saw my cousin for the firs time, he _____________________________ (to cry).
He was only one month old, but, boy, he could cry! My aunt told
me that he _____________________________ (to cry) for over
two hours when I got to their place! I looked around and I saw
that my uncle ___________________________ (to listen) to
music using some huge earphones, with the volume turned all the
way up, my other cousin, a seven-year old girl
___________________________(to bang) her head against the
wall and my grandmother, who had come there to help,
__________________________ (to hit) two cooking pans against each other, laughing. As I
found out later, at that time their neighbour ______________________
___________________ (to play) his trumpet for an hour, and the police
___________________________________ (to knock) on his door for more than 30 minutes.
6. It was such a beautiful summer morning! The sun ________________________ (to
shine), as it ____________________________ (to shine) for billions of years, the butterflies
_____________________________ (to fly) from flower to flower, as they
_______________________________ (to fly) for… less than a month, because most of the
butterflies do not live longer than that, the Earth ___________________________ (to go
round) the sun, as it ___________________________ (to do) for millions of years… In a
corner of a room, the samurai _____________________________ (to cry) for hours because
someone _____________________________ (to steal) his toys. In another corner of another

37
room, an author of English grammar exercise books _______________________________
(to try) to write a funny exercise, but in vain… (page 49)

The Lord of the Tenses

“You can’t be named The Lord of the Tenses if you don’t know ways of
expressin’ the future! Ya know, that little thingy that ain’t real: the future. Yep, it
ain’t real ‘cause it don’t exist. Now, I got a couple o’ questions for y’all:
why do we need to know them future tenses and why do I speak like a hilly
billy?
Okay, y’all, ‘nough foolin’ around… Man, I gotta get rid of this way
of speaking! Let me try once more:
We shall proceed to offering information concerning the ways of
rendering future actions. (Now, that’s just wack!)”
(page 53)

Ways of expressing the future

1. Future Simple – the classic way.

Formula: S + will + V1 Mission briefing

Nickname: ’ll To express certainty or volition on the part of the
Subject.
Popularity E.g. certainty: I will return the books to the library
Coolness next Monday.
The literary E.g. volition: “I need somebody to just sit here and
aspect of it do nothing.” “Okay, I’ll do that.”

2. “To-be-going-to” Future – the popular way

Formula: S + be1 + going to + V1 Mission briefing

Nickname: gonna To express future situations for which there is enough
evidence, or to show that the speakers knows
Popularity something.
Coolness E.g. evidence: Loot at those clouds! It is going to
The literary rain.
aspect of it E.g. knowing things: Sam and Pam are going to meet
tonight.

3. Present Continuous – the “Let’s recycle!” way

Formula: S + be1 + Ving Mission briefing

Nickname: ‘m, ‘re, ‘s, To express a future situation that was arranged before
the present moment.
Popularity E.g. for whatever is written above: The Prime
Minister is meeting with the President of Whamba
Coolness
Whamba tomorrow to talk about future commercial
The literary
relations between the two countries.

38
aspect of it

4. Present Simple – the planned way

Formula: S + V(1) Mission briefing

Nickname: (none) To express future situations that often or regularly
happen or actions that are mentioned in a schedule.
Popularity E.g. regularly: The train leaves at 6:30.
Coolness E.g. scheduled actions: Tomorrow, we wake up at 7.
We have lunch at 7:30 and then, at 9:00, we meet the
The literary
mayor.
aspect of it

5. “To-be-to” Future – the planned way reloaded

Formula: S + be1 to + V1 Mission briefing

Nikname: (none) To express actions that will happen in the future as a
plan or a decree. It is formal and it can be heard or
read in news.
Popularity
E.g. The Prime Minister is to meet with the President
Coolness of Wamba Wamba tonight, in order to talk about the
The literary meeting that they will have tomorrow.
aspect of it

6. “To” Future – the journalist way

Formula: S + to + V1 Mission briefing

To express future situations that will happen for
Nickname: (none)
certain in the future, as a plan. It is used by journalists
for saving space and concision reasons when they
Popularity write the title of the news.
Coolness E.g. Prime Minister to meet with the President of
The literary Wamba Wamba tomorrow.
aspect of it

The Future Tenses

Choose the correct continuation of the flowing beginning of this sentence: If you
know all the Present Tenses, then you…
A)… have gone bananas! B) … are a complete geek. C)… know all the Future Tenses

Future Continuous

S + will be + V-ing

39
 It expresses an action in progress, moving, at a certain time in future. It represents
what Present Continuous represents for the present and Past Continuous represents for the
past.
E.g. Next Monday, at this time, I will be swimming in the Red See, and so will the sharks.
Future Incontinuous…
Just kidding!

Future Perfect Simple

S + have1 + V3

Choose the correct continuation of the beginning of this sentence: Future Perfect
Simple is for the future…
A)… what Jerry of for Tom. C)… what Snow White is for Metallica. D)… what Present
Perfect Simple is for the present.
Yes, it is C, which means that Future Perfect Simple expresses actions that will not be
finished, yet, in the future, or that will just be finished, already be finished etc.
E.g. On Monday I will arrive in Paris, and by Wednesday I will have visited at least five art
museums.
(page 55)
Future Perfect Continuous

S + have1 + be3 + Ving

Choose the correct continuation if the beginning of this sentence: Future Perfect
Continuous has…
A)… flees. B)… nothing better to do than torture students. C)… all the elements of a
Future tense, a Continuous tense and a Perfect tense: to be, to have, the 3rd for of a verb and
a verb ending in ing.
It C, again! Isn’t this just a weird coincidence? Anyway, this tense expresses an action in
progress in the future. More like Future Continuous, but this time we know the ends of the
period of time, not the middle of it.
E.g. It is the year of 2000. John started teaching Math in 1995. By the year of 2015, he will
have been teaching Math for 20 years. If he does not go bananas in the meantime, of course.

Future Imperfect…
(I got you! I was just kidding, again.)

This is it! It is time for exercises, now. But before that, let me show you how popular
Future Perfect Simple and Future Perfect Continuous are:

Future Perfect Simple Future Perfect Continuous

Popularity Popularity
Coolness Coolness
The literary The literary
aspect of it aspect of it

40
 Did you get this? When you hear a native speaker of English using one of these two
tenses, you can go and buy a lottery ticket, because you have more chances to win the lottery
than to hear a native speaker of English using one of the tenses in the table. Anyway, if you
get rich, do not forget who advised you to buy a lottery ticket. And, now, the exercises!
Exercise 78. Choose the most suitable way to express the future. (page 56)
1. A) If it is necessary, I am going to paint that fence. B) If it is necessary, I will paint that
fence.
2. A) Janice has just gotten a C minus and I think that she is going to cry. B) Janice has just
gotten a C minus and I think that she will cry.
3. A) Brian got a wedding invitation from Stanley, so he is going to Las Vegas next Sunday.
B) Brian got a wedding invitation from Stanley, so he is going to go to Las Vegas next
Sunday.
4. A) Sandra is going to the hospital tomorrow to see why her eye got red. B) Sandra will go
to the hospital tomorrow to see why her eye got red.
5. A) Bus drivers to go on strike tomorrow for better salaries. B) The buss drivers go on
strike tomorrow for better salaries.
6. A) They are to meet with the President of Chunga Wanga tomorrow
morning. B) They to meet with the President of Chunga Wanga
tomorrow morning.
7. A) Rock star S.T. Ring is singing tomorrow evening in a charity
event. B) Rock star S.T. Ring sings tomorrow evening in a charity
event.
8. A) Sandra needs someone to talk to, so I will visit her tomorrow.
B)Sandra needs someone to talk to, so I am to visit her tomorrow.

Exercise 80. The sentences below are not necessarily wrong, but there is a better way to
write them. Show everybody that you are the one who holds the future! Cross out the
not-so-appropriate future and write the more appropriate one, when
necessary.
1. Look how angry that ant is! I think that it will attack us. ____________
____________________
2. If you do that for me, I am going to clean your room one week. ______
3. At 5 p.m. we are to meet with the manager and then, at 7 p.m., we are to
have dinner at Allche Mical restaurant _____________________________
4. Famous singer is going to visit an orphanage tomorrow. ___________________________
5. I talked to him, and he will wash my car first thing tomorrow. ______________________
6. She really hates that, but she is going to talk to the manager tomorrow. _______________
7. The Prime Minster to visit the people left without homes after yesterday’s typhoon. _____
8. If you don’t give him the toys back, he is not going to talk to you. ___________________

Exercise 81. Future Continuous or Future Perfect Continuous?

1. Today we leave for Hawaii, and if everything goes well, we ________________________
(to sunbathe) tomorrow at this hour.
2. If I win this contest, tomorrow you ________________________ (to talk) to a rich man,
when you phone me.
3. If you want to do homework together and come to my place at 5 p.m., I _______________
____________________ (to do) homework for at least half an hour, because I usually start
doing my homework for the next day at 4:30.
4. If he doesn’t stop, by 7 p.m. he __________________________

41
__________________ (to punch) that punch bag for over 10 straight hours, which will be a
world record!
5. Next year in March I _____________________________(to work) in this factory for a
decade!
6. I am sure that, when I arrive there, he _____________________
_________________ (to eat) chips, because he never stops them!
7. I have almost trained that gorilla. I am sure that, tomorrow, when you return, the gorilla
____________________________ (to dance) to Lambada.
8. If the rain does not stop, tomorrow by 7:30 p.m. it ________________________________
(to rain) for over five days in a row!
10. I bet 100 dollars that, in less than 30 seconds from now, you _______________________
______________ (to try) to do sentence 9.
9. If nobody tells you why number 9 comes after number 10, tomorrow by this hour you
________________________________ (to ask) yourself the same question: why does
number 9 come after number 10 in this exercise?

Exercise 82. It is all about the Future Tense, but which of them?
1. The tiger __________________________ (to eat) all the carrots when you get there, if
you do not get there before it wakes up!
2. Let’s play football tomorrow! I __________________________(bring) the football and
you ____________________________ (to convince) my father to
give me the football…
3. In ten minutes from now, that stubborn man _________________
_________________________ (to run) for ten hours trying to get
home, even if he was told that he is on a treadmill!
4. He _________________________ (to win), you ______________
5. The cheerleaders _____________________________ (to rehears)
at 5 p.m., so you need to wait for them to finish if you go there at 5.
6. That crazy cat ____________________________ (to play) with that poor mouse for more
than two hours if it doesn’t stop in the next five minutes!
7. They say that the rain ________________________ (to start) at 3:56 sharp and it
_________________________ (to stop) at 4:51, so if you get there at 4:06 you can be sure
that it _________________________ (to rain).
8. I only one month our spaceship _______________________________ (to cross) more
than a dozen solar systems.
9. When I grow up, I ____________________________ (to be) a scientist and I __________
________________________ (to dedicate) my life to finding a pill to make me a child again.
10. “Sheila ____________________________ (to come) to you tomorrow, at 4 p.m., to
study at Math. ________ you ___________ (to be) home by then?” “Of course I
_____________ ! As a matter of fact, when she comes, I ____________________________
(to study) Math on my own for more than half an hour.

42
 It is high time we mixed everything up!

Exercise 84. Put the verbs into the proper tense.

1. My cat ___________________ (to be) definitely crazy! _________ you ____________
(to want) to know what it ______________________ (to do) just hours ago? Well, I
_________________________ (to sit) at the table, in the kitchen, minding my own business,
when the stupid cat ______________________(to make) a sudden move and
_________________(to knock down) the vase that my mom _________________ (to buy)
from France last year. I personally never ___________________ (to like) that vase, but my
mother __________________________ (to always be) crazy about vases from France. She
________________ (to be) to France five times so far, and she _____________________ (to
buy) a vase every time she was there. Anyway, the cat ___________________ (to knock
down) the vase from my hands, because at that time I
________________________________ (to polish) it for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes! I
_________________________ (to polish) that vase many times before, but only for two or
three minutes. This time I _________________ (to want) to do a perfect job because
tomorrow _________________ (to be) my mother’s birthday, so that is why I
____________________ (to try) to get the vase spotless. Her favourite vase! I still remember
how happy she ________________ (to be) when she _______________ (to see) it in the
window of that little store. I _______________ (to be) with her and, boy, she ____________
____________ (to start) jumping like a little girl, as if she _______________________ (to
never see) a vase in her life! You see, that is why I... Sorry, what? What
_________________ (to use) to polish the vase? The cat, of course! (page 58)

Exercise 85. Rephrase the following sentences using the given word. Note: the given
word is not necessarily the first word in the new sentence. As a matter of
fact, most of the times it is not the first word. Well, not most of the times,
but many. Okay, maybe not that many, because this is an exercise with only
10 sentences, but many enough. And when I say “many” I...would better let
you work.

1. Nate did not go to Jim’s party because he was not invited, but he wanted to go. if...
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Carmen is never careful enough and she makes a lot of mistakes. should... ____________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Sam told Pam that she has no talent and now Pam is sad and he is sorry. have never...
_________________________________________________________________________
4. The workers have built the freeway in less than a century. has... ____________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. I will tell him the truth only if he wants me to do that. unless... _____________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Two days ago Tim needed his old bicycle, but he had sold it four days before. wished...
________________________________________________________________________
7. I am sure that last Christmas my uncle was the one who brought the gifts. must... _______
________________________________________________________________________

43
8. There is a very week possibility that I was the one who shot the sheriff. have...
________________________________________________________________________
9. Tim has not finished his homework, yet. I have not done it, either. and... ____________
_________________________________________________________________________
10. Even if it was raining, the King went for a walk in the park. of... ___________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 86. There’s so many mistakes in the sentences below. You’d

better find them mistakes, circle them good and correct them all.
Don’t have no mercy!
1. I was riding my horse for hours when I finally got to the destination.
______________
2. If I would have a friend, I would ask him to carry my bags.
_____________
3. There were a bottle of water and one of juice on the table when I have got there. _______
4. This writer has writen more than a hundred books so far, but I think that he will stop
writing soon. ___________
5. Dad started working in this firm twenty years ago, and by next year he would have been
working there for twenty-one years. My math is so good! ______________
6. It is raining and we cannot play outside. I really wish it stops raining. ___________
7. Everybody could hear the man singing, but nobody knew who was the man. __________
8. I have been waiting here by everybody since 8 a.m. _____________
9. That is not what you really wanted to say, isn’t it? ____________
10. Carol, don’t call Grandpa now because it is noon and I am sure that he has lunch at this
hour. ___________
11. The captain wished he was not a captain, but a muffin with cream on top of it! ________
12. It is 2014 and we still don’t know who did let the dogs out? ________
13. This must been one of the longest exercises ever! ________
14. Well, nothing is over until the fat lady sing. _______

A World in Motion

Yo, yo, I’m in the house!

(The only rhyme that I could find for “house” is “mouse”.)
I’m here to make everybody feel emotion
‘Am gonna show you, yeah, right now, a world in motion.
And if you ask yourself “Yo, what is this?”
My answer is “Continuous Tenses.” Got it? Peace!

Exercise 87. Circle the correct variant.

1. My cousin, Jim, _____ (had been singing/was singing/is singing) in his room for two
hours when the neighbours decided to apply for a gun licence...
2. Our planet ___ (have been going/ had been going/ has been going) round the Sun for over
4.7 billion years, but we haven’t gotten dizzy, yet. Well, some of us have...
3. The hippopotamus ____ (had been trying/ was trying/ has been trying) to understand why
it has such a complicated name when the rhinoceroses, who ___ (will have been learning/
had been learning/ were learning) Latin for years understood why: why not?
4. Jack wants to catch up with Billy, who left two hours ago, so now he
___ (is running/ has been running/ was running) very fast, but by the

44
time he catches up with him, Billy ___ (will have been eating/ has been eating/ will be
eating) for more than thirty minutes and he will have probably finished all the food. Poor
Jack!
5. Man, why ____ (has John been spinning/ was John been spinning/ is John spinning) like
that? He ___ (has been spinning/ is spinning/ will be spinning) for over twenty seconds. If he
keeps on spinning, by 8:30 he ___ (had been spinning/ will have been spinning/ is spinning)
like that for more than two minutes. I shouldn’t have punched him so hard.
6. This time next year Sam ___ (has been playing/ will have been playing/ will be playing)
football for five years for the same team his father ___ (is playing/ was playing/ had been
playing) for twenty years when he retired: F.C. Neverwin.
7. If you go to John’s place now, he ___ (will be playing/ will have been playing/ has been
playing) ping-pong, and if you go to his place at 7 o’clock, he ___ (will be playing/ will have
been playing/ has been playing) ping-pong for an hour, which means that now it is about 6
o’clock.
8. When I met them, they ___ (had been leaving/ were just leaving/ have been leaving) the
town for good because, according to them, they ___ (were living/ had been living/ had been
leaving) in that town for decades and they had had enough of it.
9. When Samantha arrived at the meeting point, George ___ (has been waiting / was waiting/
had been waiting) for her for over thirty minutes. “What happened?” he asked her. She told
him that she ___ (has been looking/ was looking/ had been looking) for the meeting place for
over thirty minutes and that he ___ (had been waiting/ hadn’t been waiting/ wasn’t waiting)
for her, anyway, because he was supposed to meet with Cindy. She was right!
10. Loot at Francis running! He ___ (is running/ have been running/ has been running_ like
this for 5 minutes and he is not tired, yet! Yesterday, when I got at the stadium, he ___ (was
also running/ had been also running/ was be running). His coach told me then that he ___
(was running/ has been running/ had been running) for more than twenty minutes at the same
speed. I ___ (am practicing/ have been practicing/ will be practicing) sports
for years, but I have never seen anybody run like this. I bet that, if you come
here at the same hour, tomorrow, he ___ (will be running/ will have been
running/ is running). Well, this is what happens when you mess with a
mother bear and her cubs!

Exercise 88. If it is only Continuous, make it Perfect Continuous. And, of course, the
other way round.
1. When I arrived there, the camel was trying to fly.
2. By this time tomorrow, they’ll be skiing for over twenty-four hours.
3. This time tomorrow, he will be listening to music.
4. I am working in this factory and I like it.
5. She has been looking for her cellular phone for over an hour.
6. They had been fighting for days when their generals realized that the war hadn’t started,
yet. D’oh!
7. What have you been doing, lately?
8. She has been waiting for this moment for years!
9. They are sitting there, doing nothing!
10. He was playing the banjo when the police asked him to stop torturing his neighbours.
11. Mario will be trying to get to the princess this time next Monday.
12. The pig has been trying to fly for hours when he was told that the camel died trying.

45
Exercise 89. Make as many sentences as you can for each time adverb. The number of
the minimum different sentences (meaning using different tenses) is given to you. You
may have to add your own adverbs of time.
1. (by) this time tomorrow (2) ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1. yesterday, when the mail arrived (2) __________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. for ten hours (3) _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. since the week before (1) (from now on, use your
notebook to write the sentences. No, I am not trying to save
the trees. I am trying to reduce the cost of publishing this
book so I can make more money.)
4. since the day he was born (2)
5. for more than one year. (3)
6. when he realized that nobody was listening (1)
7. when the rain stopped (2)
8. by the time he is eighteen years old (1)
9. Next Monday, at 10 o’clock (2)

Exercise 90. The sentences below contains mistakes. Circle the mistake, write the
correct word (words) on the empty line and, then, start singing.
1. Jack was sleeping for 10 hours because yesterday he ran fifteen kilometres. ___________
2. Michael has been walking for two hours when the police found him. ___________
3. Jack has been finishing writing three letters and he has already started writing the fourth
one. _______
4. Gregory has met his wife five years ago, at a party. __________
5. Jumbo, the elephant, is playing the piano when the doctor came to see him. _________
6. Sandy had published the book after she got married to… her husband. _________
7. Mike has just written ten novels, five poetry books and seven successful plays. _________
8. No, doctor, I had never caught a cold before. This is the first time. _________
9. The penguins had been dancing for 10 minutes when the ice break under them. _________

46