Practice

A. Put the verbs in brackets into the simple present or the present continuous tense.

1. Cuckoos (not build) nests. They (use) the nests of other birds.
2. You can't see Tom now: he (have) a bath.
3. He usually (drink) coffee, but today he (drink) tea.
4. What she (do) in the evenings?
She usually (play) cards or (watch) TV.
5. I won't go out now as it (rain) and I -(not have) an umbrella.
6. The last train (leave) the station at 11.30.
7. He usually (speak) so quickly that I (not understand) him.
8. Ann (make) a dress for herself at the moment. She (make) all her
own clothes.
9. Hardly anyone (wear) a hat nowadays.
10. I'm afraid I've broken one of your coffee cups. — Don't worry. I (not like) that set anyway.
11.What Tom (think) of the Budget? - He (think) it most unfair. ~
I (agree) with him.
12. What this one (cost)?- It (cost) forty pence.
13. You (hear) the wind? It (blow) very strongly tonight.
14. You (see) my car keys anywhere? -
No, I (look) for them but I (not see) them.
15. He never (listen) to what you say. He always (think) about something else.
16. This book is about a man who (desert) his family and (go) to live on a Pacific island.
17. You (understand) what the lecturer is saying? ~
No, I (not understand) him at all.
18. What you (have) for breakfast usually? ~
I usually (eat) a carrot and (drink) a glass of cold water.
19. Why you (walk) so fast today? You usually (walk) quite slowly.
I (hurry) because I (meet) my mother at 4 o'clock and she (not like) to be kept waiting.
20. I (wish) that dog would lie down. He (keep) jumping up on my lap. ~
I (think) he (want) to go for a walk.

B. Put the verbs in brackets into the simple past or the past
continuous tense.

1. I lit the fire at 6.00 and it (burn) brightly when Tom came in at 7.00.
2. When I arrived, the lecture had already started and the professor (write)
on the overhead projector.
3. I (make) a cake when the light went out. I had to finish it in the dark.
4. I didn't want to meet Paul so when he entered the room I (leave).
5. Unfortunately when I arrived Ann just (leave), so we only had time for a
few words.
6. He (watch) TV when the phone rang. Very unwillingly he (turn) down the
sound and (go) to answer it.
7. He was very polite. Whenever his wife entered the room he (stand) up.
8. The admiral (play) bowls when he received news of the invasion. He
(insist) on finishing the game.
9. My dog (walk) along quietly when Mr. Pitt's Pekinese attacked him.
10. When I arrived she (have) lunch. She apologized for starting without me
but said that she always (have) lunch at 12.30.

C. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect or the simple
past tense. In some sentences the present perfect continuous is
also possible.

1. This is my house. ~ How long you (live) here? ~ I (live) here since 1970.

2. He (live) in London for two years and then (go) to Edinburgh.

3. You (wear) your hair long when you were at school? ~ Yes, my mother
(insist) on it.

4. But when I (leave) school I (cut) my hair and (wear) it short ever since.

5. Shakespeare (write) a lot of plays.

6. My brother (write) several plays. He just (finish) his second tragedy.

7. I (fly) over Loch Ness last week. ~ You (see) the Loch Ness monster?

8. I (not see) him for three years. I wonder where he is.

9. He (not smoke) for two weeks. He is trying to give it up.

10. Chopin (compose) some of his music in Majorca.

D. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect or the present
perfect continuous tense. (In some cases either could be used.)

1. We (walk) 10 kilometers.

2. We (walk) for three hours.

3. You (walk) too fast. That's why you are tired.
4. I (make) sausage rolls for the party all the morning.
5. How many you (make)? ~ I (make) 200.
6. That boy (eat) 7 ice-creams.
7. He (not stop) eating since he arrived.
8. The driver (drink). I think someone else ought to drive.

9. I (pull) up 100 dandelions.

10. I (pull) up dandelions all day.

E. Fill the spaces in the following sentences by using for or since.

1. We've been fishing . . . two hours.

2. I've been working in this office . . . a month.
3. They've been living in France . . . 1970.
4. He has been in prison . . . a year.
5. I've known that . . . a long time.
6. That man has been standing there . . . six o'clock.
7. She has driven the same car . . . 1975.
8. Things have changed . . . I was a girl.
9. The kettle has been boiling . . . a quarter of an hour.
10. The central heating has been on . . . October.

F. The simple past and the past perfect, simple and continuous

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense.

1. He (give) me back the book, (thank) me for lending it to him and (say) that
he (enjoy) it very much; but I (know) that he (not read) it because most of
the pages (be) still uncut.

2. When he (see) his wife off at the station, he (return) home as he (not
have) to be at the airport till 9.30. He (not have) to pack, for his wife already
(do) that for him and his case (be) ready in the hall. He (not have) to check
the doors and windows either, for his wife always (do) that before she (leave)
the house. All he (have) to do (be) to decide whether or not to take his
overcoat with him. In the end, he (decide) not to. At 8.30 he (pick) up his
case, (go) out of the house and (slam) the door behind him. Then he (feel) in
his pockets for the key, for his wife (remind) him to double-lock the front
door. When he (search) all his pockets and (find) no key he (remember)
where it (be). He (leave) it in his overcoat pocket. Then he (remember)
something else; his passport and tickets (be) in his overcoat pocket as well.

3. I (arrive) in England in the middle of July. I (be) told that England (be)
shrouded in fog all year round, so I (be) quite surprised to find that it was
merely raining. I (ask) another passenger, an Englishman, about the fog and
he (say) that there (not be) any since the previous February. If I (want) fog,
he said, I (come) at quite the wrong time. However, he (tell) me that I could
buy tinned fog at a shop in Shaftesbury Avenue. He (admit) that he never
(buy) fog there himself but (assure) me that they (sell) good quality fog and
that it (not be) expensive. I suppose he (joke).