Exercises

1. Complete the story with present simple and continuous.

Mary and Joe .. (be) in a clothes shop at the moment.
They . (look) at some jeans.
Joe only . (have) one very old pair of jeans.
So he .. (want) to buy a new pair of jeans now.
Right now, he .. (try on) a pair of blue jeans.
These jeans (fit) very well, he .. (say).
But they . (not suit) you, Mary . (reply). Try on another pair.
What (think / you)? he . (ask) Mary, when has tried on another pair.
Great! How much .. (cost / they)?

2. Fill in the blanks with Past Simple or Past Continuous.

1) What .. (you/do) when I .. (call) you last night?
2) Susan . (watch) a film when she . (hear) the noise.

3) Yesterday, I . (go) to the library, next I .. (have) a shower, later I . (meet) Julie
for coffee.
4) When I (walk) into the room, everyone ... (work).
5) At 7pm yesterday, we (listen) to music.
6) George . (fall) off the ladder when he .. (paint) the ceiling.
7) Tom . (take) a picture of me while I (not/look).

3. Complete with the correct past simple form of the verbs in the box:
Buy

meet

write

eat

go

send

I two hamburgers last night.

We to London for our holidays last year.
I . a letter to my mother by international mail.
He . ten e-mails to his friends yesterday.
My parents . me a new laptop for my birthday.
They .. their friends at the caf yesterday afternoon after school.

4. Compare the meaning in the pairs of sentences. Which tenses are used? Why?
1) Klaus comes from Berlin.
Klaus is coming from Berlin.
2) Youre very kind. Thank you.
Youre being very kind. What do you want?
3) What were you doing when the accident happened?
What did you do when the accident happened?
4) Ive lived in Singapore for five years.
I lived in Singapore for five years.
5) When we arrived, he tidied the flat.
When we arrived, he was tidying the flat.
5. Write the ing-form of the following verbs (in Present Continuous).
1. Fly
2. Book
3. Hit
4. Take
5. Lie
6. Write the 3rd person singular of the following verbs (in Simple Present).
6. do he
7. worry she
8. play she
9. watch he
10. go he

Simple Present

Present Continuous

in general (regularly, often, never)

right now

Colin plays football every Tuesday.

Look! Colin is playing football now.

present actions happening one after another

also for several actions happening at the same time

First Colin plays football, then he watches TV.

Colin is playing football and Anne is watching.

Signal words

always

at the moment

every ...

at this moment

often

today

normally

now

usually

right now

sometimes

Listen!

seldom

Look!

never

first

then
Note: The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present:
be, have, hear, know, like, love, see, smell, think, want