TENSES

Exercise I: Put the verbs in brackets in the present simple or the present continuous tense.
1/ I (have) ___have______ coffee for breakfast every day.
2/ My brother (work) _is going to work_________ in a shoe store this summer.
3/ The student (look) _is looking__________ up that new word now.
4/ She (go) _goes_________ to school every day.
5/ We (do) _____are doing_____ this exercise at the moment.
6/ Miss Helen (read) __is reading_________ a newspaper now.
7/ It (rain) __rains________ very much in the summer. It (rain) _is raining________ now.
8/ Bad students never (work) __work________ hard.
9/ He generally (sing) ___sings_______ in English, but today he (sing) is sing__________ in Spanish.
10/ We seldom (eat) __eat________ before 6.30.
11/ She sometimes (buy) __buys_________ vegetables at his market.
12/ Be quiet. The baby (sleep) ___is sleeping_________.
13/ We always (do) ___do________ our exercises carefully.
14/ Look. A man (run) ___is running________ after the train. He (want) ______wants_____ to catch it.
15/ It (be) ___is_______ very cold now.
16/ John (travel) _is going to travel_________ to England tomorrow.
17/ I (need) ________need____ some money for my textbooks.
18/ Tom (like) __likes____ to go to the museums.
19/ Mary (love) _____loves_____ ice-cream.
20/ My mother (cook) ____is cooking_______ some food in the kitchen at present. She always (cook)
___cooks_______ in the mornings.
21/ I often (leave) __leave________ the city at weekends.
22/ The guests (watch) __are watching________ the TV programmes now.
23/ I (see) _____see______ you (wear) __wear_________ your best clothes.
24/ The sun (set)____sets_______ in the west.
25/ My friend (study) __studies________ English for an hour every night.
26/ Listen. I (hear)_____am hearing______ someone knocking at the front door.
27/ I (do) _am doing_________ an exercise on the present tense at the moment and I (think)
thought__________ that I (know) ___know_______ how to use it now.
28/ Honesty (be) _is_________ the best policy.
29/ The earth (go) ____goes______ round the sun.
30/ Two and two (make) ___make_______ four.
Exercise II: Put the verbs in brackets in the present perfect or the simple past tense.
1/ We (never watch) __haven;t watched________ that TV programme.
2/ We (wacth) ______watched____ a good programme on TV last night.
3/ He (read) ____has read______ that novel many times before.
4/ He (read) ______has read____ that novel again during my last vacation.
5/ I (have) ___had_______ a little trouble with my car last week.

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6/ However, I (have) ____haven’t had______ no trouble with my car since then.
7/ I (not see) ____haven’t seen______ John for a long time. I (see) _saw_________ him 3 weeks ago.
8/ The school bell (ring) _rang_________. We must go now.
9/ I (meet) met__________ Mary last night. She (become) __has became________ a very big girl.
10/ He is very thirsty. He (not drink) ____hasn’t drunk______ since this morning.
11/ It is very hot. Summer (come) came__________.
12/ They (study) __haven’t studied________ at this school for 7 years now.
13/ They (begin) _began_________ to study at this school 7 years ago.
14/ Since when (you know) _____you have known______ her ?
15/ How long ago (he start) ___he started_______ to learn French ?
16/ She (lose) __lost________ her handbag on the train yesterday morning.
17/ My mother (be) __has been______ in hospital for a long time and she cannot go home yet.
18/ His dog (just run) __has just run________ out of the garden.
19/ Mr Brown (travel) __traveled________ by air several times in the past.
20/ He (travel) __traveled_________ to Mexico by air last summer.
Exercise III: Put the verbs in brackets in the present perfect or the present perfect continuous tense.
1/ I (try) _have been trying_________ to learn French for years, but I (not succeed) haven’t succeed__________
yet.
2/ She (read) _has been reading________ all the works of Dickens.How many (you read) __have you
read_______ ?
3/ I (wait) ___have waited_______ here nearly half an hour for my girlfriend.
4/ Mary (rest) __has rest________ in the garden all day because she (be) __has been being________ ill.
5/ Although John (study) ___has studied_______ at the University for 5 years, he (not get) _hasn’t
gotten_________ his degree yet.
6/ Jack (go) ___has been going_______ to Switzerland for a holiday. He (never, be) _have never
been_________ there.
7/ We (live) ___have lived_______ here for the last six months, and (just, decide) ___have _just decided______
to move.
8/ That book ( lie) __has lied________ on the table for weeks. You (not read) __have you read_______ it yet ?
9/ He (not be) __hsn’t been_________ here since Christmas; I wonder where he (live) __have been
living________ since then.
10/ He (lose) __has been losing_________ his books. He (look) _has looked___________ for them all
afternoon, but they (not turn up) __haven’t turned_________ yet.
11/ She (work) ____has been working_______ so hard this week that she (not have) _hasn’t had__________
time to go to the cinema.
12/ Your hair is wet. (You swim) _have you been swimming_________ for a long time ?
13/ Bill is still a bad driver although he (drive)__has driven________ cars for six years.
14/ You look very tired. (You work) ___have you worked_______very hard?
15/ The phone (ring) ___has rung_______ for 2 minutes, but I (not answer) I haven’t answered__________ it
yet.
Exercise IV: Put the verbs in brackets in the present tenses.
1/ I (be) ___am_______ sorry. I (forget) __forgot________ that fellow’s name already.
2/ Jack (look) _is going to look_________ forward to his vacation next June.
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3/ I (have) __had had________ no trouble with my english lessons up to now.
4/ Mr and Mrs Brown (be) __have been_________ in New York for 2 months.
5/ Michael (work) ____works______ 38 hours a week.
6/ At present, that author (write) __is wrinting_________ a novel.
7/ George (do) __has done________ good work in this class so far.
8/ The weather( generally, get) __in generally gets________ hot in July .
9/ You must wake her up. She (sleep) __has sleept________soundly for 10 hours.
10/ Listen! I (think) ____am thinking______ someone (knock) ___is knoking_______ at the front door.
11/ How long (you learn) __have you learnt________ English?
12/ That student (know) ___knows_______ all the new words very well now.
13/ Alice (lose) __has lost________ her Vienamese-English dictionary.
14/ Fred (just, graduate) _just graduated_________ from Oxford University.
15/ The earth (circle) __circles________ the sun once every 365 days.
16/ That grandfather clock (stand) ___is standing_______ there for as long as I can remember.
17/ That brown briefcase (belong) __belongs________ to Dr.Rice.
18/ Jim (work) __will work________ on his report this year.
19/ Robert (wait) ___has waited_______ for you since noon.
20/ That museum (stand) __has standed_________ here for ceturies.
21/ The sun (get) ____gets______ very hot during the afternoon.
22/ Tom (buy) ____is going to buy_______ a new car next week.
23/ The boys and girls (go) __go_________ home after this lesson.
24/ Davis (play) ___plays_______ football every afternoon.
25/ Up to the present, we (write) _had written_________ almost every lesson in this book.

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