Exercises on Tenses

Fill in the correct form of the verb given: Present Tense Simple or Progressive

1. Dad ___________________ us to school every morning. (DRIVE)

2. Max ___________________ at an Internet café this summer. (WORK)

3. We ________________________ abroad this year because of the pandemic. (NOT GO)

4. It never ___________________ in the Atacama Desert in Chile. (RAIN)

5. Marty __________________________ to the fitness centre on Mondays. (NOT USUALLY GO)

6. What is that? – I ___________________ sounds that are not there. (HEAR)

7. We ___________________ of leaving Britain next year. We might go to America. (THINK)

8. I ___________________ my ex-husband next Monday. (SEE)

9. This box ___________________ a lot. What is in it? (WEIGH)

10.What _________________________ under the table? – Is there anything wrong? (YOU DO)

11.She never ___________________ to anyone about her problems. (TALK)

12.Mary ___________________ very sad. What's happened to her? (LOOK)

13.They ________________________ a few days in Stockholm next month. (SPEND)

14.You can't go in. They ___________________ a meeting. (HAVE)

15.I ___________________ I'll have a cup of coffee. I'm so tired. (THINK)

16. ________________________ fishing with me on Sunday? – I don't know. I'll think about it.

(YOU GO)

17.I ___________________ here as a waiter on weekends. (WORK)

18.Max ___________________ to be a nice student. Let's see how he ___________________ in class.

(APPEAR, HE DO)

19.I ________________________ what this letter means. It ___________________ no sense. (NOT

UNDERSTAND, MAKE)
20.I ___________________ the dog for a walk because it's so sunny outside. (TAKE)

21. _________________________ at night? (YOU EVER DREAM)

22.I ___________________ on you to help me organise the meeting. (COUNT)

23.My sister ___________________ a video conference in her company next week. (HOLD)

24.Why ___________________________ to what he has to say. (YOU NOT EVER LISTEN)

25.I ___________________ meat. I'm a vegetarian. (NOT EAT)

Fill in the correct form of the past tense.

1. I ________________ my old friend in town the other day. He ________________ to ignore me

and ________________ somewhere else. (SEE, SEEM, LOOK)

2. The teacher ________________ a photo of us while we ________________ up the tree. (TAKE,

CLIMB)

3. We ________________ Martha at the airport last week. She ________________ for the arrival of

her sister while we ________________ to New York. (MEET, WAIT, TRAVEL)

4. "What ________________ to him? – He ________________ totally surprised when I

________________ him. " – (YOU SAY, LOOK, SEE)

5. He ________________ exam papers when I ________________ him. (CORRECT, VISIT)

6. A man ________________ on the road while I ________________ my bike. Luckily, I

________________ not to crash into him. (FALL, RIDE, MANAGE)

7. We ________________ a few miles off the coast when a horrible thunderstorm

________________ up. We ________________ to get to safety as soon as possible. (SAIL,

COME, HAVE)

8. I haven't seen him for ages. When I last ________________ him, he ________________ for a

new job. (SEE, LOOK)

9. While the two teams ________________ up everyone ________________ a flag. It

________________ a very emotional moment. (WARM, WAVE, BE)

10. "What ___________________ when I ________________ to your place yesterday evening?" – "I

________________ the baby". (YOU DO, COME, FEED)

11.I ________________ down a dark alley when suddenly I ________________ footsteps. I

________________ around and ________________ that an old woman with a dog

________________ me. (WALK, HEAR, TURN, SEE, FOLLOW)

12. "Why ___________________ out last night?" – "I ________________ too tired and ______________

to stay at home." (YOU NOT GO, BE, DECIDE)

13.The policeman asked me, " How fast ________________ when you ________________ the old

lady in front of you?" (YOU DRIVE, SEE)

14.Mom ________________ dinner when we ________________ home from football practice.

(PREPARE, GET)

15.When I ________________ young, I always ________________ to be a pilot. (BE, WANT)

16. Las Sunday afternoon I ________________ for a walk in the park and ________________ a cup

of coffee at a local restaurant. (GO, HAVE)

17.When they ________________ to the airport the plane ________________ off. (GET, JUST TAKE)

18.I ________________ on a bench in the park when a man ________________ up to me and

________________ to know what time it ________________. (SIT, COME, WANT, BE)

Fill in the correct form of the present perfect tense.

1. The solar system ____________________ for billions of years. (EXIST)

2. They ______________________ in California for the last 20 years and ______________________

moving there. (LIVE, NOT REGRET)

3. I'm so tired and miserable. I ______________________ well in the last few days. (NOT FEEL)

4. The eastern European countries ______________________ members of the EU for the last 15

years. (BE)

5. ___________________________ on an interesting project lately? (YOU WORK)

6. She ______________________ to a few specialists, but they can't help her. (GO)

7. I ______________________ problems with my car recently, but the mechanic

______________________ the faulty part yet. (HAVE, NOT FIND)

8. We ______________________ cards for the last few hours and we are still enjoying it. (PLAY)

9. ______________________________ an important title? (THE TEAM, EVER, WIN)

10.It ________________________ hard for the last three hours and some of the roads

______________________ impassable. (RAIN, BECOME)

11.My parents __________________________ me, and I am very thankful for that. (ALWAYS

UNDERSTAND)

12.Politicians around the world _________________________ about the situation for a long time.

(WORRY)

13.Where ________________________ the money? Give it to me now! (YOU HIDE)

14.A big earthquake ______________________ the area since the beginning of the century.

(NOT HIT)

15.We _________________________ for a few weeks and feel very sympathetic towards each

other. (DATE)

16.I ______________________ four emails this morning, but nobody ______________________.

(WRITE, REPLY)

17.The bank is still closed. It _________________________ yet. (NOT OPEN)

18.Mary ______________________ a number of jobs in the last three years. (HAVE)

19.I _________________________ from a severe cold in the last few days. It ____________________

better yet. (SUFFER, NOT GET)

20.I ______________________ the baby twice already but it's still hungry. (FEED)
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the tense in brackets. Use
past simple or present perfect (simple and progressive).
1. What ___________________ since you came to this school? I hope you ___________________

many friends in the past year. (YOU LEARN, MAKE)

2. She _____________ tired when she ________________ home last night, so she _____________

straight to bed. (BE, GET, GO)

3. I ___________________ her husband. I don't even know what he looks like. (NEVER

MEET)

4. It ______________________ the whole week. I wonder when it's going to stop. (SNOW)

5. Who ________________ The Taming of the Shrew ? – I think it was Henry James. (WRITE)

6. The weather _______________ great when we _____________ in Sicily last August. (BE, BE)

7. I _____________________ to study for the past hour, but I simply can't concentrate. (TRY)

8. World War I ___________________ in 1914 and ___________________ four years later.

(START, END)

9. I ___________________ lunch, but I ___________________ coffee yet. (JUST HAVE, NOT

HAVE).

10.I _______________________ a nice girl recently. – How long ______________________ on? –

Oh, for about a month. (SEE, IT GO)

11.Last night I ___________________ some spare time, so I ___________________ to the cinema

to see the latest Bond movie. (HAVE, GO)

12.I ___________________ my room recently. That's why it looks so nice and fresh. (PAINT)

13.How many matches _____________________ so far this season? Well, I ___________________

almost all games last season, but I _____________________ any this year. (YOU WIN,

WIN, NOT WIN)

14.Mom _____________________ thank you notes the whole morning. She

_______________________ about 20 so far. (WRITE, ALREADY WRITE)

15.Dad ___________________ as a consultant for over 20 years. Then he ___________________.

(WORK, RETIRE)

16.___________________ Max at the staff meeting last Tuesday? No, I ___________________

him for ages. (YOU SEE, NOT SEE)

Write sentences, using the tense given. Add any words you need.
1. We – have – accident (past perfect simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 2. My parents – wait – for me – over an hour (present perfect progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 3. When – we – get – married? (present progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 4. What – you – think? (present simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 5. I – take – children – zoo (conditional 1)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 6. Next week – I – climb – mountains – Switzerland (future progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 7. Howard – not able to – play hockey – after the accident (past simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 8. The children – run – down – street (past progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 9. They – can – not see – far – because – fog (past simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 10.I – read – a book (present perfect progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 11.Joseph – not be – to a party – Easter (present perfect simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 12.My sister – go -dentist – next Monday (present progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 13.She – ever be – cruise ship? (present perfect simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 14.My friend and I – learn – whole night (past perfect progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 15.When – you – be – at home? (future simple)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 16.The building – catch – fire (conditional 2)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 17.Dad – not feel well – yesterday (past progressive)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_ 18.My team – not win – a competition – for five years (present perfect simple)
_________________________________________________________________________________

Fill in the correct form of the verb given.

1. _______________________ the latest news? – The president ___________________________ that

he _____________________ to resign next summer. – That's not new. I _____________________

that for ages! (YOU HEAR, JUST ANNOUNCE, PLAN, KNOW)

2. When she came home her two boys _____________________ football in the backyard.

(PLAY)

3. He _____________________ in hospital for a few days and the doctor said he

_____________________ come home on Monday. (BE, BE ABLE TO)

4. The whole family _____________________ a few days ago and _____________________ with us

until next Monday. (ARRIVE, STAY)

5. I _____________________ to call you all morning. Where _____________________? (TRY, YOU BE)

6. We _____________________ enough money if everyone gives us €5. (HAVE)

7. There _________________ a very good documentary on TV last night. – _____________________

it? No, I _____________________ for my exam all night. (BE, YOU SEE, STUDY)

8. When I came back to the office, I saw that someone _________________________ through my

belongings. (SEARCH)

9. I'm so sorry that I _____________________ to leave your party so early because I

_____________________ myself. (HAVE, REALLY ENJOY)

10.You're finally here. I ________________________ in your office for over 15 minutes. (WAIT)

11.We _____________________ in Spain while our friends _____________________ across Europe.

(BACKPACK, CYCLE)
12.John Grisham is a famous author who _____________________ several thrillers. His latest

book _____________________ out a few months ago. (WRITE, COME)

13.After she _____________________ holiday impressions of Scotland, she _____________________

to go there immediately. (SEE, WANT)

14.At the moment she _____________________ a hard time dealing with the children. They

_____________________ so difficult to handle recently. (HAVE, BECOME)

15.You look worried. _____________________________? (ANYTHING HAPPEN)

16.Do you realise that you _____________________ on my toe. It hurts. (STAND)