Practice – Grammar in use

Task 1: Use all the situations and time expressions to make up sentences of your own in the learnt tenses. This taskwill help you to feel and understand the situations better, recognize the tenses both in the text and in the speech.

- Present Simple; - Past Simple;

- Present Continuous; - Past Continuous;

- Present Perfect; - Past Perfect;

- Present Perfect - Continuous; - Past Perfect - Continuous.

Task 2: Write 8 sentences in present (4) and past (4) tenses using a list of the verbs. Use one of the situations and time expressions for every tense.

Work - write - build - paint - drive

Example: drink

1) I always drink a glass of water before having a meal (Present Simple.)

2) I am drinking green tea now (Present Continuous.)

3) I have just drunk a glass of juice (Present Perfect.)

4) I am thirsty. I haven’t been drinking since daytime (Present Perfect - Continuous.)

5) We drank a bottle of beer together last night (Past Simple.)

6) My friend was drinking some wine when his boss came in (Past Continuous.)

7) By 2:00 pm I had drunk all my coffee (Past Perfect.)

8) She had been drinking juice for some time before the concert started (Past Perfect-Continuous.)

Task 3: Identify Present tenses and match them to the correct description: columns A to B.

A 1. The plane to Sydney leaves at ten o’clock.

2. I have written two letters this morning.

3. They are leaving for Paris on Friday.

4. He has known David for ages.

5. You are always leaving the door open!

6. We are preparing for a concert at the moment.

7. George has bought a new car.

8. Lisa has been cleaning the house all morning.

9. Look! Mrs Jones has dyed her hair.

10. More and more people are using computers nowadays.

B actions which

a - started in the past and continue up to the present (a situation which is used with state verbs and answers a question ‘how long?’);

b - recently finished and whose result is visible in the present;

c - put emphasis on the duration of an action which started in the past and continues up to the present;

d - express irritation;

e - tell about programmes and timetables;

f - have been arranged for the near future;

g - happened within a specific time which is not over at the moment of speaking (answers a question ‘how many / how much?’);

h - happened at an unstated time in the past (an action is more important than the time);

i - describe changing or developing situations;

j - are temporary, they are going on around now.

Task 4: Underline the correct word in bold.

1. I always/already do my shopping on Saturday.

2. We haven’t booked the hotel already/yet.

3. Have you so far/ever tasted Japanese food?

4. Joe has been to Paris since/for two weeks.

5. My friends have moved house recently/so far.