Grammar practice 1 - Tenses

1. Complete this radio news report with the verbs given. Use the tenses present simple,
present continuous, past simple, past continuous – giving alternatives where possible.
Sometimes you may need to change the order of the adverb and the verb.

Emergency services were bombarded with phone calls from all over the north of England last
night by people who (1) …………………………………… (report) seeing blue objects shoot
across the sky. Mrs. Linda Hayward (2) …………………………………….. (drive) along the
B456 road at the time.

“I usually (3) ……………………… (come) along that bit of road at about ten. As I
(4) ……………………………. (go) past the old barn, I (5) …………………… (see) a single
blue light going across the road in front of my car. I (6) ……………………….. (stop) the car and
(7) ………………………. (watch) it for about fifteen minutes. It (8) ………………………….
(travel) quite slowly from east to west and then it suddenly (9) ………………………..
(disappear). Until now I never (10) ………………………….. (believe) in UFOs, although my
son (11) …………………………………………. (forever/try) to persuade me that they
(12) …………………………. (exist). But now I (13) …………………….. (think) that maybe he
(14) ………………… (be) right. ”

At the height of the panic, police stations (15) ………………………………… (get) around a
thousand calls an hour from members of the public. Sergeant Ron Drake of the Ambledale police
(16) ………………………. (be) particularly busy. “Between 10 and 11 o’ clock we
(17) ……………………………… (received) around thirty calls. The callers said they
(18) …………………….. (see) a single blue light about as big as a car over the village. We now
(19) ………………………………………. (consider) searching the fields around Ambledale for
any evidence left behind.”

Dr Bart Mastow, a lecturer in astronomy at Trumpton University, (20) …………………….

(offer) a simple explanation. “The reports that (21) ……………………. (come) in last night (22)
……………………………. (suggest) that it (23) …………………… (be) a meteor shower. This
(24) ……………………... (be) not unusual on a small scale, but last night’s shower (25)
…………………….. (seem) to have been very large. In fact, we (26) …………………………….
(get) an increasing number of meteor showers, and my department currently (27)
…………………………………... (research) possible reasons for this.”

But many witnesses to the events (28) …………………………… (believe) that they (29)
……………………… (observe) more than a meteor shower, and the Ministry of Defence (30)
……………………. (say) that they (31) …………………………. (take) the reports of UFO
sightings very seriously.

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2. Complete the sentences with an appropriate form of the verb given. Use the past
simple, present perfect, past perfect, past perfect continuous tenses. Use each tense at
least once in each group of four sentences, but give alternatives where possible.

1 play
a We ….have played…… 35 matches so far this season, so we’ re alla feeling pretty tired.
b After the match, she admitted that she ………………………….. badly.
c …………. you …………………. rugby or football at the school you went to?
d We …………………………………. really well all year, so it came as a big surprise when we
were beaten by Wales last December.

2 make
a We …………………. the right decision in emigrating to Canada in the mid-1990s.
b Henson never thought about retirement. In fact, he …………………………………. a
documentary film about the indigenous people of Chile when he died.
c A: When did you realize that you …………………………… a mistake in joining the army?
B: When I was posted to Afghanistan.
d Korean scientists believe that they ………………………….. a breakthrough in the fight
against cancer by developing a technique for containing the disease. They reported their findings
at the AAL conference in New York this week.

3 eat
a The couple described how they ………………………………… in the dining room when the
explosion destroyed the hotel.
b My mother was a vegetarian, and as children we rarely ……………………….. meat.
c I …………………………….. prawns a few times before last week without any ill effects, but
the ones I had at the restaurant made me very sick indeed.
d A: Would you like some of these cherries?
B: Yes, please. I ……………………………………. any fresh fruit for days.

4 run
a Over the last year I …………………………….. workshops on creative writing in twelve
colleges and universities.
b She was breathing hard as if she …………………………………………….. .
c She ………………………………… only two marathons before breaking the world record in
the Pan-African games.
d I was late for work so I ……………………… most of the way.

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3. Complete the sentences using the verbs in the box. Choose the most appropriate.

miss / will miss will have / am having

is going to melt / is melting
will be enjoying / enjoys
will be believed / is to be believed
will agree / agrees
see / is going to see
persuades / will persuade
am starting out / will start out
is going to depart / departs
will rise / are to rise

a. A: Do you want to come out for a meal tonight?

B: I ……………………………………………….. early tomorrow morning – my flight’s at
six – so I don’t think I’ll come, thanks.
b. The next train for London ………………………………….. from platform six at 16:07.
c. I …………………………………… some friends over for dinner on Saturday. Do you want
to join us?
d. They reckon the Greenland ice sheet ………………………………………….. within a few
years.
e. A: Gary doesn’t want to come on holiday with us, then.
B: He says that now, but I’m sure Hannah …………………………….. him to change his
mind.
f. By the middle of this week, temperatures ……………………… to 30o C.
g. The striking workers have said that they will prevent finished goods leaving the factory until
the management ………………………………. to their demand for improved working
conditions.
h. I’m not sure when I’ll be home tonight. Expect me when you …………………………….
me.
i. A: The coach leaves Oxford at exactly 5.00 from the bus station.
B: What if I …………………. it?
A: You’ll have to take the train.
j. If the research …………………………………….. , children now spend more time playing
computer games than watching television.
k. A: It’s Daniel’s first week away at university. I wonder how he’s getting on?
B: I’m sure he ……………………………….. himself.

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 Grammar practice 1 – Tenses – Key

1. 1. reported, 2. was driving, 3. come, 4. went/was going, 5. saw, 6. stopped,

7. watched/was watching, 8. was travelling/travelled, 9. disappeared, 10. believed,
11. is forever trying, 12. do exist, 13. think, 14. is, 15. got/were getting, 16. was,
17. received, 18. saw, 19. are now considering, 20. offers, 21. came, 22. suggest,
23. was, 24. is, 25. seems, 26. are getting, 27. is currently researching, 28. believe,
29. observed, 30. says, 31. are taking/take .
2. 1. a. have played, b. played/had played, c. Did you play, d. had been playing/had played,
2. a. made, b. had been making, c. had made/made, d. have made,
3. a. had been eating, b. ate (past habit), c. had eaten, d. haven’t eaten
4. a. have run, b. had been running, c. had run, d. ran/had to run
3. a. I’m starting out, b. departs, c. am having, d. is going to melt, e. will persuade, f. will rise,
g. agrees, h. see, i. miss, j. is to be believed, k. will be enjoying