Verb Tense Review and Exercises

Here is a helpful table with the tenses, a quick explanation and some helpful words/phrases associated with each of them.

	Past	Present	Future
Simple	An action that ended at a point in the past.	An action that exists , is usual, or is repeated.	A plan for future action.
	cooked	cook / cooks	will cook
(time clue)*	e.g. He cooked yesterday.	e.g. He cooks dinner every Friday.	e.g. He will cook tomorrow.
Progressivebe + main verb +ing	An action was happening (past progressive) when another action happened (simple past).	An action that is happening now.	An action that will be happening over time, in the future, when something else happens.
	was / were cooking	am / is / are cooking	will be cooking
(time clue)*	e.g. He was cooking when the phone rang.	e.g. He is cooking now.	e.g. He will be cooking when you come.
Perfect have + main verb	An action that ended before another action or time in the past.	An action that happened at an unspecified time in the past.	An action that will end before another action or time in the future.
	had cooked	has / have cooked	will have cooked
(time clue)*	e.g. He had cooked the dinner when the phone rang.	e.g. He has cooked many meals.	e.g. He will have cooked dinner by the time you come.
Perfect Progressive have + be + main verb + ing	An action that happened over time, in the past, before another time or action in the past.	An action occurring over time that started in the past and continues into the present.	An action occurring over time, in the future, before another action or time in the future.
	had been cooking	has / have been cooking	will have been cooking
(time clue)*	e.g. He had been cooking for a long time before he took lessons.	e.g. He has been cooking for over an hour.	e.g. He will have been cooking all day by the time she gets home.

*Time clues: these are words that give some information about when an action occurs. Some examples are:

yesterday   every day tomorrow while now

simple past simple present simple future past progressive present progressive

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There are many words that are time clues; some can be used to indicate a number of tenses, for instance that something happened in the past or that it will happen in the future. If you learn to recognize these time clues, you will find them very helpful. Note that some time clues can be used with more than one verb tense and also that this table is not a complete listing of all the time clues that can be used with all of the tenses

Chart—Time Clues and Verb Tense

	Past	Present	Future
Simple	Simple Past	Simple Present	Simple Future
	yesterday last year/ month/ etc. before for five weeks/days/etc. one year/ month ago	every morning / day / etc. always usually frequently sometimes	tomorrow tonight next week/month/etc. soon in the future
Progressive	Past Progressive	Present Progressive	Future progressive
	while when	now right now this week/minute/etc.	when after as soon as before
Perfect	Past Perfect	Present Perfect	Future Perfect
	before already by the time until then/last week/etc. after	until now since ever never many times/ weeks/years/etc. for three hours/ minutes/etc/	by the time you go (somewhere) by the time you do (something) already
Perfect Progressive	Past Perfect progressive	Present Perfect Progressive	Future Perfect Progressive
	before for one week/hour/etc. since	for the past year/ month/ etc. for the last 2 months/ weeks/etc. up to now for 6 weeks/hours/etc. since	by the time for ten days/weeks/etc. by

B. Exercises

Simple Present / Present Continuous

Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below with the appropriate tenses

1. Every Monday, Sally (drive)  her kids to football practice.

2. Usually, I (work)  as a secretary at ABT, but this summer I (study)  French at a language school in Paris. That is why I am in Paris.

3. Shhhhh! Be quiet! John (sleep) .

4. Don't forget to take your umbrella. It (rain) .

5. I hate living in Seattle because it (rain, always) .

6. I'm sorry I can't hear what you (say)  because everybody (talk)  so loudly.

7. Justin (write, currently)  a book about his adventures in Tibet. I hope he can find a good publisher when he is finished.

8. Jim: Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?
Denise: Oh, I'm sorry, I can't. I (go)  to a movie tonight with some friends.

9. The business cards (be, normally )  printed by a company in New York. Their prices (be)  inexpensive, yet the quality of their work is quite good.

10. This delicious chocolate (be)  made by a small chocolatier in Zurich, Switzerland.

A) Fill in the correct verb forms: Simple Present or Present Continuous.

1) I amare beis  from New Zealand.

2) I amare beis  preparing dinner.

3) Our friend sometimes gogoes to the supermarket.

4) The baby am are beis crying.

5) We am arebeis  drawing a picture.

6) Andy am areis washing his pullover.

7) DoDoes they walk to school?

8) Pat drivedrives a school bus.

9) Sandy often forgetforgets her homework.

10) Anne and Tom am arebeis  feeding the cows.

Simple Past or Past Progressive

Choose the correct verb forms. Use Simple Past or the Past Progressive. 1) We    sat was sitting were sitting  at the breakfast table when the doorbell    rang was ringing were ringing  . 2) He    met was meeting were meeting  a lot of friendly people while he    worked was working were working  in California. 3) When they    left was leaving were leaving  the museum, the sun    shone was shining were shining  . 4) The students    played was playing were playing  cards when the teacher    came was coming were coming  in. 5) While the children    slept was sleeping were sleeping  , their parents    watched was watching were watching  TV. 6) It    started was starting were starting  to rain while she    watered was watering were watering  the flowers in her garden. 7) When I    opened was opening were opening  the door, it    rained was raining were raining  . 8) While Henry    had was having were having  a drink at the bar, his wife    swam was swimming were swimming  in the sea. 9) He    heard was hearing were hearing  a loud bang while he    talked was talking were talking  to his friend. 10) While he    took was taking were taking  a shower, his dogs    ate was eating were eating  his steaks.

Simple Past or Present Perfect - Exercise

Choose the correct words or phrases. 1) Peter    played has played have played  football yesterday. 2) They    has cleaned have cleaned cleaned  the car. It looks new again. 3) Last year we    went goed have gone  to Italy. 4) John and Peggy    just have read have just read read  the book. Now they can watch the film. 5) I    met have met meeted  my friend two days ago. 6) We    has never visited visited have never visited  another country before. 7) She    has bought buyed bought  a new car in 2005. 8) I'm sorry, but I    forgot has forgotten have forgotten  my homework. 9)    Did you win Have you win Have you won  the game of chess? 10) The girls    did not eat have not eaten has not eaten  their lunch yet.

Listening Comprehension:


Bullfighting in Spain and the ban in Catalonia







1. When was the last bullfight in Catalonia?


2. What do Spaniards think of bullfighting in general and the relation with its history?


3. What is blamed for the low attendance of bullfights?


4. What are companies doing that is wrong according to Paco?


5. How do young people feel about bullfighting?


6. Do you think that bullfighting will be banned from Spain or not in the near future? Why or why not?