Tenses: review

Tenses: review

Let's revise!

Multiple Choice

Which case does the following sentence illustrate? Amy was reading, so she didn’t see me walking past.

• two actions happening parallelly in the past

• a longer activity in the past, interrupted by another one

• two actions, one of them in the more distant past

• actions in the past, with a definite time given

We use the past continuous to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action.

Open Ended

Write a sentence to illustrate this rule, using an -ion noun.

Multiple Select

Which statements are true for this sentence-pair?

I’ve read ten books this summer. I’ve been reading that book all night.

• one is in simple, one is in continuous tense

• both are in perfect tense

• both use state verbs

• one focuses on the result, one on the process

Continuous tenses focus on the process (how long?), simple tenses focus on the result (how many?).

Open Ended

Write a sentence that focuses on an ongoing process and is in connection with a problem in the natural world.

Multiple Choice

Which Sam is the speaker annoyed by?

• Sam is always late for work.

• Sam always forgets to pay the bills in time.

• Sam is always interrupting me.

• Sam always leaves the front door open.

The present continuous tense is often used to talk about irritating or annoying habits.

Open Ended

Write a sentence about an annoying habit of your real or imaginary pet. Use the discussed structure.

Multiple Select

Which example sentences belong to the following rule?

In clauses with time expressions, the future time cannot be expressed by “will”.

• I’ll give you a pay rise when you start working harder.

• Once you’ve visited Bali, you’ll never want to live anywhere else.

• By the time we got home, the dinner had already been served.

• I haven’t met my aunt since the lockdown started.

What other similar time expressions can you think of?

When

Once

As soon as

Until

Before

After

Open Ended

Write a sentence using one of these expressions about the bright future for the Earth.

Multiple Choice

Which rule does this sentence pair illustrate?

That food tastes a bit salty. I’m just tasting the pudding.

• The verb is used in the continuous when it refers to the moment of speaking.

• Some verbs cannot be used in the continuous form.

• Some verbs change their meanings when used in the dynamic or stative form.

• The present simple is used for repeated actions.

Some verbs can function as both stative verbs and dynamic verbs. Do you remember some examples?

Think

Have

See

Look

Weigh

Smell

Open Ended

Choose one verb and use it in the stative sense to write a sentence about spending time in the countryside.

Multiple Choice

Which of these quiz questions is curious about whether you are familiar with past simple and past perfect as well?

• Jack and I ... (think) about where to go on holiday for weeks but we just can’t decide.

• We… (wait) for you for the past two hours. Where … (be)?

• We had to walk home in the end because Jimmy … (lose) his car keys.

• I … (have) shower when the postman … (come).

We usually use the past perfect to talk about actions that were completed before some point in the past.

Open Ended

Write a sentence about how your habits concerning environment protection changed in the past years. Use past perfect.

Multiple Choice

Which example sentence refers to a completed action in the future?

• I will not attend the programme because of my busy schedule.

• This time next week I will be sun-bathing in Bali.

• By this time next year, Margaret will have married Jerome.

• In November, I will have been working at my company for three years.

Actions finished before a certain time in the future are expressed with future perfect.

Footnote: result vs process!

Open Ended

What significant environmental project you think will have been completed by 2050?