How well do you know tenses?

Choose the sentences below that describe a temporary situation:

• I'm getting up at about 5 a.m. for my current job.

• Mark is a policeman who's on night call 5 times a week.

• Shut up! We're reading a research paper.

• She seldom comes late to work.

I met (V₁) Kathy when we were both working (V₂) for this really awful boss.

• V₁ describes an action in progress at a time in the past. V₂ describes a single action in the past.

• Both V₁ and V₂ describe an action in progress at a time in the past.

• Both V₁ and V₂ describe a single action in the past.

• V₁ describes a single action in the past. V₂ describes an action in progress at a time in the past.

Choose the correct options:

• I don't remember its name.

• I'm not remembering its name.

• My uncle owned a farm when I was a child.

• My uncle was owning a farm when I was a child.

... verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses (with -ing). They refer to emotions, beliefs, opinions, senses, and other states of being.

Choose the state verbs:

• like

• think

• seem

• believe

• want

Look at the example sentences and choose the correct options in the rule.

My aunt and uncle used to own a farm.

I used to spend hours staring at the fish.

Used to describes habits/states/single actions in the past/present. (3 correct answers)

• habits

• states

• single actions

• past

• present

Look at the sentences below. Which action in bold happened first?

The house where I was born was quite small. My parents had bought it from an old man.

• the birth

• the buying of the house

Match examples to descriptions below:

1. 1. I've known Emma for six months.

2. 2. Kathy and I were really good friends for a couple of years.

3. 3. My cousin and his wife have had a baby.

4. 4. We moved in about 1993.

a. something that continued for a period of time in the past

b. sth that started in the past and continues to the present

c. sth that happened in the past and is important now, but we don't know exactly when it happened

d. sth that happened at a finished time in the past