grammar exercises 1

Verb Tenses

1. Peter: You ________ (go) out tonight, Paul?

Paul: No, I ________ (stay) at home. The neighbors _________ (come) in to watch TV.

Peter: You _________ (invite) the neighbors often?

Paul: No, but they _______ (invite) themselves whenever there is a good programme.

2. Jack: I just ______ (go) out to get an evening paper.

Ann: But it _________ (pour)! Why you _________ (not wait) till the rain _______(stop)?

3. Tom: You _______ (see) that man at the corner? He __________ (keep) stopping people and

asking them questions. You ________ (think) he __________ (ask) for directions?

Jack: No, I __________ (expect) he __________ (make) a survey.

Tom: How you __________ (make) a survey?

Jack: You _________ (stop) people and ___________ (ask) them questions and _________ (write) the answers

on a report sheet.

4. Peter: My next door neighbor always _________ (knock) on my door and ________ (ask)

me to lend her 10p pieces.

Paul: What she ___________ (do) with them?

Peter: She _________ (put) them in her gas meter. I really ___________ (not mind) lending

her a few 10p pieces but what ___________ (annoy) me is that she _________ (know) how

many she ________ (need) each week but never _________ (take) the trouble to bring the

right number home.

5. Tom: We _________ (move) into our new house tomorrow.

Bill: But why you _________ (leave) your present house? It ________ (suit) you all.

Tom: Yes, I _______ (know) it ________ (do); but the Council __________ (pull down) all

the houses on this side. They _________ (widen) the road. They ___________ (say) it’s a

bottleneck.

6. If you ________ (ask) a friend if she ________ (like) your new address, she usually _______ (say) “Yes”; so

you ________ (not know) whether she really ______ (think) it _______ (suit) you or whether she merely

_________ (be) polite.

7. If you ________ (want) a candid opinion, you’d better ask my sister. She never ________

(tell) white lies; she always (say) exactly what she _______ (think).

8. The house opposite the college ________ (be pulled) down. That’s why we _______ (use)

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the back entrance at present. If you _______ (go) by the front door, you _______ (get) covered

with dust.

9. I _______ (ski) when I ________ (be) at the university, but I _______(break) a leg five years

ago and since then I _______ (not do) any.

10. When I first ________ (come) to this house, it _______ (be) a very quiet area. But since

then a new housing estate ________ (be) built and it ______ (become) very noisy.

11. This bicycle ________ (be) in our family for fourteen years. My father ______ (use) it for

the first five years, my brother _________ (ride) it for the next five, and I ________ (have) it

for the last four.

12. I ________ (began) English at secondary school and ________ (do) it for three years.

Then I ________ (drop) it for a year and _________ (forget) most of it. Then I ______ (spend)

two years at a secretarial college, where I _____________ (study) commercial English, and for

the last six months I _______ (study) in London.

13. I _________ (buy) a new house last year, but I _______ (not sell) my old house yet, so at

the moment I have two houses.

14. When Ann ________ (be) on her way to the station, it _______ (begin) to rain, Ann ______ (run) back to her

flat for her umbrella, but this _________ (make) her late for her train.

15. In the evenings I often play chess with my next door neighbor. I ___________ (play)

chess with him ever since I ______ (come) to live here ten years ago. He __________ (be) here

all his life: he __________ (inherit) the house from his father , another great chess player.

16. I _________ (wait) for the prices of the houses to come down before buying a house, but I

think I ________ (wait) too long and the prices are beginning to go up again.

17. The train just ____________ (start) when the door __________ (open) and two panting

passengers _________ (leap) in.

18. My neighbor ________ (look) in last night and __________ (say) that he _______ (leave)

the district and __________ (go) to Yorkshire, to a new job . I _______ ( say) that I _______

(be) very sorry that he _________ (go), and ________ (tell) him to write home from Yorkshire

and tell me how he ________ (get) on.

19. They ________ (build) that bridge when I ________ (be) here last year. They haven’t

finished it yet.

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20. The dentist’s waiting room was full of people. Some _________ (read) magazines, others

just _________ (turn) over the pages. A woman _________ (knit); a child _________ (play)

with a toy car. Suddenly the door __________ (open) and the nurse __________ (say), “Next,

please.”

21. A traffic warden just _________ (stick) a parking ticket to my windscreen when I ____________ (come)

back to the car. I ___________ (try) to persuade him to tear it up but he _________ (refuse).

22. I ________ (put) the $ 20 note into one of my books; but next day it _________ (take) me

ages to find it because I _________ (forget) which book I ________ (put) it into.

23. A woman ________ (come) in with a baby, who she _________ (say) just _______(swallow) a safety pin.

24. I _________ (think) my train _________ (leave) at 14.30, and ________ (be) very

disappointed when I __________ (arrive) at 14.25 and ___________ (learn) that it just

________ (leave). I ________ (find) later that I ________ (use) an out-of-date timetable.

25. He ____________ (park) his car under a No Parking sign and _________ (rush) into the

shop. When he __________ (come) out of the shop ten minutes later the car no longer

________ (be) there. He ___________ (wonder) if someone ____________ (steal) it or if the

police ________ (drive) it away.

26. We __________ (have) a drink with Peter tonight. It’s his last night; he _________ (leave)

tomorrow.

27. I _________ (see) my bank manager tomorrow. I’m going to ask him for a loan but I

expect he _________ (refuse).

28. I ________ (know) the result tomorrow. As soon as I hear, I __________ (tell) you.

29. Jack usually gives me a lift home, but we both _________ (come) home by train

tomorrow as his car is being repaired.

30. It _________ (be) very late when she gets home and her parents _________ (wonder)

what’s happened.

31. Heavens! Look at the time. Your father ________ (come) home in a minute and I haven’t

even started getting dinner ready.

32. I ________ (have) to be a bit careful about money when I retire because I’ll only be

getting half my present salary. But of course I _______ (not pay) supertax.

33. According to the brochures this hotel prides itself on its service, but the staff even ________ (not show) a

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guest to his room unless he insists. I ________ (not come) here again.

34. By the end of next week my wife ____________ (do) her spring cleaning and we’ll all be

able to relax again.

35. Yes, I made jam every week. I __________ (make) about 200 kilos by the end of the

summer.

36. In two months’ time he _______ (finish) his preliminary training and will be starting work.

37. His father left him $ 30000, but he lives so extravagantly that he ________ (spend) it all

before he is 30.

38. We’ll send you the goods as soon as we _____________ (receive) your cheque.

39. How do you like your new job?

I have only just started so I really can’t say. When I __________ (be) in it for a fortnight I

__________ (let) you know.

40. I didn’t recognize him at first because he was wearing dark glasses: if he _________ (not

wear) them I _________ (recognize) him immediately.

41. We had to stand almost all the way. It was all Tom’s fault. If he _________ (book) seats, as I told him to, we

___________ ( have) quite a comfortable journey.

42. When the weather got bad, the climbing party turned back, all except Tom and his

brothers, who decided to go on. If only they ___________ (turn) back, with the others, they

__________ (be) alive today.

43. Why don’t you get a cat? If you ____________ (keep) a cat, the mice __________ (not

run) about everywhere.

44. Your notes are almost illegible. Why don’t you type them? If you ___________ (type)

them, they ___________ (be) a lot easier to read.

45. French is essential in this job. All the telephonists speak it. If they _________ (not know)

French, they _________ (not understand) half the callers.

46. He looked so small and weak that nobody asked him to do anything. If he ___________

(look) strong, he __________ (be) expected to dig all day like everyone else.

47. When he left school, he became a fisherman. His family didn’t like it at all. They

__________ (be) much happier if he _________ (become) a greengrocer like his father.

48. If only he ___________ (know) then that the disease was curable!

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49. That man has brought us nothing but trouble. I wish I never _________ (set) eyes on him.

50. He looks as though he never __________ (get) a square meal, but in fact his wife feeds him very well.

51. Her phone _____________ (ring) for ten minutes. I wonder why she doesn't answer it.

52. I can't go out because I _____________(not finish) my work.

53. It ____________ (rain) for two hours and the ground is too wet to play on, so the match has

been postponed.

54. What do you think the children _____(do) when we get home?

55. She hoped that we ______ (get) the plan ready before she came back.

56. I shan't buy tomatoes till the price ______(come) down.

57. When we ______(take) our exam, we'll have a holiday.

58. He gave up hope of passing the examination, since he ______(already fail) it twice.

59. I asked them to be quiet. I ______(try) to hear what the man was saying.

60. I _______ (gradually forget) all the French I ever learnt at school.

61. Hello! I ___________ (try) to telephone you all week. Where _______you _______ (be)?

62. It _______ (look) as if this light ______ (burn) all night. I must _______ (forget) to switch it

off before I ________ (go) to bed last night.

63. I ___________ (buy) the book, but when I ___________ (hear) the opinion of the critics, I

___________ (change) my mind.

64. It’s time we _______ (go). If we _________ (not leave) now, we ________ (miss) the last train.

65. I know I ought have written to you before, but I __________ (be) so busy recently that I

__________ (not have) time for writing letters. I could __________ (telephone) you

instead, but I ________ (forget) your number.

66. It's a great pity you ________ (not come) to Qingdao with us last Saturday. As you _________ (never see) the

sea before, it _______________ (be) a new experience for you.

67. By the time I ___________ (complete) my studies next month, I ________ (live) in Beijing for nearly four

years.

68. It _______ (not take) very long to get here after all. We needn’t ________ (take) a taxi. We could___________

(save) the money we __________ (spend) and ____________(have) dinner on the train.

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