Amity International School

Class VII Tenses

Wendy was excited. Christmas ________________ (1. to come), and she _____________ (2. to be) a good
girl all year, so she expected many splendid gifts from Santa. Two months earlier, she ______________ (3. to
write) to him to describe all the toys and clothes and other important things that she would like. Yes, it
____________ (4. to be) a very long list, but everyone ____________ (5. to know) how magical Santa was so
there should not be a problem.
Wendy _________ (6. to clean, not) the bathroom, though. Her dad had asked her to clean it, again and again,
but it was disgusting in there, and it _________ (7. to get, always) messy again anyway. She never _________
(8. to like) cleaning the bathroom, and as Christmas approached they received an especially large number of
guests. It was getting worse and worse.
On Christmas Eve, Wendy’s dad _________ (9. to visit) the bathroom and screamed.
“Something _________ (10. to move) in there!” he said, pointing at a pile of dirty rags. Wendy saw it, too.
“Daddy, daddy, get rid of it, please!” she _________ (11. to beg). But her father was too afraid.
Together, they went to Wendy’s mum, and pleaded with her to deal with the monster in the bathroom. She
tutted at them. So silly. But when she got to the bathroom, and saw the state of the mess, and saw something
move, she _________ (12. to scream) too.
She slammed the door shut and told her family, “Whatever it is, we must _________ (12. to go, not) in there.”
Everyone was too afraid to disagree. So they sealed the bathroom door and ignored the problem.
On Christmas morning, Wendy _________ (13. to rush) down the stairs and excitedly clambered under the
glittering Christmas tree. The room was strangely empty, though. No stocking filled with treats, and only a
handful of wrapped boxes – all labelled for mum and dad. Where _________ (14. to be) her presents?
“Well,” her father told her, “Look, Santa _________ (15. to leave) a note. It _________ (16. to say) that as
you _________ (17. to complete, not) your chores, your presents _________ (18. to be) left in the bathroom.
If you want to get them, you must clean up the mess.”
Wendy _________ (19. to have) no choice. If Santa _________ (20. to say) it, it had to be done.
And so she braced herself and determined to clean that bathroom. She put on gloves, took up a broom and a
mop and a bucket of disinfectant and _________ (21. to charge) into the mess. It looked awful. It _________
(22. to smell) foul. It _________ (23. to feel) weird. But the mess had to go.
After a hard morning’s work, Wendy stepped back and marvelled at what she _________ (24. to do). The
bathroom was glistening clean, beautiful and empty once more. And whatever had moved in there before was
gone. But she realised, with the room now bare, there were no presents in there. _________ (25. to lie, Santa)
?
Wendy went back downstairs to demand an answer from her parents, ready to shout and fight and scream. She
stormed into the living room, broom raised above her head, and _________ (26. to freeze). There, under the
tree, was a landscape of presents. Boxes of all shapes and size, wrapped in paper of every colour. Big presents,
small presents, bows, bags; all she could dream of. She _________ (27. to be) a good girl, after all.
 Answer Key
1. was coming – future in the past
2. had been – past perfect because her goodness for the year was complete before this story
3. had written – past perfect, it happened before these events
4. was – simple past
5. knows – could be past simple, as a past rule, but this sentence frames it in the present tense
6. had not cleaned
7. was always getting (or always got, but the past continuous, as an emphatic process, is stronger)
8. liked
9. visited
10. is moving or moved
11. begged
12. screamed
13. rushed
14. were
15. has left (demonstrating it is here now, although simply left could also be used)
16. says
17. did not complete (have not completed would be possible, but this action has a consequence, so it is
finished and will not added to)
18. have been (were is also possible, but they are likely to still be there, making present perfect more
appropriate)
19. had
20. had said
21. charged
22. smelt
23. felt
24. had done
25. Did Santa lie? (as one event) or Had Santa lied? (on this occasion)
26. froze
27. had been (referring to her actions) or was (referring to her state)