GRAMMAR EXERCISES

A/ Present Simple

Exercise 1: Choose the correct verb in the following text:

Jitbhai Chowdhury live/lives in the village of Kushkal in India. There is/are almost no water here but
Jitbhai have/has fruit trees and his cows produce/produces 25 litres of milk a day. So how do/does he
find/finds water?

A water pump carry/carries water from a lake under the ground up to Jitbhai’s village. There is/are a
lot of farmers like Jitbhai in his village, and in villages in other countries, including China and
Argentina. About 10 percent of the water is/are from underground lakes. The farmers need/needs it
to produce the food we buy/buys every week from supermarkets.

At the moment, water isn’t/aren’t a problem for Jitbhail (and the world) but we need/needs 11,000
litres of water to make one burger. Farmers use/uses 20,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of
coffee and 2,000 litres for one litre of milk. So what happens when there isn’t/aren’t any water under
the ground?

B/ Present Simple or Present Continuous?

Exercise 2: Choose the correct form of the verb in the conversation between a supermarket manager
and a customer:

M: “Hello. I’m/I’m being the manager of this supermarket and today we talk/we’re talking to some of
our customers. Do you have/Are you having five minutes?”

C: “Yes, OK.”

M: “Great! What do you buy/are you buying today? Food or clothes?”

C: “Food and clothes. I always buy/I’m always buying food on Mondays and today I also look for/I’m
also looking for some clothes for my children.”

M: “OK. And do you usually pay/are you usually paying by credit card?”

C: “Yes, I do, but I use/I’m using cash today.”

M: “I see. And on average how much do you spend/are you spending here every week –under or over
£100?”

C: “Oh, probably over £100.”

C/ Present Simple and frequency adverbs

Exercise 3: Make true sentences about your lifestyle. Add two more sentences. Use the frequency
adverbs provided in the box:

always usually often sometimes rarely never

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Example: I never go to the cinema on Mondays.

1) Go out in the evening

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) Travel by plane

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3) Read English newspapers or magazines

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4) Watch the news on TV

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5) Do yoga

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6) Eat at restaurants

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7) Go to the swimming-pool

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8) Play tennis

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9) ??

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

10) ??

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

D/ Present Simple vs. Present Continuous, frequency adverbs

Exercise 4: Each of the sentences below has a grammar mistake. Find the mistakes, then write the
correct sentences.

1) They travel often on business.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) At present our business do very well.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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 3) He’s having meetings with customers every week.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4) They always are early for work.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5) How often are you visiting them?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6) She talks to some clients right now.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7) When do you finish usually work?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8) I’m having five weeks’ holiday every year.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9) He studies for an exam at the moment.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

10) Are you always travelling to work by car?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

E/ Present Simple or Simple Past?

Exercise 5: In each sentence, conjugate the verb in brackets (…) in the correct tense, either simple
present or simple past.

1) Sally (break) ……………………………………….. her leg yesterday.

2) Tom usually (go) ……………………………………….. to the south of England in August.
3) Two months ago, we (buy) ……………………………………….. new mountain bikes.
4) ……………………………………….. you always (visit) ……………………………………….. your grandparents in
the summer?
5) The Euro (become) ………………………………………..the European currency on January 1 st, 1999.
6) The last time I (see) ……………………………………….. him (be) ……………………………………….. the day
before yesterday at the cafeteria.
7) I never (forget) ……………………………………….. to send a birthday card to my best friend.
8) Last year, we (move) ……………………………………….. to a bigger house in the country.
9) I (be born) ……………………………………….. on February 10 th, 1998.

F/ Past Simple and irregular verbs

Exercise 6: Write the past simple forms of these irregular verbs:

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 1) Become: ………………………………………..
2) Begin: ………………………………………..
3) Bring: ………………………………………..
4) Cost: ………………………………………..
5) Find: ………………………………………..
6) Fly: ………………………………………..
7) Give: ………………………………………..
8) Grow: ………………………………………..
9) Make: ………………………………………..
10) Say: ………………………………………..

Exercise 7: Write the verbs in the text in the past simple. Some of them are irregular!

Malta

Today, Malta is a popular island in the Mediterranean Sea, but it ……………………………………….. (not/be)
always an island: thousands of years ago, there ……………………………………….. (be) a large desert
between Europe and Africa, but at that time there ……………………………………….. (be) no people there.
Between 7000 and 5000 BC, people ……………………………………….. (travel) across the sea from Sicily to
Malta. They ……………………………………….. (build) the famous temples on the island.

The Phoenicians ……………………………………….. (be) the other early visitors. They

……………………………………….. (use) the island’s natural harbours for their ships, and they also
……………………………………….. (trade) with other countries around the Mediterranean from these
harbours. During the Roman Empire, Rome also ……………………………………….. (control) the island for
seven centuries.

Like the Phoenicians, the Romans ……………………………………….. (not/can) control the islands any more
and they ……………………………………….. (leave). Malta ……………………………………….. (have) many more
visitors after that. The Arabs ……………………………………….. (live) there for two centuries and
……………………………………….. (give) the modern Maltese language many words. The Spanish, the French
and the British all ……………………………………….. (come) and ……………………………………….. (leave) the
island, and, finally, in 1964, Malta ……………………………………….. (become) independent and
……………………………………….. (can) make its own laws and protect its own people.

G/ Past simple questions

Exercise 8: You asked a colleague about his last business trip. He gave you these answers. What were
the questions?

Example: I flew with KLM.

 Which airline did you fly with?

1) I went to New York.

 Where ………………………………………………………………………………………………………?
2) I was there for three days.
 How long …………………………………………………………………………………………………?

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3) I stayed at the Sheraton Hotel.
 Where ………………………………………………………………………………………………………?
4) I met some senior managers.
 Who ………………………………………………………………………………………………………?
5) I attended four meetings.
 How many …………………………………………………………………………………………………?
6) I got back yesterday evening.
 When ………………………………………………………………………………………………………?