CAE GRAMMAR PRACTICE: TENSES

A. Correct the following sentences by changing the underlined word or words. You may need to
write more than one word. Some sentence are correct.

Example: I know him since we were at school together. have known

1. Do you think Sam’s always known the truth about us?

2. That’s been the second time you’ve forgotten to post something for me.

3. I haven’t seen Tom since he begins seeing his new girlfriend.

4. Ever since we met, you never asked me what I prefer to do.

5. Since he’s lived here, he was usually extremely friendy.

6. They’ll join us after they’ll get a bite to eat.

7. This is the only occasion that I’ve seen him wearing a suit.

8. By the time he is fifty, he will live in this country for half his life.

9. It’s a surprise party and they won’t know anything about it until they got here.

10. They’re probably planning a quiet evening together; I know they won’t have guessed
what we’re doing. 1
11. The other guests should be arrived before Mike and Mary get here.

12. By the time we will have finished, everybody will have eaten and drunk as much as they
can.

B. COMPLETE THE SECOND SENTENCE SO THAT IT HAS A SIMILAR MEANING TO THE FIRST
SENTENCE, USING THE WORD GIVEN. DO NOT CHANGE THE WORD GIVEN. YOU MUST USE
BETWEEN THREE AND SIX WORDS, INCLUDING THE WORD GIVEN

1. It’s almost a year since I stopped eating meat. UP

I ______________________________________________ year ago.

2. Nobody has had sight of the boat for two days. LAST

The boat ____________________________________________two days ago.

3. As soon as we finish this, we’ll join you. MINUTE

We’ll ____________________________________________________ finished this.

4. Cristiano’s goal is the most extraordinary I’ve ever seen. YET

I’ve _________________________________________________ an extraordinary goal as
Cristiano’s.

C. CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OF THE TWO UNDERLINED ALTERNATIVES.

I don’t normally go to the cinema. Not because I don’t like it but because it’s just
a habit I have never got into. However, on this occasion I (1) decided / was
deciding to go because my friends had been constantly going / had constantly
gone on about this film all week and eventually wore me down. It starred some
ephemeral Hollywood actor whom I (2) had vaguely heard of / had vaguely
been hearing of but couldn’t put face to. We got to the cinema early to find
people (3) were already waiting / already waited outside, which suggested that
my friends weren’t the only ones who thought it was worth seeing – although I
could still think of several other things I would rather (4) have been doing / do at
that moment. In the end, the film (5) turned out / was turning out to be not half
as bad as expected, though I (6) would have preferred / would have been
preferring something with a bit more action.

D. THERE ARE SOME UNNECESSSARY WORDS IN THIS TEXT. CAN YOU SPOT THEM? 2

Despite all the lessons we have learned from history, it is difficult

to conceive what people will are likely to be doing a hundred years
from now on. During the last century, so many changes took
place that any idea as to what new invention is about now to
become an integral part of our lives has become a guessing game.
For a start, in ten year’ time zone today’s innovations will
probably have become out of the date. There is little doubt that
many of our habitual, taken-for-granted activities such as
shopping will have been disappeared by the year 2100, largely
due course to computerisation. But what we don’t know is how
this will affect personal relationships. Here, it is very difficult to
see what the future holds in the store. The time may well be fast
and approaching when people only communicate via computers
and mobile phones. But what will they do when they will need a
friendly shoulder to cry on when feeling low? We will find out
in the not too distant future.

C. CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OF THE TWO UNDERLINED ALTERNATIVES.

1. She looks very pale. I think she’ll / she’s going to faint.

2. I’ll / I’m going to do that for you, if you like.

3. I’ll be / I’m going to be a rocket scientist when I grow up.

4. Somebody’s at the door. I’ll see / I’m going to see who it is.

5. I need to be home early today so I leave / I’m leaving at 4.

6. We’ll be in plenty of time providing the traffic is not / won’t be too bad.

7. The two Prime Ministers are to / shall discuss the current economic crisis.

8. What sort of job do you think you will do / will be doing in a few years’ time?