Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Continuous Exercise 1

1. ___________________ (you / buy) your train ticket yet?

2. The kitchen is a complete mess! What ___________________ (the children /
do)?
3. Julie ___________________ (learn) to drive for six years!
4. Amanda ___________________ (already / have) lunch, so she’ll meet us later.
5. How much coffee ___________________ (she / drink) this morning?
6. Simon ___________________ (write) three books.
7. I ___________________ (do) everything I needed to do today! Hurray!
8. It ___________________ (not / rain) all summer, so the garden is dead.
9. I ___________________ (read) your book. Here it is, thank you.
10. She ___________________ (forget) how to get to my house.
11. I ___________________ (work) in the garden all day and I need a rest.
12. She ___________________ (make) three cakes. They look delicious!
13. David feels great these days. He ___________________ (get) up early lately.
14. We ___________________ (always / hate) rush hour traffic.
15. Recently, I ___________________ (study) a lot. My exams are in a few weeks.
16. We ___________________ (write) this book for months and months.
17. I ___________________ (always / love) chocolate.
18. I ___________________ (want) to go back to university for a long time.
19. What’s that delicious smell? ___________________ (you / cook)?

EXERCISE 2

1. I’m exhausted!. I ............................................. (WORK) all day and I .............................................

(NOT FINISH) yet
2. I ............................................. (VISIT) many countries over the past few years
3. Someone .......................................... (TAKE) my books. I ......................................... (LOOK) for
them for ages but I ................................................. (NOT FIND) them yet
4. I ............................................ (SHOP) all morning, but I ............................................ (NOT BUY)
anything yet
5. That’s one of the best books I ......................... ever ............................... (READ)
6. “You’re filthy! What ...................... you ....................... (DO)?” “I ................................. (WORK) in
the garden”
7. I ......................................... (LISTEN) to you for the past half an hour, but I’m afraid
I ............................................ (NOT UNDERSTAND) a single word
8. “What’s the matter?” “I ............................................ (READ) in my room for hours, and I’ve got a
headache”
9. I ........................................ (TRY) to lose weight for ages. I ...................................... (LOSE) ten
pounds so far
10. “Why is your hair wet?” “I .................................................. (SWIM)”
11. I ............................................... (PAINT) the living room for a week. It’ll be finished soon
12. I .............................................. (PAINT) the living room. I finished last night
13. How long ........................... you ......................... (KNOW) Ann and John?
14. I ................................. (LOSE) my passport. ......................... you ............................. (SEE) it
anywhere?
15. Someone ........................................ (EAT) the chocolates! They’re nearly all gone!
16. I don’t know what our neighbours are doing. They ..................................................... (HAVE) a row
all day
17. Oh do be quiet! You .......................................... (GRUMBLE) all day!
18. Your tennis ....................... really .......................... (IMPROVE). ..........................
you .............................. (PRACTISE) in secret?
19. This cassette recorder is broken. .......................... you ................................ (PLAY) about with it?
20. What’s that dent in the side of the car? ............................ you ....................... (HAVE) an accident?
21. I saw Katie yesterday. She .......................................... (WORK) in Australia for the past year. Did
you know?
22. I’m sorry, John’s not here. He .......................................... (GO) to the dentist.
He .......................................... (HAVE) trouble with a tooth.

EXERCISE 3
1. I told John not to drive, because he _____ all night.

a.drank b.was drinking c.had drunk d.had been drinking

2. Why did you change the channel? I ______ that movie.

a.watched b.was watching c.had watched d.had been watching

3. When I _____ out of the shower the lights _____.

a.got / were getting off b.had got / were getting off

c.was getting / went off d.had been getting / had got off

4. When I saw Clara I realised that she ______ much in all those years.

a.didn't change b.wasn't changing c.hadn't changed d.hadn't been changing

5. When he entered the room somebody _____ him in the head.

a.hit b.was hitting c.had hit d.had been hitting

6. He admitted that he ______ all the money from the box.

a.took b.was taking c.had taken d.had been taking

7. The burglar _____ to open the safe when he _____ the owner come in.

a.was trying / heard b.tried / heard c.had been trying / had heard d.tried / was hearing

8. I knew he _____ because his eyes were red.

a.cried b.was crying c.had cried d.had been crying

9. The plane in which the football team _____ crashed and none of them survived.

a.travelled b.were travelling c.had travelled d.had been travelling

10. We _____ for about 20 minutes when the plane was hit by turbulence.

a.flew b.were flying c.had flewn d.had been flying

EXERCISE 4 Fill in the blanks with the correct PAST FORMS of the verbs.

We thought that we were on the right path when suddenly we 1 ____________ (run into) a very
familiar rock and 2 ____________ (realise) that we 3 ____________ (walk) in circles for quite a long
time. We 4 ____________ (be) totally lost, and the fact that we 5 ____________ (already/finish) our
water provisions wasn't very promising. We 6 ____________ (decide) to go uphill because according
to John, it would be easier to spot a way out from an elevated point. He 7____________ (learn) that
from a documentary he 8 ____________ (see) about survival some weeks ago. But what the
documentary 9 ____________ (not teach) John was that maybe it was not such a good idea to go up
a mountain when you were exhausted and waterless. We 10 ____________ (trek) one mile when we
11 ____________ (start) to have a horrible feeling that that might be our last trek. Of course, we
12____________ (not say) anything, but we could see in each other’s eyes that at that precise
moment we 13 ____________ (think) precisely the same things. We couldn't walk any longer, so we
14 ____________ (decide) to sit and rest, quietly, because neither of us wanted to share any of our
gloomy thoughts. "Hello, can I help you?" we suddenly 15 ____________ (hear). We 16
____________ (raise) our heads and 17 ____________ (see) a little man with slanted eyes and a
childish grin. He 18 ____________ (stand) right next to us. I wondered where he 19 ____________
(come) from and how long he 20 ____________ (stand) there. But it didn't matter really, because we
were safe.