1.

Choose the right grammar tense for the following sentences and
their time meanings in parentheses:

● Past Simple
● Past Continuous
● Present Simple
● Present Continuous
● Present Perfect Simple
● Present Perfect Continuous

a. We / eat (right now)

We are eating.

b. We / eat (at 6pm last night

We ate at 6pm last night.
We were eating at 6pm last night.

c. We / eat (6pm - now)

We’ve been eating.(since 6pm)

d. He / distribute / email accounts (all the time)

He distributes email accounts.

e. He / distribute / email accounts (yesterday)

He distributed email accounts.

f. He / distribute / email accounts (now - for twelve years)

He’s been distributing email accounts.
He’s distributed email accounts for 12 years.

g. That website / be / censored (all the time)

That website is censored.

h. That website / be / censored (in the 1990s)

That website was censored.
 i. That website / be / censored (1990s - now)
That website has been censored.

2. Choose the correct grammar tense for the missing parts of the sentences:

a. That country                     a regime now.

1. didn't have
2. hasn't had
3. hasn't been having
4. doesn't have
5. isn't having

b. The company                     the government's decision last week.

1. denounced
2. has denounced
3. has been denouncing
4. denounces
5. is denouncing

c. They                     to school in / for six days. I have no idea where they are.
1. didn't come
2. haven't come
3. haven't been coming
4. don't come
5. isn't coming

d. This dinner                     very satisfying. I can't believe I still have more
food to eat!
1. was
2. has been

e.                     from going there for ten years. I hated it.

1. was barred
2. have been barred
3. am barred
“was barred” = The Past Passive == I was barred by the owner from
going there for ten years.
f. Stock prices                     for the past few years.
1. declined
2. have been declining
3. decline
4. are declining

g. I                     my psychologist since last Tuesday.

1. didn't see
2. haven't seen
3. haven't been seeing
4. don't see
5. am not seeing

= A focus on “the last time”.

h. We                     since 9am. Class started at 8:30am!

1. didn't study
2. haven't studied
3. haven't been studying
4. don't study
5. aren't studying

= Correcting someone.

i. She                     all morning today. (Now it is still morning)

1. was critical
2. has been critical
3. is critical

j. The company                     a lot over the past few days.

1. gambled
2. has been gambling
3. gambles
4. is gambling
 k. She                     in rehab for a long time. I hope she is getting better.
1. was
2. has been
3. is

3. Choose either the Present Perfect Simple or Continuous to

complete the following sentences. When both are possible, write both
ways.

a. How (you do) lately?

have you been doing

b. That company (not use) newspapers to recruit new staff in many years.
hasn’t used
hasn’t been using

c. The website (petition) the government for a long time.

has petitioned
has been petitioning

d. I (use) the Internet since I was a child.

have used
have been using

e. We (not try) to fix this Internet connection for one hour, but actually three
hours!
haven’t been trying
= correcting the other person.

f. We (date) since last summer.

have been dating
have dated

g. you (wait) long for me to get here?

Have you been waiting

h. We (trade stocks) as a hobby for over ten years.

 have been trading
have traded

i. She (see a psychiatrist) since last year.

has been seeing a psychiatrist
has seen a psychiatrist

j. He (not eat) sugar since last month because of his diet.

hasn’t eaten
hasn’t been eating

k. Jane (suffer) from mental exhaustion for the past three days.
has been suffering
has suffered

4. Write the following sentences another way, keeping a similar

meaning. Change Past Tense sentences to Present Perfect and
Present Perfect sentences to the Past Tense.

a. I woke up at 6am.
I have been up since 6am.

b. We have been studying since 8:30am.

We started studying at 8:30am.

c. I came here two hours ago.

I have been here for two hours.

d. She bought that car a long time ago.

She has had that car for a long time.

e. We have been married for twenty-three years.

We got married twenty-three years ago.

f. The store has been open since 9am.

The store opened at 9am.
g. It hasn’t rained for two hours.
It stopped raining two hours ago.

h. The government started censoring that site three days ago.

The government has been censoring that site for three days.

i. She quit smoking in 2002.

She hasn’t smoked since 2002.

j. He has been in this country for twelve years.

He came / moved to this country twelve years ago.

k. The company’s stocks have been for sale for ten days.
The company’s stocks went on sale ten days ago.
The company started selling their stocks ten days ago.

l. She has been sleeping for nine hours.

She went to bed nine hours ago.
She started sleeping nine hours ago.