Past simple, past continuous, present perfect, past perfect

Levels A2+

Past simple: finished action / timetables and schedules

Past continuous: action that was happening over a period of time in the past (movement)
Present perfect: an action in the past that has a reference to the present moment/life experience
Past perfect: A finished action that occurred before another action in the past

1. Past simple or past continuous

a. The dog ___________ when I entered the house. (bark)
b. What ____ he ______ (do) last night when I ________ (call)?
c. ______ you ________ the movie Titanic? I’m not really a fan.

2. Past simple or present perfect

a. This week ___________ so busy. I’m tired! (be)
b. Last week ___________ relaxing. We spent 3 days at the beach. (be)
c. I ___________ to more than 10 countries in my life already, but there’s still
so much to see! (travel)

3. Past simple or past perfect

a. My mother ____________ by the time he arrived home. (leave)
b. They _______ really angry when they received their energy bill. (be)
c. I had to ask the teacher to repeat because I ______________ (understand)

4. Select the correct verb tense for the words in bold:

A long time ago, when I was/had been/was being a little girl, I had/had had/have
had a bad accident. One day, on the way to the airport with my mother and sister,
we had/ had had/ have had a car accident. Before the accident, my mother didn’t
drive/ wasn’t driving/ had’nt driven very fast. In fact she went/ was going/ had
gone the normal speed limit.
Luckily we were not hurt. I remember that day because I had/was having/ had had a
puppy with me and it cried/ was crying/ had cried for hours that day! Also, we
missed/ were missing/ had missed our flight! I My sister and I went/were going/had
gone to Louisiana to visit our father who we didn’t see/ weren’t seeing / hadn’t seen
in about a year.

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5. Write an anecdote using these verb tenses. (Ideas: a family event, an accident, your first
day of school, a time you got lost)

6. Past Participle review

a. Have you ___________ your hair? It looks amazing! (change)

b. What have you ___________ with your apartment? I love the new paint color! (do)
c. Have you ________ my secretary? I have been looking for her all afternoon. (see)
d. If you had __________ me, I would have gone to the party. (call)
e. I had already _________ work, by the time my client arrived. (finish)
f. You have __________ me a lot today! I feel like I’m making progress in English! (teach)
g. Have you ever ________ to Germany? (be)
h. Have you __________ much sleep lately? You look tired. (get)
i. I’ve just __________ my car to the mechanic, so I have to go to work by train. (take)
j. I think I’ve ___________ a cold, I’m not feeling very well. (catch)
k. Have you ________ dinner yet? I want to order a pizza! (have)

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