English Language Teacher Education Training: Anna Murkowska, The English

Grammar Course for Language Teachers, Tenses (1)

Task 1: Put each verb in brackets into an appropriate tense.

1. I ..................... (not understand) what you ............. (wait) for.

2. ............... (anyone see) my pencil? I .............. (leave ) it here somewhere.
3. When he ............. (not arrive) by 6.00, I ............. (know) he ........ (miss) the bus.
4. ................... (you go away) this weekend? Or ........... (you ran out) of money?
5. What .......... (you think) you ............. (do) in the year’s time?
6. I ................ (really enjoy) myself at the moment.
7. ................ (you let) me know the minute you ........ (hear) any news?
8. Something .......... (tell) me that you .............. (not listen) to a single word I ..........
(say) in the past ten minutes!
9. What’s the matter? ................ (you hurt) your ankle? How .......... (you do) it?
10. That’s definitely the last time I .......... (lend )you any money!

Task 2: Decide whether each underlined phrase is appropriate, and rewrite the
phrase more appropriately where necessary.

1.Will you be seeing Rob Jones tomorrow? I wonder if you could give him a message
from Sally Gordon?
2. I had a great time in the Greek Islands. We would own a small boat and go fishing
every day.
3. Julie, hi! I’ve been hoping I’d see you. I’ve got some good news!
4. We had a terrible time looking after your dog. It was constantly chasing the cats
next door.
5. We had a lovely time in Madrid. Every day we were exploring the city, and in the
evening we were going to exciting bars.
6. The steam engine is usually thought of as a relatively modern invention, but the
Greeks had built a kind of steam engine in ancient times.
7. I felt rather worried. It was growing darker and colder, and there was still no sign of
the rescue helicopter.
8. Don’t worry! All we have to do is wait here until someone will find us.
9. This meat is really tasting awful!. Are you quite sure it was fresh?
10. This radiator in my room has burst, and there is water all over the floor!. You’re
the manager, what will you do about it?

Task 3: Match the following sentences with the correct meaning A or B .

1. The plane had landed when we heard the noise.

A) We heard it before the plane landed. B) We heard it after the plane landed.

2. The children were preparing breakfast when I woke up.

A) Breakfast was ready. B) Breakfast wasn’t ready.

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English Language Teacher Education Training: Anna Murkowska, The English
Grammar Course for Language Teachers, Tenses (2)

3. When Jeanette opened the door, I saw that she had been crying.
A) Her eyes were red. B) There were tears running down her face.

4. When John and Barbara entered, we’d already eaten dinner.

A) Dinner was still in progress. B) Dinner was over.

5. I’d already decided to leave the area when the new neighbours moved in.
A) I decided to leave before they came. B) I decided to leave after they came.

6) I decided to leave the area when the new neighbours moved in.
A) I decided to leave before they came. B) I decided to leave because of the
neighbours.

Sources: J. Eastwood, 1999 Oxford Practice Grammar, New Edition, OUP;. M. Vince 1994 Advanced
Language Practice, Heinemann and Foley, M. & D. Hall 2012 My Grammar Lab, Intermediate,
Pearson.