Tenses review

1. Match a-f to 1-6 to make sentences.

a. Ive been following his blog since
b. I usually spend the summer at the beach, but this year
c. I wasnt studying yesterday because
d. I did very well in the test because
e. I remember the phone number
f. I left home when I was sixteen and

1. I was helping my friend to fix his car.

2. I moved to England to find work.
3. I heard about it from friend.
4. I had studied hard for several weeks.
5. Im doing some voluntary work for an overseas charity.
6. While I was dialing it.

2. Choose the correct words.

a. Where do you usually go / are you usually going on holiday?
b. They didnt hear / havent heard from him since last July.
c. He drove / was driving to work when he saw / was seeing the accident.
d. I had never experienced / never experienced such a reaction before then.
e. Its developing / develops into a very challenging project.
f. Where did you first learn / have you first learned about this initiative?
g. Sorry Im late. Did you wait / Have you been waiting long?
h. They left / were leaving their jobs in the city and had started / started up their own travel
company.

3. Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Sometimes more than one
answer is possible.

My life ___________________ (change) dramatically in 2010, when I ___________________

(lose) my job as an accountant. My father __________________ (die) the year before, and he
_________________ (leave) me some money. I ____________________ (look) at some travel
magazines and I ____________________ (think) about spending the money on an exotic holiday,
when I _____________________ (hear) a programme on the radio about orphanages in India. I
_________________ (want) to make a difference I thought to myself. Why _______________
(I/dream) about holidays when I can help other people? Since then, I ________________
 (travel) several times to India and I _____________________ (help) to rebuild an orphanage in
Calcutta. It ______________ (be) an amazing experience.

4. Choose the correct sentence endings.

a. By the time he reached the prison gates,

- a large crowd had already gathered to greet him
- a large crowd had already been gathering to greet him

b. When the visitors arrived at the island,

- they had travelled for many days.
- they had been travelling for many days.

c. His head ached and his eyes were sore because,

- he had studied since five oclock in the morning.
- he had been studying since five oclock in the morning.

d. Until I read Mandelas autobiography,

- I hadnt realized that he had spent twenty-seven years in prison.
- I hadnt been realizing that he had spent twenty-seven years in prison.

e. We heard about the riot,

- after we had left the building.
- after we had been leaving the building.

f. They were angry because,

- they had waited for many years.
- they had been waiting for many years.

5. Complete the sentences. Use the past perfect or past perfect continuous form of the verbs
below.

Not finish Work Look for Swim

Climb Not expect Shop

a. She __________________ for thirty minutes before she realized that she couldnt see the shore.
b. He __________________ the speech before the crowd began to cheer.
c. By the time we reached the top of the mountain, we _______________ over 300 metres.
d. She _________________ so many people to come until she arrived and the room was full.
e. He was extremely tired because he _________________ hard all day.
f. How long _________________ (you) the book before you found it?
g. We _________________ for hours by the time we found the gift we wanted to buy.