1.

PRESENT TENSES

EXERCISE 1
Underline the correct words.
1. Some kind of fish contain / are containing high levels of dangerous metals.
2. Scientists nowadays slowly begin to understand / are slowly beginning to understand more about
how the brain works / is working.
3. No wine for me! I take / I’m taking antibiotics for an ear infection.
4. I usually enclose / I’m usually enclosing a further copy of our invoice.
5. High wages generally cause / are causing inflation.
6. Our plane is arriving / arrives at 7.00 in the morning.
7. Don’t disturb me! I’m reading / I read the budget estimate.
8. Clients mostly ring / are mostly ringing me for help and advice to find ways of saving their money.
9. The number of people using the Internet grows constantly / is growing constantly.
10. Much of the world’s oil is coming / comes from the Middle East.

EXERCISE 2
Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets into the present simple or present
continuous.
1. I always ................... the documents here and send copies to head office. (file)
2. While she................... accommodation, she ....................... with us. (look for/stay )
3. The market outlook for North America ................... better. (get)
4. ...................your company ...................with the Far East? (deal)
5. He ................... and ...................every other week in New York. (live/spend)
6. ................... anyone ................... Mr Rossi’s calls while she................... at home? (take/work)
7. We ................... to Scotland for the weekend. (go)
8. The production line ................... at weekends. (not work)
9. Sarah ................... to regret not taking the job in France she was offered. (begin)
10. What ................... in the street now? I can’t see anything from here. (happen)

EXERCISE 3
Underline the correct words.
1. This cheese is smelling / smells terrible!
2. What are you doing / do you do? I’m an accountant.
3. This bag weighs / is weighing more than 25 kilos.
4. Technicians report that they have / are having difficulty installing the new computer system.
5. In career terms, having a good degree appears / is appearing to make little difference.

EXERCISE 4
Try to figure out the meaning of the given verb as a state verb and the meaning of the same verb
as an active verb.
1. My boss comes from Spain.
My boss is coming from his business trip to Spain.
2. I see your point of view.
I’m seeing the doctor about my leg tomorrow.
3. I expect you are hungry.
I’m expecting a visit from our headquarters.
EXERCISE 5
Underline the correct words.
1. I work / have worked / am working / have been working here since the end of last year.
2. Your taxi has just arrived / just arrives / is just arriving.
3. We’re enjoying our trip. We have made / make / are making a lot of useful contacts.
4. She is / has been a doctor for ten years.
5. She’s living / has been living / lives with us for the moment.
6. She’s been living / lives / is living / has lived with us since last week.
7. This is the first time I have eaten / eat / I have been eating Chinese food.
8. How long has she written / has she been writing / is she writing / does she write the report?
9. How often have you visited / been visiting / do you visit / are you visiting the Brazilian market?
10. I’ve been waiting / I’m waiting / wait / have waited for an hour! Why are you so late?

EXERCISE 6
Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets into either the present simple, present
continuous, present perfect or present perfect continuous.
1. We .................... (operate) all over Latin America. Recently we .................... (set up) branches in Peru and
Ecuador.
2. This .................... (not look) like the right block. Are you sure we .................... (come) to the right address?
3. I .................... (just meet) Andrew from Sales. .................... you.................... (know) him?
4. I .................... (never speak) to him, but I often .................... (speak) to his assistant on the phone.
5. I .................... (work) for WorldCom now – I .................... (be) there for more than five years. .................... you
............. (know) WorldCom?
6. I .................... (work) for WorldCom since last year, but now I .................... (want) to change job. ....................
you ........................ (hear) of any vacancies?
7. She .................... (send) emails all week but .................... (not place) an order yet.
8. Sales .................... (rise) for three months, which ....................(be) quite unusual.
9. I....................(never be) white-water rafting before. It’s an interesting experience.
10. .................... you .................... (ever be) self-employed?
2. PAST TENSES

EXERCISE 1
Underline the correct words.

1. While I was negotiating / negotiated the contract, my boss was phoning / phoned me to say
that he wanted completely different conditions.
2. When Tim arrived / was arriving, we were telling / told him what had happened.
3. Helen looked down into the busy street. Crowds of people pushed / were pushing along the
pavements, and cars shot / were shooting.
4. It took Renata so long to get to work because they mended / were mending the road and
the traffic moved / was moving very slowly.
5. While Jim painted / was painting the outside, Sarah decorated / was decorating the
bedrooms.
6. While I looked / was looking for my keys, I suddenly remembered I left / had left them at
home.
7. While I had / was having breakfast I looked / was looking at the financial pages to see the
share prices. I saw / was seeing that my original investment grew / had grown by over 40%.
8. We sent / had sent the letter to the customer a week ago, but we didn´t receive / haven´t
received a reply yet.
9. We´re very busy today. The phone didn´t stop / hasn´t stopped ringing since we were
starting / started work this morning.
10. They were cancelling / cancelled the project and I was / has been very disappointed as I
had been working / worked on it for a long time.

EXERCISE 2
Complete the sentences with the best form of the verb in brackets.

1. We never got the chance to interview him. While we ...................... (investigate) the
incident, he ...................... (resign).
2. Everyone ...................... (wait) for the meeting to begin when he ...................... (call) to say
that he ...................... (be) stuck in a traffic jam.
3. I ...................... (find) the missing file while I ......................(look) for some other documents.
4. The last time something like this ...................... (happen), she ...................... (call) a press
conference immediately.
5. I ...................... (send) her an email just to see how things ...................... (go). Meanwhile,
my boss ...................... (already speak) to her boss.
6. Before I ...................... (join) ABN I ...................... (work) as an investment analyst.
7. They ...................... (close) the factory because it ...................... (lose) money for years.
8. I ...................... (never speak) to him, but I ...................... (speak) to his assistant on the
phone yesterday.
9. My eyes...................... (hurt) because I ...................... (look) at the screen all day.
10. The company is doing very well. Last year sales ...................... (go up) by 25%, and so far
this year they ...................... (go up) another 12%.
EXERCISE 3
Fill in the gaps using the verbs bellow in the past simple or past participle form. With
each verb add the other form.

1. She ...................... (seek) compensation in the courts.

2. The tax increase...................... (hit) mainly the poor.
3. Several new industries ...................... (arise) in the town.
4. Buyer decided that they ...................... (bid) higher than they had originally planned.
5. The agreement ...................... (bind) the firm to repay the debt in full within six months.
6. The dot-com bubble ...................... (burst), when the technology heavy NASDAQ Composite
index peaked at 5048.62.
7. The Customer Service Manager ...................... (deal) with all the complaints professionally.
8. The Japanese automobile manufacturers market...................... (shrink) by 1.5% in 2002
reaching 100,000 cars less than in 2001.
9. Shares ...................... (slide) to a 10-year low.
10. The report ...................... (forecast) that prices would rise by 3% next month.
11. The committee ...................... (split) over government subsidies.
12. Use of computers ...................... (spread) rapidly during that period.
13. As prices ...................... (spin) out of control, the company pressured regulators not to
impose price controls.
14. The registrar ...................... (strike) the company off the register for failure to file annual
returns.
15. She ...................... (strive) to find a solution that was acceptable to all.
16. He ...................... (stick) a stamp on the envelope.
17. The business will be ...................... up (wind) or ...................... (sell).
18. Company directors were ...................... (forbid) to comment on the crisis.
19. We ...................... (shake) hands on the deal .
20. The pound has ...................... (sink) to its lowest recorded level against the dollar.
EXERCISE 4
Underline the correct words.

1. When I was at Norcom I used to claim / was claiming all my travel expenses.
2. They were arguing / argued about the merger when he suddenly lost / used to lose his
temper.
3. We used to have / would have an office in Latvia and Lithuania, but then we combined /
were combining all our Baltic operations at our Estonia office.
4. When I used to be / was in London last summer I visited / was visiting a different museum
every day.
5. I used to like / would like tennis, but I don´t play much now.
6. Jack used to have / would have a Mac, but then he would change / changed to a PC.
7. I´m sure that the winters used to be / would be colder when I was a child. I remember that
we would walk / had walked to school in the snow every winter.

EXERCISE 5
Put in a used to do or (be) used to doing. Use the verbs in brackets.

1. I’m terribly nervous. I ......................... (not speak) to a large audience.

2. Lots of trains ......................... (stop) here, but not many do now.
3. It only takes me 40 minutes to get to work since the new road was opened. It
......................... (take) more than an hour.
4. Most visitors to Britain .........................(not drive) on the left.
5. I ......................... (not wear) glasses. It seemed very strange at first.
6. There ......................... (not be) so many soap operas on television.