Examples and exercises on verb tenses

Teacher Carolina Da - On Demand English School

Past
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1) Past Perfect

We use The Past Perfect Tense to express a past action that occurred either before
another activity or before a point of time in the past.

e.g. They had been mugged before you arrive from Uruguay.

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2) Past Perfect Continuous

We use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense to talk about duration of an action in the
past.

e.g. We had been sleeping for 12 hours when he woke us up.

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2) Past simple

When we want to indicate that something happened at a specific time in the past, we
use the simple past tense.

e.g. Did you attend the classes throughout the whole semester?

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3) Past continuous

We use the Past Continuous Tense to say that something was going on around a
particular time in the past.

e.g. We weren't cheating during the test.

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Bonus: Judge if these sentences are grammaticaly correct. If possible, justify.

I was playing in the yard for 45 minutes when a bug bit me. ( ___________ )

I was playing in the yard when a bug but me. ( ______________ )

I have been playing in the yard for 45 minutes when a bug bit me. ( ___________ )

I have been playing in the yard when a bug bit me. ( ______________ )

Bonus:

Is the sentence "I did take a sabbatical year" correct? Justify your answer.

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 Present
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1) Present perfect

e.g. Have your clothes shrunk?

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2) Present perfect continuous

e.g. The children haven't been bothering the adults for a while.

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3) Present simple

We use The Simple Present Tense for an action which goes on everyday or all the time.

e.g. A band of robbers hijacks the load of furs from the truck when they pass on the
bridge.

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4) Present continuous

For something that is happening at the moment of speaking, for something which we
think is temporary.

e.g. They're having Earl Grey tea.

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Bonus: Judge if these sentences are grammaticaly correct. If possible, justify.

I haven't been to Africa last month. ( ___________________)

I haven't been to Africa. ( ___________________)

I went to Africa. ( ___________________)

I went to Africa last month. ( ___________________)

Bonus 2: I've been to Africa vs. I've gone to Africa.

 Future
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1) Future perfect

e.g. Our car will have done 20,000 miles by the end of the year.

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2) Future perfect continuous

e.g. Sam will have been living with us for five years by 2010.

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3) Future simple

*uncertainty
e.g. It will probably rain.

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4) Future continuous

e.g. We won't be playing games next week.

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Bonus: Judge if these sentences are semantically correct. If possible, justify.

They are moving to the new house next week. ( _____________________ )

They are going to learn a new language. ( ___________________)

We will probably have lunch together. ( _______________)

I travel on saturday. ( ____________ )