Verb Tenses Revision 1

7/30/2019 Verb Tenses Revision 1

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VERB TENSE REVIEW 1

TIMEEnglish tenses have two elements of meaning: time and aspect. Remember that time is not the same as tense. Do the followingsentences refer to the present, past or future time?Your plane leaves at 10.00In the book the heroine goes back to her youthI wish I knew the answer, but I dont.I could come tomorrow, if you like.

ASPECTThe 3 aspects add another layer of meaning to the action of the verb.

Simple: action seen as a complete whole.

Continuous: action seen as having duration.

Perfect: action seen as completed before another timeThe choice of verb form depends on many factors, and not on a set of rigid grammatical rules.Read Marxs joke. Can you explain it to your partner?

Whats the difference?

I ask my husband to mend this door everyday.I have been asking my husband to mend this door for 2 years.I have asked my husband to mend this door for 2 years.

He always buys me books and CDsHes always buying me books CDs

Ill talk to Sean about it tomorrow.Ill be talking to Sean about it tomorrow.Im going to talk to Sean about it tomorrow.Im talking to Sean about it tomorrowI will have talked to Sean about it by tomorrow.

Will you be using the computer for long?Are you going to be using the computer for long?

Ive read the bookIve been reading the book

My father wore a suit to workMy father was wearing a suit to work

I live with my friendsIm living with my friends

Whos been drinking my beer?Whos drunk my beer?Who drank my beer?

He hit meHe was hitting me

He is sillyHe is being silly

Theyve been married for 20 years.They were married for 20 years.

I come from ScotlandIve come from Scotland.

When Ive talked to him, Ill tell youWhen I talk to him, Ill tell him

The report will be finished by FridayThe report will be finished on FridayThe report will have been finished by Friday

Did you ever meet Toms father?Have you ever met Toms father?

I wish I knew the wayI wish I had known the way

Is it possible to change the verb forms in these sentences from simple to continuous or continuous to simple. What is the change inmeaning? Why is the change sometimes not possible?

1. Everyones very nice to me. I dont know why.2. Ill see Linda later.3. Ive cut my finger. Its really hurting.4. David always gives Pam expensive presents.5. What do you do?6. He fired a gun.7. She was dying.8. Ive been checking my emails.9. The train leaves in five minutes.10. That room is used as a study.

Ive had a perfectly

wonderful evening,

but this wasnt it. Groucho Marx


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Complete the sentences below with either the past perfect or the simple past forms of the verbs in parentheses.

Put the verb in brackets into the correct tense.

Complete this story with the correct past form of the verbs in brackets. You may need to use the passive.

Are these sentences correct? Whats the difference between them?

I have been waiting here for twenty minutes.Im waiting here for twenty minutes.I have waited for twenty minutes.I wait here for twenty minutes.

Ive been writing an essay. Im tired now.Ive written an essay.Ive been writing 3 essays.

Ive been ironing shirts since ten oclock.Ive ironed eight shirts.Ive known the secret for a long time.Ive been knowing the secret for a long time.

Weve been living here since 1992.Weve lived here since 1992.

Ive been living in London for a month.Ive lived in London for 10 years

When I got to the station, everybody had gone homeWhen I got to the station, everybody went homeWhen I got to the station, everybody was going home

The years in office (make) _______________ some difference in John Kennedy. He (be) _______________ olderlooking now. He still (move) _______________ quickly and gracefully, however, and his confidence and humour (not diminish)_______________.

When President Kennedy (announce) _______________ his plans for a trip to Dallas, many members of his staff (beconcerned) _______________ for his safety. The business leaders of Dallas _______________ (be) angry about some hisliberal policies, and (show) _______________ their bitter opposition to the Kennedy Administration during the visit of his aide,Adlai Stevenson, one month earlier. Stevenson (be heckled) _______________ during his speech, and a crowd of pickets

(push) _______________ against him when he (walk) _______________ out of the hall.In spite of his staffs concern, Kennedy (decide) _______________ to make the trip to Dallas. When he (see)

_______________ the large, cheering crowd along the parade route, he (be) _______________ glad that he (decide)_______________ to come. He (wave) _______________ to the crowds and (smile) _______________. Moments later,President Kennedy (be struck) _______________ by an assassins bullet. He (die) ______________ an hour later.

When I (open) _______ the door I (see) ___________ a man on his knees. He clearly (listen) _______________ to our conversationand I (wonder) _______________ how much he (hear) _______________. When I (ask) _______________ him what he (do)______________, he (say) _______________ that he (drop) _______________ a 50p piece outside the door and (look)_______________ for it. I (not see) _______________ any sign of the money, but I (find) _______________ a small notebook andpencil which he probably (drop) _______________ when the door (open) _______________ suddenly. So he (take)_______________ notes of our conversation!. The notes (be) _______________ written in a foreign language, so I (turn)_______________ to the stranger and (ask) _______________ him to translate. But he (pull) _______________ my hat over myeyes and (run) _______________ off down the corridor. By the time I (recover) _ ______________ from the shock he (disappear)_______________ round the corner.Curiously enough, when I (move) _______________ my foot I (find) ______________ that I (stand) _______________ on a 50ppiece. Perhaps he (tell) _______________ the truth after all!

A detective ______________ (walk) along the corridor of a large hotel. Suddenly, he______________ (hear) a womans voice. No! Dont shoot me, John! Then there ______________(be) a shot. The detective ______________ (run) to the room where the shot ______________(come) from and ______________ (burst) in. In one corner ______________ (lie) a dead woman inthe middle of the room ______________ (be) the gun that ______________ (use) to shoot her. Onthe other side of the room ______________ (stand) a postman, a lawyer and an accountant. Thedetective ______________ ( look) at them for a moment, then ______________ (go) up to thepostman ______________ (grab) him and ______________ (say), I am arresting you for murder.The detective ______________ (never see) any of the people in the room before. How______________ (know) that it was the postman who _____________ (murder) the woman?


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Read this account of a real-life rescue and correct any mistakes in the verb forms.

Read the following jokes in pairs. Which tense are the verbs in? Whats your favourite?

The call came through on the emergency phone, the direct link to ambulance control. It was clipped , to the point, the waythey always are. A man was stung by bees in Wymondham.It was only a ten-minute drive from the ambulance base station at Attleborough to Wymondham. On the way the crew, SteveMortley and Dave Money, tried to work out the possibilities, to prepare themselves for what they might to find . They weredeciding the most likely thing was a straightforward bee sting; somebody had panicked and was calling them out, and bynow everybody would be a bit embarrassed when they turned up because he wasnt needing any treatment at all. It oftenhappened.

Dave Money recognized the house when they had arrived , and realized he was knowing the people involved. It was alwaysan unsettling feeling; casualties are normally strangers.He was first out of the ambulance. He snatched up the emergency case and ran down the side of the bungalow. Herecognized Ross Wallace. He stood in the window, pointing urgently to the back of the house and the garden.When he was getting to the corner of the building he could see Peter lying, face down, in the grass. Even from there hecould see the air above his body was thick with bees. He took a step forward and had called out to him, but there was noresponse. He went a few more steps and called again. Now he could see bees around Peters head and more of themswarmed over his body. It looked for the world like the scene of a film from a Hitchcock movie.At that moment the bees turned on him. He wore a short-sleeved shirt. The bees were already on his arms and in his hair. Itwas no time for heroics. He turned and ran.

INTERVIEWER (to 90-year old woman) :

Have you spent all your life on this farm?90-YEAR-OLD WOMAN: Not yet

PEGGY: How did you cometo marry Molly?DAVID: I didnt come tomarry Molly. I came to read

the gas meter

TOM: How disgusting! Ive just founda worm in this apple

KEN: It would have been moredisgusting to find half aworm.

John: Do you everdisagree with yourwife?Peter: Very often,but she doesntknow it.

TEACHER: Pam, tellme the simple presentof the verb towalk.PAM (very slowly) Iwalkyou walk hewalksTEACHER: A bit

faster, please.PAM: She runs, werun, they run

Did you hear about oldTom?No, what happened tohim?He fell dead at the pub dooryesterday.Was he going in or comingout?He was going in.What bad luckAt a wedding reception.

TIM (looking at the bride insurprise) : You dont look tiredat all.BRIDE: Should I? Why?TIM: Well, Mummy just saidthat youd been running afterHenry Smith for six years.

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Verb Tenses Revision 1