2ND BACHILLERATO: REVIEW OF VERB TENSES

TENSE USE KEY WORDS EXAMPLES

frequency adverbs
Habitual actions I often play football.
PRESENT SIMPLE expressions (once a week/
facts He goes to the cinema once a week.
(“-s” third person singular) on Sundays, every day)//
stative verbs Water boils at 100ºC.
(auxiliary do/ does) feelings, likes, dislikes,
future(schedules) I don’t remember his name.
thoughts.

Actions happening now now, at the moment He is writing some e-mails now.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS actions in progress this week, this year// We are studying Bachillerato this year.
(“to be” + V-ing) future plans (fixed next Monday, tonight, They are coming to my birthday party
arrangements) tomorrow next weekend.

PAST SIMPLE yesterday Yesterday we went to the cinema.

(“-ed” or irregular verbs) Finished past actions last week We didn’t come to class last Friday.
(auxiliary “did”) two days ago; when They arrived 20 minutes ago.

We were watching TV at 8 yesterday

Unfinished past action at eight o’clock yesterday While/As I was having a shower, the
PAST CONTINUOUS
interrupted by another action while phone rang.
(was/were + V-ing)
two parallel actions as While I was reading a book my sister was
talking on the phone.

Actions that started in the how long How long have you waited for me?
PRESENT PERFECT
past that continue in the ever Has he ever been to the USA?
(have/has + participle)
present. just We have just finished homework.
en español se suele traducir
Actions that started in the already/ yet My brother hasn’t arrived yet.
como presente o con la
past but which are for/ since I have learnt English for 7 years.
expresión “llevar + gerundio”
connected to the present. recently, lately I haven’t seen him recently.
PAST PERFECT
after, before
(had + past participle) An action that happened After we had had lunch, we washed up.
by the time
pretérito pluscuamperfecto before another past action By the time he arrived, I had already left.
already
en español (había + part)

PRESENT PERFECT how long How long have you been waiting for me?
CONTINUOUS Like the “present perfect” for/ since She has been learning English for 7
(have been / has been + V- but with an idea of progress recently, lately years.
ing) all day long/ all night long I’ve been studying all night long.

When you arrived, I had been studying

PAST PERFECT for hours
Like the “past perfect” but for 2 hours.
CONTINUOUS all morning
with an idea of progress. By the time she stopped for lunch, she
(had been + V-ing) when, before
had been working all morning.

Future tomorrow/ in an hour The exam will start at 10 tomorrow.

FUTURE SIMPLE
predictions I think/ I’m sure I’m sure that you will pass your exams.
(will + infinitive)
spontaneous decisions this evening/ later I’m very tired. I’ll go to bed.

BE GOING TO tomorrow/ in an hour We are going to have a party tomorrow.

intention, plans for the future
(be +going to + infinitive) this evening/ later Look at those black clouds. It’s going to
evidences
next weekend rain.

By the end of November we will have

by the end of…
FUTURE PERFECT Finished action in a time in taken lots of exams.
by this time next…
(will have + participle) the future. In four months we will have finished the
in four months
second term.

at this time tomorrow At this time next month we will be

FUTURE CONTINUOUS Action in progress in the
at this time next… celebrating Christmas.
(will be + V-ing) future
on Friday... In June we will be doing ABAU tests.
REVIEW OF VERB TENSES
Fill in the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets

1. My parents ____________________ (recently/ buy) some property in the south of France. They

____________________ (build) a summer cottage at the moment.

2. Andy and Sally _____________________ (go) to a concert tomorrow night. They

____________________ (look forward to) it all week

3. When he __________________ (found) Microsoft, Bill Gates was only 20 years old. He

_______________________ (already/ write) his first computer programme seven years earlier.

4. They __________________ (stand) in the queue for an hour when the manager ____________

(inform) them that there were no more tickets available.

5. An accident ________________ (occur) near my house last night. A car _________________

(hit) a young man. He ________________ (ride) a bicycle when suddenly someone

_________________ (open) the front door of a car. Several witnesses _________________

(see) the accident. The police _____________________ (question) them all night.

6. Robert ________________ (watch) the news in English every day on TV and it

________________ (help) him with his English.

7. I ________________ (see) a film a week ago, but I _________________ (not like) it very much.

The problem was that I _____________________ (already/ read) the book.

8. Alan _________________ (be) in a car accident yesterday. The other driver _______________

(lose) control of his car because he _________________ (fall) asleep.

9. Last night my neighbour _________________ (knock) on the door. She ______________

(want) my father to move the car because she _______________ (not can) get out of her

parking space.

10. My sister ____________________ (fly) home from London today. Her flight

_________________ (land) in an hour, so I __________________ (leave) home right now to

pick her up at the airport.

11. I _________________ (sleep) when the fire _______________ (break out).

12. She ____________________ (not see) her father since she _______________ (start) to

work in France two years ago.

13. I ________________ (not sleep) at all last night because somebody _________________

(play) very loud music all night long.

14. ______________________ (you/ write) to him tonight? Yes, I always _____________

(write) to him on his birthday. __________________ (you/want) to send him a message?

15. I ___________________ (just/ see) the film “The Da Vinci Code”. ______________ (you/

see) it? No, I _____________. Is it like the book? Well, I ______________ (not know) because I

__________________ (not read) the book.

16. While he _________________ (wait) for the bus, there ____________ (be) a robbery at the

bank. The police ________________ (appear) after the robbers ________________ (run

away), so they __________________ (not catch) them.

17. Yesterday before Peter _________________ (leave) home he _______________ (write) a

note to his girlfriend.

18. He _____________________ (always/ say) that he will mend the window, but he

_________________ (never/ do) it

19. I used to ski when I ______________ (be) at university, but I ______________ (break) a

leg five years ago and I _________________ (not do) any skiing since then.

20. Don’t worry!! I _________________ (give) you a call at 6.30.

21. I ___________________ (not see) him for three years. I wonder where he _____________

(be).

22. By December 6th we ____________________ (finish) the first term exams and we

____________________ (have) a long free weekend.

23. Why ____________________ (she/ learn) Chinese this year? Because she ____________

(work) for a Chinese company at the moment and she ___________________ (work) in the

Beijing office next year.

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense:

Kevin Adams 1)....................(love) trains. He first 2)........................(see) one when he was

four years old and he 3) ..............................(think) it was great. He 4).........................(go)

to a different railway station every week and 5).........................(write down) the engine

number of every train he sees. He 6)............................(do) this since he was eight. By the

time he was fifteen he 7).............................(collect) over 10.000 different engine numbers

in various counties. Once, while he 8).............................(stand) in a station in Cheshire he

saw something very unusual. He 9)............................(wait) for over an hour for a train to

go by when suddenly he 10)..............................(see) a very old steam train coming down

the track. It 11).............................(not/stop) at the station and, as it was passing, Kevin

noticed that all the passengers 12)..............................(wear) old-fashioned clothes. When

he told the station guard about this, the poor man turned pale. He said that no steam train

13)...........................(pass) through that station for years, and that the last one

14)...........................(crash), killing everyone on board.

Fill in the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

One afternoon, while I 1).................................................(walk) in town, I 2)..........................

(see) a poster for a liquor promotion at a club I 3) .......................................(used to, go) to.

They 4) ................................(advertise) a “vodka disco”. Later that week, my friend and I

5).................................(decide) to go to this club to find out what 6) ..............................(go

on). It was a “drink-as-much-vodka-as-you-can” evening, with music and prizes for the

best dancers. After we 7)...............................(go into) the club, a man

8) .............................. (give) each of us a T-shirt and a badge in the shape of a vodka

bottle. To my surprise , all the drinks 9)..................................(be) free.

We 10) ........................................ (not drink) very much at all –one vodka each- but other

young people 11)............................. (drink) heavily all evening. Some of the dancers

12) ................................(look) quite drunk.

We all know that companies 13) .....................................(try) to sell us their products and

they 14) .................................(use) almost any means possible to encourage us to spend

our money. 15) ............................................. (this, mean) they can convince us to buy

anything? Even things that are bad for us?

Think about it! The last time you 16) ......................................(buy) an alcoholic drink,

17)...................................(it, be) because you really wanted it, or because an ad

persuaded you to do so?