ELSAC Workout: Grammar 1, Tense Review

ELSAC Workout: Grammar 1, Tense Review
(EN/A/0702.124)
Get Grammar Fit!

review the use of several tenses
practise several tenses

Level: Foundation
Time: approx. 30 mins
Suggested next workout: Grammar 2, Past Simple / Present Perfect Simple
Grammar 3, Passive Voice

Extra practice: https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-tenses.php

Work through the practice activities in order, by clicking on the tabs at the top of the next page. After completing all practices, the Result tab will summarize your workout. Record your results as proof of independent learning and as motivation to repeat the workout and beat your score. Practice makes you fitter!

Material developed by Hebe Wong, Alison Wood.

Strengthen knowledge

Stretch usage

Energize practice

*** All ELSAC Workouts ***

Practice 1 Practice 2.1 Practice 2.2 Practice 2.3 Practice 3 Practice 4 Result

1. How strong are your tenses?

Read the story below, which is about Mrs Wong's lucky escape during a car chase through the streets of Tuen Mun. Stories often use the past simple tense, but this one has several other tenses too. Choose the correct tense option for each verb - the first one has been done as an example. After you have finished this activity, you will find out why the different tenses were used.

If you need help understanding any of the vocabulary in this story, please use a dictionary such as https://www.ldoceonline.com/. Do not use google translate, as it is not always accurate for the context.

Housewife Wong Yuk Ling thanked her lucky stars today after a terrifying scrape with death.

Mrs Wong from Tuen Mun usually ⁽¹⁾ to see her sister in Yuen Long on Wednesday mornings. They always ⁽²⁾ a chat and ⁽³⁾ shopping together.

So, yesterday morning as usual, she ⁽⁴⁾ early and ⁽⁵⁾ down to catch the bus. As she ⁽⁶⁾ to the bus stop, a police drama ⁽⁷⁾ in Tuen Mun centre. Two thieves ⁽⁸⁾ by police as they ⁽⁹⁾ to rob a security van. The thieves ⁽¹⁰⁾ out pistols and ⁽¹¹⁾ to fire at the police as they ⁽¹²⁾ their escape. They ⁽¹³⁾ a passing taxi and ⁽¹⁴⁾ off towards where Mrs Wong ⁽¹⁵⁾ at the bus stop. The police ⁽¹⁶⁾ the thieves and a 120kph car chase through the streets of Tuen Mun ⁽¹⁷⁾ .

As the thieves ⁽¹⁸⁾ the street where Mrs Wong ⁽¹⁹⁾ , the driver ⁽²⁰⁾ control of the vehicle. The car ⁽²¹⁾ a parked motorbike, ⁽²²⁾ on its side and then ⁽²³⁾ through the air - straight towards Mrs Wong! By an incredible coincidence, Mrs Wong ⁽²⁴⁾ her $2 bus fare at that very same moment. As she ⁽²⁵⁾ down to pick it up the thieves' car ⁽²⁶⁾ clean over her head without touching her!

"If I ⁽²⁷⁾ at that moment the car would have hit me," she ⁽²⁸⁾ afterwards. "I ⁽²⁹⁾ I must be the luckiest person alive!"

The thieves ⁽³⁰⁾ after suffering only minor injuries and Mrs Wong ⁽³¹⁾ from hospital after a checkup. She still ⁽³²⁾ the $2 coin when she ⁽³³⁾ last night!

Note your score and move onto Practice 2.1.

2. How flexible are your tenses?

There are probably 12 major tense forms in English. Many tenses are flexible, i.e. they are used for a number of different purposes. How flexible is your use of each tense? Below is a list of the major tenses and their various uses. However, one use is missing in each case. Can you drag the missing use from the stack below each table and drop it into the correct place? Read this part of Mrs Wong's story to help you complete Practice 2.1.

"Mrs Wong from Tuen Mun usually goes to see her sister in Yuen Long on Wednesday mornings. They always have a chat and go shopping together.

So, yesterday morning as usual, she got up early and went down to catch the bus. As she was walking to the bus stop, a police drama was unfolding in Tuen Mun centre."

Practice 2.1

a. Present simple (e.g. I learn) is used to talk about:

general information or facts about people or things
a state, i.e. something which is always true

b. Present continuous (e.g. I am learning) is used to talk about:

a future plan or arrangement

c. Past simple (e.g. I learned) is used to talk about:

a past routine or habit

d. Past continuous (e.g. I was learning) is used to talk about:

a continuous activity happening at a specific time in the past

Missing uses of the tenses in Practice 2.1. Drag and drop to the correct place above.

a continuous action which was happening at the same time as another action (which may not be continuous)

an action which is happening at the moment of speaking

a habitual action or regular routine

an action completed at a specific time in the past

Read this part of Mrs Wong's story to help you complete Practice 2.2.

"If I had been standing at that moment the car would have hit me" she said afterwards. "I think I must be the luckiest person alive!"

Practice 2.2

e. Present perfect simple (e.g. I have learnt) is used to talk about:

an action which happened in a time period that is not yet finished
a state or activity which started in the past and is still important in the present

f. Present perfect continuous (e.g. I have been learning) is used to talk about:

an activity which has recently finished but which still has a present result

g. Past perfect simple (e.g. I had learnt) is used to talk about:

the earlier of two actions which occurred in the past - the second, later (i.e. closer to now) action is usually expressed in the simple past

h. Past perfect continuous (e.g. I had been learning) is used to talk about:

Missing uses of the tenses in Practice 2.2. Drag and drop to the correct place above.

a continuous activity which started in the past and continues up to the present

an action which was in progress for a period of time before another action (in the simple past) happened

an action which happened in the past but has a present result

Practice 2.3

i. Future simple (e.g. I will learn) is used to talk about:

a decision about the future taken at the moment of speaking

j. Future continuous (e.g. I will be learning) is used to talk about:

k. Future perfect simple (e.g. I will have learnt) is used to talk about:

l. Future perfect continuous (e.g. I will have been learning) is used to talk about:

an action which will have been in progress for a specified time at a point of time in the future

Missing uses of the tenses in Practice 2.3. Drag and drop to the correct place above.

an action which will have been completed by a definite point of time in the future

an action which will be in progress by a definite point of time in the future

predictions about future events

Now match the underlined verbs in the sentences on the left with the corresponding name of the tense and its use on the right, by dragging and dropping.

Practice 3

Example sentences

1. I saw her on the bus yesterday.

2. He was walking home when it started to rain.

3. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

4. When she got home, her husband had finished preparing dinner.

5. In August, he'll have been teaching for four years.

6. You've lost a lot of weight, Jane. Are you OK?

7. Your mother's busy. She's making dinner.

8. Don't call me before 8.00pm. I'll be working 'til then.

9. They'd been waiting for an hour before the train arrived.

10. By this time tomorrow, I'll have finished my exams.

11. Be careful, you'll fall!

12. He's been studying Cantonese for years and still can't say very much.

13. I'm attending a meeting at 4pm tomorrow.

14. The students have done three assignments so far this week.

15. Our lecturer usually brings a cup of coffee to the turorials.

Tense and Use

a. present simple for facts

b. present continuous for an action happening at the moment of speaking

c. future continuous for an action which will be in progress at a definite future time

d. past simple for completed action in the past

e. past continuous for a past action happening at the same time as another action

f. past perfect continuous for an action which was in progress for a period of time before another action (in the simple past) happened

g. present perfect continuous for a continuous activity which started in the past and continues up to the present

h. past perfect for an action which happened before another action in the past

i. present perfect simple for an action which happened in the past but has a present result

j. future perfect continuous for an action which will have been in progress for a specified time at a point of time in the future

k. future perfect for an action which will have been completed by a definite point of time in the future

l. future simple for a decision about the future taken at the moment of speaking

m. present simple for a regular routine

n. present continuous for a future plan or arrangement

o. present perfect simple for an action which happened in a time period that is not finished

4. Check your stamina

Verb tenses are used frequently in English and are often crucial to meaning. Therefore, you need stamina to always use them correctly. To check your stamina with verb tenses, try Practice 1 again and see if your score improves. For a more challenging workout, complete Mrs Wong's story below by typing in the correct form of each verb (in brackets) yourself. Some of the verbs are in passive voice. Remember to use the correct spacing, spelling, etc.

Housewife Wong Yuk Ling thanked her lucky stars today after a terrifying scrape with death.

Mrs Wong from Tuen Mun usually ⁽¹⁾ (go) to see her sister in Yuen Long on Wednesday mornings. They always ⁽²⁾ (have) a chat and ⁽³⁾ (go) shopping together.

So, yesterday morning as usual, she ⁽⁴⁾ (get up) early and ⁽⁵⁾ (go) down to catch the bus. As she ⁽⁶⁾ (walk) to the bus stop, a police drama ⁽⁷⁾ (unfold) in Tuen Mun centre. Two thieves ⁽⁸⁾ (catch) by police as they ⁽⁹⁾ (try) to rob a security van. The thieves ⁽¹⁰⁾ (pull) out pistols and ⁽¹¹⁾ (begin) to fire at the police as they ⁽¹²⁾ (make) their escape. They ⁽¹³⁾ (hijack) a passing taxi and ⁽¹⁴⁾ (speed) off towards where Mrs Wong ⁽¹⁵⁾ (wait) at the bus stop. The police ⁽¹⁶⁾ (chase) the thieves and a 120kph car chase through the streets of Tuen Mun ⁽¹⁷⁾ (begin).

As the thieves ⁽¹⁸⁾ (approach) the street where Mrs Wong ⁽¹⁹⁾ (wait), the driver ⁽²⁰⁾ (lose) control of the vehicle. The car ⁽²¹⁾ (hit) a parked motorbike, ⁽²²⁾ (flip) on its side and then ⁽²³⁾ (fly) through the air - straight towards Mrs Wong! By an incredible coincidence, Mrs Wong ⁽²⁴⁾ (drop) her $2 bus fare at that very same moment. As she ⁽²⁵⁾ (bend) down to pick it up the thieves' car ⁽²⁶⁾ (pass) clean over her head without touching her!

"If I ⁽²⁷⁾ (stand) at that moment the car would have hit me," she ⁽²⁸⁾ (say) afterwards. "I ⁽²⁹⁾ (think) I must be the luckiest person alive!"

The thieves ⁽³⁰⁾ (arrest) after suffering only minor injuries and Mrs Wong ⁽³¹⁾ (release) from hospital after a checkup. She still ⁽³²⁾ (clutch) the $2 coin when she ⁽³³⁾ (interview) last night!

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed this workout and improved your grammar fitness. Your results are below. Record your results as proof of independent learning. Take a rest, then repeat this workout to beat your personal best, or try a different one.

Suggested next workout: Grammar 2, Past Simple / Present Perfect Simple

Student's Name (Type in):

Final Result of Grammar 1

Date:

Activity	Correct	Maximum	Percentage
Practice 1	0		0%
Practice 2.1	0		0%
Practice 2.2	0		0%
Practice 2.3	0		0%
Practice 3	0		0%
Practice 4	0		0%
Total Score	0		0%

Time Taken: