Put the verbs in brackets into either the Past Simple or the Past Continuous tense
1. As she_________ (to cross) the road, she________ (to slip) and________ (to fall). 2. My tooth_______ (to break) when I________ (to eat) a nut. 3. When I________ (to talk) he (to interrupt) me. 4. When she______ (to pick) up the teapot, the handle____ (to come off). 5. A noise in the room_______ (to attract) his attention. 6. As he______ (to stride) up a village street he_______ (to see) his friend: Robert just_______ (to get) into his car and ________(to say) a few final words to his agent. 7. When he_______ (to get) home his wife________ (to speak) over the telephone. 8. From the lawns nearby he________ (to hear) animated voices. He _________(to look up) and_________ (to see) three men sitting on the lawn; one of them________ (to drink) ale. 9. I just_________ (to say) to Jim that you were somewhat late.10. He________ (to look) up at the pantry ceiling, which_______ (to shake) with the stamping and shuffling of feet on the floor above,_________ (to listen) for a moment to the piano and then_________ (to glance) at the girl, who________ (to sort) tins carefully at the end of a shelf. 11. George was suddenly aware the beautiful girl in the office_________ (to address) him. 12. Constantia still________ (to gaze) at the clock; she couldn't make up her mind if it was fast or slow. 13. When he_______ (to enter), she _________(to fix) her hair. 14. That night Arthur ________(to sleep) hardly at all. He__________________ (to think, to toss, to turn). 15. Val_________ (to like) to look at her husband while he_________ (to read). 16. It was said that Mrs Murphy________ (to begin) to travel. She________ (stay) in many, and the best, hotels, ________(to glance) into the windows of the most exclusive shops, _________(to buy) expensive objects for which she had no need. Incidentally, she ___________(to cross) oceans, __________(to climb) mountains. In the course of her travels, naturally, she___________ (to receive) several proposals of marriage, then suddenly she ________(to grow) bored and________ (return) to her home town. 17. "At last, Kate, I __________(to think) you never______ (to come).
Join the two sentences into one using the Past Perfect Continuous.
1. We were walking for more than three hours. We reached the forest. 2. Peter was listening to the record for 10 minutes. The bell went. 3. The whole family was tidying up for over two hours. The flat looked spick and span. 4. They were driving in the car. 5. They were playing volley-ball for over an hour. It started raining. 6. We were discussing his essay for quarter of an hour. The Dean came in. 7. The teacher was explaining the new rule. We understood it at last. 8. We were making arrangements for a fancy dress party. Everything was ready.
9. Rose was dusting the furniture. It looked shining and spotless. 10 She was staying in bed for a week. She felt better.
A sad story
| Past Simple | Past Continuous |
| · ran up | · was waiting |
| · killed | · was watering the plants |
| · arrived | · were leaving |
| · put up | · was playing |
| · called | · were having tea |
| · rang | |
| · rescued | |
| · ran him over | |
| · couldn't get down | |
| · invited them for tea | |
| · tried to tempt him down |
 |
Look at the pictures. They tell the unfortunate story of Mrs Maisie Taylor and her cat, Billy. The verbs and phrases opposite tell the events of the story but they are not in the right order. Put the verb forms into the gaps in the text below in the correct order.
Yesterday evening, Mrs Taylor _______in her garden, while her cat, Billy_____ near her. Suddenly, Billy________ a tree. Mrs Taylor_______ toBilly, but he _______, so she________the Fire Brigade. While she________for them to arrive, she________ with some fish.The Fire Brigade eventually_______, ________their ladder and________ Billy. Mrs Taylor was so pleased that she ________. While they_________, they didn't see Billy gooutside again, and ten minutes later, as they________ , they________ and unfortunately they_________ him.
5. Join the two sentences using“hardly…when”, “scarcely…when”, “no sooner… than”.
1. Nick finished fixing the radio set. An interesting programme began.
2. She laid the table. Her friends came.
3. They collected the dirty linen. They began to do the washing.
4. Granny did the washing-up. She put the plates on the plate-rack.
5. Mother aired the rooms. The children came from the walk.
6. Jane left for the week-end to see her parents. George faced cooking difficulties.
7. They lost the cat. They found him in the cupboard.
8. They bought the new furniture. The prices increased.
9. She told him the news. He grew pale.
6. Join the two sentences using after, before, till, until, when.
1. The children returned from school. Mother cooked dinner.2. We listened to the text. We went to the lab to have our speech recorded. 3. They went for a walk. It stopped raining. 4. I waited. She did the room. 5. The children fell asleep. The parents came back from the pictures. 6. The teacher explained the new material. She gave us an exercise to prepare. 7. I came home. It grew dark. 8. Nick left for school. Nelly got down to tidying up the flat. 9. He waited. His wife laid the table for dinner. 10. Barbara cleaned the windows. Michael sealed them up. 11. Stan read these books. He became more proficient in the subject.
7. Underline the correct tense in the story.
It was ten o'clock in the evening. Peter (a) sat/had sat down on his sofa and thought about the day. What a busy day it (b) was/had been! This was his first night in his own flat. He (c) lived/had lived his entire life in the family home, and now for the first time, he (d) was/had been on his own.
He sat surrounded by boxes that they (e) didn't manage/hadn't managed to unpack during the day. It (f) took/had taken months to get all his things together. His mother (g) was/had been very generous, buying him things like towels and mugs.
He (h) went/had gone into the kitchen and (i) got/had got a beer from the fridge. He suddenly (j) felt/had felt very tired and yawned. No wonder he (k) was/had been tired! He (1) was/had been up since six o'clock in the morning. He (m) decided/had decided to finish his beer and go to bed.
Translate into English.
1. Уже смеркалось. Мы боялись, что они вообще не приедут.
2. Стояла поздняя осень. Все листья уже опали.
3. Она постоянно занималась музыкой в прошлом году.
4. Как только ей позвонили, она сразу же ушла.
5. Павел сказал, что его друзья приезжают завтра.
6. Они ехали несколько часов, пока не оказались в маленькой деревушке.
7. К январю мы уже сдали все экзамены.
8. Павел, который громко смеялся, вдруг замолчал.
9. Он обычно обедал со своими друзьями в ресторане.
10. Когда Вы были здесь последний раз?
11. Она взглянула на часы. Она прождала уже более получаса.
9. Work with your partner. Listen to the text and question your partner about it using different past tenses.
Jim was too late. Sitting in the drawing-room when he got home, his wife was doing nothing at all. No book, no chessmen, not even a gramophone records – she was sitting although she had been there for hours, staring out of the lighted room into the January night. She was waiting for Jim. She began to speak before he had taken his coat off.
After Jim had greeted her he settled down by the side of the fire. He tried to speak in the tone that she would trust. She trusted him as she had done before. She didn’t refer to what had been said the evening before; instead she was talking about Jim’s arrangements for the coming night. Gilbert Cook had invited him to dinner. Then Jim put his arm round her shoulders and led her into the dining-room. His wife was seriously ill.