General Verb Tenses + Passive, Used to

Present simple vs. present continuous like spend have learn think not understand Do you like surfing the Internet? I ____ what you mean. Could you explain once again please? More and more people ____ English these days. Simon____ at least two hours a day on the phone. I ____ professional footballers get too much money. It’s ridiculous. ____you____ a good time? You look a bit sad. Past simple vs. present perfect simple live buy go eat be study I’ve lived in the same house since I was a child. I ____ French at university before I became a teacher. We ____ a new computer last week. Tom ____my best friend for two years but we still fight sometimes! ____you ever____ a really hot curry? Where ____you____ on your last holiday? Present perfect simple vs. present perfect continuous I’ve seen / been seeing three films this month. How long have you known / have you been knowing Steve? Max has had / has been having an iPod since last year. I’m so tired! I’ve written / been writing ‘thank you’ letters all day. We’ve worked / been working in the garden for hours and it still looks terrible! Mum has made / has been making five cakes for my birthday party. Past simple vs. past continuous While we were eating (eat), the storm started (start). As we ____ (drive) along, they ____ (play) my favourite song on the radio. When Mary ____ (hear) the news, she ____ (cook) dinner. John ____ (leave) the concert while the band ____ (play). Katie ____ (break) a tooth while she ____ (eat) a piece of toast. The boys ____ (play) football when a dog ____ (run) onto the pitch. Past simple vs. past perfect simple When I got (get) home, my parents had already gone (go) to bed. Sally ____ (not have) any lunch because she ____already ____ (eat). I ____ (realise) I ____ (forget) my keys while I was waiting for the bus. Dave ____ (miss) the concert because he ____ (not hear) it was on. Liz and Jack ____ (know) each other for years before they ____ (get) married. When we ____ (arrive), the party ____just ____ (start). Future review: going to, present continuous and will Next Saturday I will be (be) 35. Look at the sky! It ____ (rain) soon. I’ve arranged to see Tom later. We ____ (meet) in town this evening. Do you want to come? I ____ (go) to the shops for you if you’re busy. I really want to buy a car so I ____ (save) some money every month. Mr Brown’s going to the dentist this afternoon, so he ____ (not be) in the office again until tomorrow. The passive: present, past, present perfect and future Is rice grown (grow) in Europe? A lot of new houses ____ (build) in the village since the 1990s. David Beckham ____ (interview) on television last week. The Amazon rainforests ____ (destroy) completely if we don’t take action now. Millions of emails ____ (send) around the world every day. Not enough money ____ (spend) on improving public transport over the last 20 years. be used to vs. used to I used to live (live) in London but now I live in Berlin. I start work at 8 am so I ____ (get up) early now. I ____ (play) tennis regularly but now I’m too lazy. We ____ (spend) time together because we both work from home. Robert ____ (be) very ambitious but now he knows it’s more important to be happy. We have a huge family so I ____ (cook) for lots of people!