PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS

1. Put a tick () next to the correct forms of the simple past and cross out those which are not correct. walked taked drank gave met won

drinked wrote asked meeted passed cryed

went cooked flew took stoped comed

played gived made left followed drove

writed spent sended found sent bought

swam finded buyed winned eated brought

2. Choose the correct sentence from each pair:

a. What did you do in the summer?

What did you did in the summer?

b. Did you went on your own?

Did you go on your own?

c. I didnt take any photo.

I didnt took any photo.

d. She didnt heard him.

She didnt hear him.

e. George wasnt reading a newspaper.

George wasnt read a newspaper.

f. Did Barbara was sending a letter?

Was Barbara sending a letter?

g. The police arrived while I was having breakfast.

The police was arriving while I had breakfast.

h. My father was cooking dinner when he burnt his fingers.

My father cooked dinner when he was burning his fingers.

3. Make sentences using the correct form of the Past Simple or Continuous.

a. When/you/finish/your exams? _______________________________________________

b. I/wait/for an hour, but he/not/phone. _________________________________________

c. You/watch/the news on TV last night? _________________________________________

d. What/you/do/at three oclock? ______________________________________________

e. He/talk/on the phone when/I/arrive. __________________________________________

4. Complete these sentences using the Past Simple or the Past continuous of the verbs. a. Beethoven ___________ (write) nine symphonies; he _____________ (write) another symphony

when he ____________ (die).

b. Last Saturday Tom ____________ (want) to make two salads. He ___________ (make) the first

one in five minutes. He _____________ (make) the second one when his guests _____________

(arrive), and they ______________ (help) him to finish it.

c. The artist Gaudi _____________ (design) several houses in Barcelona, Spain. He ______________

(work) on a church when he _______________ (die).

d. Last month a bank robber ______________ (escape) while the police _____________ (take) him

to prison. Later they ______________ (catch) him again, and this time they ____________ (lock)

him up without any problem.

e. John Lennon _____________ (sing) and ______________ (play) on many records with the

Beatles. After that he ______________ (record) several songs without the Beatles. He

_______________ (prepare) a new record when Marl Chapman _____________ (shoot) him.

PAST SIMPLE VS PRESENT PERFECT

1. The following sentences may seem similar, but there are slight differences in their meaning.

Underline the differences in each pair of sentences.

a. Flight 206 has landed.

Flight 206 landed at one oclock.

b. Ive lived there for four years.

I lived there for four years.

c. Youve played the saxophone every night.

You played the saxophone every night,

d. Ive spent this morning writing an essay.

I spent this morning writing an essay.

e. Ive been to Los Angeles but not to New York.

I went to Los Angeles but not to New York.

2. Complete the conversation by choosing the correct form in brackets.

Sarah: __________________ (Have you ever been/ Did you ever go) to the United States?

Jim: Yes, _________________ (Ive been to/I went) to California last year.

Sarah: ___________________ (Have you liked/ Did you like) it?

Jim: Yes, ____________________ (Ive enjoyed/ I enjoyed) the trip a lot.

Sarah: What _______________ (have you done/ did you do) there?

Jim: ___________________ (Ive visited/ I visited) Hollywood, Disneyland and San Francisco.

___________________ (Have you been/ Did you go) to California, Sarah?

Sarah: No, but ____________________ (Ive booked/ I booked) a holiday there. Ive got my ticket and

Im going next week.

3. Complete this paragraph about the London Underground by putting in the Present Perfect or

Past Simple forms of the verbs in brackets.

THE LONDON UNDERGROUND

London ______________ (have) an underground train system since the nineteenth century. The London

Underground ______________ (start) in 1863, when Victorian engineers and workers ________________

(build) the Metropolitan railway. This railway line ______________ (go) from Paddington Station to

Farringdon Street Station, and steam engines ________________ (pull) the coaches. Eleven more lines

_______________ (open) since then. The worlds first underground electric railway ______________ (open)

in 1890. This line ________________ (go) from the City of London to Stockwell in South London. The most

modern line is the Jubilee line, which _________________ (open) in 1979. Since the London Underground

_______________ (begin), many other cities, such as New York and Moscow, ________________ (build)

their own systems.