FUTURE TIME

1.Underline the most suitable future form in each sentence.

a) Why are you going to buy/will you buy a new mountain bike?
b) Don't phone between 8.00 and 9.00. I'll study/I'll be studying then.
c) Look out! That tree will/is going to fall!
d) Let me know as soon as Louise will get/gets there.
e) Great news! Jean and Chris will come/are coming to stay with us.
f) According to this timetable, the bus is going to arrive/arrives at 6.00.
g) Can you call me at 7.00, because I'll leave/I'm leaving tomorrow.
h) If you arrive late at the sale, the best things will go/will have gone.
2. Put each verb in brackets into a suitable future form. More than one answer may be possible.
a) I can't see you on Thursday afternoon. I (visit) ... am visiting our Birmingham branch.
b) George (not be) ____________________back until six. Can I take a message?
c) What (you buy) ______________________with the money you won in the lottery?
d) I don't think you (have) ___________________________any problems at the airport.
e) ______________________________(you take) your dog with you to Scotland?
f) All the hotels are full. Where (we spend) __________________________the night?
g) You'd better not come in July. My mother (stay)______________________ with me then.
h) What time (your plane leave)________________________________________ ?
3. Put each verb in brackets into a suitable future form. More than one answer may be possible.
a) By the time we reach home, the rain (stop) ...will have stopped
b) This time next week I (lie) ___________________________on the beach in Spain.
c) In ten years' time I (work)__________________________ for a different company.
d) If we don't get there by 6.00, Jack (leave) ________________________________
e) In July they (be married) ______________________________for twenty years.
f) In the year 2500 a lot of people (live) ___________________________on the Moon.
g) When you get to the station, I (wait)________________________ for you outside.
h) Don't worry! The plane (land)_______________________________ in a moment.
i) By the time you come home, I (finish)__________________________ the decorating.
j) Come round between eight and nine. We (watch) ____________the match on television
then.
4. Put each verb in brackets into a suitable future form.

Have you ever wondered what exactly (1) ..you will be doing... (you do) in ten years time?
Well, according to computer expert Tom Vincent, computers (2) (soon be able)
_________________to make accurate predictions about the future. Professor Vincent, from
Cambridge, (3) (hold) ____________________a press conference next week to describe the
computer which he calls 'Computafuture'. 'This computer can tell us what life (4) (be)
___________________like, based on data describing past events,' explains Professor Vincent.
For example, Computafuture can predict how many people (5) (live) ________________in a
particular area, or whether there (6) (be) ________________________a lot of rain during a
particular period. Professor Vincent also believes that by the year 2050, computers (7)
(replace) ______________________teachers, and (8) (also do) ____________________most
of the jobs now being done by the police. 'Computers are becoming more intelligent all the
time,' says Professor Vincent. 'Soon they (9) (direct) ___________________traffic and (10)
(teach) ___________________________our children. And telling us about the future.'
5. Put each verb in brackets into a suitable verb form. All sentences refer to future time.
a) When I (see) .see. you tomorrow, I (tell) _____________________you my news.
b) As soon as we (get) ___________________there, we (phone) _______________for a taxi.
c) I (go)_________________ to the library before I (do) _________________the shopping.
d) We (wait) ___________________here until the rain (stop) ___________________
e) I (get) _________________________50 from the bank when it (open) ______________
f) After you (take)___________________ the medicine, you (feel) ______________better.
g) You have to stay until you (finish)_____________________ your work.
h) I (let)_____________________ you know the minute I (hear) ____________the results.
i) Before we (paint) _______________the wall, we (have) _______________a cup of tea.
j) We (climb) _________________over the wall as soon as it (get) ___________dark.

PRESENT TIME
1. Underline the most suitable verb form in each sentence.
a) What sort of work do you do/are you doing?
b) I can't talk now. I cook/I'm cooking the dinner.
c) What shall we have? Do you like/Are you liking fish?
d) Can I borrow this typewriter? Or do you use/are you using it?
e) What do the people here do/are the people here doing in the evenings?
f) Follow that bus. Then you turn/are turning left.
g) A lot of people think that the Sun goes/is going around the Earth.
h) Excuse me, do you read/are you reading your newspaper? Could I borrow it?
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i) Do you wait/Are you waiting for the bus to Newcastle?

j) Andy builds/is building his own house in the country.
2. Put each verb in brackets into either the present simple or the present continuous.
a) There's nobody here, and the door's locked. What (we do) ..do we do... now!
b) What (you look) ______________at? (I wear) ________________the wrong clothes?
c) I (look after) ____________________Jack's dog this weekend. (you want)_____________to take
it for a walk?
d) Who (drive) _____________________the Mercedes that's parked outside?
e) I (still have) _________________a pain in my leg but it (get)_______________ better.
f) Who (Sue dance) ____________________with? That's not her brother, is it?
g) Harry always (look) ___________________untidy! He (wear) ______________dirty jeans.
h) I (write)__________________ in reply to your advertisement in the Daily News.
i) That plant I bought (not grow)_____________ very much. And I (water) ________it every day.
j) Which hotel (you stay)___________________in when you (come) _________________here.
3. Decide whether the verb form in italics refers to present or future time.
a) Where are you staying on Saturday night? ...future.....
b) George retires at the end of next year _____________
c) What are we doing when the guests arrive? _______________
d) I'm trying really hard to understand this book ________________
e) Wait for me here until I get back ____________
f) Sue is leaving in the morning _________________
g) I'm waiting for the bus _____________
h) I'm off now and I'm taking the car _______________
i) They're showing a Woody Allen film on Channel 4 tonight ____________
j) I'm going for a walk this evening_________________________

4. Put each verb in brackets into either the present simple or the present continuous.
Dear Aunt Jean,
I (1) ...am just writing. (just write) how to tell you how much I (2) (appreciate) _____________the
money you sent me, and to tell you how I (3) (get on) ____________in my first term at university
Actually I (4) (really enjoy) __________________myself! I (5) (study) ____________quite hard as
well, but at the moment I (6) (spend)_______________ a lot of time just making friends. I (7) (still
stay) ________________with my friend Sue, and I (8) (look for) _________________somewhere of
my own to live. Only a few of the first-year students (9) (live) __________________in college here,
and I (10) (seem) ________________to be spending a lot of time travelling backwards and
forwards. I (11) (go) _____________________to lectures every morning, and most afternoons I (12)
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(study) ______________________in the library. In fact I (13) (write) _______________-this letter

instead of an essay on Hamletl I (14) (think) _________________I'll buy some new clothes with the
money you sent. Everything (15) (cost) a lot here, and I (16) (save) _______________to buy a
winter coat. It (17) (get)_________________ really cold here in the evenings. I now (18) (know)
_________________some other students and generally speaking we (19) (have) ____________quite
a good time socially! I (20) (also learn) ______________to drive. See you soon.
Katherine
CONSOLIDATION
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word
given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the
word given.
a) There's a party at Mary's house next week.
having

Next week... Mary's having a party at her house.

b) When you phoned me, it was my lunch time.

I

When you phoned me_________________________________________ lunch.

c) I started working here three years ago.

for

I've ____________________________________________three years.

d) Our meeting is tomorrow.

a

We__________________________________________ tomorrow.

e) I haven't had a Chinese meal for ages.

since It's __________________________________________a Chinese meal.
f) David went home before we arrived.
had

When we_____________________________________ home.

g) The arrival time of Helen's flight is 8.00.

at Helen's flight________________________________________ 8.00.
h) Hurry up! We'll get to the theatre after the beginning of the play.
will

By the time we get to the theatre, ______________________________the play begun.

i) Oh no! My wallet is missing.

lost

Oh no! I ________________________wallet.

j) I've only recently started wearing glasses.

wear I__________________________________ recently.
2. Put each word in brackets into a suitable verb form.
Moving house
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I come from a very large family, and recently my parents (1) decided (decide) that they (2)(spend)
___________________long enough living in an overcrowded house in Birmingham. 'We (3)
(move) ________________to the country', my father (4) (announce) _____________one evening. 'I
(5) (sell)_________________ this house, and we (6) (live) _________________on a farm.' So last
week we (7) (load)________________ all our possessions into two hired vans, and for the last few
days we (8) (try)____________________ to organize ourselves in our new home. Yesterday, for
example, my three brothers and I (9) (start) _________________painting the downstairs rooms.
Unfortunately while I (10) (mix) ________________the paint, one of my sisters (11)
(open)_____________ the door. Nobody (12) (tell) ______________her that we (13) (be)
_____________in the room, you

see. So instead of painting the walls, we (14)

(spend)__________________all morning cleaning the paint off the floor. But worse things (15)
(happen)_________________ since then. This morning when I (16) (wake up)_____________,
water (17) (drip) _____________________through the ceiling next to my bed. We (18) (spend)
_____________________-today so far repairing the roof. It's not all bad news, though. The school
in the village nearby (19) (close down) ______________________two years ago, and my parents
(20) (not find) _______________another school for us yet. *
3. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word
given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word
given.
a) Jack left the office before I arrived there. already
When I arrived at the office Jack had already left
b) Do you know how to drive this kind of car? ever
Have _________________________________this kind of car before
c) This is my first visit to Scotland. I
This is the first time _________________________________Scotland
d) During dinner, the phone rang. I
While __________________________________________phone rang
e) Do you have any plans for Saturday evening? doing
What______________________________________Saturday evening?
f) I started this job five years ago. been
I have___________________________________ five years.
g) Is this car yours? you
Do ___________________________________________car?
h) Look at those black clouds! There's rain on the way! to
Look at those black clouds! It's ___________________________rain.
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i) Our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is in June next year. for

By June next year we ___________________________________twenty-five years.
j) I haven't been to the cinema for two months. time
The ________________________________________the cinema was two months ago.
4 .Put each verb in brackets into a suitable verb form.
At the dentist's
I was on time for my dentist's appointment, but the dentist was still busy with another patient, so I
(1) sat. (sit) in the waiting room and (2) (read) ____________________some of the old magazines
lying there. While I (3) (wonder) ___________________whether to leave and come back another
day,

(4)

(notice)

___________________a

magazine

article

about

teeth.

It

(5)

(begin)________________: 'How long is it since you last (6) (go) _______________to the dentist?
(7) (you go)___________________ regularly every six months? Or (8) (you put off)
_________________your visit for the last six years?' Next to the article was a cartoon of a man in a
dentist's

chair.

The

dentist

(9)

(say)____________________:

'I'm

afraid

this

(10)

(hurt)________________.' I (11) (suddenly realise)________________ that my tooth (12) (stop)

__________________aching. But just as I (13) (open) ________________the door to leave, the
dentist's door (14) (open)_____________. 'Next please,' he (15) (call)_____________, as the
previous patient (16) (push) ______________past me. 'Actually I'm not here to see you, I (17)
(wait) ________________for my friend,' I (18) (shout)________________, leaving as rapidly as I
could. (19) (you ever do)________________- this kind of thing? Surely I can't be the only person
who (20) (hate)_______________ the dentist!