English Grammar Test : Past Simple / Present Perfect / Present Perfect Continuous / Past Perfect

Complete the sentences with an appropriate form of the verb given. Use the past simple, present perfect, past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses. use each tense at least once in each group of four sentenses. some alternatives are possible.

[simple]

1.    PLAY

a)    We  [input answers="have played"/]  35 matches so far this season, so we're all feeling pretty tired.

b)    After the match, she admitted that she  [input answers="had played"/]  badly.

c)    [input answers="Did"/]  you  [input answers="play"/]  rugby or football at the school you went to?

d)    We  [input answers="had been playing"/]  really well all year, so it came as a big surprise when we were beaten by Chelsey last December

 

2.    MAKE

a)    We  [input answers="made"/]  the right decision in emigrating to Canada in the mid - 1990s.

b)    Henson never thought about retirement. In fact,  he  [input answers="had been making"/]  a documentary film about the indigenous people of Chile when he died.

c)    A: When did you realise that you  [input answers="had made"/]  a mistake in joining the army?
        B: When I was posted to Afganistan.

d)    Korean scientists believe that they  [input answers="have made"/]  a breakthrough in the fight against cancer by developing a technique for containing the disease. They reported their findings in New York this week.

 

3.    EAT

a)    The couple described how they  [input answers="had been eating"/]  in the dining room when the explosion destroyed the hotel.

b)    My mother was a vegetarian, and as children we rarely  [input answers="ate"/]  meat.

c)    I  [input answers="had eaten"/]  prawns a few times before last week without any ill effects, but the ones I had at the restaurant made me very sick indeed.

d)    A: Would you like some of these cherries?
        B: Yes, please. I  [input answers="haven't eaten"/]  any fresh fruit for days.

 

4.    RUN

a)    Over the last year I  [input answers="have run"/]  workshops on creative writing in twelve colleges and universities.

b)    She was breathing hard as if she  [input answers="had been running"/] .

c)    She  [input answers="had run"/]  only two marathons before breaking the world record in the Pan-African Games.

d)    I was late for work so I  [input answers="ran"/]  most of the way.

 

 

[button/]

[/simple]

 

ANSWERS

have played	had played	play	had been playing
made	had been making	had made	have made
had been eating	ate