English Grammar Exercises: Tenses, Modals, Conditionals, and More

Posted on May 13, 2024 in English

English Grammar Exercises

★1. Verb Tenses (1 point)

Put the verbs in brackets in the present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, present perfect, or past perfect tense.

  1. How many times has he seen (he/see) this week?
  2. He doesn’t like (not like) horror films, but I think (think) he is watching (watch) one right now.
  3. I heard (hear) a noise in the kitchen last night, but when I went (go) there, the noise had already stopped (already/stop).
  4. When they were driving (drive) home yesterday, an animal suddenly jumped (jump) into the road in front of them.
  5. James, what are your friends doing (your friends/do)? What’s that noise?

★2. Future Simple and “Going To” (0.5 points)

Complete the sentences with the future simple or “going to” form.

  1. “I’ve forgotten my wallet.” “Don’t worry, I will pay (pay) for the drinks.”
  2. The teacher says that I will do (do) something important one day.
  3. This summer Jane is going to visit (visit) some friends in Canada.
  4. “I can’t open this jar. I’m not strong enough.” “It’s OK, I will open (open) it for you.”
  5. In your opinion, will robots be (robots/be) more intelligent than humans in the future?

★3. Modal Verbs (2 points)

Rewrite the sentences using modal verbs.

  1. I advise you to take some blankets if you plan to sleep outdoors. You should take some blankets if you plan to sleep outdoors.
  2. Her children have the ability to play the piano. Her children can play the piano.
  3. It’s unnecessary for her to bring food to the party if she doesn’t want to. She needn’t bring food to the party if she doesn’t want to.
  4. It was necessary for us to take the bus to arrive in time for the interview. We had to take the bus to arrive in time for the interview.
  5. It wasn’t a good idea for her to drive so fast. She shouldn’t have driven so fast.
  6. The baby didn’t have the ability to walk until last month. The baby couldn’t walk until last month.
  7. It is possible that they will come today. They may come today.
  8. It’s possible that she didn’t catch the train. She might not have caught the train.
  9. I’m sure she didn’t buy the expensive dress. She didn’t have enough money. She couldn’t have bought the expensive dress.
  10. Perhaps he forgot our date. He may have forgotten our date.

★4. Conditional Sentences (1 point)

Write conditional sentences for these situations.

  1. Maybe I will win the lottery. In that case, I’ll travel around the world. If I win the lottery, I will travel around the world.
  2. Plants need to be watered or they will die. If you don’t water plants, they die.
  3. I think she is going to phone us. If not, I will get very angry. (use unless) I will get very angry unless she phones us.
  4. I didn’t visit you yesterday because I didn’t know you were back from your holidays. If I had known you were back from your holidays, I would have visited you.
  5. We didn’t bring our tickets, so we didn’t see the film. If we had brought our tickets, we would have seen the film.

★5. Reported Speech (1 point)

Put these sentences in reported speech.

  1. ‘I didn’t meet my friends yesterday because I arrived too late.’ Simon explained that he hadn’t met his friends the previous day because he had arrived too late.
  2. ‘I’m going to finish my homework, Mark.’ Anna told Mark that she was going to finish her homework.
  3. ‘Have you brought your textbooks?’ The teacher asked the students if they had brought their textbooks.
  4. ‘Don’t stay out until late.’ My mom advised me not to stay out until late.
  5. ‘Please, please buy me a new tablet, dad!’ Joe begged his father to buy him a new tablet.

★6. Passive Voice (1 point)

Write these sentences in the passive (don’t include the agent where it is not necessary).

  1. They have taken the paintings to another museum. The paintings have been taken to another museum.
  2. Somebody saw the burglar breaking the window. The burglar was seen breaking the window.
  3. A nice old man showed us the way to the park. We were shown the way to the park by a nice old man.
  4. The teacher will tell us our marks tomorrow. We will be told our marks tomorrow.
  5. They are producing a new anti-mosquito lotion. A new anti-mosquito lotion is being produced.

★7. Relative Clauses (1 point)

Write defining or non-defining relative clauses.

  1. My boyfriend lives in Madrid. He is a journalist. My boyfriend, who lives in Madrid, is a journalist.
  2. That’s the disco. I met my boyfriend there. That’s the disco where I met my boyfriend.
  3. Paul Auster was on TV last night. His book has become a best-seller. Paul Auster, whose book has become a best-seller, was on TV last night.
  4. I can remember that special moment. I won a prize then. I can remember that special moment when I won a prize.
  5. This is the book. My friend lent it to me. This is the book which my friend lent me.

★8. Vocabulary (0.5 points)

Complete the sentences with a suitable word from below. There are more words than you need.

run – mend – lay – red-handed – thick – restriction – cover

1. There were fingerprints all over the crime scene. The thieves didn’t cover their tracks.

2. It’s time to lay down the law and punish people who arrive late.

3. He gave up a life of crime and decided to mend his ways.

4. The police have already caught two of the bank robbers, but the other one is still on the run

5.  Jen and Paula are always together. They’re as thick as thieves.

★9. Complete the sentences with a suitable word from below. There are more words than you need. (0.5 points) eco-friendly – soil – thaw – greenhouse effect – landfill – leaked – waste – hazardous- crops – melted – carbon footprint – average

1. I took the ice-cream out of the freezer to thaw

2. The average world temperatures will continue to rise.

3. They say that factory emits hazardous gases.

4. The soil here is not good for agriculture. Nothing grows here.

5. The snow melted faster than we expected, so we couldn’t ski that day