English Grammar Exercises: Verbs, Tenses, and Sentence Structures
1. Put the verbs in brackets in the present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, present perfect, or past perfect tense:
1) How many magazines have you read (you read) this week?
2) He doesn’t believe (not believe) in aliens, but I think (think) that aliens are watching (watch) us right now.
3) I saw (see) a light in the garden last night, but when I went (go) out the light had already disappeared (already disappear).
4) When we left (leave) the house yesterday, it started (start) to rain.
5) James, what is your sister doing (your sister/ do)? What’s that noise?
2. Complete the sentences with the future simple or going to form:
1) “I’ve forgotten my wallet “ “Don’t worry, I will lend (lend) you some money”.
2) The doctor says that I am going to have (have) a baby!
3) This Summer Harry is going to work (work) for Greenpeace.
4) I can’t sleep. I’m afraid of the dark. It’s OK, I won’t leave (not leave) you alone.
5) In your opinion, where will people live (people live) in the future?
3. Rewrite the sentences using modal verbs:
1) It’s a good idea to take some water if you go walking in the mountains / You should take some water if you go walking in the mountains.
2) Fred has the ability to run a marathon / Fred can run a marathon.
3) It’s unnecessary for them to come to the party if they don’t want to / They don’t have to come to the party if they don’t want to.
4) It was necessary for Gary to clean the house / Gary had to clean the house.
5) It wasn’t a good idea for him to drive drunk / He shouldn’t have driven drunk.
6) She didn’t have the ability to drive until last year / She couldn’t drive until last year.
7) It was unnecessary for her to bring her car / She needn’t have brought her car.
8) It’s possible that she didn’t catch the train / She may not have caught the train.
9) I’m sure Alan didn’t run the race. He’s very unfit / Alan can’t have run the race because he’s very unfit.
10) Perhaps you left your wallet at home / You may have left your wallet at home.
4. Write conditional sentences for these situations:
1) I want a fast car. Maybe I will win the lottery and buy it / If I win the lottery, I will buy a fast car.
2) People watch TV a lot and they don’t read many books / If people didn’t watch so much TV, they would read many books.
3) I think it’s going to rain. If not, we will go for a run / Unless it rains, we will go for a run.
4) I didn’t phone 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 phoned you yesterday.
5) We didn’t bring our cameras, so we didn’t take any photos / If we had brought our cameras, we would have taken some photos.
5. Put these sentences in the reported speech:
1) I didn’t come out last night because I was ill / Simon explained that she hadn’t come out the night before because she had been ill.
2) My sister is going to miss Jake a lot, Rachel / Anna told Rachel that her sister was going to miss Jake a lot.
3) Have you finished the exercise? / The teacher asked me if I had finished the exercise.
4) Don’t worry about the exam? / My friend advised me not to worry about the exam.
6) Please, please don’t leave without me! / Joe begged me not to leave without him.
6. Write these sentences in the passive:
1) They have cancelled the lecture because the lecturer is ill / The lecture has been cancelled because the lecturer is ill.
2) Somebody stole my new computer last week / My new computer was stolen last week.
3) The teacher gave each student a copy of the exam / Each student was given a copy of the exam (by the teacher).
4) The president will announce plans for a new hospital tomorrow / Plans for a new hospital will be announced by the president tomorrow.
5) They are creating a new product for teenagers / A new product is being created for teenagers.
7. Complete with the correct preposition:
1) Nobody will benefit from this situation.
2) If we don’t solve this right now we will be faced with a serious problem.
3) Do you think there is a solution to this problem?
4) He was sentenced to three years in prison.
5) He was arrested for stealing some jewels.
8. 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) The famous writer was on TV last night. His book has become a best-seller / The famous writer, 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 the prize.
5) This is the book. My friend lent it to me / This is the book which my friend lent to me.
9. Write a phrase with the word in capitals to complete the sentences:
1 The criminal decided to go straight and give up his life of crime. STRAIGHT
2 He only stole a T-shirt, so they’ll probably let him off. HOOK
3. How long did the prisoner spend behind bars? BEHIND
4 At first it will be difficult, but in the long run it will become easier. RUN
5 I hate to break in while you are speaking but it’s urgent. IN
10. Complete the text with the words and expressions below. There are more words than you need:
1 (waste) / 2 (landfill) / 3 (dumped) / 4 (carbon footprint) / 5 (large-scale)