Grammar: Tense revision: present and past p. 11

Complete the messages with the present simple or continuous of the verbs in brackets. Use the contracted form where possible.

Rosie: Hi! What ________ (be) you up to this morning?
Blake: Hey Rosie! I'm on the bus right now. I ________ (go) into town.
Rosie: Do you ________ (have) time to grab a coffee?
Blake: I'd love to but I ________ (not know) if I can make it. My brother is with me. We ________ (buy) clothes to wear at my sister's wedding.
Rosie: Ooh, that's cool!
Blake: Yes, but she ________ (always tell) us we ________ (not do) enough to prepare for the event.
Rosie: Tell you what: I'll call you around 12 p.m. to see if we can meet up.

Find one mistake in each sentence.

1 Past actions that happen one after the other are expressed with the past continuous.
2 We were having lunch as the taxi arrived.
3 When the past simple and continuous are used in the same sentence, the past simple is used with an action that continues the one expressed with the past continuous.
4 While is the typical signal words to use with the past simple.
5 Two actions happening at the same time are both expressed with the past simple.

Rewrite the sentences using the words given in brackets.
1 Keira and I were walking along the river on our first date when we decided to go on a boat ride.
(while)
Keira and I decided to go on a boat ride ________ along the river on our first date.
2 My sister and I had a lot of fun when my parents travelled and left us at our grandparents.
(travelling)
________, my sister and I had a lot of fun at our grandparents.
3 While we were dancing, I decided to kiss Liam. (when)
We were dancing ________ Liam.
4 Yesterday, it was very rainy. (raining)
It ________ all the time, yesterday.
5 My Uncle Jim met his future wife during his flight to Australia. (was)
________, my Uncle Jim met his future wife.

Complete Fred's text about his best friend Kori with the correct present or past tense of the verbs in brackets. Then think about the text. Do you also have a soulmate? How did you meet? Make any changes you need and use it for your oral production.

How we became soulmates
When I was about six years old, my mum and I ________ (clean up) in the garage when I suddenly ________ (find) her skateboard. My mum didn't want me to use it. She ________ (always / tell) me not to do this and that, but I ________ (decide) to ask her to take me to the nearby skate park anyway. Surprisingly, she ________ (accept).
At the park, some boys ________ (make) my mum and I feel nervous. They ________ (shout) at each other. As one of them ________ (come) towards us, my mother ________ (step in) to protect me. We were both amazed when the boy ________ (offer) to teach me to skate.
Kori – that's the boy's name – and I have become soulmates. Skating is what bound us together but that's not all we have in common. We ________ (love) nature and right now we ________ (camp) with a group of friends. Whenever one of us ________ (feel) sad, we just ________ (look) into each other's eyes and know we are there for each other.