EXERCISES ON PERFECT TENSES

Verb Tense Exercise Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Present Perfect

Continuous, and Past Perfect Continuous

Using the words in parentheses, complete the text below with the
appropriate tenses

1. It is already 9:30 PM and I (wait)   here for over an hour. If John

does not get here in the next five minutes, I am going to leave.

2. I was really angry at John yesterday. By the time he finally arrived, I

(wait)   for over an hour. I almost left without him.

3. Did you hear that Ben was fired last month? He (work)   for that

import company for more than ten years and he (work)   in almost

every department. Nobody knew the company like he did.

4. I (see)   many pictures of the pyramids before I went to Egypt.

Pictures of the monuments are very misleading. The pyramids are actually quite

small.

5. Sarah (climb)   the Matterhorn, (sail)   around the world,

and (go)   on safari in Kenya. She is such an adventurous person.

6. Sarah (climb)   the Matterhorn, (sail)   around the world

and (go)   on safari in Kenya by the time she turned twenty-five. She

(experience)   more by that age than most people do in their entire

lives.
7. When Melanie came into the office yesterday, her eyes were red and watery. I

think she (cry)  .

Perfect tenses exercise

Complete the following sentences using appropriate perfect tense forms of the
verbs in the brackets.

1. Where could the horse ......................?

went

have gone

had gone
2. Circumstances ....................... him to leave school when he was just ten.
forced

have forced

were forcing
3. He heard that his brother .......................
arrived

has arrived

had arrived
4. I ....................... my homework.
completed

have completed
had completed
5. He ...................... before I reached his place.
left

have left

had left
6. The children ..................... .. their homework by now.
will finish

will have finished

will be finishing
7. Shakespeare’s plays ..................... into nearly all languages.
have translated

have been translated

were being translated

8. Indians ..................... .. skilled mathematicians for thousands of years.
are

have been

were
9. The boys performed all the tasks we ...................... for them.
have planned

had planned

were planning
10. He forgave his enemies who ....................... him.
have wronged
 had wronged

had been wronged

Put the verbs into the correct form (present perfect simple).

1. I (not / work)   today.

2. We (buy)   a new lamp.

3. We (not / plan)   our holiday yet.

4. Where (be / you)  ?

5. He (write)   five letters.

6. She (not / see)   him for a long time.

7. (be / you)   at school?

8. School (not / start)   yet.

9. (speak / he)   to his boss?

10. No, he (have / not)   the time yet.

Fill in the Past Participle. Click on the numbers, write the verb
and "Check answers".
      1      2                   
3
                            4   
                           
              5               
  6                    7         
        8      9                 
                10        11       
        12                    13   
                           
14 15
                        16         
17
                             
                           
18
                             
 
across: down:
1. to hold 1. to hear
3. to make 2. to loose
6. to have 3. to meet
7. to read 4. to pay
8. to keep 5. to let
10. to ring 6. to hide
12. to hit 7. to run
14. to know 9. to put
16. to leave 10. to rise
17. to grow 11. to give
18. to ride                      12. to hang
13. to get                             
15. to go
 Match the verbs and the past participles

Matching exercise

Match the items on the right to the items on the left.

 Check 
use left
take done
think begun
hold met
eat kept
chat had
teach used
swim paid
send taken
forget eaten
build gotten
sing thought
get chatted
pay taught
have swum
begin forgotten
keep built
leave sent
meet sung
do held