COMPLEX TENSES
Identify the tense: “He had been waiting for hours before she finally arrived.”
Past Perfect Continuous
Identify type: “If you happen to see him, tell him I called.”
Polite/real conditional with “happen to”
Complete: “She ___ a lot of effort into her homework.”
puts → puts a lot of effort into
Correct: “He plays the guitar.” → Which rule applies?
Musical instruments take ‘the’.
Convert: “They are repairing the road.” → Passive.
“The road is being repaired.”
Complete: “By the end of this year, I ___ (work) here for a decade.”
will have been working
Complete: “Had I known about the traffic, I ___ (leave) earlier.”
would have left
Choose the correct collocation: “He’s looking for a ___ job.” (high / well-paid / strong)
well-paid → a well-paid job
Choose: “She’s ___ only person who knows.”
the
Transform: “They made him apologize.” → Causative with have.
“They had him apologize.”
Correct the error: “I didn’t see him because I’ve just left.”
Should be I had just left
Rewrite the sentence using a mixed conditional (past → present): “Tom didn’t practice for the match, so he is not playing well now.”
If Tom had practiced for the match, he would be playing well now.
Correct the error: “I am interesting in learning new languages.”
I am interested in learning new languages.
Explain: Why is “life is long” used without article?
Uncountable/general concept.
Report: “She said, ‘I can’t come today.’”
She said (that) she couldn’t come that day.
Explain nuance: difference between “I’ve been reading this book” and “I’ve read this book.”
Continuous = ongoing/incomplete; Simple = finished experience
Explain meaning: “If it weren’t for your help, I’d have failed.”
“Without your help” — a conditional of real consequence
Complete: “The report ___ attention to the risks involved.”
draws → The report draws attention to the risks involved.
Correct: “We spent the whole day at the nature.”
Should be in nature (no article).
Change to causative passive: “Someone will clean the windows.”
“I will have the windows cleaned.”
Transform: “She said she was tired because she had been working all night.” → Emphasize cause using perfect participle.
“Having worked all night, she said she was tired.”
Replace with inversion: “If she had known the truth, she would have acted differently.”
“Had she known the truth, she would have acted differently.”
Explain nuance: “take medicine” vs “take a medicine”
take medicine = general action; take a medicine = one specific pill
Explain nuance: “He’s such a fool” vs “He’s so foolish.”
Such a fool = noun phrase emphasis; so foolish = adjective emphasis.
Explain: “It is said that he lives abroad.” → Rewrite using to-infinitive passive.
“He is said to live abroad.”