Tenses (continuous &
perfect aspects)
perfect aspects)
Open the bracket.
They ... (try) to live up to their renowned father's name, who is held in high esteem as a genius in his sphere, for years now. So far to no avail.
have been trying (Pres. Perf. Contin.)
Which way of describing habits doesn't belong to present ones?
a) She's an environmentally aware person. She will always raise public environmental awareness.
b) He keeps on fighting for civil liberties.
c) They would struggle with illiteracy in poorer countries.
d) We tend to cover two social issues: censorship and ageism
c) They would struggle with illiteracy in poorer countries. ("would" is used to describe past habits)
Open the brackets.
1. If you ... (suffer) a setback, you ... (get) experience anyway. Go ahead!
2. If he ... (be) a loose cannon, we ... (get) on. He's annoying!
3. If I ... (go) with my gut then, I ... (take) advantage of the opportunity last week.
1. If you suffer a setback, you’ll get experience anyway. Go ahead!
2. If he wasn't = weren’t a loose cannon, we would get on.
3. If I had gone with my gut then, I would have taken advantage of the opportunity last week.
Choose the correct option.
1. It was eye-opening having / have / to have this kind of experience.
2. I used to have preconceptions about deal / dealing / to deal with yes-men.
1. It was eye-opening to have ... (infinitive after adj-s)
2. ... preconceptions about dealing ... (gerund after prepositions)
Which option is formal, which one is informal?
There’s the wall which I put gaudy color on.
There’s the wall on which I put gaudy colors.
There’s the wall which I put gaudy color on. (infrml)
There’s the wall on which I put gaudy colors. (frml)
Choose the correct option.
She always mollycoddles / is always mollycoddling her kid! He's never going to learn to deal with life on his own this way.
is always mollycoddling (Pres. Contin. for repeated annoying actions)
Correct the mistakes.
1) She would be way more conscientious.
2) I was prone being solitary.
3) We're incline to be circumspect.
1) ... used to be way ... ("would" is not used with stative verbs)
2) I was prone to being ...
3) We're inclined to be ...
Correct the mistake.
If they hadn’t had a profound effect on me then, I wouldn’t have been mature now.
If they hadn’t had a profound effect on me then, I wouldn’t be mature now. (mixed conditional)
Which pattern should we use after the following verbs: Inf. or Gerund?
agree, help, ask, promise, hope, plan, want, fail, wait, offer, choose, seem, manage, afford, tend, decide, appear, intend, pretend, expect, refuse, prefer ..
Infinitive
Which relative clause is Defining, which one is Non-defining? In which one do we give extra info, which one can be omitted?
a. It's a project which I launched last week.
b. The project, which I launched last week, has already paid off.
a. It's a project which I launched last week. (D, only essential info)
b. The project, which I launched last week, has already paid off. (ND, extra info)
Why is the following structure used here?
I was wondering if I could pore it over before making up my mind.
tentative idea (to avoid being too direct with a request)
Choose the correct preposition.
Nine times off / in / out in / out of / of ten, he's inquisitive.
out of
What's missing?
... for his household name, we wouldn’t have got inside that fashionable bar.
But for his household name, we wouldn’t have got inside that fashionable bar. ("but for" - to say that smth would have happened if smth / smb else had not prevented it)
Open the brackets.
I. a) He seems to ... (forget) names.
b) He seems to ... (forget) why he came there.
II. a) He recalls ... (be) there.
b) He recalls ... (be) there before they got there.
I. a) He seems to forget names.
b) He seems to have forgotten why he came there. (to emphasise that 1 action happened before another – Perfect Infinitive (have + V3))
II. a) He recalls being there.
b) He recalls having been there before they got there. (to emphasise that 1 action happened before another – Perfect Gerund (having + V3))
What's missing?
She's got 4 co-workers, none of ... are locals.
whom
Combine two sentences to look back from a time in the past to a time before that.
He carried out a drug-related offence. He got a conviction and was sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment.
He got a conviction and was sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment because / after he had carried out a drug-related offence.
Rephrase using the given word.
I regularly was a pain in the neck. (ON)
I kept on being a pain in the neck.
What do all the sentences have in common?
a. It's high (=about) time he was brought to justice.
b. He acts as if (=as though) he assessed the consequences.
c. I'd rather (=sooner) you weighed up all the pros and cons.
d. I wish (=if only) I took into consideration that point.
Past Simple is in common. All the structures refer to imaginary, hypothetical situations.
Explain the difference regarding a double meaning verb "regret".
1. I regret to tell you you’re fired.
2. I regret telling him he was fired.
regret + to V (= feel sorry to do smth)
regret + Ving (= have second thoughts about smth already done)
Choose the correct preposition.
The company ran out of money, at / in / for / on / after which point I quit the job.
at
Which one doesn't belong to the group?
1) He seems to have pensioned off his old phone.
2) It's great to have been to such a secluded place.
3) It's so evocative to go back in time with this music. Memories come flooding back to me!
4) He said he was sorry to have gone on the rampage.
3) It's so evocative to go back in time with this music. Memories come flooding back to me!
The others contain PERFECT INFINITIVE to look back to a previous time period.
Complete the sentence.
... a rule, I'm set in my ways.
As a rule
Choose the only option.
If only he verifies / verified / has verified / had verified this information. They won’t hire him now as it’s too late.
If only he had verified this information. They won’t hire him now as it’s too late. (Past Perfect, similar to 3rd conditional)
Which pattern should we use after the following verbs: Inf. or Gerund?
avoid, imagine, finish, mind, suggest, miss, admit, appreciate, consider, practise, risk, involve, deny, recall, keep, understand, remember (=recall), etc.
Gerund
Put the words in the correct order.
might / case / He / first. / get / in which / work / home / late, / I'll
He might work late, in which case I'll get home first.