Celta Pre-Intake

In each of the following sentences underline the verb or verbs and identify the form/tense used.

E.g. I was living in Italy in 1998.

I was living in Italy in 1998 – past continuous.

We never go to the theatre these days.

Form /Tense
Simple Present

We’re saving up to travel abroad.

Form /Tense
Present Continuous Root

We’ve already been to Europe.

Form /Tense
Present Perfect

We didn’t have enough money to go further.

Form /Tense
Simple Past Root

We had spent all our savings by the end of the summer.

Form /Tense
Past Perfect

We’d been sleeping rough for several weeks when the weather turned colder.

Form /Tense
Past Perfect Past Simple

This year I’ve been awarded a travel scholarship.

Form /Tense
Present Perfect

We’re going to travel for six months in Australia and I’m going to write a thesis on the local dialects.

Form /Tense
Present continuous, Root , Present continuous

I think we’ll buy a camper van.

Form /Tense
Present Simple, Future Simple

By the year 2012 I’ll have completed most of my research.

Form /Tense
Future Perfect

2. What would you say to a student who asked you to explain the difference between these pairs of sentences?

a) I bought a newspaper this morning.
I’ve bought a newspaper this morning.

a) The first sentence: it is already afternoon when the statement is said. The second sentence: it is still morning.

b) She speaks French. She’s speaking French.

b) The first sentence: she is able to speak French.
The second sentence: she is speaking French right now.

c) Did you remember to sign the letter? Do you remember signing the letter?

c) The first question: making sure the letter got signed. The second question: checking if the other person remembers the actual act of signing the letter..

d) He didn’t need to call the doctor. He needn’t have called the doctor