Name ______

Simple Verb Tenses

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

1. (plan) Fred ______to work this Saturday.

2. (attend) My cousins ______church every Sunday.

3. (soar) The jetliner ______above the Pacific all the way to Hawaii.

4. (listen) Jurors must ______carefully to all witnesses in a trial.

5. (think) Laura ______she passed her math class.

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

1. (scratch) The prisoner ______his initials on the wall of his jail cell.

2. (promise) My son ______to wash my car on Saturday.

3. (arrive) The bus ______at the station ten minutes early.

4. (float) Five orange slices ______to the top of the punch bowl.

5. (struggle) The campers ______through the thick brush to reach the river.

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

1. (check) The nurse ______each hospital patient’s blood pressure daily.

2. (blossom) Those fruit trees ______in early spring.

3. (stand) Everyone ______when the judge enters the courtroom. 4. (wear) Johnny ______a dinosaur costume for Halloween.

5. (circle) The instructor ______any errors she finds in your essay. Underline the verb in each sentence. Then write the tense on the line.

Example:

__future__ Economic reform will help the Russian people.

______1. Czars had power in Russia until 1917.

______2. In 1917, revolutionaries overthrew the czar.

______3. Communists became dominant in the new government.

______4. The Communists created the Soviet Union from Russia and its neighbors.

______5. The communists controlled Russia for more than 70 years.

______6. In 1991, the Soviet Union ended.

______7. Russia became a republic.

______8. Communism no longer rules in Russia.

______9. Will the Russians build a democratic republic?

______10. We will learn the answer in the years ahead.

Complete each sentence with the tense of the verb indicated.

1. OPEC _(control)_ the oil production of many countries. (present)

2. In the past, many important oil-producing countries (join) OPEC. (past)

3. Representatives of the member countries _(meet)__ regularly. (present)

4. They _(discuss)__ the levels of oil production. (present)

5. Sometimes they _(decide)__ to lower production. (present) 6. That __(make)___ oil and gas prices increase. (future)

7. For example, in the 1970’s OPEC _(cut)__ production. (past)

8. As a result, gas prices in the United States ___(go)__ up. (past)

9. There _(be)_ long lines of cars at the gas pumps. (past)

10. _____ oil prices _(increase)_ again soon? (future)