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Past Tenses, Used to and Would practice

To do the exercises, click on the pictures. There is a description for every exercise next to the picture.

1) 

girl-with-rosesa) sentence word order                          girl-with-rosesb) used to/ past simple/ past continuous

                 by ESL Athabasca University under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License 

2) 

boy-reading a) all functions of WOULD                        by  http://www.englishclub.com

3)

boy-readinga) True/False reading comprehension

 

Causative form

CAUSATIVE FORM

EXAMPLES

                        ACTIVE                                                                        PASSIVE

I had Mrs. Jones shorten my skirt.                                              I had my skirt shortened.

      (I arranged with Mrs. Jones to                                             ( I arranged for my skirt to be shortened by someone.    

 

      shorten my skirt)                                                                        We don’t know who, so this is like a passive.)

A) The active causative structure – Form

a)      have                somebody                do                 something 

        I had                   my sister               clean               the room

b)      get                   somebody              to do               something  (more informal)

         I got                   my sister              to  clean           the room

 

B) The passive causative structure – Form

 have /get             something               done              

  I had                     my hair                   cut

 We got                    our car                repaired

 

C) Other causative verbs

 a)      make                                somebody          do               something 

The hijackers made                     the pilot              change             the route of the plane .(made=forced)

b)       let                                      somebody           do               something 

 Dad will let                                     me                          drive                  his car     (let=allow)

 

notes

  • Mary got her purse stolen at the metro today. (her purse was stolen by someone.Of course she didn’t ask for it)

                                                                 

                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY CONDITIONAL CLAUSES EXERCISE!

bj04.jpg - Beijing in the smog

(Beijing in the smog)

If you want to practice the Conditionals and learn some facts about pollution do the following exercises.

EXERCISES

  1. When gasoline is burnt to power cars and trucks, it [produce] carbon monoxide.
  2. Carbon monoxide is harmful when it [concentrate] in great amounts.
  3. If the air in a city [get] very polluted, it can make people’s eyes burn.
  4. If smog is frequently formed in a city, it [cause] difficulty in breathing, headaches and even lung cancer.
  5. Some cities that suffer from extreme smog, issue air pollution warnings. If you [live] in Hong Kong, you would often hear official warnings not to go outside or engage in strenuous physical activity (such as running or swimming).
  6. Unfortunately, we only recently discovered how air pollution contributes to global warming. If we [know] about it earlier, we might have taken stricter measures in time.
  7. We [be] happy if air pollution were the only problem.
  8. Water pollution [result] when oil or chemical waste leak into oceans and lakes.
  9. There is great hazard from buried chemical waste, too. If we [not bury] chemical waste underground, we wouldn’t pollute fresh water supplies. This happened in the 1970s to people who lived in the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York. They suffered from extremely high rates of cancer and birth defects. It was discovered that a chemical waste dump had poisoned the area’s water.
  10. If the chemical waste hadn’t poisoned the area’s water, 800 families [not/abandon] their homes.
  11. Unfortunately, pollution wouldn’t be such an issue if we -governments and common people- really [care].

(To check your answers see further down this page.)

What do you do to protect the environment? Do you know how long it takes for some common types of trash to break down? Click here to do the quiz and find out.

dsc02389.jpg - Street Trash

(Street trash)

ANSWERS

  1. produces
  2. concentrates
  3. gets
  4. causes
  5. lived
  6. had known
  7. would be
  8. results
  9. didn’t bury
  10. wouldn’t have abandoned
  11. cared

(Images from pics4learning.com)

CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

Refresh your knowledge on Conditional Clauses  by watching this presentation  (please click on the link below the presentation)

or the following videos 

or just take your time and check the rules below.

Zero Conditional     

Use it to talk about                                                                                         

>things that ALWAYS happen

>general truths rather than specific events.

‘IF’ CLAUSE (CONDITION) MAIN CLAUSE (RESULT) EXPLANATION
If + simple present

 

If I stay under the sun for too long,

If you heat ice,
Unless you have a ticket,

When it rains,

 simple present

 

I get burnt. 

it melts.

you can’t get in.

the streets become slippery.

  

 

(These things 

happen

every time)

NOTE: The order of the clauses is not fixed. The ‘if clause” can be first or second:

  • I get burnt if I stay under the sun for too long.
  • Ice melts if you heat it.
  • You can’t get in unless you have a ticket.
  • The streets become slippery when it rains.

NOTE: ‘Unless’ means ‘if not’.

NOTE: Use “when” instead of “if” to talk about things that happen rather regularly.

NOTE:Use the following structure to give instructions: If + simple present  < >  imperative

  • If you need help with your Maths homework, ask me.

 

1ST  Conditional

Use it to talk about    

>things that will MOST LIKELY happen in the present or future

> specific real events. NOT general truths

‘IF’ CLAUSE (CONDITION) MAIN CLAUSE (RESULT)        EXPLANATION
If + simple present

 

If he stays here any longer,

If you enter the door,

If it rains tomorrow,

Unless you give me the money,

 future simple

 

he will miss the last train back.      (This is a real, possible situation)

the dog will bark.                              (This will most likely happen)

we won’t go swimming.                  (The rain will change our plans)

I will shoot.                                         (This is a real warning)

NOTE: We can use modals instead of future simple in the main clause to express the degree of certainty of the result:

  • If he stays here any longer, he might miss the last train back.
  • If you enter the door, the dog may bark.


2nd   Conditional

Use it to talk about

  > specific UNREAL/HYPOTHETICAL situations in the present or future.

  > the PROBABLE results of these untrue facts.

‘IF’ CLAUSE (CONDITION) MAIN CLAUSE (RESULT) EXPLANATION
If + simple past 

 

 If he stayed here tonight,
If burglars broke into our house, 

If I had the money,

 

 would/could/might + base form 

 

 

we would all enjoy his company. 

the dog would attack them.

 

I could buy a bigger house.

 

  

 

 (But he is not going to stay)

 (This is a hypothesis, not a real present situation)

 

(This is an imaginary situation because

I don’t have the money now)

 

NOTE: We often use   “If I/he/she/it … were” instead of  “If I/he/she/it … was:

  • If he were older, he could get a driving license.

NOTE: We often use   “If I were you…” to give advice:

  • If I were you, I wouldn’t trust him.

 

3rd   Conditional

Use it to talk about 

> specific OPPOSITE TO REALITY situations in the past  

 > the result of these situations that cannot come true anymore                                                                                         

‘IF’ CLAUSE (CONDITION) MAIN CLAUSE (RESULT) EXPLANATION
If + past perfect

 

If he had stayed here that night,


If it hadn’t rained yesterday,

 

If I had had the money then,

 would/could/might + have + past participle

 

he wouldn’t have had an accident.

 

we would have gone swimming.

 

I could have bought that house.

 

(but he didn’t and he had an accident)

(This is an opposite to reality situation because it rained and we didn’t swim)

 

(I didn’t have the money then and as a result I didn’t buy that house) 

 NOTE: We often use the 3rd Conditional to express regret about things that didn’t happen:

  • If I had studied harder, I would have succeeded in the exam.