Underline the correct word or phrase in each sentence.
a) i can't believe it, inspector. you mean that smith stole/has stolen/has been
stealing money from the till all this time!
b) you three boys look very guilty! what did you do/have you done/have you been
doing since i left/have left the room?
c) why on earth didn't you tell/haven't you told me about that loose floorboard? i
tripped/have tripped over it just now and hurt myself.
d) it's a long time since i saw/have seen/have been seeing~your brother paul. what
did he do/has he done/has he been doing lately?
e) i can't believe that you ate/have eaten/have been eating three pizzas already! i
only brought/have only brought them in fifteen minutes ago!
f) don't forget that you didn't see/haven't seen mrs dawson. she has waited/has
been waiting outside since 10.30.
g) what did you think/have you thought of brighton? did you stay/have you stayed
there long?
h) i feel really tired. i weeded/have weeded/have been weeding the garden for the
last three hours and i didn't rest/haven't rested for a single moment.
i) i'm having problems with david. he has called/has been calling me up in the
middle of the night and told/telling me his troubles.
j) how long did you have/have you had/have you been having driving lessons? and
did you take/have you taken/have you been taking your test yet?
2

a) I can't believe it, Inspector. You mean that Smith has been  stealing money from the till all this time!

b) You three boys look very guilty! What have you been  doing since I left the room?

c) Why on earth didn't you tell me about that loose floorboard? I  tripped over it just now and hurt myself.

d) It's a long time since I saw your brother Paul. What  has he been doing lately?

e) I can't believe that you have eaten three pizzas already! I  only brought them in fifteen minutes ago!

f ) Don't forget that you haven't seen Mrs Dawson. She has  been waiting outside since 10.30.

g) What did you think of Brighton? Did you st

ay there long?

h) I feel really tired. I have been weeding the garden for the  last three hours and haven't rested for a single moment.

i) I'm having problems with David. He has been calling me up in the  middle of the night and telling me his troubles.

j) How long have you been having driving lessons? And  have you taken your test yet?

Explanation:

Given examples are exercise for three tenses: past simple, present perfect simple, and present perfect continuous tense.

We use the simple past tense while talking about something that has already happened in the past. This tense emphasizes that the action is finished. A good example is the sentence I  tripped over it just now and hurt myself. We have two actions that took place recently, in the past, and took only a moment. That is when the past simple tense is used, unlike the present continuous tense, which refers to a continuing action that took place in the past.

Usually, the present perfect simple tense tells about:

The sentence And  have you taken your test yet? can serve as a good example of the first listed use of the present perfect simple tense. The adverb yet additionally points to that we are talking about our experience up to this point.

The present perfect simple tense is formed using have/has + the past participle.

The present perfect continuous tense is a tense which shows that an action started in the past and has continued up to the present.

The sentence I have been weeding the garden for the  last three hours and haven't rested for a single moment. is a good example of present perfect continuous tense. The action weeding started in the past (three hours ago) and is still ongoing.

The present perfect continuous tense is formed using has/have + been + present participle

The correct word or phrases are underlined as follows:

a) I can't believe it, Inspector. You mean that Smith stole/has stolen/has been  stealing money from the till all this time!

b) You three boys look very guilty! What did you do/have you done/have you been  doing since I left/have left the room?

c) Why on earth didn't you tell/haven't you told me about that loose floorboard? I  tripped/have tripped over it just now and hurt myself.

d) It's a long time since I saw/have seen/have been seeing~your brother Paul. What  did he do/has he done/has he been doing lately?

e) I can't believe that you ate/have eaten/have been eating three pizzas already! I  only brought/have only brought them in fifteen minutes ago!

f) Don't forget that you didn't see/haven't seen Mrs Dawson. She has waited/has  been waiting outside since 10.30.

g) What did you think/have you thought of Brighton? Did you stay/Have you stayed  there long?

h) I feel really tired. I weeded/have weeded/have been weeding the garden for the  last three hours and I didn't rest/haven't rested for a single moment.

i) I'm having problems with David. He has called/has been calling me up in the  middle of the night and told/telling me his troubles.

j) How long did you have/have you had/have you been having driving lessons? And  did you take/have you taken/have you been taking your test yet?

Explanation:

The correct words and phrases are selected based upon the tenses: that is past simple, present perfect simple, and present perfect continuous tense.

The simple past tense is used when the incidence is already happened in past.

The present preferct simple tense is used when the incident is ongoing in the current time also, or it has happened multiple time till now.  It uses have or has with past participle.

And present perfect continous tense is used to show that the action is started and still going. It uses has or have plus been plus present participle.

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