Guide for Mixed Tense Exercises

Part 1: The Basics

Learning the basics of forming a verb tense is usually easy, and so is using that tense
by itself. However, when the tenses are mixed together in grammar or writing, there can be a lot
of confusion.

Here are some tips to remember:

1. Look for the use of time words. A chart is given below.

2. Remember the purpose(s) of each tense.
3. Look at the context. There may not be any time words in the sentence, but the
surrounding sentences will give a clue as to what should come next.

Tense Time words Examples

Simple present Every day, month, week, year; George jogs three miles every day.
always; sometimes; never; frequently Mary always has salad for lunch.
I sometimes go to New York City.
Simple past Yesterday; # years, weeks, months, Tom went to Los Angeles yesterday.
days, hours ago; in (past year); last Charles Lindbergh flew to Paris in
(month, week, year) 1927.
Simple future Tomorrow; in (future year, month, Mary will go to Hawaii in two
week); on (future day); next (month, weeks.
week, year, name of day); # days, Ed will drive to Toronto next
months, weeks, years from now; this Saturday.
month, week, afternoon, year; George will paint his house six days
someday from now.
Present Now; right now; at this moment You are reading sentences about
Progressive verb tenses right now.
Many students are taking calculus
this semester.
Future At this time tomorrow At this time tomorrow, I will be
progressive cleaning my house.
Present For; since; yet; never; always; so far; Sam has visited Hawaii many times.
Perfect # times; many times; lately; recently; Paul has been here for six hours.
already Yoko has known Mary since 1994.
I have already written a letter to the
president.
Present perfect For; since; lately; recently Rita has been jogging for two hours.
progressive

Part 2: Time Clauses

Some verb tenses often work with time clauses.
Sentences with time clauses have two parts:

1. The clause with the time word

2. The main clause
Remember the following tips:

➢ The part with the time word is always dependent.

➢ Most time words work with more than one tense.
➢ In the present, past, and future perfect progressive tenses, for is not always necessary, but
it is frequently used.
➢ *Before and after do not require the use of the past perfect, but it is possible.

Time Clause Patterns

Time Time clause Main clause tense Examples

word tense
While Past Simple past (short While Anna was sleeping, a
progressive action) plane flew over her house.

Past While George was frying fish, Rita was

progressive (action at peeling potatoes.
same time)
Present Future progressive While Anna is working tomorrow, her
progressive sister will be painting the living room.
Before Simple Simple future Before Karen leaves for work, she will
present roller-skate around her house three
times.
Simple past Simple past or past Before Karen left for work, she (had)
perfect* roller-skated around her house three
times.
After Simple Simple future After Karen takes her motorcycle to the
present mechanic, he will take a look at it.
Simple past or Simple past After Karen took [had taken] her
past perfect* motorcycle to the mechanic,
she drove to work in a rented car.
When Simple Simple future When John finishes this semester,
present he will take a trip to France.
Simple past Simple past When the sun rose, John got up.
Past progressive When the pizza arrived, John was
checking his e-mail.
Past perfect When John’s friend came to pick him
up, he had already checked his
answering machine for messages.
Past perfect When John got home, his brother had
progressive been surfing the web for five hours.
Until Simple Simple future Until Mary finishes her scuba-diving
present course, she won’t take the advanced
diving class.
Simple past Past perfect Until Mary lost $50,000 in Las Vegas,
she hadn’t realized that she had a
gambling problem.

As soon Simple Simple future As soon as I get home, I will take a

as present nap.
 Simple past Simple past As soon as I got home, I took a nap.
Whenever Simple Simple present Whenever Sam goes to Canada, he
present always visits Niagara Falls.
The first Simple past Simple past The first time that Ingrid visited New
time York, she went to the Empire State
Building.

The last Simple past Simple past The last time that
time Nancy played hockey, she scored three
goals.
The next Simple Simple future The next time I buy new sneakers,
time present I will walk around in them first.

By the Simple Future perfect By the time the plane arrives, we will
time present have completed the crossword puzzle.
Simple past Past perfect By the time John finished his essay,
most of the class had left.
Since Simple past Present perfect Tom has been unhappy since his
(time) team lost the championship.

Part 3: Other Uses

Some time words may go with more than one tense. In this case, meaning and
context become especially important. The time given is relative to the present moment—it
may be present, past, or future, depending on when the event happened, is happening, or
will happen.
The story below will demonstrate this. Present time is in bold type, like this. Future
time is in italics, like this. Past time is in normal type.

Theresa’s Day
Today is Saturday. Theresa had been sleeping for eight hours when the doorbell
rang. She got up to answer the door, but no one was there. The sound of the doorbell had also
woken up Maria, Theresa’s roommate. Because neither of them could go back to sleep, they
decided to have breakfast. While Theresa was making breakfast, Maria was taking a
shower. While they were eating their breakfast, they heard a loud crash from outside. They ran
to the window and looked outside. Their friend, Tom, had been skateboarding, but he had lost
control of his skateboard and crashed into the garbage cans. Theresa and Maria ran outside to
see how Tom was. He had a few scrapes and bruises, and he was wearing a banana peel and
broken eggshells on his head. Theresa and Maria gave him some antiseptic and bandages. They
wanted him to go to the nurse, but he said he was all right.
After that, Theresa and Maria went back inside, finished their breakfast and watched a
tape. Now it is 12:00, and Theresa is eating lunch. She is eating a salad. Lately, she has
been trying to eat more leafy green vegetables. Everyone tells her this will make her
healthier, but it’s not easy for her because it’s hard to for her to find leafy green vegetables
that she likes. She will be doing many things this afternoon and evening. At 1:30, she will go
to the swimming pool and swim some laps. She practices swimming four times a week
because she is on the swim team. She has been on the swim team for two years. When she
finishes swimming, she will take a shower and get ready for her evening. First, she will eat
dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Next, she plans to watch Citizen Kane with Maria, Tom, and Ed,
Tom’s brother. By the time the movie ends, they will have seen it sixteen times. After the movie,
they will go to a local dance club. By midnight, they will have been dancing for three hours. At
3 a.m., Theresa and Maria will come home and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be less busy.

Theresa’s Day
Time Main and non-time clause(s) Time clause
12:00 a.m.-11:59 Today is Saturday.
p.m.
1 a.m-9 a.m. Theresa had been sleeping for eight hours.
9 a.m. (When) the doorbell rang.
9:01 a.m. Theresa got out of bed to answer the door,
but there was no one there.
9:15 a.m-9: 30 She was making breakfast (While) her roommate was
a.m. taking a shower.
9:31 a.m.-9: 45 (While) they were eating
a.m. their breakfast
9:45 a.m. They heard a loud crash from outside.
Before 9:45 a.m. Their friend, Tom, had been skateboarding
9:45 a.m. (But) he had lost control of his skateboard
and crashed into the garbage cans.
[Link] a.m. They ran to the window and looked outside.
[Link] a.m. Theresa and Maria ran outside to see how
Tom was.
9:47 a.m. He had a few scrapes and bruises, and he
was wearing a banana peel and broken
eggshells on his head.
9:50 a.m. Theresa and Maria gave him some
antiseptic and bandages.
9:55 a.m. They wanted him to go to the nurse, but he
said he was all right.
10:00-11:59 After that, Theresa and Maria went back
inside, finished their breakfast, and watched
a tape.
12 p.m. Theresa is eating lunch.
She is eating a salad.
Before now and Lately, she has been trying to eat more
up to the present leafy green vegetables.
moment
General truth Everyone tells her this will make her
with a future healthier, but it’s not easy for her because
prediction it’s hard for her to find leafy green
vegetables that she likes.
1 p.m. – 12 a.m. She will be doing many things this
afternoon and evening.
1:30 p.m. At 1:30, she will go to the swimming pool
and swim some laps.
Habit She practices swimming four times a
week because she is on the swim team.
Situation that She has been on the swim team for two
began in the past years.
and continues to
the present
moment
3:00-4:30 p.m. She will take a shower and get ready for (when) she finishes
her evening swimming
6:00 p.m. She will eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
7:00-8:30 She plans to watch Citizen Kane with
Maria, Tom, and Ed, Tom’s brother.
They will have seen the movie sixteen times (by the time) it ends.
9:00 They will go to a local dance club.
12 a.m. By midnight, they will have been dancing
for three hours.
3 a.m. Theresa and Maria will come home and go
to sleep.
Tomorrow Tomorrow will be less busy.