Ege Academy Blog

ADD UP

Add up ( not ) : (intransitive) make sense.

Example: Although she’s good at writing essays, her last essay doesn’t add up.

What they are talking about just doesn’t add up. (make no sense )

FCE SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION TIPS 1  (TENSES)

Sentences which give the same meaning

1) I have never watched such a boring film.

or

It’s the most boring film I have ever watched.

2) When did Derya start work?

or

How long is it since Derya started work?

or

How long ago did Derya start work?

3) My parents haven’t reached Marmaris yet.

or

My parents still haven’t reached Marmaris.

4) Duygu moved to Karşıyaka five months ago.

or

Duygu has been in Karşıyaka for five months.

5) I haven’t been to the Fenerbahçe’s football match for three years.

or

The last time I went to Fenerbahçe’s football match was three years ago.

6) It’s a long time since we went out.

or

We haven’t been out for a long time.

7) Alex has never eaten Turkish food before.

or

It’s the first time Alex has ever eaten Chinese food.

8) Melisa started cooking as soon as her husband (had) left home.

or

Melisa started cooking when her husband left.

or

Melisa waited until her husband had left before she started cooking.

or

Melisa didn’t start cooking until after her husband had left.

9) They got married ten years ago.

or

Thay have been married for ten years.

Click below to see the alphabetical list of irregular verbs in English. Düzensiz fiil listesi için aşağıya tıklayınız.

IRREGULAR VERBS

IF or WHEN

Fill in the blanks with ‘if’ or ‘when’ and put the verbs into the correct tense

1) Alex will write an e-mail to his manager __________ he __________ ( arrive )

2) __________ does the doctor think he _____________( get over ) his injury?

3) __________ there____________( be ) any problems, I will phone you.

4) __________ the interviews __________ ( be ) over, we will announce the results.

5) I wonder ___________ Santos ____________( return ) from his trip to Brazil.

6) ___________ Michael ____________( apply ) for the job, I’m sure he will get it.

7) ___________ they _____________ ( arrive ) late at the airport, they will miss the flight.

8) She will call you ____________ she ____________( finish ) writing the reports.

9) ___________________________( he / give up ) blocking the street?

10) ____________ we __________( have ) nothing else to discuss, we can all leave now.

KEY

1. when / arrives  2. When / will get over  3. If / are  4. When / are  5. if / returns  6. If / applies  7. If / arrive  8. when / finishes  9. When does he give up 10. If / have

CATCH UP (WITH)

Meaning: 1. reach someone by running or walking faster.

2. reach the same level or degree as someone.

Example: Semih will never catch up with me. I’m a better runner than him.

After studying hard, I finally caught up with my classmates.

As he has just joined the team, he needs more time to catch up with his friends.

- Put the verbs in parenthesis into the Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous or Simple Past.

1) Alex: I think I _______________(1) ( lose ) my watch. I ________________ (2) (look) for it for nearly an hour, but I can’t find it. And it ____________ (3) (be) very expensive.

Roberto: I_____________(4) (lose) three watches so far and I ____________(5) (learn) my lesson. I only buy cheap watches now… Maybe you ______________(6)  (leave)  it at Tim’s office this morning.

Alex: No, I _____________ (7) (already, ask) him.

2) Sarp: This is the most exciting movie I ___________(8) (ever, watch)

Bora: Where ___________you___________(9) (get) that DVD film? I ___________(10 (try) to find it since last summer.

Sarp: My girlfriend ____________(11) (give) it to me for my birthday. I think she ___________(12) (order) it from shophere.com

3) Anelka: I’m afraid Deivid isn’t here. He _____________(13) (be) in a meeting since 8.30, but he should be here soon.

Selin: He__________(14) (leave) six messages on my voice mail but I’m not at home, so please tell him to call me at my summer house. I ___________(15) (stay) in my summer house for the past three weeks, but I ___________(16) (forget) to tell Deivid when I last __________(17) (see) him.

4) Kemal: Hey, Murat. Can you come here for a moment?

Murat: What’s the matter?

Kemal: Who ______________(18) (play) with Playstation?

Murat: I have no idea. Why?

Kemal: Well, someone ___________(19) (scratch) two of my blue-ray discs. I can’t play any games. Where’s Alex?

Murat: I don’t know. I ____________(20) (not see) him this morning but he’ll be here for lunch. You can ask him then.

KEY: 1. ‘ve lose  2. ‘ve been looking for  3. was  4. ‘ve lost  5. ‘ve learnt  6. left 7. ‘ve already asked  8. ‘ve ever watched  9. did / get 10. ‘ve been trying 11. gave  12. ordered  13. has been 14. has left  15. ‘ve been staying 16. forgot  17. saw  18. has played  19. has scratched 20. haven’t seen

For Printable Version, click the link below

present-perfect

TIME EXPRESSIONS in PRESENT PREFECT and PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Fill in the blanks with time expressions from the list below

since / all morning / already / How long / for / ever / yet / so far / just / always

1. Have you ___________eaten Indian food?

2. The dog has been barking ___________.

3. Deivid hasn’t started training __________.

4. I’ve _________wanted to see Istanbul and its historical places.

5. His son has been ill ___________a week.

6. ___________has Alex been married?

7. It’s very early in the morning but my father has__________drunk five cups of coffee.

8. As a novelist he has written 34 novels __________.

9. Robin hasn’t seen her family __________2002.

10. I’ve __________cleaned my car, so it’s shining.

KEY) 1. ever  2. all morning  3. yet  4. always  5. for  6. How long  7. already  8. so far  9. since  10. just

It had been a 1)_______ day and I was looking forward to 2)_______ a quiet evening. My husband would not be back until late and I had decided 3)_______ down in a comfortable chair in the living

room and read a book. I put the children to bed early and prepared a cold supper and some coffee.  I 4)_______ with a tray full of food before me and a book at my side and I was just beginning to

read when the telephone 5)_______. I dropped my knife and fork and hurried to answer it. I came back to the living room but my coffee was 6)_______ to drink. I finished my supper. Suddenly there

was a loud knock at the door. I was so 7)_______ that I split the coffee on my skirt. Some stranger had lost his way and wanted 8)_______ . It took me a long time to get rid of him. At length, I

managed 9)_______ down again and actually read a whole page without further  interruption- until the baby woke up. He began crying loudly. I stopped 10)______ and went upstairs. The baby was

still awake at 11 o’clock when my husband came home. I could have screamed when he asked me 11)_______ a pleasant evening.

1-) a) tried     b) tire              c) tiring           d) tired

2-) a) spending   b) spent           c) to spend      d) spend

3-) a) settled       b) settle           c) to settle       d) settling

4-) a)sat      b)was sitting   c) have sat       d) had sat

5-) a) rang       b) has rung      c) rings            d) was ringing

6-) a) enough cold   b) cold enough           c) very cold     d) too cold

7-) a)surprise    b) surprised     c) surprising    d) surprisingly

8-) a) me to direct him b) to direct him c) to direct  d) me direct him

9-) a) sit    b) to sit           c) sitting          d) sat

10) a) louder    b) loud      c) loudly         d) the most loudly

11-) a) if I did spend  b) if I had spent c) if I spend d) if I have spent

PUT THE VERBS INTO THE CORRECT PRESENT FORMS

Dear Mr and Mrs. Witmore

I (1) __________ (write) to thank you for coming to our wedding last month. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Sheila and I (2)__________ (just / return) from our honeymoon in

Kenya and (3)__________ (now / look forward to) starting our new life together. We (4)__________ (just / move) into our new house and since our honeymoon we

(5)__________ (spend) all our free time decorating. The house (6)__________ (actually / begin) to feel like home now and we (7)_________ (gradually / settle) in a routine. We

(8)__________ (have) breakfast together in the morning, but then we (9)__________ (not / see) each other until late in the evening when we (10)__________ (get) home from

work. I hope both of you (11)__________ (be) well since we last saw you.

Love.

ERROR CORRECTION

CORRECT THE MISTAKE IN EACH SENTENCE

1. Murat is married for ten years.

__________________________________________________.

2. Fernando Sucre lives in Chicago since 2003.

__________________________________________________.

3. I haven’t seen my cousin since three weeks.

__________________________________________________.

4. How long does she work for Samsung Electronics?

_________________________________________________.

5. Anelka has been in England for June.

_________________________________________________.

6. How long do you have your i-phone?

_________________________________________________.

7. Sinan knows his best friend Erkan since 2001.

________________________________________________.

8. Sara has had this job since eight years.

_________________________________________________.

KEY

1. …..has been married

2. ……has lived…..

3. …………..for three weeks.

4. How long has she worked…….?

5. …………………since June.

6. How long have you had your i-phone?

7. ……….has known

8. …………………..for eight years