Practical English – Grammar
Tomasz Czerniak, MA.
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Summer Term 2015
Exercise 1(Thomson and Martinet 2009: u65) Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct tense
1. If you (find) a skeleton in the cellar, don’t mention it to anyone.
2. If you pass your examination, we (have) a celebration.
3. What (happen) if I pressed this button?
4. I should have voted for her if I (have) a vote then.
5. If you go to Paris where you (stay)?
6. If someone offered to buy you one of those rings, which you (choose)?
7. The flight might be cancelled if the fog (get) thick.
8. If the milkman (come) tell him to leave two pints.
9. Someone (sit) on your glasses if you leave them there.
10. You would play better bridge if you (not talk) so much.
11. What I (do) if I hear the burglar alarm?
12. If you (read) the instructions carefully, you wouldn’t have answered the wrong question.
13. I could repair the roof myself if I (have) a longer ladder.
14. Unless they turn their radio off, I (go) mad.
15. If you were made redundant, what you (do)?
16. We’ll have a long way to walk if we (run) out of petrol.
17. If you shake that bottle of port, if (not be) fit to drink.
18. I’ll probably get lost unless he (come) with me.
19. You (not have) so many accidents if you drove more slowly.
20. If you (wear) a false beard, nobody would have recognised you.
21. If she (leave) the fish there, the cat will get it.
22. Unless they leave a lamp beside the hole in the road, somebody (fall) into it.
23. You’ll get pneumonia if you (not change) your wet clothes.
24. If I had known that you couldn’t eat octopus, I (not buy) it.
25. If they (hang) that picture lower, people would be able to see it.
26. She (be able) to walk faster if her shoes hadn’t such high heels.
27. I (bring) you some beer if I had known that you were thirsty.
28. If you had touched that electric cable, you (be) electrocuted.
29. If the story hadn’t been true, the newspaper (not print) it.
30. I (not buy) things on the instalment system if I were you.
31. Dial 999 if you (want) Police, Ambulance, or Fire Brigade.
32. You (not be) any use to me unless you learn to type.
33. If anyone attacked me, my dog (jump) at his throat.
34. If he were in, he (answer) the phone.
35. The ship would have run aground if the pilot (make) one mistake.
36. I shouldn’t have taken your umbrella if I (know) that it was the only one you had.
Exercise 2 (Thomson and Martinet 2009: u66) Finish these sentences, taking care to use the correct tense.
1. If he had taken my advice...
2. If you ate less...
3. We’ll send for the doctor if...
4. If she practiced more...
5. If there isn’t enough wine in the bottle...
6. If you had checked the petrol before we started...
7. This clock wouldn’t have run down if...
8. Try on the blue one if...
9. If these gates are locked...
10. If we leave before breakfast...
11. If the river rises any higher...
12. Her life must have been saved if...
13. If the volcano starts erupting...
14. The grass would look better...
15. Unless it is a nice day...
16. If you don’t put enough stamps on a letter, the person who gets it...
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Practical English – Grammar
Tomasz Czerniak, MA.
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Summer Term 2015
17. He would lend it to you if...
18. Unless this hotel gets another cook...
19. If the storm becomes worse...
20. If your uncle sees you...
Exercise 3 (Thomson and Martinet 2009: u67) Fill in the gaps with a suitable verb form
1. ANN: __________I__________ to Mr Wash, please?
2. WASH: Wash __________.
3. ANN: Good morning, Mr Wash. This is Ann Jones of 10 Cyprus Road. __________ you come and
__________ my windows one Saturday this month?
4. WASH: I’m afraid I __________. The next six Saturdays are already booked. But I __________ on
Wednesday morning.
5. ANN: __________ you __________ very early on Wednesday? I leave at 8.15 on weekdays.
6. WASH: I __________ to you by 8.30. __________ that early enough?
7. ANN: NO, it __________! There __________ nobody to let you in. I __________ the flat at 8.15.
8. WASH: Oh, 8.15! I __________ you __________ 8.30! Well, I suppose I __________ to you by 8.00
as you’re an old customer. But I __________ a habit of it. It means __________ breakfast at 6.00 and
my wife __________ that. She __________ always __________ to persuade me to give up window__________ as it is. She __________ it’s dangerous.
9. ANN: What __________ she __________ you __________ instead?
10. WASH: Her father has a shop and she __________me __________ in it. She __________ it
__________be a nice steady job with regular hours. And if I __________ in a shop, she __________
where I was.
11. ANN: And __________ you really __________ of giving up?
12. WASH: No, I __________ the life. At least, I __________ it in summer. Besides, I__________ bored
working in a shop. Well, __________ Wednesday at 8.00 __________ you then, Miss Jones?
13. ANN: Yes, it __________ be splendid. It’s very good of you __________ so early. I __________ let
you in and you can __________ yourself out. You __________ shut the door carefully after you,
__________you?
14. WASH: Yes, of course I __________. I always __________. Goodbye, Miss Jones.
Exercise 4 (Thomson and Martinet 1996: u145) Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.
1. When he left school, he became a fisherman. His family didn’t like it at all. They (be) much happier if
he (become) a greengrocer like his father.
2. They still say that if he (go) into the greengrocery business when he left school, he (be) comfortably
off now instead of being poor.
3. But he says that if he (have) his life again, he (make) the same choice.
4. So many parcels and no breakfast! If I (know) that we were going to buy so much, I (bring) a basket.
5. No one bathes here. The water is heavily polluted. If you (bathe) in it you (be) ill for a fortnight.
6. I can hear the speaker all right but I wish I could see him too. ~ If he (stand) on a barrel, we all (see)
him and that (be) much better.
7. Look at poor Tom trying to star his car by hand again! If I (be) Tom, I (get) a new battery.
8. I expect you’ll see Jack at the lecture tonight. If you (do), you please (remind) him about tomorrow’s
meeting?
9. The only thing I haven’t got is a balcony. If I (have) a balcony, I (grow) plants in pots. Then my flat
(be) perfect!
10. He looked so small and weak that nobody asked him to do anything. If he (look) strong, he (be)
expected to dig all day like everyone else.
Exercise 5 (Alexander 1998: u14.4) Used mixed tenses in these sentences
1. If I (be) you, I (check) my facts before I wrote that letter.
2. If you (be) so hungry, you (not miss) breakfast.
3. If he (not catch) the 5.30 train, he (not arrive) for another two hours.
4. He (feel) very tired today if he (play) rugby yesterday.
5. If the snake bite (be) poisonous, you (feel) very ill now.
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Practical English – Grammar
Tomasz Czerniak, MA.
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Summer Term 2015
6. If I (be) in your position, I (answer) his letter by now.
Exercise 6 (Alexander 1998: u14.4) Put in the right conditional
Grygori Pilikian recently celebrated his 114th birthday and reporters visited him in his mountain village in
Georgia to find out the secret of a long life. "The secret of a long life," Grygori said, "is happiness. If you
(be) are happy, you will live a long life." "Are you married?" a reporter asked. "Yes," Grygori replied, "I
married my third wife when I was 102. If you are happily married, you (live) (will) live for ever. But for
my third wife, I (die) would/should have died (or: might/could have died) years ago." "What about
smoking and drinking?" a reporter asked. "Yes, they are important," Grygori said. "Don’t smoke at all and
you (feel) will feel well. Drink two glasses of wine a day and you (be) will be healthy and happy." "If you
(can/live) could live your life again, what (you/do) would you do?" a reporter asked. "I would do what I
have done. If I had had more sense, I (eat) would have eaten more yoghurt!" he chuckled. "Supposing you
(can/change) could change/could have changed one thing in your life what (you/change) would you
change/would you have changed?" another reporter asked. "Not much," Grygori replied. "So you don’t
have any regrets?" "Yes, I have one regret," Grygori replied. "If I (know) had known I was going to live so
long, I (look after) would have looked after myself better!"
Exercise 7 (Alexander 1998: u14.4) Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form
The family party was in full swing when the phone rang. Dr Craig answered it. He listened carefully for a
moment, then said, "I’ll come right away." "Do you have to go out?" his wife asked. "If it is an urgent
case, I have to go," Dr Craig answered. "If I (should) should be late, please don’t wait up for me." Dr
Craig drove into the night. If I don’t hurry, he thought, I (might) might be too late. The thought made him
drive faster. After driving for an hour, he arrived at a house. All the lights were on. If all the family is up,
the doctor thought, the situation (must) must be serious. A woman opened the front door immediately.
"Thank God you’ve come, doctor," she cried. "It’s my daughter." A sleepy child of about six appeared in
a night-dress. "I told her," her mother said, "‘(go) go to bed, or I’ll fetch the doctor’." "See," she shouted
at the child. "I’ve done it. Here’s the doctor!"
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Eastwood, John (2002) Oxford Practice Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Side, Richard and Guy Wellman (2000) Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency.
Harlow: Longman.
Thomson, A. J. and A. V. Martinet (2009) A Practical English Grammar. Exercises 1. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Thomson, A. J. and A. V. Martinet (1996) A Practical English Grammar. Exercises 2. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Vince, M. (2003) Advanced Language Practice. English Grammar and Vocabulary. Oxford: Macmillan
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