Verb Tenses

Which sentence is in the past tense?

• AShe walked to school.✓
• BShe walks to school.
• CShe is walking to school.
• DShe will walk to school.

Answer: 'Walked' is the past tense of 'walk'. It shows an action that already happened.

Choose the correct present tense form: 'He _____ every day.'

• Aran
• Bruns✓
• Chas run
• Dwill run

Answer: 'Runs' is the present simple tense. It shows an action that happens regularly.

What is the future tense in this sentence? 'I _____ finish my homework tomorrow.'

• Afinished
• Bfinishing
• Cwill finish✓
• Dfinish

Answer: 'Will finish' is the future simple tense. It shows an action that will happen in the future.

Which sentence uses the present progressive tense correctly?

• AShe is studying for her exam.✓
• BShe will study for her exam.
• CShe studied for her exam.
• DShe was studying for exams.

Answer: 'Is studying' is present progressive, showing an action happening right now.

Choose the correct past progressive: 'When I arrived, she _____ dinner.'

• Awill be cooking
• Bhas been cooking
• Cwas cooking✓
• Dis going to cook

Answer: 'Was cooking' is past progressive. It shows an action in progress at a specific moment in the past.

Which sentence uses the present perfect tense?

• AI was eating breakfast earlier.
• BI am eating breakfast now.
• CI will eat breakfast later.
• DI have eaten breakfast.✓

Answer: 'Have eaten' is present perfect. It shows an action that started in the past and continues to be relevant now.

What tense is used in: 'By next week, I will have finished the project.'?

• APresent perfect
• BFuture simple
• CFuture progressive
• DFuture perfect✓

Answer: 'Will have finished' is future perfect. It shows an action that will be completed by a specific future time.

Choose the correct form: 'She _____ to school every morning.'

• Awent
• Bwill go
• Cis going
• Dgoes✓

Answer: 'Goes' is present simple. It describes a regular daily action.

Which sentence shows past perfect tense?

• AShe ate the cake.
• BShe had eaten the cake before I arrived.✓
• CShe was eating the cake at the party.
• DShe will eat the cake tomorrow.

Answer: 'Had eaten' is past perfect. It shows an action completed before another past action.

Identify the tense: 'The children are playing in the park.'

• APresent simple
• BPast progressive
• CPresent progressive✓
• DFuture progressive

Answer: 'Are playing' is present progressive. It shows an action happening now.

Fill in the correct tense: 'If I had known, I _____ told you.'

• Aam telling
• Bwould have told✓
• Cwould tell
• Dwill tell

Answer: 'Would have told' is conditional perfect. It expresses what would have happened in an imaginary past situation.

Choose the form that shows an action that began in the past and is still going on now: 'I _____ living here for five years.'

• Ahad been
• Bused to be
• Chave been✓
• Dwill have been

Answer: 'Have been' is the present perfect progressive. It shows an action that started in the past and is still continuing now.

What tense is 'will be playing' in: 'Tomorrow at this time, we will be playing football.'?

• APresent progressive
• BPast perfect progressive
• CFuture progressive✓
• DFuture perfect simple

Answer: 'Will be playing' is future progressive. It shows an action that will be in progress at a specific future time.

Is there a tense error in this sentence? 'When she arrives, I will have waited for two hours.'

• AChange 'will have waited' to 'am waiting'
• BChange 'will have waited' to 'will wait'
• CChange 'arrives' to 'will arrive'
• DNo error - this is correct✓

Answer: 'Will have waited' is correct. By the time she arrives, the two-hour wait will be complete.

Which tense is correct? 'She _____ the letter when the telephone rang.'

• Awas reading✓
• Breads
• Chas read
• Dwill read

Answer: 'Was reading' is past progressive. It describes an action in progress when another past action (telephone rang) occurred.

Which sentence uses the simple past tense?

• AI am playing football
• BI played football yesterday✓
• CI play football
• DI will play football tomorrow

Answer: The simple past tense describes a completed action. 'I played football yesterday' shows a finished action in the past. The others are present continuous, simple present, and future respectively.

Which sentence uses the present perfect tense?

• AI am eating my lunch right now
• BI have eaten my lunch✓
• CI ate my lunch an hour ago
• DI eat my lunch at half past twelve

Answer: The present perfect tense uses 'have/has' + past participle and shows an action that happened in the past but connects to the present. 'I have eaten my lunch' means I finished eating and might still be full.

Which sentence uses the present continuous tense?

• AI have gone to school
• BI am walking to school✓
• CI walked to school
• DI walk to school

Answer: The present continuous tense uses 'am/is/are' + present participle (-ing) and shows an action happening right now. 'I am walking to school' means I'm currently walking.

Which sentence uses the past continuous tense?

• AI have been playing tennis since early this morning
• BI played tennis with my cousin yesterday afternoon
• CAfter school on Friday, I will play tennis
• DI was playing tennis when it rained✓

Answer: The past continuous tense uses 'was/were' + present participle and shows an action that was happening over a period in the past. 'I was playing tennis when it rained' shows the action was interrupted.

Complete the sentence: 'By next year, I _____ English for six years.'

• Awill study
• Bwill have studied✓
• Cstudy
• Dhave studied

Answer: The future perfect tense uses 'will have' + past participle. 'By next year' indicates a point in the future when the action will be completed. This shows the action will be finished by that time.

Which sentence uses the past perfect tense?

• AI have finished my homework and my spelling test
• BI am finishing my homework at the kitchen table
• CI finished my homework straight after school today
• DI had finished my homework before dinner✓

Answer: The past perfect tense uses 'had' + past participle and shows an action completed before another past action. 'I had finished my homework before dinner' means finishing came first, then dinner.

Which sentence uses the simple future tense?

• AI am going to a shop tomorrow
• BI will go to the shop tomorrow✓
• CI go to the shop tomorrow
• DI am going to the shop

Answer: The simple future tense uses 'will' + base verb. 'I will go to the shop tomorrow' is the simple future. 'I am going to go' is future with 'going to', which is also common.

Which sentence describes something imagined or unlikely, rather than something the speaker expects to happen?

• AIf I study, I am going to pass
• BIf I study, I will pass
• CIf I revise, I pass
• DIf I studied, I would pass✓

Answer: 'If I studied, I would pass' imagines something that probably will not happen: it pairs the past-tense 'studied' with the modal verb 'would'. The others use 'will' or 'am going to' for an outcome the speaker thinks is likely.

What is wrong with this sentence? 'Yesterday, I will go to the park.'

• AIt should be 'I go to the park'
• BIt should be 'I am going to the park'
• CNothing, it's correct
• DIt should be 'I went to the park'✓

Answer: The verb tense is wrong. 'Yesterday' is a past time word, so we need past tense. 'I went to the park' is correct. Future tense cannot be used with past time references.

Complete: 'If the weather _____ nice tomorrow, we will go to the beach.'

• Awill be
• Bwas
• Cwere
• Dis✓

Answer: In first conditional sentences (likely future), use simple present in the 'if' clause. 'If the weather is nice' uses simple present even though it refers to the future. The main clause uses 'will'.

Which sentence uses the present perfect continuous tense?

• AI have played tennis on that court many times
• BI have been playing tennis for three hours✓
• CWhen the rain came down, I was playing tennis
• DI am playing tennis with my friend this evening

Answer: The present perfect continuous uses 'have/has been' + present participle. 'I have been playing tennis for three hours' shows an action that started in the past and continues to the present.

Identify the tense: 'They had been waiting for an hour when the bus arrived.'

• APast perfect simple
• BPast perfect continuous✓
• CPast continuous
• DPresent perfect continuous

Answer: 'Had been waiting' is the past perfect continuous tense. It shows an action that was in progress for a period in the past before another action occurred.

Which sentence uses simple present tense?

• AThe cat sleeps on the mat✓
• BThe cat is sleeping on the mat
• CThe cat was sleeping on the mat
• DThe cat has slept on the mat

Answer: Simple present tense uses the base form of the verb. 'The cat sleeps' describes a regular habit or general truth. The others use continuous, perfect, or past tenses.

Which words make up the infinitive with 'to' in this sentence? 'I want to run in the race.'

• Arun
• Bto run✓
• Cwant
• DI want to

Answer: The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, like 'run'. It is often used after 'to', so 'to run' is the infinitive with 'to'. It shows the action without any tense.

Which verb is a participle?

• Arunning (in 'The dog was running home')✓
• Bwill run (in 'I will run home')
• Crun (in 'They run home from school')
• Dlikes (in 'She likes strawberries')

Answer: A participle is a verb form used as part of a verb phrase or as an adjective. In 'The dog was running home', 'running' is a present participle following 'was'. 'Will run' and 'run' are simple verb forms, and 'likes' is a simple present verb.