Thirty multiple choice questions on tenses, the first topic in the Grammar track. Five previous year questions from the real AAI ATC papers are included in Section C, with an answer key at the end.
30questions
35 minsuggested time
5verified PYQs
MCQformat throughout
Score0 correct · 0 of 30 attempted
Before you begin
Formulas you will need
Key formulas
Simple present for habits and permanent truths · present continuous for right now Present perfect for an unspecified time before now · never with yesterday, last week or any definite past time Past perfect (had + V3) for the earlier of two past actions — watch for by the time First conditional: if + present simple, main clause + will · stative verbs (have, know, believe) take no continuous form
How to use this worksheet. Find the time marker before choosing a tense — since and for point to the perfect continuous, yesterday and last week force the simple past, and by the time almost always signals a past perfect. Never put will inside an if clause.
Section A · Level 1
Recognising the twelve tenses
Ten questions. Identify the auxiliary and the verb form first.
Q1
Which tense is used in the sentence “She writes a letter every day”?
The simple present is used for habits and repeated actions, and every day signals exactly that.
Q2
Which tense is used in “They are playing football”?
Are + playing is the present continuous, used for an action happening now.
Q3
Which tense is used in “He has finished his work”?
Has + past participle is the present perfect, linking a completed action to the present.
Q4
Which tense is used in “I had eaten before he arrived”?
Had + past participle is the past perfect, used for the earlier of two past actions.
Q5
The correct structure of the future perfect tense is:
The future perfect is will have + past participle, as in she will have left by then.
Q6
Choose the correct sentence.
A third-person singular subject takes goes in the simple present.
Q7
Fill in the blank. Water ______ at 100 degrees Celsius.
Universal truths and scientific facts always take the simple present.
Q8
Fill in the blank. Look! The baby ______.
Look! points to something happening at this moment, which calls for the present continuous.
Q9
Choose the correct sentence.
Know is a stative verb describing a state rather than an action, so it does not take the continuous form.
Q10
Fill in the blank. She ______ in this office since 2018.
Since with an action continuing to the present calls for the present perfect continuous.
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Section B · Level 2
Choosing the right tense for the context
Ten questions. Look for the time marker before you choose.
Q11
Fill in the blank. By next June, I ______ my course.
An action finished before a stated future point takes the future perfect, will have completed.
Q12
Fill in the blank. When I entered the room, they ______ dinner.
The past continuous shows an action already in progress when another past action interrupted it.
Q13
Fill in the blank. He said that he ______ tired.
In reported speech the tense shifts back one step, so is becomes was.
Q14
Fill in the blank. I ______ this film before.
An unspecified time before now takes the present perfect. If a definite past time were given, the simple past would be required instead.
Q15
Fill in the blank. She ______ to Delhi last week.
Last week is a finished past time, which demands the simple past, not the present perfect.
Q16
Choose the correct sentence.
The present perfect can never be used with a definite past time marker such as yesterday.
Q17
Fill in the blank. If it rains, we ______ the match.
In the first conditional the if clause takes the present simple and the main clause takes will.
Q18
Fill in the blank. The train ______ before we reached the platform.
Of two past events, the earlier one takes the past perfect.
Q19
Fill in the blank. They ______ for two hours before the guests arrived.
A duration continuing up to a point in the past takes the past perfect continuous.
Q20
Choose the correct sentence.
An action beginning in the past and still continuing takes the present perfect continuous with for.
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Section C · Previous year questions and error correction
Straight from the AAI ATC papers, plus error spotting
Ten questions. Five are real previous year questions.
Q21PYQ 2021 · Shift 3
Select the grammatically correct sentence.
Have in the sense of experiencing or possessing is stative, so it takes no continuous form. The correct sentence is simply I have a headache. Note that have can be continuous when it means an activity, as in I am having lunch — the meaning decides, not the word.
Q22PYQ 2021 · Shift 3
Select the grammatically correct sentence.
This is a first conditional: the if clause takes the present simple and the main clause takes will. Three of the options put will or would inside the if clause, which is the single commonest conditional error.
Q23PYQ 2023 · Evening
Select the most appropriate form of the past tense to substitute the underlined segment. By the time I reached the station, the train already left.
Two past events are described and the train left first, so that earlier action takes the past perfect: had already left. By the time is a reliable signal that a past perfect is needed.
Q24PYQ 2023 · Evening
Identify the option that rectifies the given sentence. He never come here again.
The subject he is third person singular, so the simple present takes comes. The adverb never does not change the tense, it only sits before the verb.
Q25PYQ 2023 · Evening
Select the most appropriate verb to fill in the blank. Can you ____ me where he lives?
Tell takes a person as its direct object — tell me. Say and suggest cannot be followed directly by a person in this way.
Q26
Spot the error. She have been working here since March.
The subject she is singular, so it must be has been, not have been.
Q27
Spot the error. They was playing in the garden when it started raining.
The plural subject they requires were.
Q28
Spot the error. I am study English every morning.
It should be study in the simple present, since every morning describes a habit. Mixing am with a bare verb is never correct.
Q29
Choose the correct sentence.
After the auxiliary did the main verb returns to its base form, so it is did not go.
Q30
Fill in the blank. The sun ______ in the east.
A permanent truth takes the simple present, and the third person singular adds -s.
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Answer key
Answers
Check only after you have attempted every question. Tap any question above to see the full explanation.
All thirty questions with the formula sheet printed on the front page and ruled working space for your circuit reductions. Print it, solve it, keep it.
Seven questions from one chapter in a single year.
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