English tenses quiz: 25 questions with answers

Questions and answers

By CanQuiz

An AI wrote the questions in this quiz from its creator’s material. It may contain mistakes.

1. 1.Which sentence uses the present simple to describe a habit?

   • She is walking to school right now.
   • She walks to school every morning.
   • She has walked to school today.
   • She walked to school yesterday.
   Show answer

   Answer: She walks to school every morning.

   Explanation: The present simple describes routines and habits, often with frequency expressions such as "every morning". The other sentences describe an action in progress, a recent result and a finished past event.

2. 2.Look! The baby ___ in her cot.

   • sleeps
   • slept
   • is sleeping
   • has slept
   Show answer

   Answer: is sleeping

   Explanation: "Look!" points to something happening at the moment of speaking, so the present continuous (am/is/are + -ing) is needed.

3. 3.I ___ in this town since 2015, and I still love it.

   • live
   • am living
   • lived
   • have lived
   Show answer

   Answer: have lived

   Explanation: A situation that began in the past and continues now takes the present perfect, here with "since" plus the starting point. The present simple and the present continuous are not used with "since" in this way.

4. 4.How is the present perfect formed?

   • have or has + past participle
   • be + the -ing form
   • did + the base form
   • had + past participle
   Show answer

   Answer: have or has + past participle

   Explanation: The present perfect uses "have" or "has" followed by the past participle, as in "She has finished". "Had" plus the past participle forms the past perfect.

5. 5.The present perfect can be used with a finished time expression such as "last year", as in "I have visited Rome last year".

   • True
   • False
   Show answer

   Answer: False

   Explanation: A finished time expression (yesterday, last year, in 2019) requires the past simple: "I visited Rome last year." The present perfect connects the past with the present and does not name a finished time.

6. 6.I ___ the dishes when the phone suddenly rang, so I left them in the sink.

   • washed
   • was washing
   • have washed
   • wash
   Show answer

   Answer: was washing

   Explanation: The past continuous describes an action in progress that is interrupted by a shorter action in the past simple ("rang"). Leaving the dishes in the sink shows the washing was not finished.

7. 7.When I got home, my sister ___ dinner, so we sat down to eat straight away.

   • has already cooked
   • already cooks
   • had already cooked
   • is already cooking
   Show answer

   Answer: had already cooked

   Explanation: The past perfect (had + past participle) shows an action completed before another moment in the past, here before "I got home".

8. 8.Which time expression normally goes with the past simple rather than the present perfect?

   • already
   • ever
   • yet
   • yesterday
   Show answer

   Answer: yesterday

   Explanation: "Yesterday" refers to a finished time, so it takes the past simple. "Already", "ever" and "yet" are typical companions of the present perfect.

9. 9.Choose the correct past simple negative: "He ___ the email to his teacher."

   • didn't send
   • didn't sent
   • doesn't sent
   • hasn't send
   Show answer

   Answer: didn't send

   Explanation: The past simple negative is "did not" (didn't) followed by the base form of the verb. The past is already marked by "did", so the main verb does not change.

10. 10.In "She has been working here since March", the word "since" marks the point when the period began.

    • True
    • False
    Show answer

    Answer: True

    Explanation: "Since" is followed by a starting point (March, 2015, Monday), while "for" is followed by a length of time (three months, two years).

11. 11.Which of these sentences is in the past continuous?

    • They played football at five o'clock.
    • They have played football all afternoon.
    • They were playing football at five o'clock.
    • They had played football before lunch.
    Show answer

    Answer: They were playing football at five o'clock.

    Explanation: The past continuous is formed with "was" or "were" plus the -ing form. It describes an action in progress at a particular moment in the past.

12. 12.You're still taking lessons, aren't you? How long ___ the piano?

    • are you learning
    • have you been learning
    • do you learn
    • had you been learning
    Show answer

    Answer: have you been learning

    Explanation: To ask about the duration of an activity that started in the past and is still going on, English uses the present perfect continuous with "How long".

13. 13.She ___ for two hours when the bus finally arrived.

    • has been waiting
    • is waiting
    • will have waited
    • had been waiting
    Show answer

    Answer: had been waiting

    Explanation: The past perfect continuous (had been + -ing) expresses how long an activity had continued up to a moment in the past, here the moment the bus arrived.

14. 14.Which sentence talks about a life experience without saying when it happened?

    • I have climbed Mount Fuji.
    • I climbed Mount Fuji in 2019.
    • I was climbing Mount Fuji when it started to snow.
    • I will climb Mount Fuji next summer.
    Show answer

    Answer: I have climbed Mount Fuji.

    Explanation: The present perfect expresses experiences at an unspecified time in one's life. Once a specific past time is given, such as "in 2019", the past simple is used.

15. 15.The past simple of regular verbs is formed by adding -ed or -d to the base form, as in "played" and "lived".

    • True
    • False
    Show answer

    Answer: True

    Explanation: Regular verbs add -ed (play, played) or just -d when the verb already ends in -e (live, lived). Some also change their spelling, as in "stop, stopped" or "study, studied".

16. 16.Which sentence is correct in standard English?

    • I am knowing her brother for years.
    • I have been knowing her brother for years.
    • I have known her brother for years.
    • I know her brother since years.
    Show answer

    Answer: I have known her brother for years.

    Explanation: "Know" is a stative verb, so it is not normally used in continuous forms. For a state that started in the past and continues now, English uses the present perfect simple with "for".

17. 17.The film ___ at 8:15 tonight, according to the cinema's timetable.

    • started
    • starts
    • has started
    • had started
    Show answer

    Answer: starts

    Explanation: The present simple can refer to the future when talking about timetables and schedules, such as films, trains and classes.

18. 18.I ___ my grandparents next Saturday; we bought the train tickets last week.

    • visited
    • have visited
    • had visited
    • am visiting
    Show answer

    Answer: am visiting

    Explanation: The present continuous is used for future arrangements that are already fixed, here shown by the tickets bought in advance and the future time "next Saturday".

19. 19.Look at those dark clouds! It ___ rain any minute.

    • is going to
    • was going to
    • has
    • would
    Show answer

    Answer: is going to

    Explanation: "Be going to" is used for predictions based on evidence you can see now, here the dark clouds.

20. 20.In time clauses that begin with "when" or "as soon as", English normally uses "will" to talk about the future, as in "I'll call you when I will arrive".

    • True
    • False
    Show answer

    Answer: False

    Explanation: Time clauses with "when", "as soon as", "before" or "after" use the present simple for the future: "I'll call you when I arrive." "Will" stays in the main clause.

21. 21.Which sentence shows a decision made at the moment of speaking?

    • I'm going to study medicine; I decided last year.
    • The phone's ringing. I'll get it.
    • I answer the phone at work every day.
    • I had answered the phone before she arrived.
    Show answer

    Answer: The phone's ringing. I'll get it.

    Explanation: "Will" is used for decisions made at the moment of speaking, often in reaction to something. "Going to" expresses a plan decided earlier.

22. 22.This time tomorrow, I ___ on a beach in Portugal.

    • lay
    • have been lying
    • will be lying
    • will have lain
    Show answer

    Answer: will be lying

    Explanation: The future continuous (will be + -ing) describes an action that will be in progress at a particular time in the future, here "this time tomorrow".

23. 23.By the time we reach the station tonight, the last train ___.

    • leaves
    • will leave
    • has left
    • will have left
    Show answer

    Answer: will have left

    Explanation: The future perfect (will have + past participle) describes an action that will be complete before a given moment in the future. "By the time" is a typical signal.

24. 24.Which tense is used in "By next June, she will have finished her degree"?

    • Future perfect
    • Future continuous
    • Present perfect
    • Future simple
    Show answer

    Answer: Future perfect

    Explanation: "Will have" followed by a past participle ("finished") is the future perfect, used for something completed before a point in the future.

25. 25.The future continuous is formed with "will be" followed by the -ing form of the verb.

    • True
    • False
    Show answer

    Answer: True

    Explanation: The future continuous combines "will be" with the -ing form, as in "At ten, we will be travelling".