Exercise in Tense

Choose the correct verb form from those in brackets:

1. She ________ worried about something. (looks, is looking)

2. The earth __________ round the sun. (revolved, revolves)
3. My friends __________ the Prime minister yesterday. (see, saw,
have seen)
4. It started to rain while we _________ tennis. (are playing, were
playing, had played)
5. He _______ fast when the accident happened. (is driving, was
driving, drove)
6. I _______ him only one letter up to now. (sent, have sent)
7. When I get home, my dog _____ at the gate waiting for me. (sits,
will be sitting)
8. He ________ asleep while he was driving. (fell, has fallen)
9. He ________ here for the last five years. (is working, has been
working)
10. We ________ in Mumbai for twenty years. (are living, have been
living)
11. I’m sure I ______ him at the party last night. (have seen, saw)
12. The plane ____ at 3 am. (arrives, will arrive)
13. I _______ him for a long time. (have known, know, am knowing)
14. Don’t disturb me. I _________ my homework. (do, am doing)
15. Ashok fell down from the roof when he ______ there. (is playing,
was playing)
16. The train ______ before we reach the station. (will have arrived,
will arrive)
17. When he lived in Pune, he _______ to the cinema every week.
(goes, went, was going)
18. This time tomorrow I _____ on the beach in Goa. (will sit, will be
sitting)
19. Ravi _____ his workout when the phone rang. (hadn’t
finished, didn’t finish)
20. He______ on the highway when a truck smashed against his car.
(had been driving, had driven)
21. The baby ______ since morning. (cried, has been crying)
22. The soup ______ good. (taste, tastes, is tasting)
23. He _______- TV most evenings. (is watching, watches)
24. We _______ Padma for several months. (did not see, have not
seen)
25. We ______ out tonight. (are eating, will eat)

NOTE 1: The present perfect is never used with adverbs of past time.
(yesterday, last week, last month etc.) See sentence 3 above.
Wrong: He has gone to Surat yesterday.
Correct: He went to Surat yesterday.
NOTE 2: Use the Present Continuous (not the simple Present) for
personal arrangements. See sentence 25 above