General Grammar Exercises/Verb Tense Quiz 1 (The Present and Past )

Academic structures often wrongly used - Present and Past Tenses of Verbs.

Problem: Students often have trouble remembering the rules for their use.


Remedy: People often see pages and pages of information relating to use of verbs and just give up because there's too much. Don't try to learn all the rules from the grammar books. Do the following quiz, then, after 24 hours, come back to it and write down a summary of what it has told you about the uses of the various present and past tenses. Be sure to revise this after one week. Then it should be fixed in the "long term memory" .

You may find it helpful to use the soundtrack, which can be found between numbers six and seven.

QUIZ

Answer true or false:




1) The present simple tense is often used to tell stories. (example - "I write")

Please write your answer here:[ANSWER]

2) The past simple tense is often used to tell stories. (example - "I wrote") [ANSWER]



3) "He going" is an example of the present continuous tense. [ANSWER]




4) The present continuous tense is only used for actions happening "now". [ANSWER]




5) The present perfect tense is used for actions which have a close connection with the present. (example – “I have written”) [ANSWER]



6) “I have been waiting” is an example of the present perfect continuous tense. [ANSWER]




7) Present perfect continuous tense tends to be used when we are more interested in the action and present perfect (non-continuous form, e.g "I have written") when we are more interested in the result. [ANSWER]



8) “I was writing” is an example of the past continuous tense. [ANSWER]



9) For two actions happening in the past at the same time, the longer action goes into the past simple tense and the shorter one into the past continuous tense. [ANSWER]




10) “ I had left the house” is an example of the past simple tense. [ANSWER]




11) To use the past simple tense for past actions you must state the time of a past action. [ANSWER]




12) The past perfect tense can be used in combination with the past simple for two past actions where the past perfect tense represents the first action and past simple the second. [ANSWER]






Do you need some hints and clues? Then scroll down ..........

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Hints and clues:







1) The present simple tense is often used to write stories. (example - "I write")

Think of stories you have read in books; short stories in magazines; stories in English as a foreign language books, or ones told to you by your friends. Which tense is usually used? Is any other possible? [ANSWER]






2) The past simple tense is often used to tell stories. (example - "I wrote")

See the notes for 1) again. The same questions can be applied. [ANSWER]





3) "He going" is an example of the present continuous tense.

I have heard many, many students say this. Decide for yourself if all the necessary parts are there, and in the right form. And is it the right name for the tense? [ANSWER]





4) The present continuous tense is only used for actions happening "now".

Consider this example: "She's always leaving her dirty dishes in the sink!" [ANSWER]





5) The present perfect tense is used for actions which have a close connection with the present. (example – “I have written”)

Consider this example: "I have written many essays." (An essay is a piece of academic writing) [ANSWER]





6) “I have been waiting” is an example of the present perfect continuous tense.

Are all the necessary parts there, and in the right form? And is it the right name for the tense? [ANSWER]





7) Present perfect continuous tense tends to be used when we are more interested in the action and present perfect (non-continuous form, e.g "I have written") when we are more interested in the result.

Consider these examples:

"I've seen that!"
 "I've been painting the fence." (Fence: wooden or metal barrier between gardens)
"They've completed five pieces of research."
"Who has moved all my things?"
 "Have you been crying?" [ANSWER]





8) “I was writing” is an example of the past continuous tense.

Are all the necessary parts there, and in the right form? And is it the right name for the tense? [ANSWER]






9) For two actions happening in the past at the same time, the longer action goes into the past simple tense and the shorter one into the past continuous tense.

Think of your own example in the past. For example: you - study - friend - phone. Which action is longer and which one goes into the continuous form? [ANSWER]





10) “ I had left the house” is an example of the past simple tense.

Are all the necessary parts there, and in the right form? And is it the right name for the tense? [ANSWER]





11) To use the past simple tense for past actions you must state the time of a past action.

Consider the following examples:
"I left at midnight."
"I lived there when I was a kid."
"I saw him in town." [ANSWER]





12) The past perfect tense can be used in combination with the past simple for two past actions where the past perfect tense represents the first action and past simple the second.

Think of your own example in the past. It must have two actions, with one happening before the other. [ANSWER]








When you've made your final true/false decisions, check further down the page to see if they're the same as the suggested answers.......

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Answers:






1) The present simple tense is often used to write stories. (example - "I write")

True. Or false. It CAN be used to tell stories, but is not OFTEN used. When it is, it tends to make things more "immediate" and "dramatic". For example, this extract from "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass:

Granted: I am an inmate of a mental hospital; my keeper is watching me, he never lets me out of his sight; there's a peephole in the door, and my keeper's eye is the shade of brown that can never see through a blue-eyed type like me.

Other important uses of the present simple:

Regular present habits: "I kiss frogs in the hope that they'll turn into handsome princes."

"Timetabled" future: "My plane lands early tomorrow morning."








2) The past simple tense is often used to tell stories. (example - "I wrote")

True. The past simple is by far the most usual narrative ("storytelling") tense. For example, this line from he Towers of Trebizon by Rose Macaulay.
“Take my camel, dear,” said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.
Of course words in inverted commas, or speech marks, are actual words as spoken, so can be in any tense, but the main action is seen as happening in the past.
 
Other important uses of the past simple:

See number 11)







.
3) "He going" is an example of the present continuous tense.

False. All the necessary parts are not there. ALL CONTINUOUS TENSES need SUBJECT + the appropriate form of the verb "TO BE" + THE "-ING" form of the main verb, as in "he is going". Note also: "he has been going; he had been going; he was going; he will be going; he will have been going". The three in blue you should know for production purposes (you should be able to use them), while the others you should know for recognition purposes, but won't often need to use them.








4) The present continuous tense is only used for actions happening "now".
 
False. The MAIN use of the present continuous is for actions happening now, but it's not ONLY used for this.

Other important uses of the present continuous:

Personal plans for the future: "I'm divorcing my husband tomorrow morning."

Bad habits in the present (usually with "always"): "Ibrahim is always using his mobile during the lesson."






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5) The present perfect tense is used for actions which have a close connection with the present. (example – “I have written”)

True. Or false. Most of the grammar books tell you this is true, but it's not always the case. For example, in the sentence "I've been to China," I can't see any strong link to the present. As a rule, it doesn't seem particularly helpful when trying to understand its use.

Important uses of the present perfect:

Action finished, time unknown: "I've been to China."

Action just finished: "She's just eaten my cream cake!"

With "already, ever, never, yet" (because the time is unknown?): "Have you ever eaten a snake?"

Action beginning in the past and continuing to the present moment (usually with "for" or "since"): "He's been off work since 17th March." (Or..... "for three months, etc."








6) “I have been waiting” is an example of the present perfect continuous tense.

True. The form is SUBJECT + "HAVE" or "HAS" + "-ING" form of the verb.







7) Present perfect continuous tense tends to be used when we are more interested in the action and present perfect (non-continuous form, e.g "I have written") when we are more interested in the result.

True. This seems to be the most useful way to think about the difference between the continuous and non-continuous forms. Remember there are also certain truths which can be applied to continuous and non-continuous forms in general:

Continuous forms tend to be used for verbs which are longer lasting. (For example: "I've been living here for many years.") They can't be used for very quick actions. (For example: "I've been shooting him." Wrong. Unless of course he refused to die, so you had to repeat the action again and again over a long period of time!)

Also: Dynamic verbs (performing an action) can take continuous forms, but static verbs, such as verbs of existence (to be), possession (to own), of the mind (to believe) or the emotions (to hate)..... usually don't.








8) “I was writing” is an example of the past continuous tense.

True. See number 3)






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9) For two actions happening in the past at the same time, the longer action goes into the past simple tense and the shorter one into the past continuous tense.
.
False. It's the other way around. The longer action goes into the continuous form (see number 7))The past continuous tense tends to be used for an action beginning before a simultaneous ("same time") action in the past and finishing after it. For example: "I was studying when my friend phoned." Instead of the second action in the past it could be a "time". For example: "At ten o'clock this morning I was hang-gliding over the mountains."








10) “ I had left the house” is an example of the past simple tense.

False. It's the past perfect tense. As in all perfect tenses, the form is SUBJECT + the verb "TO HAVE" in a suitable tense + the PAST PARTICIPLE of the main verb. The relationship between the past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses is very much like that between the present perfect and present perfect contiuous tenses (see number 7) BUT moved back into past time.








11) To use the past simple tense for past actions you must state the time of a past action.

False. We already established in number 2) that it's the main story telling tense.

Also:

Consider the example "I saw him in town", where the time is "implied" (suggested) rather than "explicit" (stated).

Also:

Once a time has been mentioned, you can continue using the simple past tense without repeating the time. For example: "Where were you last night?" After which, the conversation can continue in the past tense. "I was at Larry's house. Why - where were you?" etc. It's not necessary to keep repeating "last night".

Also:

In academic essay or research writing the past simple is the main tense used. For example: The researcher sent the questionnaire to three hundred people. But when something is still true today the present simple can be used. For example: High-heeled shoes remain the most popular for evening wear. But make sure it's used appropriately, because switching from past to present tenses when it's NOT appropriate is one of the most common mistakes in writing.







12) The past perfect tense can be used in combination with the past simple for two past actions where the past perfect tense represents the first action and past simple the second.

True. For example: "I had already left before he arrived." From past to present, the order is as follows: 1) I had left. 2) He arrived. 3) It's now!









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Photo Album




Lamplit lizards.









"Lit" is the past participle of "light". "Lamplit" is being used as an adjective here. The past participle of verbs can be used as an adjective.

It can also be used in perfect verb tenses. For example: "I have ridden a horse before."

It can also be used to join sentences. For example: "Shakespeare wrote this document. It is now kept in a museum in Stratford." This becomes: "Written by Shakespeare, this document is now kept in a museum in Stratford."
A separate page will be added later on "participles used to join sentences".

(Photo - lizards warming themselves up in a streetlight, Mijas, a village on the Costa del Sol in the south of Spain. We stay there every Easter when we visit our English friends.)

Do you get it?






Mr. Smith went to the doctor.
"Well, I'm sorry Mr. Smith," said the medical man, "but I'm afraid you're going to have to stop smoking, drinking and playing the banjo."
"Oh no!" said the man, obviously very upset. "I'm going to have to stop smoking, drinking and playing the banjo? But why?"
"Because I'm trying to examine you!" said the doctor.