This grammar exercise tests your ability to use tenses correctly. Complete the following sentences with an appropriate tense form.
1This time tomorrow, I ............... on the beach.
Wrong!
Use "will be lying" for an action in progress at a specific time in the future.
2She said that she ............... help me.
Wrong!
Use "would" as the backshifted form of will after a past reporting verb.
3Phone me when you ............... time.
Wrong!
Use "have" in a time clause with when to refer to the future.
4I will follow you wherever you ...............
Wrong!
Use "go" in a future meaning after wherever in this clause.
5You ............... an accident if you go on driving like that.
Wrong!
Use "will have" in the main clause of a real future conditional.
6When you phoned, I ............... in the garage.
Wrong!
Use "was working" for an action in progress when another past action happened.
7I ............... all my childhood in South India.
Wrong!
Use "spent" for a completed past period of life.
8The phone ............... while I was having a bath.
Wrong!
Use "rang" for the shorter completed action during a longer past action.
9I tried a little of the soup to see how it ...............
Wrong!
Use "tasted" because the sentence reports a past state after tried.
10When we were children, we ............... our own toys.
Wrong!
Use "made" for a repeated habit in the past.
11I can't dance because I ............... my leg.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Use "have broken" to stress the present result of the past action; "broke" is also natural, especially in American English, to report the past event. "Had broken" needs a later past reference point.
12I ............... the bell six times, but no one opened the door.
Wrong!
Use "rang" for a completed repeated action at a finished past time.
Answers
- This time tomorrow, I will be lying on the beach.
- She said that she would help me.
- Phone me when you have time.
- I will follow you wherever you go.
- You will have an accident if you go on driving like that.
- When you phoned, I was working in the garage.
- I spent all my childhood in South India.
- The phone rang while I was having a bath.
- I tried a little of the soup to see how it tasted.
- When we were children, we made our own toys.
- I can’t dance because I have broken / broke my leg.
- I rang the bell six times, but no one opened the door.