Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
By the time the detective arrived, the crowd ............... into the alley and vanished.
Wrong!
Use past perfect to show the movement happened before the detective arrived.
I ............... the letter when the phone rang, so I shoved it back into the drawer.
Wrong!
Use past continuous for an action in progress interrupted by another past event.
She ............... tell the truth, but that night her voice kept breaking.
Wrong!
Use used to for a past habit that contrasts with what happened on that specific night.
We ............... for hours before anyone noticed the smoke seeping under the door.
Wrong!
Use past perfect continuous to show a longer action continuing up to a later past moment.
He ............... for the key in his pocket, then remembered he had left it on the kitchen table.
Wrong!
Use past simple for the immediate action in the story sequence.
No one ............... why she was smiling until the judge read the final line.
Wrong!
Use past simple negative for a lack of understanding up to that moment.
I ............... my story twice already, so I refused to repeat it a third time.
Wrong!
Use past perfect to show the retelling happened before the refusal.
As a child, he ............... sneak out after midnight, but only when his parents were asleep.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Both used to and would can describe repeated past actions in a narrative past.
The moment I opened the file, I realised someone ............... the dates.
Wrong!
Use past perfect for an earlier action with a result discovered later.
While the guests ............... downstairs, she slipped out through the back gate.
Wrong!
Use past continuous for the background action happening at the same time.
He ............... to be calm, but his hands were shaking under the table.
Wrong!
Use past simple for a deliberate, completed act in the narrative.
Until that evening, I ............... her as reckless, but the way she planned everything changed my mind.
Wrong!
Use past perfect to show the earlier belief held up to that point before the change.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- By the time the detective arrived, the crowd had melted into the alley and vanished.
- I was reading the letter when the phone rang, so I shoved it back into the drawer.
- She used to tell the truth, but that night her voice kept breaking.
- We had been waiting for hours before anyone noticed the smoke seeping under the door.
- He felt for the key in his pocket, then remembered he had left it on the kitchen table.
- No one understood why she was smiling until the judge read the final line.
- I had told my story twice already, so I refused to repeat it a third time.
- As a child, he used to sneak out after midnight, but only when his parents were asleep.
As a child, he would sneak out after midnight, but only when his parents were asleep. - The moment I opened the file, I realised someone had changed the dates.
- While the guests were gathering downstairs, she slipped out through the back gate.
- He pretended to be calm, but his hands were shaking under the table.
- Until that evening, I had seen her as reckless, but the way she planned everything changed my mind.
