Past Tenses Quiz

Which sentence is in the past perfect tense?

• She studied all night.

• She was studying all night.

• She had studied all night.

• She studies all night.

What is the function of the past continuous in this sentence? I was reading when the lights went out.

• To show a completed action

• To show an action that was in progress and got interrupted

• To describe two finished actions

Which sentence is in the past simple?

• They had gone home.

• They were going home.

• They went home.

Choose the correct sentence that uses past perfect for an earlier action:

• She left before he called.

• She had left before he called.

• She was leaving before he called.

• She leaves before he calls.

What is the main use of the past perfect?

• To describe a past habit

• To describe an action in progress

• To describe an action that happened before another action in the past

• To describe a future plan

Which sentence uses past continuous correctly?

• We watched TV when she arrived.

• We had watched TV when she arrived.

• We were watching TV when she arrived.

• We are watching TV when she arrived.

By the time we arrived, they __________.

• leave

• were leaving

• had left

• left

While we __________ dinner, the lights went out.

• were having

• had had

• have

• had

I __________ my homework before I watched TV.

• was finishing

• finish

• had finished

• finished

When I was a child, I often __________ in the river near my house.

• swim

• swam

• had swum

• was swimming