Year 11 English — Tenses across a passage

Choose the tense each gap in a passage needs, using the time signals around it.

Name: ________________________

1.Complete with the simple past of "begin", in one word: The rain ____ at four o'clock and stopped at six.
2.The shop ____ at eight every morning, but today it ____ late.
- a) opens / opened
- b) is opening / opens
- c) opened / opens
- d) opens / is opening
3.By the time the bell rang, the class ____ the whole chapter.
- a) finished
- b) had finished
- c) finishes
- d) has finished
4.Ravi ____ the letter when the postman knocked, so he put down his pen and opened the door.
- a) has written
- b) was writing
- c) wrote
- d) writes
5.Complete with the present perfect of "live", in two words: My grandmother ____ in this house since 1971.
6.Complete with the past perfect of "leave", in two words: The train ____ before we reached the platform.
7.Sort each sentence by whether its two verbs belong to the same time.
Groups: Tenses agree · Tenses clash
- We were walking home when it starts to rain.
- The bell rang and everyone stands up.
- She switches on the lamp and reads for an hour.
- We were walking home when it started to rain.
- The bell rang and everyone stood up.
- She switched on the lamp and reads for an hour.
8.Complete with the past continuous of "wait", in two words: The passengers ____ on the platform when the announcement came.

Answer key — Year 11 English — Tenses across a passage

1. began
2. a) opens / opened
3. b) had finished
4. b) was writing
5. has lived
6. had left
7. We were walking home when it started to rain. → Tenses agree; We were walking home when it starts to rain. → Tenses clash; The bell rang and everyone stood up. → Tenses agree; The bell rang and everyone stands up. → Tenses clash; She switches on the lamp and reads for an hour. → Tenses agree; She switched on the lamp and reads for an hour. → Tenses clash
8. were waiting