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Class 10 English — Tenses across a passage

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

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Which sentence says the work will be finished before next April?

    • a) The school will complete the library next April.
    • b) The school completes the library next April.
    • c) The school is completing the library next April.
    • d) The school will have completed the library by next April.

  2. 2.Sort each verb form by its tense.

    Groups: Past perfect · Present perfect · Past continuous

    • has reached
    • had written
    • were writing
    • was reaching
    • had reached
    • have written

  3. 3.A passage opens: "For six months the tap had run dry." What does that tense tell a reader about the story to come?

    • a) The tap has never once been dry.
    • b) The dry tap is the background, and the story itself happens later.
    • c) The tap is dry at this very moment.
    • d) The tap will run dry in the future.

  4. 4.By the time the bell rang, the class ____ the whole chapter.

    • a) had finished
    • b) has finished
    • c) finishes
    • d) finished

  5. 5.Match each verb form to the time it describes.

    • cooked
    • had cooked
    • has cooked
    • was cooking
    • is cooking
    • will have cooked
    • will be finished before a future point
    • finished, and it still matters now
    • finished at a stated past time
    • was going on at a past moment
    • finished before another past action
    • going on right now

  6. 6.Ravi ____ the letter when the postman knocked, so he put down his pen and opened the door.

    • a) was writing
    • b) has written
    • c) wrote
    • d) writes

  7. 7.Complete with the present perfect of "live", in two words: My grandmother ____ in this house since 1971.

  8. 8.The shop ____ at eight every morning, but today it ____ late.

    • a) is opening / opens
    • b) opens / opened
    • c) opened / opens
    • d) opens / is opening

Answer key — Class 10 English — Tenses across a passage

  1. 1. d) The school will have completed the library by next April.
  2. 2. had reached → Past perfect; has reached → Present perfect; was reaching → Past continuous; had written → Past perfect; have written → Present perfect; were writing → Past continuous
  3. 3. b) The dry tap is the background, and the story itself happens later.
  4. 4. a) had finished
  5. 5. cooked → finished at a stated past time; had cooked → finished before another past action; has cooked → finished, and it still matters now; was cooking → was going on at a past moment; is cooking → going on right now; will have cooked → will be finished before a future point
  6. 6. a) was writing
  7. 7. has lived
  8. 8. b) opens / opened