English Tenses Exercises with Answers

Choose a tense by asking two questions: when is the situation, and how does the speaker view it — as a habit, an action in progress, or something connected to a later point. Time words help, but the whole context decides the answer.

Quick tense check

Meaning	Tense	Example
Habit or general fact	Present simple	She walks to work.
In progress now or around now	Present continuous	She is walking to work today.
Past situation connected to now	Present perfect	She has lived here since May.
Finished at a stated past time	Past simple	She moved here last year.
In progress at a past moment	Past continuous	She was cooking at eight.
Decision, prediction or promise	Future with will	I will call you later.

I have lost my keys, so I can’t open the door.

💡 The past loss matters now, so the present perfect fits.

I lost my keys yesterday, but I found them later.

💡 Yesterday is a finished past time, so the past simple fits.

Water boils at 100°C at sea level.

💡 A general fact uses the present simple.

Common mistakes to watch

❌ I have seen her yesterday.

✅ I saw her yesterday.

In standard English, a finished past time phrase normally takes the past simple.

❌ I am knowing the answer.

✅ I know the answer.

Know usually describes a state, so it rarely takes a continuous form.

❌ He work in a bank.

✅ He works in a bank.

A third-person singular subject takes -s in the present simple.

Practice: 10 questions

Write the correct form of the verb in brackets. Read the whole sentence first: the context, not one word, tells you the time and viewpoint.

1. “My brother ___ (work) in a hospital. He has been a nurse for years.”

2. “Please be quiet. The baby ___ (sleep) right now.”

3. “We ___ (visit) Rome in 2019.”

4. “I ___ (already / finish) my homework, so I can play now.”

5. “When you called, I ___ (take) a shower.”

6. “It’s cold in here. I ___ (close) the window.”

7. “She ___ (live) in this flat since 2021, and she still lives here.”

8. “The train ___ (leave) at 6:15 tomorrow morning.”

9. “Last night, we ___ (watch) a film and then ___ (go) to bed.”

10. “Look at those dark clouds. It ___ (rain) soon.”

Answers and explanations

1. works

💡 A long-term, regular situation uses the present simple, with -s for he.

2. is sleeping

💡 Right now shows an action in progress at the moment of speaking.

3. visited

💡 In 2019 is a finished past time, so the past simple fits.

4. have already finished

💡 The completed action has a present result, so the present perfect fits.

5. was taking

💡 The shower was in progress when another past event happened.

6. will close

💡 The speaker decides at the moment of speaking, so will is natural.

7. has lived

💡 Since plus a situation that continues now uses the present perfect. Has been living is also possible.

8. leaves

💡 A fixed timetable can use the present simple even for the future.

9. watched … went

💡 A sequence of finished past actions uses the past simple; go is irregular.

10. is going to rain

💡 A prediction based on present evidence often uses be going to. Will rain is also possible but less tied to the evidence.

Can one sentence have more than one correct tense?

Yes. Different tenses can be grammatical with different meanings. That is why each question above gives context to fix the intended meaning.

Is the present perfect used the same way everywhere?

Not exactly. American English sometimes uses the past simple with already, just and yet where British English prefers the present perfect. Both are understood.

Keep learning

Review the present simple, present perfect vs past simple, past continuous and future simple.

Grammar reference: Cambridge on tenses and time. The lesson explanations and practice questions are original.