Verb Tenses — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which sentence uses the past progressive tense correctly?
A) She was painted a picture yesterday.
B) She was painting a picture when the phone rang.
C) She painting a picture last night.
D) She will be painting a picture tomorrow.
Was + painting (verb-ing) correctly forms the past progressive tense, and the sentence correctly shows an ongoing past action interrupted by another.
2. What is the correct past tense of the irregular verb "choose"?
A) choosed
B) chosen
C) chose
D) choosing
Choose is irregular — its simple past tense is chose (chosen is the past participle used with have/had).
3. Which sentence has a tense shift error?
A) She walked to the store and bought milk.
B) He studies hard and passes every test.
C) They played soccer and then goes home.
D) We will pack our bags and leave early.
"Played" is past tense but "goes" is present tense — this is an incorrect tense shift within the same sentence.
4. In which sentence is the future progressive tense used?
A) I will finish my report tonight.
B) I am finishing my report now.
C) I will be finishing my report during study hall.
D) I finished my report yesterday.
Will be + verb-ing (will be finishing) forms the future progressive, describing an ongoing future action.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The past progressive tense uses was or were plus a verb ending in -ing.
Past progressive = was/were + verb-ing (was running, were singing).
2. The irregular past tense of "freeze" is froze.
Freeze is irregular — its simple past tense is froze.
3. A tense shift happens when a writer switches tenses in the same sentence or paragraph.
A tense shift is an error in which a writer unnecessarily changes from one tense to another within a sentence or paragraph.
4. The present progressive tense shows an action that is happening right now.
Present progressive (is/are + verb-ing) describes an action currently in progress.
5. The irregular past tense of "speak" is spoke.
Speak is irregular — its past tense is spoke, not speaked.