Tenses Exercise For Class 10 CBSE

Tense shows time. There are mainly three tenses in English – present, past and future. Each of these three tenses is further divided to four tenses.

Present tense: Simple present, present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous

Past tense: simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous

Future tense: simple future, future continuous, future perfect, future perfect continuous

This tenses exercise tests your ability to use different tense forms. It is helpful for students of class 10. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate tense form of the verb.

Tenses exercise for class 10

1. She ——————– the railway station before the train came.

a) had reached
b) has reached
c) reached
d) was reached

2. His uncle does not ——————— here.

a) live
b) lives
c) living
d) lived

3. Peter ————————- editing this magazine for twenty five years by next January.

a) will be
b) will have been
c) is
d) would be

4. Peter ——————— two wickets before rain interrupted play.

a) took
b) has taken
c) had taken
d) had took

5. I ———————– him twice before he left for New York.

a) saw
b) have seen
c) had seen
d) seen

6. Edison —————————- newspapers before he became a famous inventor.

a) sold
b) had sold
c) was selling
d) had been selling

7. In my youth I ————————- exercise every day.

a) had taken
b) took
c) was taking
d) had been taking

8. She ——————— for Delhi this evening.

a) is leaving
b) was leaving
c) have been leaving
d) had left

9. Heat ———————- bodies.

a) expanded
b) would expand
c) expands
d) is expanding

10. We ————————— living here since 1990.

a) were
b) are
c) have been
d) had been

11. We ————————- here for ten years now.

a) lived
b) have lived
c) had lived
d) were living

12. Did you ——————- him?

a) seen
b) see
c) saw
d) were seeing

13. Nobody will ever ———————– what happened to her.

a) know
b) knew
c) had known
d) be knowing

14. I could ———————– her if I wanted to.

a) have married
b) marry
c) married
d) be marrying

15. Does she ———————- what she is doing?

a) knows
b) know
c) knew
d) had known

16. When I visited him he ——————— bed-ridden for two months.

a) was
b) has been
c) had been
d) were

17. I ——————– school last year.

a) left
b) had left
c) leaved
d) was leaving

18. There ——————— a famine in Bengal in 1982.

a) was
b) has been
c) were
d) had been

19. Akbar ————————– the Moghul power paramount in India.

a) had made
b) has made
c) made
d) would make

20. John has ———————- home.

a) went
b) go
c) gone
d) going

Answers

1. had reached
2. live
3. will have been
4. had taken
5. had seen
6. sold (= used to sell)
7. took (= used to take)
8. is leaving
9. expands
10. have been
11. have lived
12. see
13. know
14. have married
15. know
16. had been
17. left
18. was
19. made
20. gone

Exercise 2

1. Where have you been all this while? I ………………………….. (study) in the library.

2. You look tired. Yes, I ……………………………. (run)

3. Look! Somebody ………………………. (break) the lock.

4. …………………….. (you ever visit) China?

5. My cat ……………………… (miss) for a few days.

6. Rahul is on vacation. I see. Where ……………………….. (he go)?

7. She is a popular actor. She ……………………….. (appear) in over a hundred films.

8. Sorry. I am late. ………………………. (you wait) for long?

9. I ………………………. my phone. (lose)

10. ……………………. (you finish) that project? No. I ………………………… (still work) on it.

Answers

1. have been studying

2. have been running

3. has broken

4. Have you ever visited

5. has been missing

6. has he gone

7. has appeared

8. Have you been waiting

9. have lost

10. Have you finished, am still working

Tenses exercise 3

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate tense form.

1. From our conversation, I …………………… (infer) that she …………………. a large family. (have)

2. He ……………………….. (remember) for his many good deeds.

3. He ………………………. his success to his grandmother. (owe)

4. Your visit last week ……………………… us. (delight)

5. Some people believe that our destiny …………………………. (predetermine)

6. He was so hungry, he ………………………. everything on his plate. (devour)

7. She ………………………. several historical novels a week. (read)

8. He ……………………. (work) as a real estate agent for several years before he ……………………. abroad. (go)

9. He ……………………. (fall) down the stairs and ………………….. (break) his back.

10. I ……………………. (not mind) being alone for a few hours.

Answers

1. inferred, had, 2. is remembered, 3. owes, 4. delighted, 5. is predetermined, 6. devoured, 7. reads, 8. worked, went, 9. fell, broke, 10. don’t mind

Tenses exercise 4

Some verbs are not normally used in the continuous form. Examples are: like, want, need, prefer, understand, mean, believe, remember, fit, contain, consist, seem, belong.

Some verbs have a different meaning when they are used in the continuous form. For example, when think is used in the continuous form, it means consider.

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate simple or continuous tense form.

1. I am tired. I ……………….. to sit down somewhere. (want / am wanting)

2. I ……………… your situation. (understand)

3. The girl ………………. happy. (look)

4. He ………………. to be in trouble. (seem)

5. I ……………… (think) she ………………. (lie)

6. What …………….. you ………………. of these developments? (think)

7. I ……………….. (think) of going abroad.

8. She ……………….. (think) of quitting her job.

9. This T shirt ……………… (smell). You should dry it in the sun.

10. …………. you ……………. the bird in this picture? (See)

11. …………… you ……………. in God? (believe)

12. You ……………… very happy today. (not look)

13. He …………………………. to a hill tribe. (belong)

14. This book …………………………. of 12 chapters. (consist)

Answers

1. want, 2. understand, 3. looks, 4. seems, 5. think, is lying, 6. do think, 7. am thinking, 8. is thinking, 9. smells, 10. Do you see, 11. Do you believe, 12. don’t look, 13. belongs, 14. consists

Exercise 5

1. New techniques …………………………. (are helping / were helping / helps) scientists to predict how, when, and where major hurricanes ……………………… (will / would / could) occur. 

2. Even when scientists ……………………… (can / may / will) figure out where a storm is headed, winds can change at the last minute, ………………………. (carries / carrying / carry) the storm in a new direction.

3. Scientists ……………………………. (predict / predicts / predicted) hurricanes with the help of computer simulations, or models, and knowledge of the past.

4. Scientists ………………………. (are collecting / have been collecting / collect) data about storms for decades.

5. They ………………………… (noticed / have noticed / notice) patterns that suggest what it ……………………….. (is taking / takes / took) for a strong storm to form in the first place.

6. Storms ………………………… (are developing / develop / developed) over tropical waters in different parts of the world.

7. For a hurricane to get ………………………… (organize / organized / organizing), ‘conditions have to be just right’.

8. First, the ocean water ………………………….. (needs / is needing / need) to be warm enough so that the winds can take up evaporated water which rises into the air.

9. As it rises, the vapor …………………………. (cool / cools / cooled) and turns back into liquid. This process ………………………  (release / releases / releasing) heat and it drives the formation of a hurricane.

10. If wind speeds inside the swirling mass ………………………… (reach / reached / have reached) 40 miles per hour, the system ………………………….. (classified / is classified / is classifying) as a ‘tropical storm’, and it gets a name.

Answers

1. are helping, will occur

2. can, carrying

3. predict

4. have been collecting

5. have noticed, takes

6. develop

7. organized

8. needs

9. cools, releases

10. reach, is classified