Quiz time: present tenses

Test your knowledge and learn about present tenses

Hello everyone!

When I started these newsletters, I promised you quizzes as well as lessons and tips for learning. So today, here is a quiz about present tenses in English: present simple, present continuous, present perfect and present perfect continuous. 

Don’t worry too much about learning the names of the tenses. It’s more important to remember am/are/is + -ing and have/has + verb 3 and so on, even if you don’t remember the grammar terms.

Here are the four tenses in my quiz:
Present simple = work/works
Present continuous = am/are/is working
Present perfect = have/has worked
Present perfect continuous = have/has been working

There’s one more thing that you might need to know:
Action verbs = verbs which describe an action. Something happens. E.g. work, dance, read
Non-action verbs = verbs which describe a situation. There’s no action. Nothing actually happens. E.g. want, understand, believe
You’ll find more information about this in the answers.

And now, here’s the quiz! The answers are at the bottom.

---

Present Tenses Quiz

1. Maria usually _____ before she goes to sleep.

a) is reading
b) read
c) reads
d) is read

2. I _____ my keys. I can't find them anywhere.

a) have lost
b) has lost
c) lose
d) am losing

3. I _____ French for five years.

a) am studying
b) have been studying
c) study
d) has been studying

4. How long _____ you two _____ each other?

a) do … know
b) have … been knowing
c) have … known
d) are … knowing 

5. _____ your homework yet? Yes, I _____ it.

a) Are you doing ... am already doing
b) Have you done ... have already done
c) You have done ... have done already
d) Do you do ... already do

6. This soup _____ delicious.

a) has been tasting
b) has tasted
c) is tasting
d) tastes

7. I'm not hungry. I _____ a sandwich.

a) have just eaten
b) have eaten just
c) am eating
d) eat

8. I _____ "Harry Potter". I'm about halfway through.

a) is reading
b) have read
c) am reading
d) read

9. I _____ twenty emails so far today.

a) have written
b) have been writing
c) am writing
d) write

10. Are you OK? Your eyes are red. _____ you _____?

a) Do you cry
b) Are you crying
c) Have you cried
d) Have you been crying

11. Sorry, he can't come to the phone right now. He _____ a shower.

a) having
b) has had
c) has
d) is having

12. I _____ to Paris tomorrow! My plane _____ at 10.30 am.

a) will fly … will leave
b) am flying … leaves
c) fly … is leaving
d) flying … leave

---

I’ve been thinking writing an e-book about verb tenses, with explanations of all the tenses and exercises for you to practise. Is that something you might be interested in? You can tell me in the comments.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz. How did you do?!

Until next time,

Katie

---

Answers

1 c
Maria usually READS before she goes to sleep.
We use the present simple for habits. And don’t forget the -s for he/she/it.

2 a
I HAVE LOST my keys.
We use the present perfect to describe a recent action which has a present result. The present result in this situation is that I can’t find my keys or I can’t open the door. In British English, we would always use “have lost” in this situation but in America, they might use the past simple, “lost”.

3 b
I HAVE BEEN LEARNING French for five years.
We use the present perfect continuous to say how long something has continued for. This is only true for actions and “learn” is an action. For non-action verbs, look at number 4.

4 c
How long HAVE you two KNOWN each other?
We use the present perfect to say how long a situation has continued for. “Know” is a non-action verb and so we don’t use the -ing form.

5 b
HAVE YOU DONE your homework yet? Yes, I HAVE ALREADY DONE it.
We use the present perfect with “yet” and “already”, especially in British English. “Already” goes between “have” and “done”.

6 d
This soup TASTES delicious.
Even though this is now, we use the present simple. It is not an action and we don't usually use continuous tenses for non-action verbs.

7 a
I HAVE JUST EATEN a sandwich.
We use the present perfect with “just”, especially in British English. “Just” goes between “have” and “eaten”.

8 c
I AM READING “Harry Potter”.
We use the present continuous for actions which are not happening at exactly at this moment but around now. I’m not reading at this moment but I started the book some time ago, I read a bit every day, and I haven’t finished it yet. 

9 a
I HAVE WRITTEN twenty emails so far today.
We use the present perfect here because we're talking about “time up to now”. Today is not finished (unless it’s bedtime!) Compare this to “I wrote twenty emails yesterday”. “Yesterday” is finished.
Also, we use the present perfect here, not the present perfect continuous because we are talking about the number of emails. Compare this to “I’ve been writing emails all morning.” It’s a continuous activity and no number is mentioned.

10 d
HAVE YOU BEEN CRYING?
We use the present perfect continuous to describe an action that continued for some time but finished recently. There is a present result. The crying finished before I walked into the room but the eyes are still red.

11 d
He IS HAVING a shower.
We use the present continuous to describe actions that are in progress at the moment and are not finished.

12 b
I AM FLYING to Paris tomorrow! My plane LEAVES at 10.30 am.
We can sometimes use present tenses to talk about the future! We use the present continuous to talk about plans and arrangements and the present simple for something that’s scheduled, like a flight.