Test: The Tense- 1 - Bank Exams MCQ

It can reasonably be inferred that the given sentences are part of a recipe. Recipes are usually given in an instructional format and, hence, are in the present tense.
Option A, was, is the past form of ‘is’ and is used in the past tense.
Option B, is, is a form of ‘be’ and is used to depict the present tense. 
Option C, be, is used mainly in affirmative and assertive sentences, to describe an order, an advice or a request (if preceded by a request.)
Option D, will, Is used in the future tense.

Of the given options, option C is the correct one as ‘be’ always follows 'careful' when a suggestion is offered.

Let us look at an example. 
He is working.
The above-mentioned sentence is in the present continuous tense because we see that the verb 'working' is in the continuous form and 'is' is the third person singular present of 'be'. This particular tense is used to talk about something that is happening at the moment of speaking. Hence clearly a tense is that form of a verb that expresses time and state of an action or an event making option C the correct answer.
Options A and B are incorrect because the tense of a sentence does not express the person, number or position of an action or an event. (Refer to the example given to get a better understanding.)
Option D is incorrect because we've already chosen the correct answer.

NOTE: 'The word 'yet' explains that the sentence is in the present perfect tense. Present perfect tense is used when the action has started in the past and has ended in the present.
Option A - 'Didn't finish' is used to represent a sentence in the simple past tense. Thus option A is incorrect.
Option B - 'Haven't finish' is grammatically incorrect as to describe the sentence in the present perfect tense, we need the verb in the past participle form and not the original form 'finish'. Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option C - 'Didin't finished' is grammatically incorrect as 'didn't' is used for the past tense and for present perfect tense, we need 'has/have' instead of 'did'. Hence, option C is incorrect.
Option D - 'Haven't finished' is used to describe the sentence is the present perfect tense. Hence, option D is the correct answer.
'I haven't finished my e-mail to my pen friend yet.'

The tense of a sentence denotes a time, whether it is the time now (present), time then (past) or the time to come (future). The verb of a sentence has most to do with the tense. In the given sentence, we need to fill in a word that determines the correct tense. The speaker tells the other person to be quiet, as their daughter is sleeping. The action is in the present, we know this because the person is being requested to "be quiet" which is in the  present. From the options, 'is sleeping' is in the present continuous tense, as the daughter is in the middle of the action of sleeping, which is why the person needs to be quiet. Hence option A is correct. 'Sleep' and 'sleeps' are in the simple present tense, the former being in the first person point of view 'I sleep at 10 pm every day' and the latter in the third person point of view. The verb in the simple present tense often refers to a habit or routine, whereas here the daughter is performing an action of sleeping at the moment, hence options B and C are incorrect. 'Has slept' is in the present perfect tense, referring to an action that has just been completed, whereas the girl "daughter" is still performing the action, hence option D is incorrect.

NOTE: Looking at the sentence, we can understand that there are two actions. 'Mrs. Kapoor was worried' because an action happened in the past. Hence, we will use the past perfect tense to fill in the blank.
Option A - 'Hasn't phoned' is used to represent the sentence in the present perfect tense. Thus option A is incorrect.
Option B - 'Wasn't phoning' is used to represent the sentence in the past continuous tense, to explain an action that was continuing in the past. Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option D - 'Didn't phones' is grammatically incorrect as even in simple past tense, we don't use the verb with 's/es'. Hence, option D is incorrect
Option C - 'Hadn't phoned' is used to represent an action that was completed in the past before 'Mrs. Kapoor was worried'. Thus, it defines the sentence in the past perfect tense. Hence, option C is the correct answer.
'Mrs. Kapoor was worried because her husband hadn't phoned.'

The tense of a sentence denotes a time, whether it is the time now (present), time then (past) or the time to come (future). The verb of a sentence has most to do with the tense. In the given sentence, we need to fill in a word that determines the correct tense. It's given that "my brother-in-law" plays football in the same club as the speaker. This is a daily activity, the action of 'playing football' is not taking place right now, or in the past. From the options, 'plays' is in the simple present tense, referring to a habit or a regular activity, hence option D is correct. 'Is playing' is in the present continuous tense, when placed in the sentence it does not sound very natural, as the speaker is talking about a daily activity, the person isn't playing football as the speaker speaks, hence option A is incorrect. 'Played' is in the simple past tense, and does not fit in the sentence, it would sound more natural if 'used to' were added to it, referring to a routine in the past, hence option B is incorrect. 'Play' is in the simple present tense, but it's in the first person point of view, used by the speaker 'I play football', whereas 'plays' is for the third person 'brother-in-law', hence option C is incorrect.

In this sentence, did'nt is correct because it is in simple past tense. Simple past tense is correct because it indicates an action that has already been completed. Here, he did not sleep very well because the couch was very uncomfortable.
'Did' is incorrect because the sentence is in negative form, not positive form.
'Was'nt' in past continuous is incorrect because this form it is used to indicate uncompleted action in the past (with or without time reference).
'Not' is grammatically incorrect.

Option A is correct. The tense of a verb tells us when the action or event occurs. For example, in the sentence I wrote a letter to my mother, the verb "wrote" tells us that the action occurred in the past.

Option B is incorrect as the number of the verb tells us whether it is singular or plural.

Option C is incorrect as the person tells us whether the verb is in first person, second person or third person.

Option D is incorrect as the correct answer is A.

NOTE: 'Three so far' explains that the action of 'winning' has ended. Hence, we will fill in the blanks with the present perfect tense.
Option A - 'Did', 'win', are used in past tense and not in present perfect tense. Thus option A is incorrect.
Option B - 'Have' is the plural form of the auxiliary verb which is used with a plural subject only. As 'she' is the singular subject, we can't use 'have' here. Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option C - 'Win' is used to describe a sentence in the simple present tense. Hence, 'has', 'win' can't be used here. Thus option C is incorrect.
Option D - As 'she' is the third person singular subject, we can use 'has' which is the singular form of the auxiliary/helping verb. The present perfect tense requires the verb in the past participle form, hence, 'won' is correct. Thus option D is the correct answer.
'How many trophies did she win? Three so far.'

NOTE: The action of closing the shops happened before knowing that there were no shops. Hence, we will use the past perfect tense here.
Option A - 'Did close' can be used in the simple past tense to emphasise the verb. Thus option A is incorrect.
Option B - 'Were closing' is used to represent the sentence in the past continuous tense (action continuing in the past). Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option C - 'Have closed' is used to represent the sentence in the present perfect tense. It is used to explain an action that has been completed in the present. Hence, option C is incorrect.
Option D - 'Had' closed' is used to represent the sentence in the past perfect tense. It is used to explain an action that was completed in the past before the other action (here). Hence, option D is the correct answer.
'There were no shops in the village. They all had closed down.'