English grammar quiz
English past tenses quiz: all four
I did, I was doing, I had done or I had been doing? Check you can tell the four past tenses apart: 24 questions, every answer explained.
- 24 questions
- Level A2–B2
- Every answer explained
- No sign-up
Quiz: Past tenses
Choose the right option — you’ll instantly see if you got it and why. Your score comes after the last question.
Question 1.
I (blank) my grandma last weekend.
Choose the right option
Last weekend is a specific finished time in the past, so the Past Simple: visited.
Question 2.
While I (blank) dinner, the lights went out.
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While introduces a longer action in progress (Past Continuous) interrupted by a short one (Past Simple): was cooking … went out.
Question 3.
When we got to the cinema, the film (blank).
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The film started before we arrived — the “past before the past” is the Past Perfect, had + V3: had already started.
Question 4.
What (blank) you doing at 8 pm yesterday? I called you twice.
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At 8 pm yesterday is an action in progress at a past moment: the Past Continuous, was / were + -ing; with you it’s were.
Question 5.
By the time the doctor arrived, we (blank) for over two hours.
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By the time + a duration (for over two hours) up to a past moment takes the Past Perfect Continuous: had been waiting.
Question 6.
When I arrived at the party, Anna (blank) home. I didn’t see her.
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Anna left before I arrived — that’s why I didn’t see her. An action before another past action takes the Past Perfect: had already gone.
Question 7.
Shakespeare (blank) in 1564.
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A year in the past and a finished fact: the Past Simple. “To be born” is was born.
Question 8.
The sun (blank) and the birds were singing when I woke up.
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We’re describing the scene when I woke up — the actions were already in progress. Background takes the Past Continuous: was shining (like were singing).
Question 9.
(blank) you see the match last night?
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Last night means the Past Simple. Questions use Did, and the verb stays in its base form: Did you see…?
Question 10.
When I was a child, I (blank) play football every day.
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Used to + base verb is a past habit that is no longer true: “I played football every day back then”.
Question 11.
She (blank) the email, checked it twice and pressed “Send”.
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A sequence of finished actions, one after another, all take the Past Simple: wrote, checked, pressed.
Question 12.
They (blank) for ten years when they finally got married.
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For ten years is a duration up to a past moment (the wedding): the Past Perfect Continuous, had been dating.
Question 13.
We (blank) to Lviv two years ago.
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Ago is a Past Simple marker: a finished action at a specific past time. Moved.
Question 14.
I (blank) to the party because I was ill.
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A finished past fact takes the Past Simple. The negative is didn’t + base verb: didn’t go.
Question 15.
I was having a shower when the phone (blank).
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The long action (was having a shower) is the background; the short action that interrupted it is the Past Simple: rang.
Question 16.
This time yesterday I (blank) on the beach.
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This time yesterday is an action in progress at a past moment: the Past Continuous, was lying.
Question 17.
It was my first flight. I (blank) on a plane before.
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Experience up to a past moment (before that first flight) takes the Past Perfect: had never flown.
Question 18.
After he (blank) his homework, he went out to play.
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First he finished his homework, then he went out: the earlier action is the Past Perfect, had finished.
Question 19.
Why (blank) you at school yesterday?
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There’s no other verb here: “be at school” uses be. The past of be with you is were, negative weren’t.
Question 20.
She (blank) a new dress for the party last Saturday.
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Last Saturday takes the Past Simple. Buy is irregular: buy — bought — bought.
Question 21.
He was out of breath because he (blank).
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A past state (out of breath) is explained by a longer activity before it: the Past Perfect Continuous, had been running.
Question 22.
We (blank) live in a small village, but now we live in Kyiv.
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A past state that is no longer true: used to + base verb. Use to appears only after did; be used to means “be accustomed to”.
Question 23.
What (blank) when I called you?
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We ask what was in progress at the moment of the call: the Past Continuous, were you doing.
Question 24.
I (blank) well last night because of the noise.
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Last night takes the Past Simple. The negative: didn’t + base verb, didn’t sleep.
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Take the level testEnglish past tenses: the rule
Tell a story in English and you’ll need all four: what happened, what was going on, what had happened earlier and for how long.
Past Simple — what happened
A finished action in the past, often with a specific time, and the events of a story one after another. Form: V2 (worked, went); questions and negatives use did + base verb.
I moved to Odesa in 2019.
a finished action, a specific time
He opened the door, looked around and left.
a sequence of events
Past Continuous — what was going on
In progress at a specific past moment, or the background interrupted by a short action (Past Simple). Form: was / were + -ing.
I was sleeping when you called.
a longer action interrupted by a short one
At 9 pm we were watching a film.
In progress at a past moment
Past Perfect — what had happened before
The “past before the past”: one past action happened before another. Form: had + V3. Markers: already, before, by the time, after.
When I arrived, the lesson had already started.
It started before I arrived
I had never seen the sea before that trip.
experience up to a past moment
Past Perfect Continuous — for how long
An action had been going on for some time up to a past moment. Form: had been + -ing, often with for / since. For past habits that are no longer true, use used to + base verb.
She was tired because she had been working all day.
the cause of a past situation
I used to live in Kyiv.
but I don’t any more
- Read more: Past Simple
- Read more: Past Continuous
- Read more: Past Perfect
- Read more: Past Perfect Continuous
- Read more: Used to
Typical mistakes
Things learners of English often say. On the left — what to avoid, on the right — the correct version.
Not this:
I was go to the cinema yesterday.This: I went to the cinema yesterday.
The Past Simple is V2 (went), no was.
Not this:
Did you saw him?This: Did you see him?
After did use the base verb: did already shows the past.
Not this:
When I came, they already left.This: When I came, they had already left.
They left before I came: Past Perfect.
Not this:
I was knowing the answer.This: I knew the answer.
Know is a state verb, no continuous.
FAQ
Didn’t find your answer? Send us a request — we’ll tell you everything.
How do I choose between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous?
The Past Simple is a finished action, “what happened” (I called you). The Past Continuous is an activity in progress, “what was going on” at that moment (I was cooking). They often appear together: I was cooking when you called — a longer background action interrupted by a short one.
When do I need the Past Perfect?
When, in a story about the past, you need to show that one action happened before another: When we arrived, the film had started (it started before we came). If the events are told in the order they happened, you don’t need it: We arrived and the film started.
Used to or the Past Simple?
Used to is for habits and states that are no longer true: I used to play football (but I don’t now). The Past Simple also works (I played football as a child), but used to stresses that things have changed. Don’t use used to for a single event.
Where can I go through the past tenses with a teacher?
At the Slay School grammar intensive “Past Tenses” on Zoom: 90 minutes of plain-language explanations, tense comparisons, typical mistakes and speaking practice. Details are on the Events page.
More grammar quizzes
- A1
There is / there are
There is or there are: singular, plural, questions and the past.
- A1–A2
Present Simple vs Present Continuous
I work or I’m working: habits and facts vs what’s happening right now.
- A1–B1
Articles a, an, the
A, an, the or no article: from a / an to countries, rivers and mountains.
- A1–A2
Much, many, a lot of
Much or many, a few or a little: countable and uncountable nouns.
- A1–A2
Prepositions in, on, at
In May, on Monday, at 5 o’clock: prepositions of time and place.
- A1–A2
Comparatives and superlatives
Bigger, the biggest, more interesting: rules and exceptions.
- A1–A2
Question forms
Do / does / did, word order, subject questions and question tags.
- A2–B1
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
I have seen or I saw: experience and results vs the finished past.
- A2–B1
Will vs going to
A decision now or an earlier plan: the future with will and going to.
- A2–B2
Modal verbs
Can, must, should, might: obligation, advice, possibility, deduction.
- A2–B1
Present tenses
All four: Present Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous in one quiz.
- A2–B2
Future tenses
Will, going to, Present Continuous, Future Continuous and Future Perfect: how to talk about the future.
- A2–B2
Passive voice
Be + past participle in every tense: is made, was built, has been sold.
- B1–B2
Gerund or infinitive
Enjoy doing, want to do, stop doing or stop to do.
- B1–B2
Conditionals
Zero, first, second, third and mixed: if I have, if I had, if I had had.
- B1–B2
I wish and if only
I wish I knew, I wish I had known, I wish you would stop.
- B1–B2
Reported speech
She said she was tired: tense changes, said or told, questions.
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