Grammar - Verb Tense/form Flashcards
(20 cards)
STUDY CARD
How do you spot verb tense and form traps in GL 11+ grammar questions?
GL loves to test:
- Past vs present vs perfect tenses
- Singular vs plural subject-verb agreement
- Verb phrases that ‘look’ right but aren’t
Key Patterns to Learn:
- ‘He goes’ (present) vs ‘He went’ (past) vs ‘He has gone’ (present perfect)
- ‘They go’ (no ‘s’ for plural), ‘She goes’ (add ‘s’ for singular)
- ‘Did you see?’ not ‘Did you saw?’ → use the base form after ‘did’
Ask yourself:
- What tense is the sentence in?
- Does the verb agree with the subject (he/she vs they)?
- Is the helping verb (has/have/did) followed by the right form?
Choose the right sentence:
A. The team are winning the match. B. The team is winning the match. C. The team were win the match.
B. The team is winning the match.
Explanation: ‘team’ sounds like lots of people, but it’s one group — so we say ‘is’, not ‘are’.
Find the correct version:
A. He had forgot his homework. B. He has forgot his homework. C. He had forgotten his homework. D. He have forgotten his homework.
C. He had forgotten his homework.
Explanation: The correct way to say it is ‘had forgotten’. ‘forgot’ is the short version and doesn’t work with ‘had’.
Which sentence is correct?
A. I have ate breakfast. B. I had eaten breakfast. C. I has eaten breakfast. D. I eaten breakfast.
B. I had eaten breakfast.
Explanation: ‘had eaten’ sounds more complete. ‘ate’ is the simple word, but it doesn’t work here with ‘had’.
Pick the correct form:
A. She was wrote a letter. B. She had wrote a letter. C. She had written a letter. D. She has write a letter.
C. She had written a letter.
Explanation: We say ‘had written’ when we’re talking about something finished earlier. ‘wrote’ is wrong with ‘had’.
Which is correct?
A. The group of students was making too much noise. B. The group of students were making too much noise.
A. The group of students was making too much noise.
Explanation: Even though it says ‘students’, the real subject is ‘group’, which is one thing.
Choose the right sentence:
A. The cake was bake perfectly. B. The cake was baked perfectly. C. The cake is bake perfectly. D. The cake were baked perfectly.
B. The cake was baked perfectly.
Explanation: This is the passive voice. We say ‘was baked’ because the cake didn’t bake itself — someone baked it.
Which is correct?
A. He was told to be quiet. B. He were told to be quiet. C. He is tell to be quiet. D. He told to be quiet.
A. He was told to be quiet.
Explanation: ‘was told’ sounds right because it’s something that already happened. ‘were’ doesn’t match with ‘he’.
Choose the correct sentence:
A. By the time we arrived, the film started. B. By the time we arrived, the film had started. C. By the time we had arrived, the film starts. D. By the time we arrive, the film had started.
B. By the time we arrived, the film had started.
Explanation: This is about what happened before something else. GL loves testing this time-order trap.
Which sentence is right?
A. I was finished my homework. B. I had finished my homework. C. I did finished my homework. D. I has finished my homework.
B. I had finished my homework.
Explanation: GL often hides this in Cloze tests. We say ‘had finished’ to show it’s already done before something else.
Pick the correct sentence:
A. She writes her essay last night. B. She is writing her essay last night. C. She wrote her essay last night. D. She has write her essay last night.
C. She wrote her essay last night.
Explanation: ‘Last night’ needs simple past. GL traps kids by mixing in present or perfect tenses where they don’t belong.
Find the sentence that’s correct:
A. The dogs has been barking all day. B. The dogs have been barking all day. C. The dogs had bark all day. D. The dogs was barking all day.
B. The dogs have been barking all day.
Explanation: GL tests agreement + tense here. ‘Dogs’ is plural, so it must be ‘have been’.
Which one is correct?
A. She told me she will come. B. She tells me she would come. C. She told me she would come. D. She said she will comes.
C. She told me she would come.
Explanation: This is reported speech. GL tests it in comprehension Cloze: ‘will’ becomes ‘would’ after ‘told’.
Pick the best option:
A. If I knew, I will help. B. If I know, I will help. C. If I had known, I would have helped. D. If I know, I would help.
C. If I had known, I would have helped.
Explanation: This is a real GL trap. It’s about imagining the past and what could have happened differently.
Which sentence is correct?
A. The book was read by me yesterday. B. The book is read by me yesterday. C. The book was being read by me yesterday. D. The book be read by me yesterday.
A. The book was read by me yesterday.
Explanation: Passive voice + past time. GL tests this combo in longer Cloze sentences.
Choose the right version:
A. He was hoped to win. B. He hoped to win. C. He had hoping to win. D. He has hope to win.
B. He hoped to win.
Explanation: GL traps kids by using passive forms where only normal past tense works. ‘was hoped’ is never correct here.
Pick the correct sentence:
A. She had been crying before he arrived. B. She has crying before he arrived. C. She had cry before he arrived. D. She has cried before he arrives.
A. She had been crying before he arrived.
Explanation: This shows an action continuing up to another moment in the past. GL tests long past forms like this.
Which is correct?
A. I was told that she has gone. B. I was told that she had gone. C. I was tell that she had gone. D. I was told that she goes.
B. I was told that she had gone.
Explanation: Reported speech again. The person left earlier, so we need ‘had gone’.
Choose the best version:
A. He was sits near the door. B. He is sat near the door. C. He is sitting near the door. D. He be sitting near the door.
C. He is sitting near the door.
Explanation: GL uses this pattern in Cloze. ‘is sitting’ shows something happening right now.
Pick the correct sentence:
A. We were being watched. B. We was being watched. C. We be watched. D. We are watch.
A. We were being watched.
Explanation: Passive form + past tense. ‘were being’ is right because ‘we’ is plural. GL hides this in longer sentences.
