Grammar

Level C1

Part 1 - Past Tenses

Exercises Feed

For questions 1-10, choose the correct answer.

1

Past Tenses

By the time the auditors arrived, the finance team .......... the discrepancy and drafted a preliminary report.

already identified

was already identifying

had already identified

has already identified

2

Past Tenses

I .......... to call you back, but the meeting ran over and I completely forgot.

was meaning

have meant

meant

had meant

3

Past Tenses

She .......... in Berlin for nearly a decade before she relocated to Lisbon.

was living

lived

has lived

had lived

4

Past Tenses

While the keynote speaker .........., several attendees quietly slipped out to take calls.

had spoken

spoke

was speaking

has been speaking

5

Past Tenses

It .......... for hours when the power finally came back on.

rained

was raining

had been raining

has been raining

6

Past Tenses

No sooner .......... the contract than the client requested a major revision.

had we signed

have we signed

did we sign

we had signed

7

Past Tenses

I .......... the email twice, but I still couldn’t work out what she was implying.

had read

was reading

read

have read

8

Past Tenses

He .......... the company for years, so the sudden resignation took everyone by surprise.

had been running

ran

was running

has been running

9

Past Tenses

When I got to the station, the train .........., so I had to wait for the next one.

had already left

has already left

was already leaving

already left

10

Past Tenses

She .......... the proposal when her laptop suddenly crashed.

was finalising

has been finalising

finalised

had finalised

What to do

This part consists of a number of assessments, each of which has only one valid answer.

Select the best answer according to what you read.

There's only one valid answer

There's only a correct answer which you will have to select by clicking on it.

Don't spend unnecessary time

Don't spend time in an assessment you don't know. Wasting time on this activity might cost you points later in the exam because you won’t have enough time to do other tasks well. Get used to being quick!

Grammar is a must

Although these grammar tests are not part of the official Cambridge exams, they are still important as they touch on language elements that you'll come across in all parts of the official exams, such as Reading and Use of English.

Strategy

Read the assessment so you understand what it is about.
Pay attention to the topic on the top-right corner of each assessment.
Check the words before and after each gap and look for grammatical collocations.
Remember that you select a choice by clicking on it.

Instructions

For questions 1-10, choose the correct answer.

Exercise Details

Author

Kar Les

@kar

User Prompt

"Create a grammar exercise focusing on 'Past Tenses'"

Tone: Standard

Level: C1

Created on:

Mar 5, 2026

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