CBSE Class 9 English Advanced Tense MCQs Set 01

Answer: (d) is going

Explanation:
1. The subject 'Bipin' is third person singular, so the verb needs 'is/am/are' before the -ing form for an action in progress.
2. 'is going' is correct; 'go' and 'going' alone, and 'Is go', are not grammatical.
3. The answer is is going.

Teacher's Note:
1. A bare -ing form never works as the main verb without a helping verb.
2. Match 'is' with a singular subject.

Answer: (a) are working

Explanation:
1. 'Farmers' is plural, so the helping verb is 'are'.
2. 'works' and 'is working' do not agree with a plural subject, and 'working' lacks a helping verb.
3. The answer is are working.

Teacher's Note:
1. First check whether the subject is singular or plural.
2. Present continuous with a plural subject uses 'are'.

Answer: (c) are sleeping

Explanation:
1. 'At the moment' shows that the action is going on now, so the present continuous is needed.
2. With 'They' the helping verb is 'are': 'are sleeping'.
3. The answer is are sleeping.

Teacher's Note:
1. The printed question had no time marker, so 'slept' was also correct; I added 'at the moment' to make exactly one option right.
2. Time words such as now, at the moment and nowadays point to the present continuous.

Answer: (a) has cooked

Explanation:
1. 'My mother' is third person singular. Of the options only 'has cooked' is a correct verb group.
2. 'is cook' and 'cooking' are incomplete and 'cook' does not agree with a singular subject.
3. The answer is has cooked.

Teacher's Note:
1. Reject options that are ungrammatical before choosing among the rest.
2. Present perfect: has/have + past participle.

Answer: (a) sang

Explanation:
1. 'are sang' and 'is sing' are wrongly formed, and 'sing' does not agree with the singular 'Marie'.
2. The simple past 'sang' makes a correct sentence.
3. The answer is sang.

Teacher's Note:
1. Sing - sang - sung: use the second form for the simple past.
2. 'sung' would need 'has/had'.

Answer: (a) slept

Explanation:
1. 'will have' is the helping part of the future perfect tense, which needs the past participle.
2. The past participle of sleep is 'slept'.
3. The answer is slept.

Teacher's Note:
1. Future perfect: shall/will + have + past participle.
2. Never put a base form or -ing form after 'will have'.

Answer: (d) earned

Explanation:
1. 'earns' and 'was earning' do not agree with the plural 'shopkeepers'.
2. 'have been earned' is a wrong passive form.
3. 'earned' (simple past) is the only correct choice: earned.

Teacher's Note:
1. Subject-verb agreement removes two options at once.
2. The simple past has the same form for all subjects.

Answer: (a) shall be entertaining

Explanation:
1. 'At this time tomorrow' describes an action that will be in progress at a fixed future time, so the future continuous is used.
2. Future continuous: shall/will + be + verb-ing, so 'shall be entertaining'.
3. The answer is shall be entertaining.

Teacher's Note:
1. Look for the 'be' between shall/will and the -ing form.
2. With 'I', 'shall' is the traditional helping verb.

Answer: (c) has not been speaking

Explanation:
1. 'For more than a year' shows an action that began in the past and is still going on, so the present perfect continuous is used.
2. 'has not been speaking' fits; 'is not speaking' ignores the long period, 'did not speak' is simple past, and 'had not spoken' needs a past reference.
3. The answer is has not been speaking.

Teacher's Note:
1. The printed option (b) was 'has not spoken', which is also acceptable; I changed it to 'had not spoken' so that only one option is correct.
2. 'For' with a period of time is a signal for the perfect continuous.

Answer: (d) is writing

Explanation:
1. 'Nowadays' describes something that is happening during the present period, though not necessarily at this very moment.
2. That is the use of the present continuous: 'is writing'.
3. The answer is is writing.

Teacher's Note:
1. Nowadays, these days and at present point to the present continuous.
2. The present perfect continuous would need 'for' or 'since'.

Answer: (b) is

Explanation:
1. The subject 'The butter' is singular and the sentence states a fact in a recipe, so the passive 'is melted' is used.
2. The answer is is.

Teacher's Note:
1. Recipes are written in the passive present: is melted, are fried, are added.
2. 'be' and 'being' cannot stand alone as the main verb here.

Answer: (a) fried

Explanation:
1. 'are' plus the past participle makes the passive present: 'are fried'.
2. The answer is fried.

Teacher's Note:
1. In the passive, the past participle follows is/are.
2. Fry - fried - fried.

Answer: (b) brought

Explanation:
1. 'It is ___ to a boil' is a passive sentence, so it needs the past participle.
2. Bring - brought - brought, so the answer is brought.

Teacher's Note:
1. After 'is' in a passive sentence, use the third form.
2. 'is bringing' would make the soup the doer, which is wrong.

Answer: (b) stirring

Explanation:
1. After the conjunction 'while' the shortened clause takes the -ing form: 'while stirring continuously'.
2. The answer is stirring.

Teacher's Note:
1. 'While' + -ing is a compact way to show two actions together.
2. The base form 'stir' would not fit here.

Answer: (a) got

Explanation:
1. 'One morning' places the action in the past, so the simple past 'got' is used.
2. The answer is got.

Teacher's Note:
1. A time phrase like 'one morning' sets the tense of the passage.
2. 'are getting' also fails agreement with 'mother'.

Answer: (c) had not taken

Explanation:
1. Not taking the lunch happened before the mother got worried, so the past perfect is used.
2. 'had not taken' shows the earlier action, so the answer is had not taken.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use the past perfect for the earlier of two past actions.
2. 'is' and 'has' belong to the present.

Answer: (a) was

Explanation:
1. 'asked' is in the past, so the reported question uses the past form 'what the matter was'.
2. 'matter' is singular, so 'were' is wrong; the answer is was.

Teacher's Note:
1. In reported speech the verb moves back in time.
2. Singular subject, singular verb.

Answer: (c) feeling

Explanation:
1. 'was not' is followed by the -ing form to make the past continuous: 'was not feeling'.
2. The answer is feeling.

Teacher's Note:
1. Look at the helping verb just before the blank.
2. 'was not felt' would be a passive, which makes no sense here.