B1 English Grammar Test – Past Tenses multiple-choice questions

1   The Romans … to Britain in 54 BC.

a) coming

b) came

c) come

2   We were strolling in the park when suddenly it … .

a) thundered

b) thunders

c) was thundering

3   I was watching TV while the kids … in the garden.

a) played

b) playing

c) were playing

4   She was writing a letter while her husband … .

a) was cooking

b) cooked

c) cooking

5   I … the guitar at 9 o’clock yesterday.

a) play

b) was playing

c) played

6   Einstein … a paper on the general theory of relativity in 1916.

a) was publish

b) published

c) was publishing

7   Carol was eating a banana while Sandy … his home task.

a) has done

b) was doing

c) did

8   He … the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954.

a) had won

b) was winning

c) won

9   I … home at 7 p.m. yesterday.

a) driving

b) was driving

c) drove

10   The boy … to music when the door bell rang.

a) listened

b) listen

c) was listening

11   I woke up at 7 a.m., ironed my clothes and … out.

a) went

b) gone

c) was going

12   Marian … Mary two years ago.

a) has met

b) was meeting

c) met

13   We … to Australia last year.

a) had gone

b) went

c) had been

14   My cat … with a toy when I called it.

a) played

b) has played

c) was playing

15   Pavarotti … his last performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

a) had given

b) was giving

c) gave

16   Beethoven … his first piece of music when he was 12.

a) composed

b) composing

c) had composed

17   I put my coat on and … a look in the mirror.

a) taken

b) had taken

c) took

18   I was going to a supermarket when the fire … out.

a) break

b) broke

c) was breaking

19   Bill … football at 10 o’clock yesterday.

a) played

b) was playing

c) have played

20   Henry … to his cousin while his wife was reading a newspaper.

a) talking

b) talk

c) was talking

21   Steven … the first book when he was four years old.

a) had read

b) read

c) was reading

22   We went to Hyde Park and then we … in a restaurant.

a) relaxed

b) have relaxed

c) were relaxing

23   David Beckham … for Manchester United from 1993 to 2003.

a) was playing

b) played

c) playing

24   Jill wiped the table after supper, took a shower and … to bed.

a) was going

b) had gone

c) went

25   Lincoln … the 16th President of the United States in 1860.

a) had become

b) became

c) become

26   I was sitting in the café when my phone … .

a) was ringing

b) had rung

c) rang

27   I was listening to music when my mom … my room.

a) entered

b) has entered

c) entering

28   I was trying to concentrate when suddenly my girlfriend … me a fright.

a) had given

b) gave

c) given

29   I was reading a book while the children … .

a) slept

b) had slept

c) were sleeping

30   The first Derby … place in May 1780.

a) took

b) has taken

c) had taken