Verb Forms and Tenses Flashcards

Choose the correct option: "If I hadn't accepted that job in Tokyo ten years ago, I ___ fluent in Japanese now."

Answer: wouldn't be

This is a mixed conditional. The if-clause refers to the past (hadn't accepted, past perfect) and the result refers to the present (now). A present result in a conditional uses 'would + bare infinitive', so 'wouldn't be' is correct. 'Wouldn't have been' would describe a past result, which clashes with 'now'.

Choose the correct option: "I'd rather you ___ my sister about the surprise party yesterday — now she knows everything."

Answer: hadn't told

After 'I'd rather + subject', the past simple refers to present or future wishes, and the past perfect refers to regrets about the past. The telling happened yesterday, so the past perfect 'hadn't told' is needed. 'Didn't tell' would only fit a present or future preference.

Which sentence uses a normally stative verb correctly in a continuous form?

Answer: I'm seeing the specialist tomorrow afternoon about my knee.

'See' is usually stative when it means perceiving with the eyes, but it becomes dynamic when it means 'meet' or 'have an appointment with', so the continuous form is fine: 'I'm seeing the specialist tomorrow' is the present continuous for a fixed future arrangement. 'Taste' describing a quality (the soup tastes salty), 'know' and 'own' are stative here and should be in simple forms.

Choose the correct option: "I ___ you last night, but my phone died before I could."

Answer: was going to call

'Was going to + infinitive' expresses a past plan or intention that did not happen (future in the past). The second clause shows the plan failed. 'Had called' says the call actually happened, 'would call' can't express a single planned action that didn't happen, and 'am going to call' is present.

Choose the correct option: "Hardly ___ the platform when the train pulled out of the station."

Answer: had we reached

When a negative adverb like 'hardly' starts a sentence, the subject and auxiliary are inverted. 'Hardly ... when' normally pairs with the past perfect to show that one event happened immediately after another. That gives 'Hardly had we reached...'. 'We had reached' has no inversion, and 'did we reach' is not the standard tense for this structure.

Choose the correct option: "This is the third time this week that the office printer ___ down."

Answer: has broken

The structure 'This is the first/second/third time (that)...' needs the present perfect because it counts experiences up to now in a period that hasn't finished yet ('this week'). The past simple 'broke' is a common learner error here. 'Had broken' would only fit if the frame were 'It was the third time...'.