8th Grade Level 4 Revision Worksheet: Practice English Tenses with Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercises

Let’s work through each section step by step.

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Section A: Present Simple and Present Continuous

We use:
- Present Simple for habits, routines, facts.
- Present Continuous for actions happening *now* or around now.

1. “I ___ (not listen) to the radio now.” → “now” = happening now → Present Continuous
→ am not listening

2. “Susan usually ___ (catch) the train at 9 o’clock.” → “usually” = habit → Present Simple
→ catches

3. “Look! They ___ (snowboard).” → “Look!” = happening now → Present Continuous
→ are snowboarding

4. “Susan often ___ (have) breakfast at home but today she ___ (have) breakfast at school.”
→ “often” = habit → Present Simple → has
→ “today” = exception happening now → Present Continuous → is having

5. “Today Susan and her friends ___ (go) to the cinema. The film ___ (begin) at 4.30 pm.”
→ “Today” = plan happening now → Present Continuous → are going
→ Timetable/fact → Present Simple → begins

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Section B: Simple Past and Past Continuous

We use:
- Simple Past for completed actions.
- Past Continuous for actions in progress when another action happened.

1. “James ___ (have) a glass of milk when the postman ___ (come).”
→ James was in the middle of drinking → Past Continuous → was having
→ Postman arrived (interrupting) → Simple Past → came

2. “I ___ (meet) the players when they ___ (wait) for the bus.”
→ Meeting happened while they were waiting →
→ I met (completed) → Simple Past → met
→ They were waiting (in progress) → Past Continuous → were waiting

3. “James ___ (hurt) his back while he ___ (do) some gardening.”
→ Hurt happened during gardening →
→ Hurt = Simple Past → hurt
→ Gardening = in progress → Past Continuous → was doing

4. “___ (they/study) when John arrived?”
→ Asking about what they were doing at that moment → Past Continuous → Were they studying

5. “We ___ (watch) TV while my mother ___ (cook) dinner.”
→ Both actions happening at same time → both Past Continuous
→ were watching / was cooking

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Section C: Present Perfect or Simple Past

We use:
- Present Perfect for unfinished time, experiences, recent actions with present effect.
- Simple Past for finished time (e.g., last Friday, yesterday).

1. “They ___ (just/finish) the game.” → “just” = very recent → Present Perfect
→ have just finished

2. “___ (you / ever / play) beach volleyball?” → “ever” = life experience → Present Perfect
→ Have you ever played

3. “Casey ___ (not/go) to the match last Friday.” → “last Friday” = finished time → Simple Past
→ did not go

4. “I’d like to see sumo wrestling but I ___ (never/be) interested in this sport.” → “never” = up to now → Present Perfect
→ have never been

5. “They ___ (just/phone) me. Their car ___ (break) down on their way to the stadium.”
→ “just” → Present Perfect → have just phoned
→ Broken down is a completed event → Simple Past → broke

6. “___ (Toby/finish) his project work before the game?” → “before the game” = past deadline → Simple Past
→ Did Toby finish

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Section D: Future (“WILL” or “BE GOING TO”)

We use:
- Will for promises, spontaneous decisions, predictions without evidence.
- Be going to for plans, intentions, predictions with evidence.

1. “John can’t go to the party tomorrow because he ___ (visit) his grandfather.” → Plan → is going to visit

2. “Family life ___ (be) different in 20 years.” → Prediction → will be

3. “There are clouds. It ___ (rain).” → Evidence (clouds) → is going to rain

4. “They promise me they ___ (not/ do) that again.” → Promise → will not do

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Final Answer:

A.
1. am not listening
2. catches
3. are snowboarding
4. has; is having
5. are going; begins

B.
1. was having; came
2. met; were waiting
3. hurt; was doing
4. Were they studying
5. were watching; was cooking

C.
1. have just finished
2. Have you ever played
3. did not go
4. have never been
5. have just phoned; broke
6. Did Toby finish

D.
1. is going to visit
2. will be
3. is going to rain
4. will not do