English Grammar Practice Worksheet: Tenses - Fill in the blanks with the correct verb forms.

Let’s go through each sentence one by one. We need to pick the correct tense for the verb in brackets, based on clues like time words (yesterday, now, last night, etc.) and what the sentence is trying to say.

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1. Yesterday, my mother ______ (go) to the new shopping mall.
→ “Yesterday” = past → use simple past: went

2. I ______ (watch) the Discovery Channel now.
→ “Now” = happening right now → present continuous: am watching

3. ______ (be) there any cinemas in the USA in the early 1950s?
→ “In the early 1950s” = past → use past tense of “be”: Were

4. At 7 o’clock, I ______ (eat) dinner at the nearby restaurant.
→ This could be tricky. If it’s a habit or routine, we might use simple present. But if it’s about what you were doing at that exact time yesterday, it would be past continuous. Since no other context, and “at 7 o’clock” often implies a specific moment in the past, let’s assume it’s describing an action in progress → was eating
*(But note: sometimes this can also be interpreted as habitual — e.g., “Every day at 7, I eat...” — but since no “every day”, better to go with past continuous for a single event. However, looking at common worksheet patterns, they may expect simple past here. Let’s check clue: “At 7 o’clock” without “yesterday” — actually, ambiguous. But in most school worksheets, if it says “At 7 o’clock” alone, and no other time marker, they often mean a habitual action → so simple present: eat. Wait — let’s look again. Sentence 4 doesn’t have “yesterday” or “now”. Hmm. Actually, comparing to sentence 5 which has “when I got a phone call”, that’s clearly past continuous. For sentence 4, since it’s standalone, and “at 7 o’clock” can imply a regular time, many textbooks use simple present for routines. BUT — let’s see sentence 8: “What do you do for a living?” — that’s simple present for habits. So maybe sentence 4 is also meant to be simple present? Actually, no — because “at 7 o’clock” without “every day” is more likely referring to a specific past event. To resolve: In standard grammar exercises, when they say “At 7 o’clock, I ___ dinner”, and it’s not specified as habitual, they usually want past continuous if it’s part of a story, or simple past if completed. But here, since it’s isolated, and no other context, safest is to assume it’s a completed action in the past → ate. Let me double-check with typical curriculum: Yes, in many grade-level worksheets, “At 7 o’clock, I ate dinner” is accepted as simple past for a finished action. So I’ll go with ate.

Wait — let’s reconsider. Sentence 5 is clearly past continuous (“I was cooking when I got a call”). Sentence 4 is similar structure but without interruption. Actually, “At 7 o’clock” can be used with simple past for actions that happened at that time. Example: “I left at 7.” So yes — ate is fine.

5. I ______ (cook) when I got a phone call from my neighbour.
→ Two past actions: one interrupted the other → the longer action (cooking) was in progress → past continuous: was cooking

6. The windows ______ (sparkle) after I cleaned them yesterday.
→ “After I cleaned them yesterday” = past → sparkle happened after cleaning, still in past → simple past: sparkled

7. This morning, I ______ (make) breakfast for everyone in the family.
→ “This morning” = today, but already finished → simple past: made

8. What do you ______ (do) for a living?
→ “Do you” already gives us the auxiliary → base form of verb: do

9. Last weekend, I ______ (visit) my grandmother.
→ “Last weekend” = past → simple past: visited

10. The phone rang when I ______ (play) with my cousins.
→ Again, two past actions — ringing interrupted playing → playing was in progress → past continuous: was playing

11. My father ______ (read) two newspapers every day.
→ “Every day” = habit → simple present: reads

12. The cat ______ (drink) a bowl full of milk last night.
→ “Last night” = past → simple past: drank

13. They ______ (visit) their relatives in Florida next month.
→ “Next month” = future → will + base verb: will visit

14. Benny often ______ (listen) to rock music.
→ “Often” = habit → simple present: listens

15. Tomorrow we ______ (clear) the weed from the garden.
→ “Tomorrow” = future → will + base verb: will clear

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Final Answer:

1. went
2. am watching
3. Were
4. ate
5. was cooking
6. sparkled
7. made
8. do
9. visited
10. was playing
11. reads
12. drank
13. will visit
14. listens
15. will clear