Real questions: TNPSC previous year questions (2025), official key. Practice questions: ArivArk Academy.
The 12 tenses in one table
| Tense | Simple | Continuous (be + ing) | Perfect (have + V3) | Perfect continuous (have been + ing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | I write | I am writing | I have written | I have been writing |
| Past | I wrote | I was writing | I had written | I had been writing |
| Future | I will write | I will be writing | I will have written | I will have been writing |
Only three formulas: continuous = be + ing, perfect = have + third form (V3), perfect continuous = have been + ing.
Which tense when? Clue words
| Clue words | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| usually, always, every day, universal truths | Simple present | He usually walks to school. |
| now, look!, listen!, at present | Present continuous | Look! It is raining. |
| just, already, yet, ever | Present perfect | She has just finished her work. |
| two past actions: the earlier one; by the time, before | Past perfect | The plane had left by the time I got to the airport. |
| a definite future time: at 2 p.m. tomorrow, tonight | Future continuous | She will be taking an exam at 2 p.m. tomorrow. |
| by next June, by evening | Future perfect | They will have finished the work by evening. |
| for + duration, since + starting point | Perfect continuous | I have been waiting for two hours. |
Concord: subject verb agreement
Singular subject, singular verb. He, she, it or a name takes the -s verb: she loves, he does, he has. I, you, we, they take the plain verb.
Every / each + singular noun + singular verb: Every student likes the teacher.
One of the + plural noun + singular verb: One of the boys is absent.
Collective noun acting as one group takes a singular verb: The team has been working hard.
Neither ... nor / either ... or: the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither Ravi nor his friends are coming.
The number of + plural noun takes a singular verb; a number of takes a plural verb.
Words ending in -s that are one subject (news, mathematics) take a singular verb: The news is good.
TNPSC PYQs (official key)
Answer: (B) had left. Two past actions: the plane left first, so the earlier action takes the past perfect.
Answer: (B) will be taking. At a definite future time the action will be in progress: future continuous.
Answer: (C) Future continuous tense. will be + ing = future continuous.
Answer: (C) At that time, she had been writing a book for three months. A duration (for three months) in the past takes the past perfect continuous.
Answer: (C) She don't have a pen. "She" is singular, so "doesn't", not "don't".
Answer: (C) He is taller than I. "He is taller than I (am)". The other three break subject verb agreement.
Practice MCQs
Why? Short explanations
1 (D) Habit + singular subject: simple present with -s.
2 (C) "Look!" shows the action is happening now: present continuous.
3 (D) "already" with the present: present perfect.
4 (A) "since 2015" up to now: present perfect continuous.
5 (D) The train left first: past perfect.
6 (B) A definite future time, action in progress: future continuous.
7 (A) "By next June": completed before a future point: future perfect.
8 (D) A longer past action interrupted by a short one: past continuous.
9 (A) A universal truth: simple present.
10 (C) A duration up to a past moment: past perfect continuous.
11 (C) will have + V3 = future perfect.
12 (B) The subject is "one": singular verb.
13 (A) "Each" takes a singular verb.
14 (A) The verb follows the nearer subject, "students" (plural).
15 (C) The nearer subject "the girl" is singular.
16 (D) "News" is singular.
17 (D) Two nouns that make one dish take a singular verb.
18 (C) "doesn't" + plain verb (like, not likes).
19 (B) "The number of" takes a singular verb.
20 (A) "A number of" (= many) takes a plural verb.
