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Tenses play a very important role in the HKCEE English paper.

Students who have problems with their tenses will probably score  low marks on Paper 1 Writing.  They will not fare well on Paper 2 either because tenses and verb structures are the most heavily examined grammar items there. We can also see a lot of questions testing students' knowledge of English verb forms in MC Cloze and Proofreading.

Example:  She was a quiet, well-behaved girl and she did not understand why the girls  ______ her.

Options provided: A. approaching; B. are approaching; C. had approached; D. had been approached

Consider the following factors:

Time: past, present or future

Tense:  simple, progressive, perfect or perfect progressive

Voice: active or passive

Structure of verb: finite or non-finite

When we consider the first factor, we know from the context that it must be past ('was' ... 'did'). Hence, we can eliminate option B. When we consider the fourth factor, we know it must be a finite verb because it appears in a clause ('why the girls ... her'). Therefore, option A is wrong. Now only two possible options (C and D) are left. Both of them are in perfect tense, suggesting that it 'had happened'. Option C is in active voice while option D is in passive. Considering the meaning of 'approach' and the fact that it is not followed by 'by', we can be sure that option C is the correct answer.

Practise your English skills with the following questions:

The school caretaker (1) his rounds at about 10.30pm when he noticed lights flickering inside the main office and went to investigate.

A. makes; B. made; C. is making; D. was making

The headmaster of the school said that this was the first time such an incident (2) and that they would take steps to make sure that it would not happen again.

A. occurred; B. had occurred; C. was occurred; D. occurs

In future, tests would be stored in a locked filing cabinet inside the office, so that even if a student (3) to get into the building, he would not be able to see a copy of the test.

A. could; B. able; C. succeed; D. managed

Gunpowder may have originated in 10th century China. The Chinese probably (4) fireworks for celebrations and explosives in a military capacity long before the rest of the world.

A. using; B. uses; C. used; D. use

By 1300 the Arabs (5) developed the first known gun.

A. had; B. have; C. have had; D. have been

The KCRC has announced that in order to minimise the disruption to scheduled services, the work will (6) out at night.

A. carry; B. carried; C. be carried; D. be carrying

In the country a girl becomes the property of the man she (7) and goes to live with his family.

A. marries; B. marriage; C. married to; D. got married

Answers: 1. D; 2. B; 3. D; 4. C; 5. A; 6. C; 7. A



Get your tenses correct