English Grammar Quiz: 20 Questions With Answers and Explanations

How strong is your English grammar? Try these 20 questions, then check the answers and explanations at the end. They cover the areas learners find most difficult.

Part 1: Tenses

1. I ___ here since 2020. (live / have lived / am living)
2. She ___ TV when I called. (watched / was watching / has watched)
3. By the time we arrived, the film ___. (started / had started / has started)
4. Water ___ at 100°C. (boils / is boiling / boiled)
5. Look at those clouds! It ___ rain. (will / is going to / would)

Part 2: Articles

6. She is ___ honest person. (a / an / the)
7. ___ sun rises in the east. (A / The / no article)
8. I love ___ music. (the / a / no article)
9. He wants to be ___ engineer. (a / an / the)

Part 3: Prepositions

10. My birthday is ___ May. (on / in / at)
11. The meeting is ___ Monday. (on / in / at)
12. I’ll see you ___ 6 o’clock. (on / in / at)
13. She is good ___ maths. (in / at / on)

Part 4: Agreement and Pronouns

14. Everyone ___ finished the test. (have / has)
15. The news ___ surprising. (was / were)
16. Between you and ___, I think he’s wrong. (I / me)
17. The dog hurt ___ paw. (it’s / its)

Part 5: Mixed

18. If I ___ rich, I would travel the world. (am / were / will be)
19. This is the ___ book I have ever read. (most good / best / better)
20. The letter ___ yesterday. (was sent / sent / has sent)

Answers and Explanations

1. have lived — present perfect with since for an action continuing to now.
2. was watching — past continuous for an action in progress when another happened.
3. had started — past perfect for the earlier of two past actions.
4. boils — present simple for scientific facts.
5. is going to — a prediction based on present evidence.
6. an — honest begins with a vowel sound (the h is silent).
7. The — there is only one sun.
8. no article — uncountable nouns used in general.
9. an — jobs take a/an; engineer starts with a vowel sound.
10. in — months, years and seasons.
11. on — days and dates.
12. at — clock times.
13. at — fixed phrase good at.
14. has — everyone is singular.
15. was — news is uncountable and singular.
16. me — object pronoun after the preposition between.
17. its — possessive; it’s means it is.
18. were — second conditional (unreal present).
19. best — irregular superlative of good.
20. was sent — passive voice; a letter cannot send itself.

Your Score

• 17–20: Excellent. Try advanced books such as Practical English Usage.
• 11–16: Good. Review the topics you missed in our tenses and articles guides.
• 0–10: Start with basic English grammar and build up step by step.