English grammar · Class 10
Tenses in gap-filling and editing
In a gap-filling or editing passage, the right tense comes from the passage itself, not from one sentence alone. Three checks fix most errors.
In the CBSE Class 9 and 10 English Language and Literature grammar list for 2026-27. CBSE tests grammar through gap filling, editing and transformation.
The rules
1. Check 1 — the time frame: a story in the past stays in the past unless something is a general truth.
- Yesterday we went to the zoo. We saw a tiger that was sleeping.
- Our teacher told us that the earth moves round the sun. (general truth: present stays)
2. Check 2 — the sequence: the earlier of two past actions can take the past perfect.
- When I reached the class, the bell had already rung.
3. Check 3 — the subject: the verb agrees with its subject.
- The number of students has grown.
- A number of students have joined.
4. Look for helper words that fix a tense: since / for (perfect), at the moment (continuous), ago (simple past), by the time (past perfect / future perfect).
- I have known her for years.
- He left two hours ago.
Common mistakes
Last week she goes to Delhi and meets her uncle.
Last week she went to Delhi and met her uncle.
'Last week' fixes the past for the whole sentence.
The teacher said that the sun rose in the east.
The teacher said that the sun rises in the east.
A general truth keeps the present.
Practice
1. Fill in: Ramesh ___ (work) in this office for ten years now.
2. Find and fix the error: 'She has visited Jaipur in 2022.'
3. Fill in: When the firemen arrived, the fire ___ (spread) to the next building.
4. Fill in: The number of cars on our roads ___ (increase) every year.
5. Find and fix the error: 'Our teacher explained that water boiled at 100 °C at sea level.'
Made by Shishya (AI-assisted); every answer checked by hand when written. Topic list for Class 9 and 10 from the CBSE 2026-27 English syllabus.