Review the foundations of English grammar with this free PMMA tenses and parts of speech reviewer and practice test. Grammar questions ask you to recognize how each word works in a sentence and to choose verb forms that match the time and sequence of events.
This page explains the eight parts of speech, summarizes the twelve verb tenses, and provides examples to guide your practice. These are independently prepared learning materials, not official Philippine Merchant Marine Academy examination questions. Use these exercises as supplementary English practice, rather than as a guaranteed preview of the actual examination.
PMMA Tenses and Parts of Speech Practice Test
Read each sentence carefully and decide what the question asks. Some items ask you to identify a word’s part of speech, while others ask you to choose the correct verb form.
Before choosing, find the subject, the verb, and any word that signals time.
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The Eight Parts of Speech
1. Nouns
Nouns name people, places, things, and ideas.
The captain inspected the ship in the harbor.
Captain, ship, and harbor are nouns. Remember that ideas such as courage, discipline, and safety are also nouns, even though you cannot touch them.
2. Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns to avoid repetition.
The cadets finished early because they studied together.
They replaces the cadets. A pronoun should agree with the noun it replaces, so a plural noun needs a plural pronoun.
3. Verbs
Verbs express actions or states of being.
The ship sails at dawn. The deck is wet.
Sails is an action verb, while is links the subject to a description. Helping verbs such as has, will, and was combine with main verbs to form tenses.
4. Adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns.
The heavy anchor dropped into the calm water.
Heavy and calm describe the anchor and the water. Adjectives usually answer what kind, which one, or how many.
5. Adverbs
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
The crew worked quickly, and the sea became extremely rough.
Quickly describes how the crew worked, while extremely tells how rough the sea became. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all do. Fast, often, and very are adverbs, while friendly is an adjective.
6. Prepositions
Prepositions show how a noun or pronoun relates to other words, often in place, time, or direction.
The life jackets are under the seats.
Under shows where the life jackets are. A preposition is followed by an object, which here is the seats.
7. Conjunctions
Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses.
The cadet was tired, but he finished the drill.
But joins two complete ideas. Coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, and or join equal parts, while subordinating conjunctions such as because, although, and when introduce dependent clauses.
8. Interjections
Interjections express sudden feeling or reaction.
Wow, the view from the deck is amazing!
Wow shows surprise. Interjections are often followed by a comma or an exclamation point and are grammatically separate from the rest of the sentence.
How to Identify a Word’s Part of Speech
A word’s part of speech depends on its job in the sentence, not on the word alone. The same word can play different roles:
- The light flashed across the water. Light is a noun because it names a thing.
- Light the lamp before sunset. Light is a verb because it shows an action.
- Bring a light jacket. Light is an adjective because it describes the jacket.
When a question asks for a part of speech, ask what the word is doing. Does it name, act, describe, connect, or show a relationship? The answer points to the correct category.
The Twelve Verb Tenses
English has three time frames, past, present, and future, and four aspects for each. Combining them gives twelve tenses. The table below uses the verb sail.
| Aspect | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | sailed | sail / sails | will sail |
| Progressive | was / were sailing | am / is / are sailing | will be sailing |
| Perfect | had sailed | has / have sailed | will have sailed |
| Perfect progressive | had been sailing | has / have been sailing | will have been sailing |
What Each Aspect Means
Simple tenses state facts, habits, and completed actions. The ship sailed yesterday.
Progressive tenses show an action in progress at a certain time. The ship was sailing when the storm began.
Perfect tenses show an action completed before another time or event. The ship had left before the storm arrived.
Perfect progressive tenses show an action continuing over a period up to a certain point. By noon, the crew will have been working for six hours.
Tense Signal Words
Time expressions often point to the correct tense. These are common patterns, so always confirm with the meaning of the whole sentence.
| Signal words | Usual tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yesterday, last week, ago | Simple past | The ship docked two days ago. |
| every day, usually, always | Simple present | The crew checks the engines every day. |
| now, right now, at the moment | Present progressive | The cadets are practicing knots now. |
| already, yet, since | Present perfect | The ship has already left the port. |
| by the time, before (with a past event) | Past perfect | By the time we arrived, the ship had left. |
| tomorrow, next week, soon | Simple future | The ship will arrive tomorrow. |
| by next month, by then | Future perfect | By next month, she will have completed her training. |
How to Solve Tense and Parts of Speech Questions
Find the subject and verb first. Knowing who or what the sentence is about helps you check whether the verb agrees with it. Each of the cadets is ready uses is because the subject is each, not cadets.
Look for time clues. Words such as yesterday, since, and by the time usually narrow the answer to one or two tenses.
Check the order of events. When two past actions appear together, the one that happened first often takes the past perfect. The crew had secured the cargo before the ship departed.
Ask what the word is doing. For parts of speech, decide whether the word names, acts, describes, connects, or shows a relationship.
Read the completed sentence. Insert your answer and read the whole sentence again. The correct choice should sound natural and keep the meaning clear.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
One frequent mistake is shifting tenses without a reason. He opened the hatch and climbs down mixes past and present. The consistent version is He opened the hatch and climbed down.
Another mistake is using the simple present with since. I live here since 2020 should be I have lived here since 2020, because the action began in the past and continues now.
Learners also confuse adjectives and adverbs. The engine runs smooth should be The engine runs smoothly, because the word describes how the engine runs.
Finally, watch irregular past participles. She has went to the port should be She has gone to the port. Perfect tenses always use the past participle, not the simple past form.
Make Grammar Practice Part of Your Review
Memorize common irregular verbs in their three forms, such as go, went, gone and take, took, taken. Then write a sentence of your own for each of the twelve tenses using a single verb.
Keep a record of the grammar errors you make most often. Explaining why each correct answer works builds a method you can apply to new questions.
For additional English, Mathematics, Science, and reasoning exercises, visit our PMMA entrance exam reviewer and coverage guide.