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GCSE · Grammar

Y10.2 Tense Shifts and Control

Calculators not allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

The Attic

Source written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free), for tense and grammar practice.

01 I have never liked the attic. Even now, as I climb the fold-down

02 ladder for what will be the last time, the smell of dust and old

03 wood catches in the back of my throat exactly as it always did.

04 My grandmother kept everything up here, and today my job is to

05 decide what stays and what goes to the tip.

07 Boxes are stacked three deep along the far wall. I open the nearest

08 one and lift out a bundle of letters, tied with string that has gone

09 brittle with age. The letters are all from my grandfather, who had

10 worked on the fishing boats before I was born. He had written to

11 her every week that he was away at sea, and she had kept every

12 single one, even though he only ever wrote about the weather and

13 the size of the catch.

15 I sit down on an old trunk and read three of the letters properly.

16 The paper is thin and the ink has faded to the colour of weak tea.

17 By the time I finish the third letter, something strange has happened

18 to the light in the attic; it seems softer, somehow, as though the

19 dust itself is glowing.

21 Here is what nobody tells you about clearing a house: it is not

22 the big, obvious things that undo you. It is not the furniture or

23 the photographs in their frames. It is a shopping list in your

24 grandmother's handwriting, found in a coat pocket, that stops you

25 completely, because for one absurd second you expect her to walk

26 in and ask why you are going through her things.

28 I fold the letters carefully and place them in the box marked KEEP.

29 Tomorrow I will drive them to my own house, where they will sit

30 in a drawer until I am ready to read the rest. For now, I climb

31 back down the ladder, and I do not look back at the attic, not

32 even once.

Look at the following verb forms as they are used in the source text. Identify the tense of each one.

(a)'climb' (line 1)(1)

(b)'has gone' (line 8)(1)

(c)'had worked' (lines 9-10)(1)

(d)'will drive' (line 29)(1)

(e)'did' (line 3, 'as it always did')(1)

(Total for Question 1 is 5 marks)

Here is a word bank of eight verb phrases, each labelled with a letter.

Letter	Verb phrase
A	sailed
B	had climbed
C	has finished
D	will arrive
E	arrived
F	had already left
G	has gone
H	will visit

Sort the eight letters into the four tense groups below by writing the correct letters next to each tense name.

(Total for Question 2 is 4 marks)

Which tense is used to narrate the main events taking place 'today' in the extract, such as climbing the ladder and opening the boxes?

A) Past simple
B) Present simple
C) Future simple
D) Past continuous

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

What do the past perfect verbs describing the grandfather (lines 9-11: 'had worked', 'had written', 'had kept') mainly show?

A) Actions happening at the same time as the events of today
B) Actions that happened before the time of the main story
C) Actions that will happen after today
D) Actions that are imagined or hypothetical

(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)

Explain one effect of the writer's choice to narrate the main events of the extract in the present tense rather than the past tense.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

Explain one effect of the past perfect verbs used to describe the grandfather's letters (lines 9-13).

(Total for Question 6 is 2 marks)

Combine each pair of simple sentences into ONE sentence, using the past perfect to show which action happened first.

(a)He locked the door. He left the house.(1)

(b)She read the letter. She cried.(1)

(c)The rain stopped. They went outside.(1)

(Total for Question 7 is 3 marks)

Look at line 30: 'in a drawer until I am ready to read the rest.' Even though this refers to a future event, the verb 'am' is in the present tense, not the future ('will be'). Explain why this is correct English, not a tense error.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Complete the sentence correctly: 'I will read the rest of the letters when I ___ home.'

A) arrive
B) will arrive
C) arrived
D) am arriving

(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)

Rewrite each sentence as reported (indirect) speech, changing the tense correctly.

(a)Grandad said, 'I am tired after the long journey.'(2)

(b)She said, 'I will keep these letters forever.'(2)

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Look at this sentence: 'He must have written this letter just before the ship sailed.' Identify the verb form 'must have written' and explain what it suggests about how certain the writer is.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

Complete the sentence using the correct third conditional forms: 'If my grandfather ___ (not / go) to sea, he ___ (not / meet) my grandmother.'

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

Look again at line 19: 'as though the dust itself is glowing.' If the writer had instead written 'as though the dust itself were glowing', what effect would the subjunctive form 'were' create?

(Total for Question 13 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the tense-shift error in this sentence: 'I opened the old box and I am finding a photograph inside.'

(Total for Question 14 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the tense-shift error in this sentence: 'The letters were fragile, so I am handling them very carefully.'

(Total for Question 15 is 2 marks)

Identify and correct the grammatical error in this sentence: 'If I was you, I would keep every one of those letters.'

(Total for Question 16 is 2 marks)

Below is a paragraph with several tense-shift errors. Rewrite it correctly, using a single consistent tense throughout and correcting every error you can find.

'Every summer, my grandfather sailed to the same fishing grounds and camp there for a week. He watches the sunrise every morning and writes about it in his notebook. Sometimes, if the weather was bad, he stays an extra day and mend the nets instead.'

(Total for Question 17 is 6 marks)

Before you write your answer to Question 19, complete a short plan for your writing.

(a)Identify the form of the writing.(1)

(b)Identify the two grammatical features you must include and underline.(1)

(c)Identify the main narrative tense you must use for the 'now' of the story.(1)

(Total for Question 18 is 3 marks)

Write the opening of a short story (150-200 words) in which a character discovers an object that triggers a memory.
In your answer you must:
- narrate the main events in the present tense
- include at least one past perfect verb form, to show something that happened before the story's 'now'
- include at least one future tense reference
- underline your past perfect and future examples.

(Total for Question 19 is 12 marks)

Write a short entry (80-120 words) for a local heritage website describing an item passed down through a family.
In your answer you should:
- use the past tense to explain when and how the item was originally made or used
- use the future tense to explain how it will be displayed in an upcoming exhibition
- keep your tense choices deliberate and consistent throughout.

(Total for Question 20 is 8 marks)

Mark scheme · Y10.2 Tense Shifts and Control

Question 1

(a) B1 present simple
(a) Answer: present simple
(b) B1 present perfect
(b) Answer: present perfect
(c) B1 past perfect
(c) Answer: past perfect
(d) B1 future simple (will + infinitive)
(d) Answer: future simple
(e) B1 past simple
(e) Answer: past simple

Question 2

B1 Past simple: A and E
B1 Past perfect: B and F
B1 Present perfect: C and G
B1 Future simple: D and H
Answer: Past simple: A (sailed), E (arrived). Past perfect: B (had climbed), F (had already left). Present perfect: C (has finished), G (has gone). Future simple: D (will arrive), H (will visit).

Question 3

B1 B) Present simple
Answer: B

Question 4

B1 B) Actions that happened before the time of the main story
Answer: B

Question 5

B1 identifies a straightforward effect, e.g. the present tense makes the events feel immediate or as though they are happening as we read (oe)
B1 develops this with reference to the text, e.g. it draws the reader into the writer's unfolding discovery of the letters and the light in the attic, as if we do not yet know what will happen (oe)
Answer: Narrating in the present tense creates a sense of immediacy, making the reader feel as though the events of clearing the attic are happening in real time; this pulls us into the writer's unfolding discovery of the letters, as if the outcome is not yet known.

Question 6

B1 identifies a straightforward effect, e.g. the past perfect creates a clear sense of an earlier, separate layer of time (oe)
B1 develops this with reference to the text, e.g. it lets the writer step back into the grandfather's history without losing the reader in the present-tense 'now' of clearing the attic (oe)
Answer: The past perfect ('had worked', 'had written', 'had kept') clearly separates the grandfather's history from the present-tense 'now' of the attic, letting the writer step back into an earlier layer of time without confusing the reader about when each event took place.

Question 7

(a) B1 He had locked the door before he left the house. (or: After he had locked the door, he left the house.) oe
(a) Answer: He had locked the door before he left the house.
(b) B1 She had read the letter before she cried. (or: After she had read the letter, she cried.) oe
(b) Answer: She had read the letter before she cried.
(c) B1 The rain had stopped before they went outside. (or: Once the rain had stopped, they went outside.) oe
(c) Answer: The rain had stopped before they went outside.

Question 8

B1 identifies that the clause is a future time clause, introduced by a word such as 'until' (oe)
B1 explains the rule: in English, time clauses beginning with words like 'until', 'when', 'before', 'after' or 'as soon as' use the present tense to refer to future time, rather than 'will' (oe)
Answer: 'Until I am ready' is a future time clause. In English, clauses that begin with words such as until, when, before, after or as soon as use the present tense to refer to the future, even though the whole sentence is about something that has not happened yet; 'will be ready' would be incorrect here.

Question 9

B1 A) arrive
Answer: A

Question 10

(a) B1 backshifts the present simple 'am' to the past simple 'was'
(a) B1 produces a grammatically complete reported sentence, e.g. Grandad said (that) he was tired after the long journey, cao
(a) Answer: Grandad said that he was tired after the long journey.
(b) B1 backshifts 'will' to 'would'
(b) B1 produces a grammatically complete reported sentence, with 'these' correctly changed to 'those', e.g. She said (that) she would keep those letters forever, cao
(b) Answer: She said that she would keep those letters forever.

Question 11

B1 identifies the form as a modal verb ('must') plus a perfect infinitive ('have written'), used to speculate about a completed past action
B1 explains that it suggests strong logical certainty or confident deduction about the past, rather than a simple factual statement (oe)
Answer: 'Must have written' is a modal verb ('must') plus a perfect infinitive ('have written'), used to speculate about something in the past. It suggests the writer feels very confident in this deduction, even though they were not there to witness it directly.

Question 12

B1 'if' clause correctly formed with the past perfect: had not gone, cao
B1 main clause correctly formed with would (not) have + past participle: would not have met, cao
Answer: If my grandfather had not gone to sea, he would not have met my grandmother.

Question 13

B1 identifies that 'were' is the subjunctive form, used for something hypothetical, imagined or contrary to fact, whereas 'is' presents it as a straightforward observation
B1 explains the effect, e.g. the subjunctive would distance the image, signalling more clearly that this is only a trick of the light and not literally true, adding to the dreamlike, uncertain mood of the passage (oe)
Answer: 'Were' is the subjunctive form, used for hypothetical or unreal ideas, so it would signal more clearly that the glowing dust is only an imagined impression rather than a literal description; this would deepen the dreamlike, uncertain mood already suggested by 'as though' and 'somehow'.

Question 14

B1 identifies the shift from the past tense 'opened' to the present tense 'am finding'
B1 correct rewrite using a single consistent tense throughout, e.g. I opened the old box and found a photograph inside, cao
Answer: I opened the old box and found a photograph inside.

Question 15

B1 identifies the shift from the past tense 'were' to the present tense 'am handling'
B1 correct rewrite using a single consistent tense throughout, e.g. The letters were fragile, so I handled them very carefully, oe (accept a fully present-tense version: The letters are fragile, so I am handling them very carefully)
Answer: The letters were fragile, so I handled them very carefully.

Question 16

B1 identifies that this hypothetical, unreal conditional needs the subjunctive form 'were', not 'was'
B1 correct rewrite: If I were you, I would keep every one of those letters, cao
Answer: If I were you, I would keep every one of those letters.

Question 17

Level 0 (0): No accurate corrections made; errors remain uncorrected or new errors introduced.
Level 1 (1-2): One or two verbs corrected to a consistent tense, with several tense errors still remaining.
Level 2 (3-4): Most verbs corrected to a consistent tense, with at most one error remaining.
Level 3 (5-6): All verbs corrected to a single, secure and consistent tense throughout the whole paragraph.
Indicative content:
- 'camp' corrected to 'camped', to match the past tense of 'sailed'
- 'watches' corrected to 'watched'
- 'writes' corrected to 'wrote'
- 'stays' corrected to 'stayed'
- 'mend' corrected to 'mended'
- The phrase 'if the weather was bad' is already past tense and correctly left unchanged

Question 18

(a) B1 identifies the form as the opening of a short story (oe)
(a) Answer: The opening of a short story.
(b) B1 identifies a past perfect verb form and a future tense reference (oe)
(b) Answer: At least one past perfect verb form, and at least one future tense reference.
(c) B1 identifies the present tense (oe)
(c) Answer: The present tense.

Question 19

Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Simple description of discovering an object; little sense of a controlled narrative voice or structure.
- Level 2 (3-5): Some engaging description of the discovery and the memory it triggers; a generally clear structure, with some attempt at atmosphere.
- Level 3 (6-8): Detailed, convincing and well-organised narrative opening, using vocabulary and structural choices to build atmosphere and create a genuine sense of a memory surfacing.
Tense control (technical accuracy) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1): The present-tense narrative is inconsistent, or the required past perfect and future forms are missing or used inaccurately.
- Level 2 (2-3): The present-tense narrative is mostly consistent, and the required past perfect and future forms are present, with occasional slips.
- Level 3 (4): The present-tense narrative is secure and consistent throughout, and the past perfect and future forms are both present, clearly marked and used accurately for effect.

Question 20

Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Simple description of the item, with little sense of organisation between its history and the upcoming exhibition.
- Level 2 (3): Some clear description of the item's history and the exhibition, in a generally suitable register for a heritage website.
- Level 3 (4): Clear, well-organised description moving convincingly from the item's history to the exhibition, in a register well suited to a heritage website.
Tense control (technical accuracy) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1-2): Past and future tenses are used inconsistently or inaccurately.
- Level 2 (3): Past tense used for the item's history and future tense used for the exhibition, with occasional inaccuracies.
- Level 3 (4): Past tense used accurately and consistently for the item's history, and future tense used accurately and consistently for the exhibition, with the shift between them clearly and deliberately signalled.

Tense Shifts and Control - Worksheets, Questions and Revision