TL;DR. Sixty English grammar quiz questions sorted by level (A1–A2 beginner, B1–B2 intermediate, C1 advanced) across tenses, articles, prepositions, conditionals, modal verbs, and passive voice.
A1–A2 Beginner (20)
Verb to be & present simple
She ___ a teacher. — isThey ___ from Spain. — areHe ___ at the office now. — isWe ___ students. — areI ___ a banana every morning. — eatShe ___ to school by bus. — goes___ you like coffee? — DoHe ___ TV in the evening. — watchesArticles & plurals
I have ___ apple. — an___ sun rises in the east. — TheThe plural of “child” is ___. — childrenThe plural of “goose” is ___. — geesePronouns & basic prepositions
This is my book. ___ is on the desk. — ItThe cat is ___ the table. — onWe meet ___ Monday. — onThe shop opens ___ 9 a.m. — atPast simple
I ___ to Paris last summer. — wentShe ___ him yesterday. — sawThey ___ a great dinner. — ateHe ___ home at six. — camePresent perfect vs past simple
I ___ this book before. (have read / read) — have readShe ___ to London twice. — has beenThey ___ in 1990. — marriedWe ___ him since 2010. — have knownConditionals
If it ___ tomorrow, we will stay home. — rainsIf I ___ rich, I would buy a house. — wereIf she ___ harder, she would have passed. — had studiedIf you heat water to 100°C, it ___. — boilsPassive voice
The book ___ by him last year. — was writtenEnglish ___ in many countries. — is spokenThe window ___ by the wind. — was brokenModal verbs
You ___ smoke here — it’s forbidden. — mustn’tShe ___ be at home; her car is in the driveway. — mustWe ___ leave early because the meeting is cancelled. — needn’tHe ___ swim when he was 5. — couldRelative clauses
The man ___ called you is my brother. — whoThe book ___ I bought yesterday is interesting. — whichThe town ___ I was born is small. — whereReported speech
He said he ___ tired. — wasShe asked if I ___ Spanish. — spokePrepositions of time
He was born ___ 1995. — inThe class starts ___ 8 o’clock. — atThey met ___ a Sunday. — onComparatives & superlatives
This box is ___ than that one. — heavierMount Everest is the ___ mountain in the world. — tallestC1 Advanced (15)
Inversion
___ had I arrived than the phone rang. — No sooner“Not a single mistake did she make” — emphatic inversion correct.Cleft sentences
___ John spoke to first was Mary. — The person (or “It was Mary whom John spoke to first”)___ he wants is a holiday. — WhatMixed conditionals
If she ___ harder when she was young, she would be successful now. — had workedSubjunctive
The teacher insisted that he ___ on time. — comeIt is essential that everyone ___ the form. — signPhrasal verbs
We need to ___ the meeting until next week. — put offPlease ___ the lights when you leave. — turn offArticles (advanced)
He plays ___ piano beautifully. — the___ life is full of surprises. — — (zero article)Subjunctive in “if” clauses
If I ___ you, I would call her. — wereQuestion tags
He’s coming, ___? — isn’t heLet’s go, ___? — shall weYou don’t mind, ___? — do youUsing these in class
A1–A2 → warm-up for beginners.B1–B2 → main quiz for intermediate students.C1 → diagnostic for advanced students.To generate more grammar quizzes, use the English Quiz Generator.
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Create a Free Quiz — Sign UpPure "find the error" quizzes have a place, but they're not the only — or best — way to assess grammar. Variety produces stronger transfer.
Multiple choice with context. "Which word completes the sentence correctly?" Tests grammar in a real sentence rather than isolated rule recall.Sentence rewriting. "Rewrite this sentence to use the present perfect tense." Forces production rather than recognition.Cloze (fill-in-the-blank) on specific structures. "Yesterday, I [go] to the store." Tests one targeted skill.Error correction. "This sentence has one error. Find and fix it." Develops editing skills.Translation drills (for ESL contexts). Translate from L1 into English. Production reveals what recognition hides.Picture-prompt writing with rubric. Student writes 2-3 sentences describing an image; rubric checks specific grammar targets.Topics that show up on every grammar test
Cross-cutting structures that need regular practice:
Verb tenses. Present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, past perfect, future forms.Articles (a/an/the). One of the hardest things to acquire; needs frequent practice.Subject-verb agreement. Singular/plural matching; tricky with collective nouns. For a middle school-level quiz combining this with commas, apostrophes, and run-on sentences, see our grammar and punctuation quiz template.Pronouns. Subject, object, possessive, reflexive.Modals. Can, could, may, might, must, should, would.Conditionals. Zero, first, second, third, mixed.Reported speech. Direct to indirect transformation.Passive voice. When to use it and how to form it.Prepositions. In/on/at for time and place; phrasal verbs.Conjunctions and complex sentences. Coordinating and subordinating.A balanced grammar program rotates through all of these rather than focusing on tenses to the exclusion of other structures.
CEFR level vs. grammar focus
Calibration matters; teach the right structures at the right time:
A1: Present simple, basic articles, subject pronouns, basic word order.A2: Present continuous, past simple, possessives, basic comparatives.B1: Present perfect, all major tenses, modal verbs, conditional (first), passive voice.B2: All tenses including past perfect, conditionals (all types), reported speech, complex sentences.C1: Subtle uses of all structures, register awareness, advanced linking words.C2: Edge cases, archaic forms, literary register, ambiguity in usage.Common grammar quiz design mistakes
Decontextualized questions. "Choose: A) go B) goes C) going." Without a sentence, the right answer depends on grammar that hasn't been asked. Context is mandatory.Trick questions. Wording designed to confuse rather than measure. Doesn't reveal grammar competence; punishes careful reading.Mixing too many structures in one item. A sentence requiring correct tense + correct article + correct preposition tests three skills in one. If a student gets it wrong, you don't know which.Overcorrection of native-speaker patterns. Many "errors" appear in casual native speech. Calibrate to formal register if that's what you're testing.Ignoring regional variation. British and American conventions differ on some structures. Specify which is being tested.Distractor design in grammar MCQs
Strong distractors represent specific errors students actually make:
Wrong tense. "Yesterday I [go/went/will go]" — go is the predictable error from L1 transfer.Wrong number. "[Each/All] student bring their book" — singular/plural confusion.Wrong article. "[A/An/The] elephant lives in the forest" — article use is a top error area.Wrong preposition. "I'm interested [in/of/at] history" — preposition use is largely idiomatic.Wrong word form. "She runs [quick/quickly]" — adjective vs. adverb confusion.Generic random distractors waste the format.
Cambridge English exercises. High-quality grammar question banks; aligned with CEFR.Grammarly's grammar quizzes. Free, mixed quality.British Council LearnEnglish. Free, well-graded, used worldwide.AI quiz generators with grammar-specific prompting.Coursebooks (Murphy's English Grammar in Use is the canonical reference, with question banks).Generate a grammar quiz →