Troublesome Verbs

Name: ____________ Date: ______________

Test: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Please circle the correct choice.

1. After the party he (laid, lay) on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

2. They left all the dishes (laying, lying) on the kitchen counter.

3. It took them more than two months to build the patio because they had never (lain, laid) bricks before.

4. The garden will be entirely choked by weeds if you just (lay, lie) around the house all day.

5. Every time he walks into my office he (lays, lies) his paperwork on the computer.

6. The diamonds had (lain, lay, laid) in the safe since 1973.

7. Bob hasn’t read the paper since March, when he (laid, lay) his best reading glasses down somewhere and couldn’t find them again.

8. I’ll just (lay, lie) in the hammock all afternoon with a glass of lemonade.

9. They had just (sit, set) out all the china plates when the earthquake hit.

10. The pin was (laying, lying) on the chair when she (sat, set) down on it.

11. The cats were (sitting, setting) on the clean shirts that he had (sat, set) on the bed.

12. I’ll (set, sit) here quietly until you stop shouting.

Number Wrong: ____ Number Right: ____ Grade: ____

Test: Tricky Verb Tenses

Please circle the correct choice.

1. They (did, done) everything they could to make him uncomfortable.

2. She (had did, had done) nothing to prepare for her in-laws’ visit.

3. The whole house was flooded after the pipes (busted, burst).

4. The thief ran to the window and (dived, dove) through it head-first.

5. Like most people, Horace had never (dived, dove) into a vat of Jell-O before.

6. After slathering her burrito with Tabasco sauce, she (drank, drunk) all the water she could find.

7. We had (drank, drunk) so much coffee that we were up until 4 in the morning.

8. Peter (swam, swum) out to the island and stayed there all afternoon.

9. Barbara claims that she has often (swam, swum) 40 laps before breakfast.

10. The phone had (rang, rung) eight times before he got up to answer it.

11. They (rang, rung) the doorbell, (dove, dived) into the bushes, and (lay, laid) there, giggling.

12. Cindy divorced him because he (sprang, sprung) out of bed every morning at 5 and (sang, sung) loudly as he dressed.

13. The tiger had (sprang, sprung) before we even realized he was there.

14. Bill had (sang, sung) three verses before realizing that the rest of the choir was singing something else.

15. She (hang, hung, hanged) the keys on a hook by the door.

16. They (hung, hanged) the bandits from the old cottonwood tree.

17. We have (hung, hanged) all the plants from the ceiling so the cats can’t eat them.

18. The sheriff will have (hung, hanged) Quick-draw Mahoney before you can get there with the governor’s pardon.

19. I had (drove, driven, drived) for hours before realizing I was on the wrong road.

20. His endless stream of knock-knock jokes (drove, driven, drived) me to distraction.

21. Cecily (had ought, ought) to ask nicely before she borrows your car.

22. (Be sure and, Be sure to) wear your raincoat if you have front row seats at the mud wrestling championship.

23. (Try and, Try to) be nice to your mother-in-law.

 Number Wrong: ___ Number Right: ___ Grade: ____

Overall Grade: __________