Tenses – MBA CET questions with solutions

Approach: 'Wish' + would — wishing for a change in someone's habitual behaviour.

Solution: 'I wish he wouldn't be so rude to people when we go out.' To complain about another person's repeated present/future behaviour that we want changed, English uses wish + would/wouldn't + base verb. 'When we go out' shows a habitual, recurring situation, not a past one.

Why the other options are wrong:
A, D, E: will/won't/shall are not used after 'wish'.
C: 'hadn't been' expresses regret about the past, but 'when we go out' is present/habitual.

Cetking shortcut: After 'wish': past → had + V3; present state → were/past simple; someone's annoying habit → would.

Answer: B

Approach: Second conditional — If + past simple, would + base verb.

Solution: 'If I had more time' (past simple for an unreal present) must be followed by would + base verb: 'I would do more exercise.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'am bound to' expresses certainty/obligation, not a hypothetical result.
B: 'am ought to' is ungrammatical ('ought to' takes no 'am').
D, E: will/can belong to the first conditional (If I have …).

Cetking shortcut: Spot 'If + had/were' → result clause takes would/could/might.

Answer: C

Approach: Conditional sentences — match the tense pair.

Solution: For an imagined past condition with a past result: If + past perfect, would have + past participle. C: 'If he had worked harder, he would have succeeded.' — perfect third conditional.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'would succeed yesterday' — present conditional with a past time word.
B: Past condition with a present result ('would succeed now') mixes the tenses; the expected pair for a past unreal condition is 'would have succeeded'.
D: 'works' (present) cannot pair with 'would have succeeded'.
E: 'was working… will succeed' — tense clash.

Cetking shortcut: 'had + V3' in the if-clause → 'would have + V3' in the main clause.

Answer: C

Approach: Question tags: repeat the same auxiliary/modal; flip negative to positive.

Solution: The statement 'You daren't come here' uses the semi-modal 'dare' in the negative (daren't = dare not).
Rule: negative statement → positive tag with the same auxiliary and the subject pronoun.
Tag: 'dare you?'

Why the other options are wrong:
B 'will you': 'will' is not the auxiliary used in the statement.
C 'daren't you': negative + negative is wrong.
D 'won't you': wrong auxiliary and wrong polarity.
E 'can you': wrong modal.

Cetking shortcut: Tag = same helping verb, opposite polarity, same subject pronoun.

Answer: A

Approach: Tense consistency.

Solution: 'Intended' sets the time in the past, so the following actions must also be past: "She intended to get married to him, but then she went and broke relations with him."

Why the other options are wrong:
A: intended (past) + goes/breaks (present) — tense clash.
B: intends… goes and breaks — reads as a habitual present; not the completed past event the sentence narrates.
D: intended (past) + will go (future) — illogical.
E: 'will go and breaks' — tense clash and wrong verb form.

Answer: C

Approach: Tense sequence and logical connector.

Solution: B: 'Some buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake last year had been constructed in violation of the city's building code.'
Construction happened before the earthquake → past perfect 'had been constructed'; 'destroyed or heavily damaged' is logical (a building can't be both).

Why the other options are wrong:
A — 'destroyed and damaged' illogical; 'are constructed' wrong tense.
C — 'are destroyed ... last year' tense clash; 'on violation' wrong preposition.
D — comma splice and wrong tense 'are constructed'.
E — 'destroyed ... and heavily damaged them' illogical; 'in violating' wrong form.

Cetking shortcut: 'Last year' + an even earlier event = past perfect for the earlier one.

Answer: B

Approach: Inverted third conditional (unreal past).

Solution: 'Had this notification been amended earlier' = 'If this notification had been amended earlier'.
Result clause of a third conditional: 'would have + V3' → 'we would have stopped the transfer of funds'.

Why the other options are wrong:
A — 'should have' changes meaning to obligation.
C — 'Had ... have been' double auxiliary.
D — 'Were ... been' mixes second-conditional inversion with a past participle.
E — 'Should ... been' is not a valid inversion (should + be).

Cetking shortcut: Inverted 'Had' at the start → the other half must be 'would have + V3'.

Answer: B

Approach: First conditional: if + simple present, will + base verb.

Solution: Main clause 'I'll help him' is future (will). In a first conditional the if-clause takes the simple present, so 'if he asks' (third person singular → asks).

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'ask' — subject 'he' needs 'asks'.
B: 'asked' — past tense goes with 'would help' (second conditional).
C: 'will ask' — 'will' is not used in the if-clause.
E: D is correct.

Cetking shortcut: Never put 'will' in both clauses of a conditional.

Answer: D

Approach: Present perfect for a recent action with a present result.

Solution: 'Rama is not at home' (present result) because he has just gone for shopping (completed action, still relevant now). 'Just' is a present-perfect marker.

Why the other options are wrong:
A: 'is gone' — not standard in formal grammar.
B: 'was just going' — past continuous does not explain the present absence.
C: 'had gone' — past perfect needs another past reference point.
D: 'will have be going' — ungrammatical.

Cetking shortcut: 'Just' / 'already' / 'yet' + present-result context → has/have + V3.

Answer: E

Approach: Question tag — positive statement → negative tag, using the auxiliary of the verb.

Solution: 'She used to walk …' is simple past; 'used to' has no auxiliary of its own, so the tag uses did.
Positive statement → negative tag: '… didn't she?'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. does she — present tense and positive; both wrong.
B. will she — future, and positive.
C. was she — 'was' is not the auxiliary of 'used to'.
E. won't she — future tense.

Cetking shortcut: Statement positive → tag negative; 'used to' always takes 'didn't'.

Answer: D

Approach: Question tag — repeat the auxiliary of the statement with opposite polarity.

Solution: The statement uses the past auxiliary was and is positive, so the tag is negative 'was': 'He was weary of failure, wasn't he?'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. does he — wrong auxiliary and polarity.
B. won't he — future tense.
D. isn't he — present tense.
E. do he — wrong auxiliary and agreement.

Answer: C

Approach: Tense — a definite past time marker takes the simple past.

Solution: 'Last night' is a finished past time, and the second clause 'so we stayed at home' is simple past. So the first verb is also simple past: 'It was too cold to go out last night.'

Why the other options are wrong:
A. had been — past perfect needs an earlier past action; not the case here.
B. has been — present perfect cannot go with 'last night'.
D. used to be — a past habit, not a single night.
E. is — present tense; clashes with 'last night'.

Cetking shortcut: Time marker 'last night/yesterday/ago' → simple past; never present perfect.

Answer: C