5 exercises on giving concise daily-standup updates — past tense for finished work, present continuous for today.
Key patterns
Yesterday I wrapped up… — simple past for completed work.
Today I’m picking up… — present continuous for current focus.
carry it over / back on — move or resume unfinished work.
aiming to have … done by EOD — signal intent with an estimate.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
In a standup, you finished the login API yesterday. Which is the MOST natural way to report it?
Use the simple past for completed work. A standup “yesterday” update describes finished actions, so the simple past is the natural choice.
wrapped up / finished / got … done — idiomatic ways to say “completed”.
it’s merged and on staging adds a useful status without extra words.
Why the others fail:“Yesterday I am finishing” uses present continuous for a finished action; “Yesterday I will wrap up” mixes a past time marker with the future; “have wrapped up … since two days” misuses the present perfect (and since needs a start point, not a duration — you’d say for two days).
2 / 5
You are currently working on the payment refactor and will continue today. Which update sounds MOST natural?
Use the present continuous for today’s plan / work in progress. In standups, I’m picking up…, I’m working on…, and I’m wrapping up… describe what is happening now or planned for the day.
aiming to have … done by EOD is a concise way to signal intent and an estimate (EOD = end of day).
picking up = starting / taking on a task.
Why the others fail:“Today I picked up” is simple past, which clashes with “today” for ongoing work; “will picking up” is ungrammatical (after will use the bare infinitive: will pick up); “I pick up … since this morning” needs the present perfect continuous: I’ve been working on it since this morning.
3 / 5
You want one concise line that covers both yesterday and today. Which is the MOST natural standup phrasing?
The classic standup pattern is past + present continuous. Report what you completed (simple past) and what you’re doing now (present continuous):
Yesterday I finished… — completed work.
today I’m starting on… — today’s focus.
Keep it to one clean clause per part. Why the others fail: option B uses the bare finish instead of finished; option C swaps the tenses (continuous for the finished item, past for today); option D drops the article (the search index) and breaks the verb form (I am start → I’m starting).
4 / 5
Yesterday went badly — you made little progress. Which is the MOST natural, professional way to say so?
Frame limited progress factually and forward-looking. Native speakers soften without hiding the truth:
I didn’t get as far as I’d hoped — honest but measured.
I hit a … issue = ran into a problem.
I’ll carry it over to today = move the unfinished work to today (also roll it over, pick it back up).
Why the others fail:“I did nothing, sorry” is over-apologetic and unhelpful; “I was failing” uses past continuous wrongly and sounds dramatic; “is not done because problems” is grammatically broken — use wasn’t finished because I ran into problems.
5 / 5
You have nothing new since yesterday because you were in meetings all day. Which update is MOST natural?
“No progress” still deserves a clear, useful update. Explain why and what’s next:
No code change since yesterday — states the status plainly.
I was in planning meetings most of the day — gives the reason.
Back on the dashboard ticket this morning — back on = resuming work on something.
Why the others fail:“No update. Same as yesterday” and “Nothing today” leave the team guessing; “Yesterday and today is meetings” has subject–verb disagreement (is → were) and sounds defeated. A good standup line always says what comes next.