Download - Understanding Verb Tense
Understanding Verb Tense
What are the verb tenses? Present and present perfectPast and past perfectFuture and future perfect
Consistency of tenseReview AReview B
What are the verb tenses?
Verbs take different forms to show all the possibilities for when something can happen.
She will draw. She is drawing. She has drawn.
Why do verbs have so many different forms?
The tense of a verb indicates the time of the action or state of being expressed by the verb. There are six tenses of verbs. Each tense has its own use.
What are the verb tenses?
PresentPresent perfectPastPast perfectFutureFuture perfect
He had lived in Georgia before that.Paul once lived in Utah.
He will have lived there four years.Paul will live in Boston for a long time.
He has lived in several cities.Paul lives in Boston.
What are the verb tenses?Present and present perfect
The present tense expresses an action occurring or a state of being that is existing now, at the present time.
Mom drinks the orange juice.
Present
Now
What are the verb tenses?Present and present perfect
The present perfect tense
• is usually formed with have or has plus the past participle
• expresses an action that occurred or a state of being that existed at an indefinite time in the past
Saul has drunk his juice already.
Present
Present perfect
Now
We don’t know when Saul drank it.
What are the verb tenses?Past and past perfect
The past tense expresses an action or a state of being that started and ended in the past.
The scouts hiked all morning.
Past
Present
Present perfect
Past
Now
What are the verb tenses?Past and past perfect
The past perfect tense
• is usually formed with had plus the past participle
• expresses an action or a state of being that ended before another past action or state of being
The scouts had hiked five miles before they stopped for lunch.
Past
Present
Present perfect
Past
Now
Past perfect
What are the verb tenses?Future and future perfect
The future tense
• is usually formed with will or shall plus the base form
• expresses an action that will occur or a state of being that will exist
The class will tour the Indian ruins.
Future
Present
Present perfect
Future
Now
What are the verb tenses?Future and future perfect
The future perfect tense
• is usually formed with will have or shall have plus the past participle
• expresses an action or a state of being that will end before another future action or state of being
By the end of the trip, the class will have toured three ruins.
Future
Present
Present Perfect
Future
Future Perfect
Now
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Change the tense of the boldface verb in each sentence to the tense in parentheses.1. Miguel makes the photo larger. (Change to past.)2. The picnic took place on Sunday. (Change to future.)3. The boys ran three miles in one hour. (Change to past
perfect.)4. By then, Aunt Nell had arrived. (Change to future perfect.)5. Cynthia had played the violin beautifully. (Change to
present.)
On Your Own
What are the verb tenses?
Consistency of tense
Do not change from one tense to another without a good reason.To describe events that occur in the same time period, use verbs in the same tense.
When we went to the movies, we bought popcorn.
When we go to the movies, we buy popcorn.
past tense past tense
present tense present tense
Consistency of tenseFor events that occur in different time periods, use verbs of different tenses to show the order of events.
Lisa plays basketball now, but last year she was on the volleyball team.
present tense past tense
Lisa’s basketball playing is occurring in the present. Her volleyball playing happened in the past.
Consistency of tense
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On Your OwnRead the paragraph and decide whether to rewrite it in the present or past tense. Then, change verb forms to make the tenses consistent.
(1) Lightning struck our house, and I run straight for cover. (2) “Oh, no!” I exclaim. (3) The electricity was out! (4) My parents get out the flashlights, and we played a game. (5) The stove and microwave are not working, so we have a cold supper in the living room. (6) In the morning, we are all happy. (7) The sun shone and our electricity is back on.
Review A
Change the tense of each boldface verb to the tense given in parentheses.
1. The children wear their seatbelts. (past perfect)2. The bell in the clock tower rang. (present)
3. My family will move to Seattle. (present perfect)4. With confidence, Sara begins the quiz. (past)5. We sent the packages by airmail. (future)
Review B
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Read the paragraph and decide whether to rewrite it in the present or past tense. Then, change verb forms to make the tenses consistent.
(1) I travel to Denver and visited my grandparents. (2) Grandpa gave me a big hug when I get off the train. (3) Then we all go to their house for dinner. (4) The very next morning Grandma takes me downtown and we shopped for books and shoes. (5) Then she and I meet up with Grandpa and went to the museum.
The End