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Ignition Learning — Activity Sheet

Verb tenses: past, present & future

English · Year 7

Name: ______________________Date: ____________

Verbs change form to show when something happens. Past tense describes something that already happened ("walked", "ate"). Present tense describes something happening now or generally true ("walks", "eats"). Future tense describes something that hasn't happened yet, usually using "will" ("will walk", "will eat"). Many verbs form the past tense by adding "-ed" (regular verbs), but some change completely (irregular verbs, like "go" → "went").

Example

"Yesterday I walked to school (past). Today I walk to school (present). Tomorrow I will walk to school (future)." Same action, three different tenses depending on when it happens.

Key terms

Tense:: The form of a verb that shows when an action happens.
Regular verb:: A verb that forms its past tense by adding "-ed".
Irregular verb:: A verb whose past tense doesn't follow the regular "-ed" pattern.

Questions

1. Past tense describes:
- Something happening now
- Something that already happened
- Something in the future
- A description
2. Present tense describes:
- The past only
- Something happening now or generally true
- The future only
- A question
3. Future tense usually uses the word:
- Was
- Will
- Did
- Ago
4. Regular verbs form the past tense by adding:
- -ing
- -ed
- -s
- -er
5. Which sentence is in the past tense?
- She walks to school.
- She will walk to school.
- She walked to school.
- She is walking.
6. Which sentence is in the future tense?
- She walked home.
- She walks home.
- She will walk home.
- She was walking home.
7. "Go" becomes "went" in the past tense. This makes "go" a/an:
- Regular verb
- Irregular verb
- Adjective
- Pronoun
8. Which sentence is in the present tense?
- She ate breakfast.
- She eats breakfast.
- She will eat breakfast.
- She had eaten breakfast.
9. Which of these is an irregular verb in the past tense?
- Walked
- Jumped
- Went
- Played
10. "I will finish my homework tonight" is written in the:
- Past tense
- Present tense
- Future tense
- No tense
11. Which sentence correctly uses past tense?
- She eat lunch yesterday.
- She ate lunch yesterday.
- She eating lunch yesterday.
- She will ate lunch yesterday.
12. "Eat" changes to "ate" in the past tense rather than "eated" because it is:
- A regular verb
- An irregular verb
- Not a verb
- An adjective
13. Which sentence uses the correct future tense form?
- She will goes home.
- She will went home.
- She will go home.
- She wills go home.
14. A story mostly written in past tense would typically describe events that:
- Are happening right now
- Already happened
- Haven't happened yet
- Are always true
15. "The Earth orbits the Sun" uses present tense mainly because it describes:
- A one-time past event
- A fact that is always true
- A future prediction
- A question
16. Mixing past and present tense within the same sentence without reason (e.g. "She walked to school and eats lunch") is usually considered:
- Correct and required
- A tense-consistency error
- Always necessary
- A type of punctuation
17. Which sentence shows correct tense consistency throughout?
- Yesterday, she cooks dinner and ate it.
- Yesterday, she cooked dinner and ate it.
- Yesterday, she will cook dinner and ate it.
- Yesterday, she cooks dinner and will eat it.
18. "Will have finished" is an example of:
- Simple past tense
- Simple present tense
- A future tense form
- Not a verb at all
19. Choosing consistent verb tense throughout a piece of writing mainly helps:
- Confuse the reader
- Keep the timeline of events clear for the reader
- Remove the need for punctuation
- Shorten sentences
20. Which sentence is grammatically correct?
- She has went to the shop.
- She has gone to the shop.
- She have go to the shop.
- She has go to the shop.

Answer key (parent copy)

1. Something that already happened
2. Something happening now or generally true
3. Will
4. -ed
5. She walked to school.
6. She will walk home.
7. Irregular verb
8. She eats breakfast.
9. Went
10. Future tense
11. She ate lunch yesterday.
12. An irregular verb
13. She will go home.
14. Already happened
15. A fact that is always true
16. A tense-consistency error
17. Yesterday, she cooked dinner and ate it.
18. A future tense form
19. Keep the timeline of events clear for the reader
20. She has gone to the shop.