Starter quiz
- When we work out the tense a sentence is written in, we should look for the ...
- verb. ✓
- adjective.
- nouns.
- adverb.
-
- 'I finished my homework.' What tense is this sentence written in?
- simple past tense ✓
- progressive past tense
- simple future tense
- progressive present tense
-
- Identify the verb in the following sentence: 'They quietly read their books.'
- they
- quietly
- read ✓
- their
- books
-
- Identify the auxiliary verb in the following sentence: 'They are reading their books.'
- they
- are ✓
- reading
- their
- books
-
- Match each sentence to the correct tense.
- Every morning, I walk my dog.⇔simple present tense ✓
- Yesterday, I went to the park.⇔simple past tense ✓
- I will bring you your lunch.⇔simple future tense ✓
- They were sleeping soundly.⇔progressive past tense ✓
- I am eating my lunch.⇔progressive present tense ✓
- What should the main verb be in the following sentence? 'I was __________ out of the window and I saw a hot air balloon.'
- look
- looked
- looking ✓
- will look
-
Exit quiz
- What is the auxiliary verb in the following sentence? 'The penguins were diving into the water at speed.'
- were ✓
- diving
- into
- speed
-
- Which suffix does the main verb in a progressive tense always end with?
- -ing ✓
- -ly
- -ed
-
- What sort of action does a progressive tense sentence tell us about?
- action that is ongoing over a timeframe ✓
- action that will never happen
- action that has always completely finished
-
- Which words tell you that the following sentence is written in the progressive tense? 'Alex and Jun were hoping for a pet rabbit.'
- Alex and Jun
- were hoping ✓
- for a
- pet rabbit
-
- Which word in the following sentence tells you that it is written in the progressive past tense? 'We were treading carefully on the icy pond.'
- were ✓
- treading
- carefully
-
- Match each tense to the correct sentence.
- progressive past⇔The ducks were eating the breadcrumbs. ✓
- progressive present⇔The rain is pouring down today! ✓
- progressive future⇔I will be cleaning my boots after this muddy walk. ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Both the simple tense and progressive tense can denote present, past or future action.
- The verb carries the tense of a sentence.
- The simple tense is a tense that does not use an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb except in the future.
- The progressive tense always makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to be' paired with the main verb.
- The progressive tense denotes ongoing action.
Common misconception
Pupils might think they have used the progressive tense simply by using a being verb like 'am'.
'I am happy today.' Ask pupils why this is not written in the progressive tense. The being verb must help the main verb that ends in -ing.
Keywords
Auxiliary verb - the helping verb that is always paired with the main verb
Infinitive - any verb preceded by the word 'to'
Progressive tense - a tense that denotes ongoing action
Ongoing - continuous or still happening
Simple tense - a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb in the present and past
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