Sentences in the simple, progressive and perfect present, past and future tense | English

Starter quiz

What kind of word is a verb?
- a being word ✓
- a doing word ✓
- an owning word
- a having word ✓
Tick the words that can be used as verbs.
- was ✓
- said ✓
- local
- regular
- hasn't ✓
Which sentence shows an action happening in the past?
- I am studying French.
- I studied French last year. ✓
- I will study French at secondary school.
Which sentence shows action happening in the present?
- She practised every day for a month.
- She practises every day after school. ✓
- She will practise tonight.
Put these sentences in order from the past to the future.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  I washed the car last week.
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  I wash the car every week.
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  I will wash the car next week.
Tick the sentence which uses the correct tense throughout.
- When I woke up, I brush my teeth.
- When I wake up, I brushed my teeth.
- When I woke up, I brushed my teeth. ✓

What type of tense uses auxiliary verbs based on 'to have'?
- simple tenses
- perfect tenses ✓
- progressive tenses
Tick all the sentences using a perfect tense.
- We have known this all along. ✓
- He has played football for 7 years. ✓
- We played cricket on the beach.
- I knew she was listening.
Which type of tense uses an auxiliary verb based on 'to be'?
- progressive tenses ✓
- simple tenses
- perfect tenses
Tick all the sentences that use a progressive tense.
- She waited for me for ages.
- She was waiting for me for ages. ✓
- We were learning a lot about each other. ✓
- We learned a lot about each other.
Which simple tense uses an auxiliary verb?
- simple past
- simple present
- simple future ✓
Which verb form completes this sentence? 'Since July, I __________ a lot about geography.'
- learning
- am learning
- have learned ✓

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The simple, progressive and perfect tense can denote present, past or future action.
The progressive tense is a tense that makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to be' with the main verb.
The progressive tense denotes ongoing action.
The perfect tense is a tense that makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to have' with the main verb.
The perfect tense often refers to action that has finished.

Pupils may believe that verbs based on 'to have' and 'to be' are **always** auxiliary verbs.

Emphasise that when these verbs are on their own, they are just a main verb - they only change the tense when acting as an auxiliary verb.

Verb - a doing, being or having word
Simple tense - a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb except in the future tense
Progressive tense - a tense that denotes ongoing action and uses an auxiliary verb based on 'to be'
Perfect tense - made using an auxiliary verb based on the infinitive ‘to have’ and a past tense form of the main verb
Auxiliary verb - the helping verb that is always paired with the main verb