Year 3 English: Past and present tense
Part of the Year 3 English tense and paragraphs chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Past and present tense
A verb has a tense. The tense tells us when the action happens.
The present tense is used for things that happen now, or that happen again and again, such as every morning. The past tense is used for things that happened earlier and have finished, such as yesterday or last week.
| Present tense | Past tense | Time word |
|---|---|---|
| Mia walks to school. | Mia walked to school. | every morning (present), yesterday (past) |
| Sam eats toast. | Sam ate toast. | every day (present), this morning (past) |
| Ruby sees the moon. | Ruby saw the moon. | each night (present), last night (past) |
| They go to the park. | They went to the park. | on Sundays (present), on Sunday (past) |
Key ideas
- The present tense is used for what happens now, or happens again and again.
- The past tense is used for what happened and has finished.
- A regular verb adds -ed to make the past tense: walk, walked.
- An irregular verb changes its spelling: eat, ate; see, saw. It does not add -ed.
- Time words help: every day points to the present, and yesterday points to the past.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is kicks.kicks
- Change it to the past tense. This is a regular verb, so the past form adds -ed (or -d after an e).kicked
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.Sam kicked the ball across the field.
- Write the answer. Sam kicked the ball across the field.
Check. Read it aloud: Sam kicked the ball across the field. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is eat.eat
- Change it to the past tense. This is an irregular verb, so the past form does not add -ed. It has to be learned.ate
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.We ate our lunch under the tree.
- Write the answer. We ate our lunch under the tree.
Check. Read it aloud: We ate our lunch under the tree. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Look at the time word, then choose the tense.
- Find the time word. The time word is yesterday.yesterday
- Choose the tense. A finished time, such as yesterday or last week, needs the simple past tense.past
- Write the verb form. The verb see in this tense is:saw
- Write the answer. saw
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud: Ruby saw a rainbow after the storm yesterday. ✓
Watch out. Check the time word first. A finished time needs the simple past, not have or has.
Watch out
Watch out: do not add -ed to an irregular verb. Write Sam ate, not Sam eated, and Ruby saw, not Ruby seed.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to find the time word in each sentence. Every day points to the present; yesterday points to the past. Then ask: has it finished? If it has, the verb is in the past tense.
Exercise 6A Practice: past and present tense
Method. Look at the verb and the time.
- Find the verb. The verb is kicked.kicked
- Look at the ending. It ends in -ed and the action has finished, because the ball is over the fence.past
- Write the answer. past
Check. Kicked is the past tense of kick. ✓
Watch out. A verb ending in -ed is usually in the past tense.
Method. Look at the time word.
- Find the verb. The verb is paints.paints
- Look at the time word. Every Friday shows something that happens again and again, so it is the present tense.every Friday
- Write the answer. present
Check. Paints is the present tense. ✓
Watch out. Every Friday points to a habit, not to a finished action.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is walks.walks
- Change it to the past tense. This is a regular verb, so the past form adds -ed (or -d after an e).walked
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.Mia walked to school with Leo.
- Write the answer. Mia walked to school with Leo.
Check. Read it aloud: Mia walked to school with Leo. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is plays.plays
- Change it to the past tense. This is a regular verb, so the past form adds -ed (or -d after an e).played
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.Sam played in the park after school.
- Write the answer. Sam played in the park after school.
Check. Read it aloud: Sam played in the park after school. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is draw.draw
- Change it to the past tense. This is an irregular verb, so the past form does not add -ed. It has to be learned.drew
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.They drew pictures of the sea.
- Write the answer. They drew pictures of the sea.
Check. Read it aloud: They drew pictures of the sea. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is climb.climb
- Change it to the past tense. This is a regular verb, so the past form adds -ed (or -d after an e).climbed
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.I climbed the tall oak tree.
- Write the answer. I climbed the tall oak tree.
Check. Read it aloud: I climbed the tall oak tree. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Look at the time word, then choose the tense.
- Find the time word. The time word is this morning.this morning
- Choose the tense. A finished time, such as yesterday or last week, needs the simple past tense.past
- Write the verb form. The verb find in this tense is:found
- Write the answer. found
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud: Sam found his lost gloves in the hall this morning. ✓
Watch out. Check the time word first. A finished time needs the simple past, not have or has.
Method. Look at the time word, then choose the tense.
- Find the time word. The time word is every morning.every morning
- Choose the tense. Every day and similar words show a habit or a repeated action, so the present tense is used.present
- Write the verb form. The verb eat in this tense is:eats
- Write the answer. eats
Check. Read the whole sentence aloud: Ali eats porridge for breakfast every morning. ✓
Watch out. Check the time word first. A finished time needs the simple past, not have or has.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is build.build
- Change it to the past tense. This is an irregular verb, so the past form does not add -ed. It has to be learned.built
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.Ben and Ruby built a sandcastle at the beach.
- Write the answer. Ben and Ruby built a sandcastle at the beach.
Check. Read it aloud: Ben and Ruby built a sandcastle at the beach. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. Change only the verb to its past form.
- Find the verb. The verb in the present tense is takes.takes
- Change it to the past tense. This is an irregular verb, so the past form does not add -ed. It has to be learned.took
- Keep the rest of the sentence the same. Only the verb changes. The subject and the other words stay.Priya took her umbrella to school.
- Write the answer. Priya took her umbrella to school.
Check. Read it aloud: Priya took her umbrella to school. ✓
Watch out. Do not add -ed to an irregular verb: write ate, not eated.
Method. The time word shows the past tense, and go is an irregular verb.
- Find the time word. Yesterday shows that the trip has finished.Yesterday
- Find the past tense of go. Go is irregular. Its past tense is went, not goed.went
- Write the sentence. Only the verb changes.Yesterday I went to the park with Sam.
- Write the answer. Yesterday I went to the park with Sam.
Check. Read it aloud: yesterday, so it is the past tense. ✓
Watch out. Also accept any sentence that uses went with yesterday.