Understanding verb tense
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
Past and past perfect
Future and future perfect
Consistency of tense
Review A
Review B
Timeline
• Draw a timeline on page 46 of your
life. List 5-8 events on the time line.
– Make sure you list your future
graduation date!
•
Was Born
1987
1st time on
Air plane
2001
Started high
School 2001
Started
School 1991
Graduated
High school
2005
Started
Teaching at
SJHS 2013
Daughter2is
Born 2007
What are the verb tenses?
Verbs do a lot of work in sentences. They show
actions and states of being. They even take
different forms to show time.
flies
flew
will fly
Verb Tense
• The tense of a verb indicates the
time of the action or state of
being expressed by the verb
• Draw another time line and label
it accordingly
Past
Present
Future
.
Now, label the timeline with the
verbs. Place in them on the
correct spot on the timeline.
flies
flew
will fly
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present tense expresses an action or a
state of being that is occurring now, at the
present time.
Today we honor our veterans.
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present perfect tense
• is usually formed using the helping verb have or
has plus the past participle
Mike has been in several parades.
He has played the drums in all of
them.
What are the verb tenses?
Past and past perfect
The past tense- action that occurs in the past.
The two friends shared the large swing.
What are the verb tenses?
Past and past perfect
The past perfect tense
• is usually formed using had plus the past
participle
After Maria had gone home, Kim was bored.
She asked her dad about the time that he
had been a lifeguard at the beach.
What are the verb tenses?
Future and future perfect
The future tense
• expresses an action or a state of being that will
occur
• is usually formed using will or shall plus the verb
My family will ride the train to Chicago.
What are the verb tenses?
Future and future perfect
The future perfect tense
• is usually formed using will have or shall have
plus the past participle
By the time you receive this letter, she will have
returned home.
After this trip, he will have been to Chicago
three times.
What are the verb tenses?
On Your Own
Change the tense of the verb in each sentence, as indicated
in parentheses.
1. I do not miss the bus. (Change to future.)
2. Were they at the party? (Change to past perfect.)
3. By then, Keith had returned. (Change to future perfect.)
4. My sister dances well. (Change to past.)
[End of Section]
Consistency of tense
Do not change needlessly from one tense to
another.
To describe events that occur at the same time,
use verbs in the same tense.
past tense
future tense
Sara peeked over the fence and she will see a
cornfield.
present tense
present tense
Sara peeks over the fence and sees a cornfield.
Consistency of tense
On Your Own
Proofread the paragraph for unnecessary changes of verb
tense. Change the verbs to make the tenses consistent.
(1) I was in my room Saturday morning, planning to
study for two hours. (2) To my surprise, Nancy Chang drops
by. (3) She dashed into the house, runs up the stairs, and
calls my name. (4) What she wanted was a fishing
companion. (5) As I get my fishing gear together, I was so
happy. (6) On our way to the lake, we notice some dark
clouds. (7) We wished we checked the weather first.
[End of Section]
Review A
Change the tense of each boldface verb to the tense
indicated in parentheses.
1. The otter swam to the edge of the pond. (present
perfect)
2. The three sisters regularly meet for lunch. (past)
3. Each student chooses a lab partner. (past perfect)
4. Wasps were entering the house through the torn screen.
(present)
Goal Reflection
• What is verb tense?
• What words indicate you’re in perfect
tense?