Changing Verbs From
Present to Past and Future
Second Grade Grammar
Three Tenses of Verbs
Verb Tense
past
present
future
Past Tense Verbs
Most past tense verbs end in “ed”, but there are
several rules to use while changing the present
to past tense.
 Past tense verbs tell action that has already
happened.
 Some words change spelling to show past tense.

Examples:
Beg = begged
Feed = fed
Run = ran
grow = grew
like = liked
play = played
Present Tense Verbs
Actions that happen now or today
Some present tense verbs have “ing”, “s”, or
“es” on the end of them.
 Clue words: now, today


Examples:
Stays
plays
Flies
juggles
Floats
jogs

hikes
fusses
runs
drives
dresses
carries
Future tense verbs
Many verbs have the helping verb “will” in front
of them to show they will be happening.
 Clue words to look for are: tomorrow, some
day, next time, or next week.
Examples:
Will play
will lead
will be happy
Will have
will eat
will like

From Present to Past

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

There are five ways to change a verb from
present tense to past tense.
Just add –ed.
Double the final consonant and add –ed.
Drop the final e and add –ed.
Change the y to i and add –ed.
Change the spelling.
We did this when we changed a singular noun
to a plural noun and with verb agreement too.
Just add -ed

Most verbs can change from the present
to the past by just adding –ed.
Today I walk home.
Yesterday I walked home.
Did it rain today?
It rained yesterday.
Doubling the Final Consonant

When a present tense verb ends with one vowel
and one consonant, double the final consonant
and add –ed to make the verb change to past
tense.
Drop the ball.
He dropped the ball.
Hop on one foot.
She hopped on one foot.
Dropping the Final e
When a present tense verb ends with a
sneaky/silent e, drop the e and add –ed to
make the verb change to past tense.
Skate with me.
We skated together at the rink.

I like to shop.
I liked shopping with you.
Changing y to i

When a present tense verb ends with a y,
change the y to i and add –ed to make the verb
change to past tense.
Will you help me carry the groceries?
We carried them to the kitchen.
Eric asked me to marry him on New Year’s Day.
We got married on August 2, 1997.
Changing the Spelling

Sometimes a present tense verb changes its
entire spelling to make the verb change to past
tense. If it helps say, “Yesterday I ______,” to
help find the right word to use in the past tense.
We eat lunch at 11:30.
We ate lunch at 11:30 yesterday.
Stand straight in line.
We stood straight in line.
Now its your turn!
How can you make these present tense
verbs past tense verbs?
like
A. liked
B. likeed
C. likked
take
A. taked
B. took
C. takeed
Try Some More
bury
A. buried
B. buryed
C. buryyed
mop
A. mopped
B. moped
C. mopeed
go
A. goed
B. gone
C. went
Future Tense
The future has not yet happened, but we
know it will.
 Add will to the present tense verb to
make the future tense.

Present - Today I go.
 Past - Yesterday I went.
 Future - Tomorrow I will go.

Adding –ing to a present tense verb

All the rules used for changing the present tense verb to
a past tense verb can also be used when adding –ing to
the verb except for changing the spelling and do not
drop the “y” when adding –ing.
Present
carry
eat
walk
like
drop
Past with-ed
carried
ate
walked
liked
dropped
Present with -ing
carrying
eating
walking
liking
dropping