Move one sentence along a time line and watch the verb change shape. Learn the three simple tenses, meet the verbs that refuse to follow the rule, then clear 24 exercises and take two printable PDFs home. Suits Grade/Class 3 to 5, Year 4 to 6.
Level 2 is where verbs stop standing still. In Level 1 the whole job was finding the verb in a sentence. Here the same verb has to change shape depending on when the action happened, and that change of shape is all the word tense means. This page covers the three shapes a Grade 3 to 5 student actually needs: the simple past, the simple present and the simple future. It also covers the hundred verbs that refuse to follow the -ed rule, and the small matter of when a verb takes an s and when it does not, which is the mistake that survives longest. Everything is taught with a test the student can run alone, then drilled three ways: a guided set with hints, three games, and 24 marked exercises. Three free printables go home at the end.
Four tests. Each one gives you something you can check on your own, without asking anybody.
Whenever you say anything, you are talking about one of three times.
Before now. Right now. After now.
English changes the shape of the verb to show which one you mean. That change of shape is what the word tense means. Nothing more.
Before now, I walked.
Right now, I walk.
After now, I will walk.
Three times, three shapes. Their proper names are the past, the present and the future. The four tests below just show you how to pick the right one every time.
There are three stops. Take one sentence and walk it along all three.
I walked to school.
I walk to school.
I will walk to school.
Walked, walk, will walk. It is the same verb three times. Only the shape changed.
So here is the test. Find the time word first. Yesterday, every day, tomorrow. The time word tells you which shape the verb needs.
Always in that order. Time word first, verb second. If you pick the verb shape first and then look for a time word, you will get muddled, because both shapes sound fine inside your head.
Try it now with a sentence of your own. Say it three times, once at each stop.
Most verbs are rule keepers. Add -ed and they change without a fuss. Play becomes played. Clean becomes cleaned.
Some verbs refuse.
Yesterday I goed to the shop. Wrong.
Yesterday I went to the shop. Right.
Go, eat, buy and about a hundred others break the rule. We call them rule breakers. There is no trick that predicts them, so you learn them by heart. The good news is that they travel in families.
The middle letter turns into an a.
sing sang, ring rang, drink drank, swim swam, begin began
The whole ending is replaced.
buy bought, bring brought, think thought, catch caught, teach taught
The ending turns into ew.
grow grew, know knew, throw threw, blow blew, fly flew
These five change completely, so learn them one by one.
go went, eat ate, see saw, take took, run ran
The quickest way to learn them. Do not try to swallow the whole list in one go. Learn five a week, and always say each one inside a full sentence out loud, not just the two words on their own. Yesterday I drank my milk, not just drink drank.
Families make this much lighter work. Sing, ring and drink are not three things to remember. They are one pattern. The free list on this page is grouped into these same families, and it has a blank column so you can fold it over and test yourself.
In Level 1 you learned that the s hops. One dog barks, two dogs bark. Now here is the full rule, and it is short.
He, she, it: the s must fit.
I, you, we, they: the s stays away.
Say it twice. That is the whole of subject and verb agreement in the present tense.
She walks home. I walk home. They walk home.
Any single name or thing counts as it. Ali walks. The bus stops. My pencil breaks.
Two mistakes to watch for. These are the ones almost everybody makes at first.
I walks to school. Wrong. I walk to school.
We walks to school. Wrong. We walk to school.
Both come from using the Level 1 trick everywhere. The chant is quicker than the rule, because you can run it in your head while you are still writing the sentence.
To talk about the future you do not change the verb at all. You put will in front and leave the verb exactly as it is.
Tomorrow we will travel.
Next week she will go.
Next month they will eat at our house.
Two warnings, and they are the only ones you need.
Tomorrow I will walked. Wrong.
Tomorrow she will goes. Wrong.
Will has already done the job. The verb stays plain.
One more thing you will hear. People also say I am going to walk. That is correct English too, and nobody will stop you saying it. In your written answers on this page, use will.
You may have noticed that will stands in front of the main verb rather than joining it. Small words that do that job are called helping verbs, and is, was, has, have and will are the common ones. She is reading. They have finished. Level 3 takes them apart properly. For now, just notice them.
| Tense | Time words that give it away | What the verb does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | yesterday, last week, two days ago | Adds -ed, or changes shape if it is a rule breaker | We cleaned the board. |
| Present | every day, usually, always | Stays plain, but adds s for he, she and it | She cleans the board. |
| Future | tomorrow, next week, soon | Nothing at all. Will goes in front | We will clean the board. |
| Who | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | plain | I write in the evening. |
| you | plain | You write very neatly. |
| he, she, it | add s | She writes in the evening. |
| we | plain | We write letters in class. |
| they | plain | They write on the board. |
| one name or thing | add s | The clock ticks loudly. |
The verb is highlighted, with the reason underneath. Cover the reason and see whether you get there first.
Last Sunday we painted the front gate.
Last Sunday is over, so the tense is past. Paint is a rule keeper, so it simply takes -ed.
Yesterday the goat ate my drawing.
Past again, but eat is a rule breaker. Eated is not a word. Eat becomes ate.
Every morning my father makes tea.
Every morning means it happens again and again, so the tense is present. My father is one person, like he, so the verb takes the s.
Every morning my brothers make a lot of noise.
Same verb, same tense, but the person changed. Brothers is more than one, like they, so make loses the s.
Tomorrow the library will open at nine.
Tomorrow means future. Will goes in front and open stays in its plain shape. Not will opens.
Last night the wind blew the window open.
Past, and blow belongs to the ew family. Blow becomes blew, in the same way that grow becomes grew.
No score here and no pressure. Find the time word first. Press Hint whenever you are stuck.
A sentence appears with the verb missing. Read the time word, then pick the shape that fits. You have 45 seconds. Every 3 correct in a row doubles your points, and a wrong answer costs you 3 seconds.
A verb appears. Decide in one tap whether it is a rule keeper that just takes -ed, or a rule breaker. Either way you are shown the past form straight after. Twelve rounds.
Read the sentence and name the tense. The time word is your evidence, so find that first. Ten rounds.
Press Start and read carefully.
Five parts. Every right answer earns 25 XP, which is simply a points score for this level, and fills the bar above until the badges unlock. A wrong answer costs nothing, so try again.
These are here to be read, printed or worked through on paper. Tap Show the answer to check, and the reason is given every time.
1. Which sentence is in the past tense?
B. Last Friday we cleaned the classroom. Last Friday is the time word, and clean has taken -ed. A is present because of every Friday, and C is future because of will.
2. What is the past tense of go?
B. went Go is a rule breaker, so goed is not a word at all. Gone is the third form, used with has and have, and that is Level 3 work.
3. Choose the correct verb. My sister ____ the newspaper every morning.
B. reads My sister is one person, like she, so the verb takes an s. Every morning tells you the tense is present.
4. Choose the correct verb. I ____ to school every day.
A. walk Run the chant. He, she, it take the s. I, you, we and they never do, so I walk is correct.
5. What is the past tense of swim?
B. swam Swim belongs to the a family, where the middle vowel turns into an a, like sing and sang. Swum is the third form and belongs to Level 3.
6. Complete the sentence. Tomorrow the shop ____ at eight.
C. will open Tomorrow means the future. Will goes in front and the verb stays in its plain shape, so it is will open and never will opens.
7. Which sentence is wrong?
B. Tomorrow he will opens the gate. Will has already marked the tense, so the verb behind it never changes. The s should not be there.
8. What is the past tense of buy?
B. bought Buy belongs to the ought family, along with bring and brought, think and thought, and catch and caught.
9. Name the tense. The postman brings the letters at nine every day.
B. Present Every day is the evidence, and brings carries the s because the postman is one person.
10. Complete the sentence. Last night the wind ____ the door open.
B. blew Last night means past. Blow belongs to the ew family, so blow becomes blew, in the same way that grow becomes grew.
Want more? The 24 marked exercises above give instant feedback, and the free worksheet PDF has 48 questions in six parts with a full answer key.
Think first, then tap to check.
I am four letters long. Put me in front of any verb and the whole sentence jumps forward in time. The verb behind me never changes shape. What am I?
The word will, which makes the simple future.
I sit on the end of a verb and I mean the job is finished. Play welcomes me and becomes played. But go, eat and buy slam the door in my face. What am I?
The letters -ed, which make the simple past of a regular verb.
He, she and it want me on the end of the verb. I, you, we and they push me away. I only work in the present. What am I?
The letter s, as in she walks but they walk.
A tense is the shape a verb takes to show when something happens. The same verb changes shape as it moves along a time line. Yesterday I walked, today I walk, tomorrow I will walk. The verb is walk in all three sentences, but the shape tells the reader whether the action is over, happening now, or still to come.
They are the simple past, the simple present and the simple future. The simple past usually adds -ed, as in cleaned. The simple present uses the plain verb, and adds an s only for he, she and it, as in he cleans. The simple future puts will in front and leaves the verb in its plain shape, as in will clean. These three carry almost all the writing a child does at this stage.
An irregular verb is one that refuses to take -ed in the past. Go does not become goed, it becomes went. Eat becomes ate and buy becomes bought. There is no rule that predicts them, so they have to be learned by heart. This page calls them the rule breakers and groups them into families, because sing, ring and drink all change in the same way and are far easier to remember together.
Put will in front of the verb and leave the verb exactly as it is. Tomorrow we will travel. Next week she will go. The verb never takes -ed and never takes an s after will, so will walked and will goes are both wrong. This makes the future the easiest of the three simple tenses, because there is only one shape to learn.
Only with he, she and it, or with any single person or thing that could be replaced by one of those words. He walks, she walks, the bus stops. With I, you, we and they the verb stays plain, so I walk, you walk, we walk and they walk. Children often add the s to I and to we by mistake, which is why this page teaches it as a chant rather than as a rule.
Yes. There are three free PDFs on this page. The worksheet has a lesson recap, practice in six parts and a full answer key at the back. The irregular verb list gives the hundred rule breakers a child meets most often, grouped into families, with a blank column for testing. The flashcard pack is a 24 pair matching game to cut out. There is no sign up and no fee, and teachers may print class sets.
It matches Grade 3 to Grade 5 in the United States and Canada, Year 4 to Year 6 in the United Kingdom, Class 3 to Class 5 in Pakistan and India, and Year 3 to Year 5 in Australia. It also works as revision for an older student who is still unsure which tense to use.
Numrahedu is an independent educational resource. All explanations, questions, games and worksheets on this page are original work produced by Numrahedu.