Tense

Animal Poems

1. Past and present (simple) 2. Progressive form of verbs: present and past3. Perfect form of verbs

Animal Poems

Night Prowler

Flash of orange, edge of park,

Waste bin emptied, snuffled through,

Long red snout, old chicken wings –

Urban fox amongst the quiet swings.

Have you seen a fox near you?

VerbsVerbs indicate that someone or something is

doing, feeling or being.

Usually verbs have the name of a person or thing or a pronoun in front of them.

The fox sneaks along. The poor fox is often hungry.

He looks for food. I absolutely love to spot a fox.

verbsverbs

Can you spot these?

Verbs have a tense.

In the past

or in the present.

They can tell us when the action happened.

The lucky fox caught a mouse.

The squirrel watches

from the tree. Write a sentence in the present tense.

Ask your partner to rewrite it in the

past tense.My dad sees a fox at the end of the garden.My dad saw a fox at the end of the garden.

Example

Verbs have a tense. They can tell us when the action happened.

Past tense Present tense

She wants a chicken.

I watch the hens.

They flap about.

The fox waits.

She wanted a chicken.

I watched the hens.

They flapped about.

The fox waited.

For regular verbs we add ed to show that an action is in the past and complete.

crouched

growled

fished

waited

watched

listenedpaddled

Irregular verbs take different forms when showing past tense; we learn them through hearing them used.

swam caught ate was

The bear ate the fish and was happy.

Progressive form of verbs: Present and past progressive (continuous)

The cat was prowling.She is looking

for food because she is

a stray.She is starving.

This can be in the present (happening now) or in the past (happened then).

The progressive form is continuous.

It suggests that the action progresses, for a period of time,

or progresses at the time something else happens or happened.

The stray cat was waiting for a mouse.

The stray cat was waiting when the mouse appeared.

Miaow! I’m so hungry.

Finally! Dinner appeared!

Progressive form of verbs: past progressive

Can you use past progressive form?

watchThink of a sentence which

shows that the cat didthese verbs once.

The cat sat and watched.Think of a sentence which shows that the cat did

these verbs for a while.The cat was sitting and watching.

This past progressive form shows the action

continued for a while.Hint: use

was The stray cat was watching when the

mouse popped out of his hole.

sat

Progressive form of verbs: past progressive

lookThink of a sentence which

shows that we did this verbfor a short time.

We looked out at the street.Think of a sentence which shows that we did this verbwhen the stray cat arrived.

We were looking when the stray cat appeared.

This past progressive form shows the action continued

when something else occurred.Can you use past progressive form?

Hint: use were

The children were looking out for the stray cat.

Choosing past simple or past progressive form

How would you write this in the past form?

The stray cat is having her best ever day.Would this be a short action or a

longer one?

The stray cat had her best ever day.

The stray cat was having her best ever day.

A day takes a while so the past progressive form is

best.

Which verb form sounds

longer?

The children were giving the stray cat a

large plate of delicious catfood!

The cat was purring. Yum yum!

To make verbs progressive:

She is making a noise. She was making a noise.

She is miaowing loudly. She was miaowing loudly.

The children let her in. They were letting her in.

Try changing these verb forms to present and past progressive.

• Add one of… is, are, am, was, were• Use -ing participle of the verb

The cat makes a noise.

Present progressive Past progressive

auxiliary verb indicates the tense

The cat miaows loudly.

They are letting her in.

Past progressive Present Present progressive

Progressive form of verbs: present and past progressive

She walks

She runs

The cat miaows

We listen

She is walkingShe was walking

She is runningShe was running

The cat is miaowingThe cat was miaowing

We are listeningWe were listening

Change these verbs into simple present tense.

Simple present Present progressive

The stray cat is shivering.

She is crying to be let in.

But no-one is listening!

It is raining.

The stray cat shivers.

She cries to be let in.

But no-one listens!

It rains.

ANSWERS

Present tense – some exercises

Turn these verbs into past progressive tense.

Simple past Past progressive

Some children heard her.

They opened the window.

The cat purred gratefully.

The stray cat shouted.

ANSWERS

Some children were hearing her.

They were opening the window.

The cat was purring gratefully.

The stray cat was shouting.

Past tense – some exercises