Tenses — When Things Happen

Tenses ⏰

Tense tells us when something happens — in the past, right now, or in the future.

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🕐 The Three Main Tenses

🌟

Present Tense

Things happening now or every day

Time words: now, today, always, every day

📅

Past Tense

Things that already happened

Time words: yesterday, last week, ago, before

🔮

Future Tense

Things that will happen later

Time words: tomorrow, next week, soon, later

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📊 Tense Table — Same Verb, Three Times

Verb	Present	Past	Future
walk	I walk to school.	I walked to school.	I will walk to school.
eat	She eats rice.	She ate rice.	She will eat rice.
play	They play cricket.	They played cricket.	They will play cricket.
sing	He sings a song.	He sang a song.	He will sing a song.
go	We go to the park.	We went to the park.	We will go to the park.
read	I read a book.	I read a book.	I will read a book.
run	The dog runs fast.	The dog ran fast.	The dog will run fast.
write	She writes neatly.	She wrote neatly.	She will write neatly.

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🌟 Present Tense

Simple Present — things we do regularly

Structure: Subject + Verb (add -s/-es for He/She/It)

Example	Meaning
I eat breakfast every morning.	Regular habit
She reads books every night.	Regular habit
The sun rises in the east.	Always true
Birds fly in the sky.	Always true
We go to school on weekdays.	Regular habit

Present Continuous — things happening right now

Structure: Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing

Example	Meaning
I am eating lunch.	Happening now
She is reading a book.	Happening now
They are playing outside.	Happening now
It is raining today.	Happening now

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📅 Past Tense

Simple Past — things that are finished

Structure: Subject + Verb (past form, usually add -ed)

Present	Past	Example
walk	walked	I walked to school yesterday.
play	played	We played cricket last Sunday.
cook	cooked	Mum cooked dal and rice.
jump	jumped	The frog jumped into the pond.
eat	ate	She ate a mango.
go	went	We went to the market.
run	ran	The dog ran after the ball.
sing	sang	He sang a beautiful song.
see	saw	I saw a rainbow.
come	came	She came to my house.

💡 Regular verbs add -ed in past tense.
Irregular verbs change completely — you must memorise them!

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🔮 Future Tense

Simple Future — things that will happen

Structure: Subject + will + Verb (base form)

Example	Meaning
I will go to school tomorrow.	Plan for tomorrow
She will read a new book.	Plan for later
We will eat pizza tonight.	Plan for tonight
It will rain tomorrow.	Prediction
He will win the race.	Prediction

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⏱️ Time Words for Each Tense

Present	Past	Future
now	yesterday	tomorrow
today	last week	next week
always	last year	next year
every day	ago	soon
usually	before	later
often	once	in the future

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✅ Practice Activities

Activity 1: Identify the tense

1. I eat breakfast every morning. (Present)
2. She played in the park yesterday. (Past)
3. We will go to the zoo tomorrow. (Future)
4. The birds are singing now. (Present)
5. He sang a song last night. (Past)

Activity 2: Change to past tense

1. I walk to school. → I ___ to school. (walked)
2. She eats a mango. → She ___ a mango. (ate)
3. They play cricket. → They ___ cricket. (played)
4. He goes to the market. → He ___ to the market. (went)
5. We sing a song. → We ___ a song. (sang)

Activity 3: Change to future tense

1. I read a book. → I ___ ___ a book. (will read)
2. She cooks food. → She ___ ___ food. (will cook)
3. They play football. → They ___ ___ football. (will play)
4. He runs fast. → He ___ ___ fast. (will run)

Activity 4: Fill in the correct tense

1. Yesterday, I ___ (go) to the park. (went)
2. Every morning, she ___ (brush) her teeth. (brushes)
3. Tomorrow, we ___ (visit) our grandparents. (will visit)
4. Right now, the baby ___ (sleep). (is sleeping)

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Tenses help us talk about the past, present, and future! Master them and you can tell any story! ⏰