Past, Present and Progressive Tense
Use verbs to convey past and present tense correctly and consistently, including the progressive form (e.g., she is drumming, he was shouting), understanding how tense indicates time
What a learner can do afterwards
- Write a passage consistently in past tense without switching to present
- Use progressive forms correctly: 'was running', 'is jumping' to show ongoing actions
- Identify verbs in a sentence and change them from past to present tense or vice versa
1 · Read
Tense tells us when something happened. Past tense is for things that already happened, like 'jumped.' Present tense is for things that happen now or often, like 'jumps.' Progressive tense shows an action still going on, like 'is jumping' or 'was jumping.'
Yesterday, Ben walked his dog in the park. Right now, Ben is walking his dog again. 'Walked' tells you it already happened. 'Is walking' tells you it is happening this very moment.
Once you pick a tense for your story, stick with it. Do not jump from 'walked' to 'walks' in the same passage unless the time really changes.
Past tells what already happened, present tells what happens now, and progressive (is or was plus -ing) shows an action in progress.
More to read
Verb tenses
Verbs are action words, and they can tell us WHEN something happens. In English we mostly use three tenses: past, present, and future.
Past tense tells about things that already happened. For most verbs, you just add -ed to the end. Like this: 'I walked to school.' Or: 'She jumped over the puddle.'
Some verbs don't follow that rule. We call them irregular verbs. Instead of adding -ed, they change in a special way. Like 'go' becomes 'went,' and 'eat' becomes 'ate.'
Present tense tells about things happening right now, or things that are always true. Like: 'I walk to school every day.' Or: 'The sun is hot.'
When you tell a story, try to pick one tense and stick with it. If you start in the past, keep using past tense words the whole way through. That way your reader won't get confused about when things are happening.
Simple and progressive aspects
Verbs don't just tell us WHEN something happens, like past or present. They can also tell us HOW an action is happening.
The progressive form shows an action that is still going on. To make it, you use a helper word like 'is,' 'was,' or 'are,' plus the main verb with -ing added to the end.
Here are some examples: - 'She is drumming.' (happening right now) - 'He was shouting.' (was happening in the past) - 'They are jumping.' (happening right now)
Notice how the helper word changes to show if it's happening now (is, are) or happened before (was, were). The main verb always ends in -ing.
Try it yourself. Take the verb 'run' and make it progressive: 'is running' or 'was running.' Once you know this trick, you can show an action that's still in progress in any tense you want.
Using consistent verb tenses
When you write a story, it's important to keep your verb tenses the same all the way through. This is called being consistent.
If you start writing in the past tense, like 'Sam ran to the park,' keep using past tense for the rest of your story. Don't suddenly switch to 'and now he jumps on the swings.' That mixes up past and present, and it can confuse your reader.
Here's how to fix a tense mix-up. First, figure out which tense you started with. Then go back through your writing and change any verbs that don't match.
For example, if your story is in the past tense, change 'jumps' to 'jumped,' and change 'is playing' to 'was playing.'
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Where this leads
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