--- title: "Talking about time: first tenses" description: "Say when something happened. A language can mark time by changing the verb, by adding a helper word, or by leaving it to a time word, and the new language does it in its own way." canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/talking-about-time-first-tenses-mt_6526HcZG0R source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/talking-about-time-first-tenses-mt_6526HcZG0R.md retrieved: 2026-11-12 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Talking about time: first tenses Say when something happened. A language can mark time by changing the verb, by adding a helper word, or by leaving it to a time word, and the new language does it in its own way. Subject: Languages · Area: Grammar Across Languages · Ages 10 to 12 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/talking-about-time-first-tenses-mt_6526HcZG0R ## Ready when they can - Say the same short sentence in the present and about yesterday in the new language - Point to the part of the sentence carrying the time - Describe one way the new language marks time differently from English ## Lesson: Show when something happens You have found verbs in sentences before. A verb can express an action or a state. In She walked home, walked names the action. Tense helps place an action or state in time. Languages can show time through verb forms, helper words or time words. In Spanish, hablar means to speak. For these forms, remove -ar to get habl-. Add -o for hablo, meaning I speak, or -é for hablé, meaning I spoke about a completed past action. Yo means I. Compare Hoy hablo, I speak today, with Ayer hablé, I spoke yesterday. The ending changes while the person stays the same. *(drawing: Hablo means I speak. Hablé means I spoke. Both refer to I, with different tense forms.)* English changes verb forms too. I walk can describe a present habit. I walked describes a past action. For this regular verb, adding -ed makes the past form. Yesterday tells us which day, but walked already marks past time. This -ed pattern does not work for every English verb. Compare ways to talk about the future: English I will speak and Spanish Yo hablaré. English adds the helper will before speak. This Spanish form adds -é to the whole infinitive hablar. Hablé and hablaré are different forms. Learn each whole form and its meaning. Some English verb phrases connect two times. She has completed the task links a completed action with the present. She had completed the task before lunch yesterday places the finish before that past lunch. Had completed uses a past reference point, given in the sentence or nearby text. It does not mean earlier than every action described with has completed. **Recap.** Find the verb, compare its taught forms, and check how the language marks time. A time word can add detail. *Original lesson, questions and flashcards written for this learning dataset.* ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Needs first - [Word order and question forms](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/word-order-and-question-forms-mt_aY-pVRzyEz) ## Optional connections - [Grammar Terms: Nouns, Verbs and Tense](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/grammar-terms-nouns-verbs-and-tense-mt_qzwQAOfurw) ## Opens up - [Reading a whole story in a new language](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/reading-a-whole-story-in-a-new-language-mt__TM_JDJS1F) - [How Languages Cut Up Time](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/how-languages-cut-up-time-mt_lCx2JzFUeD)