Page 26 - Grammar_Programme

Target 4: Verbs and the Tenses

Verbs change their form to show us when things will happen. They tell us whether
we are talking about the present, the past or the future. Present, past and
future are the TENSES.

Present tense – this tells us about what is happening now.
Most verbs follow the rule that an ‘s’ is added to the verb when it is used with

he, she or it. For example, let’s look at the verb ‘to play’.

I play. You play. He plays. She plays It plays. We play. They play.
Verbs that follow this rule are called REGULAR VERBS.

We can also make the present tense by joining the verb ‘to be’ with a verb

ending in ‘ing’.

I am playing. You are playing. It is playing. They are playing.

Future tense – this tells us about what is going to happening in the future.

This tense is formed by linking with ‘will’.

I will play. You will play. She will play. We will play. They will play.

We can also make the future tense by adding ‘will be’.
I will be playing. You will be playing. He will be playing.
We will be playing. They will be playing.

Past tense – this tells us about what happened in the past. Most verbs

(REGULAR VERBS) just add ‘ed’.

I played. You played. She played. We played. They played.

We can also make the past tense by adding ‘was’ or ‘were’ and adding ‘ing’ to the
verb.

I was playing. You were playing. He was playing.
We were playing. They were playing.

Another way of making the past tense

is by using has or have:

Jerry has repaired his bike.

We have watched the movie.

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