Verbs. What is a verb?

A verb is a word which describes the action in a sentence (the doing word)

Examples

I play football.

They skip quickly.

We eat spaghetti.

Bob is seven today.

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses describe WHEN the action is happening.

PRESENT (it’s happening NOW.) PAST (it’s ALREADY happened.) FUTURE (it’s ABOUT to happen.)

Present tense to past tense.

The following sentences are written in the present tense. Try changing them to the past tense by putting Yesterday at the beginning of each.

I eat spaghetti. They skip quickly. Bob is seven. I play football.

How have the verbs changed?

How did you do?

Yesterday I ate spaghetti. Yesterday they skipped quickly. Yesterday Bob was seven. Yesterday I played football.

(Did you remember to double the consonant in skipped?)

Past to present

These sentences are in the past. Change them to the present by putting today at the front of

each.

Sarah felt hot. The cow jumped over the moon. John sat outside in the garden. The mouse ran up the clock.

How did you do?

Today Sarah feels hot. Today the cow jumps over the moon. Today John sits outside in the

garden. Today the mouse runs up the clock.

The future tense.

The future tense is used to describe what will or could happen. Change these sentences to the future tense by adding tomorrow at the start of each.

Jack and Jill went up the hill. Thomas chased the mouse. Lucy entered the wardrobe. Bo Peep lost her sheep.

How did you do?

Tomorrow Jack and Jill could/will go up the hill.

Tomorrow Thomas could/will chase the mouse.

Tomorrow Lucy could/will enter the wardrobe.

Tomorrow Bo Peep could/will lose her sheep.