Language Arts - Parts of Speech
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Language Arts - Parts of Speech - Verb Tense

Verb Tense

Verbs are action words and they can take different forms called tense: 


	run
	runs
	running
	ran
Here are these forms of run used in sentences: 

	They ran a mile.
	They are running a mile.
	She is running a mile.
	They run a mile every day.
	She runs a mile every day.
Sometimes we are asked to convert a sentence written in the present tense (happening now) into the past tense (already happened). Here's an example: 

	Convert the following sentence from the present tense
	to the past tense:

	  Jack is eating all the bacon.

	ANSWER: Jack ate all the bacon.
As you can see in the first sentence Jack is in the process of eating the bacon. In the second sentence Jack is done with eating the bacon.

Verbs name actions which can be taken by some object. Sometimes all we have to do to change a verb from present to past tense is add -ed. But sometimes it's more complicated than that. Here are the rules for adding -ed to a verb. 


	1. DROP THE Y AND ADD -IED
	    Use on words which end with Y like: carry/carried, hurry/hurried
	    But not on words like: play/played, annoy/annoyed

	2. DOUBLE THE FINAL CONSONANT AND ADD -ED
	    Some words require that you double the final consonant and
	    then add -ed: drag/dragged, stab/stabbed, slam/slammed

	3. ADD -ED
	    With most words you can just add -ed: climb/climbed, kick/kicked
	    Some words you just add -d: tie/tied, trade/traded, race/raced
	    Also on words which end with ss, ch, x, or sh: reach/reached, fix/fixed
There are also irregular verbs such as: 

	break/broke		build/built			tear/tore

	sing/sang		write/wrote			go/went

	swim/swam		sit/sat				hold/held

	eat/ate			grow/grew			stand/stood

	fall/fell		take/took			read/read

	buy/bought		sleep/slept			run/ran

	spend/spent		weave/wove			write/wrote
It should be noted that read in the present tense rhymes with reed, while read in the past tense rhymes with the color red.

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