Language Arts Grade Four

Unit Seven, Lesson Three: Verb Tense

  1. ship
  2. slip
  3. trip
  4. clip
  5. ripen
  6. pipe
  7. dome
  8. remains
  9. aspen
  10. trail
  1. autumn
  2. dinosaur
  3. ruins
  4. ghost
  5. town
  6. prospect
  7. cliff
  8. granite
  9. stream
  10. fossil
Verb Tense

Things can happen in the past, the present, or the future. We will concern ourselves only with the past and the present in this lesson. Consider these two sentences: 


  He is eating all the apple pie.  (present tense)

  He ate all the apple pie.        (past tense)
The first sentence is written as if the eating is happening right now. The second sentence is written as if the eating has already happened. The first sentence is written in the present tense. The second sentence is written in the past tense. Here are a couple more examples: 

  He took his dog for a walk.   (past tense)

  He is walking his dog.        (present tense)
Can you tell which of these two sentences is written in the past tense and which is written in the present tense? 

  Gary climbed to the top of the telephone pole.

  Gary is climbing to the top of the telephone pole.
The first sentence is written in the past tense. The second is written in the present tense.

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