1. Verb Tenses
The tense of verbs – doing or being words – tell us when things happen:
Things that happened yesterday are in the past tense:
Things that happen today are in the present tense:
Things that happen tomorrow are in the future tense:
reveal
I will be
reveal
I was
I am
reveal

2. Verb Tenses X X The man ………………….. away yesterday. ran runs will run
Which word in the main sentence tells you when the man was running?
yesterday
reveal
This ‘trigger word’ helps you choose the tense of the verb.

3. Verb Tenses
ran
The man ………………….. away yesterday.
runs
will run

4. Verb Tenses jump reveal Let’s on the trampoline! jump or jumped?
NOT ‘jamp’
What’s the ‘trigger’? Which word or words tell you when the jumping happened?
reveal
Let’s (let us) = happening now.

5. Verb Tenses found / find / will find ? found reveal
I the buried treasure last week!
Look for the trigger word(s).
When was the treasure discovered?
found / find / will find ?

6. Verb Tenses went / go / will go ? We to the beach tomorrow! reveal
Look for the trigger words!
When the event takes place will tell you which tense to choose.
Verb Tenses
We to the beach tomorrow!
reveal
will go
went / go / will go ?

7. Verb Tenses
To work out which tense of the verb you need, ask yourself, ‘When is this event taking place?’