Verb Tenses — Answer Key
Part A: Fix the Sentence
Each sentence has an error. Rewrite it correctly on the line.
1. Fix the sentence:
Every morning he drink a glass of orange juice.
Corrected: Every morning he drinks a glass of orange juice.
When the subject is "he" (third-person singular), the present-tense verb needs an -s ending. "He drink" should be "he drinks" to match the subject correctly.
2. Fix the sentence:
Last Friday the students will present their projects.
Corrected: Last Friday the students presented their projects.
"Last Friday" means the event already happened, so the verb must be in the past tense. "Will present" is future tense and does not match, so it needs to change to "presented."
3. Fix the sentence:
Right now the children builded a sandcastle at the beach.
Corrected: Right now the children are building a sandcastle at the beach.
"Right now" signals the present progressive tense, which uses "are" plus a verb ending in -ing. Also, "builded" is not a real word because "build" is irregular, so "are building" fixes both errors.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. The past tense of the irregular verb "grow" is grew.
"Grow" is an irregular verb, so you cannot say "growed." The correct past tense form is "grew," which must be memorized.
2. A verb in the present tense shows an action happening right now.
The present tense describes actions happening right now or that happen regularly. Since the sentence says "happening right now," the blank must be "present."
3. In "They were laughing loudly," the tense is past progressive.
"Were laughing" pairs the past-tense helper "were" with the -ing verb "laughing." Because "were" is past tense, the full tense name is past progressive.
4. The past tense of the irregular verb "hide" is hid.
"Hide" is irregular, so adding -ed would be wrong. The correct past tense is "hid" -- the vowel changes from "i-e" to just "i."
Part C: Short Answer
Answer each question in one or two complete sentences.
1. Write a sentence using the future tense of the verb "sing."
Sample answer: The choir will sing at the holiday concert next month. The word "will" before "sing" shows the future tense.
Placing "will" before the base verb "sing" creates the future tense. "Next month" is a time-signal word that confirms the action has not happened yet.
2. Name two time-signal words that tell you a sentence is in the past tense.
Sample answer: The words "yesterday" and "last week" are clues that a sentence is in the past tense because they refer to a time that already passed.
Words like "yesterday" and "last week" point to a time that already passed. When you see these clue words, you know the verbs in the sentence should be in the past tense.