Simple Tenses: Present, Past, and Future

Introduction:

Welcome back, time travelers! Today, we’re going to journey through time using verbs. Verbs are action words that tell us what’s happening, when it happened, or when it will happen. We’ll focus on three simple tenses: present, past, and future.

Part 1: The Present Tense (Now)

• The present tense describes actions happening now or things that are always true.
• For most verbs, the present tense looks the same as the base form of the verb (e.g., walk, talk, eat).
• But, for the pronoun “he,” “she,” or “it,” we add “-s” or “-es” to the end of the verb (e.g., walks, talks, eats).

Examples:

• I walk to school every day.
• He walks to school every day.
• They eat breakfast in the morning.

Activity:

• Complete the sentences with the correct present tense form of the verb:
  1. I _____ (like) to eat ice cream.
  2. She _____ (study) English every day.
  3. They _____ (play) soccer in the park.

Part 2: The Past Tense (Yesterday)

• The past tense describes actions that happened in the past.
• For regular verbs, we add “-ed” to the end of the verb (e.g., walked, talked, played).
• But, irregular verbs have special forms in the past tense (e.g., eat – ate, go – went, see – saw).

Examples:

• I walked to school yesterday.
• She studied English last night.
• They played soccer yesterday afternoon.

Activity:

• Change the verbs in the sentences to the past tense:
  1. I like to eat ice cream. (liked)
  2. She studies English every day. (studied)
  3. They play soccer in the park. (played)

Part 3: The Future Tense (Tomorrow)

• The future tense describes actions that will happen in the future.
• We usually use “will” before the base form of the verb to form the future tense (e.g., will walk, will talk, will eat).

Examples:

• I will walk to school tomorrow.
• She will study English tonight.
• They will play soccer tomorrow afternoon.

Activity:

• Change the verbs in the sentences to the future tense:
  1. I like to eat ice cream. (will like)
  2. She studies English every day. (will study)
  3. They play soccer in the park. (will play)

Wrap-up:

• Today, we traveled through time with verbs, exploring the present, past, and future simple tenses.
• We learned how regular verbs add “-ed” in the past tense, while irregular verbs have special forms.
• Remember to practice using these tenses in your everyday conversations!

Homework:

• Write a short story about your day.
• Use the present, past, and future simple tenses to describe your actions and plans.

Additional Tips for Teachers:

• Use visual aids (e.g., timelines, pictures) to illustrate the concept of time and tenses.
• Create engaging activities like verb charades or sentence completion exercises to practice regular and irregular verbs.
• Encourage students to use simple tenses in context through role-plays and conversations.

Let me know if you have any other questions!