ENGLISH YEAR 4 Grammar: Tenses

To form the Simple Present Tense, we use the verb's base form (go, work, speak, study). In third person singular (he/she/ it), the base form of the verb takes -s/es. (Auxiliary verb "be", "do", "have", which can also be used as main verbs, are exceptions).

We make the Present Continuous Tense with the correct form of the verb to be (am/is/are) and the ing form of the main verb.

A. Write the simple past tense for the words.

No	Present Tense	Simple Past Tense
1	ask
2	visit
3	wash
4	hear
5	see
6	drink
7	break
8	come
9	go
10	run
11	write
12	buy
13	teach
14	catch
15	think

Answers:                                                                                                                                                      

1. asked
2. visited
3. washed
4. heard
5. saw
6. drank
7. broke
8. came
9. went
10. ran
11. wrote
12. bought
13. taught
14. caught
15. thought




B. Circle the correct answer.                                                         

1. The monkey __________ up the tree quickly.
   A. climb
   B. climbed
   C. climbing
   D. are climbing

2. I __________ very late last night.
   A. slept
   B. sleep
   C. sleeping
   D. is sleeping

3. The thief __________ brother's bicycle this morning.
   A. stole
   B. steal
   C. stolen
   D. was stealing

4. Father and I __________ grandfather last week.
   A. visit
   B. visited
   C. visits
   D. are visiting

5. The children __________ at the playground last evening.
   A. is
   B. am
   C. was
   D. were

6. My mother __________ a birthday cake for me last year.
   A. bake
   B. bakes
   C. baked
   D. baking

7. Mrs Tan __________ to the market half an hour ago.
   A. go
   B. goes
   C. is going
   D. went

8. The plumber __________ the leaking tap yesterday.
   A. repair
   B. repairs
   C. repaired
   D. repairing

9. Ramu __________ his car yesterday.
   A. washing
   B. washed
   C. washes
   D. wash

10. Alex __________ the fish just now.
   A. fed
   B. feed
   C. feeds
   D. feeding


Answers:                                                                                                                                                     

1. B
2. A
3. A
4. B
5. D
6. C
7. D
8. C
9. B
10.A

1.Used to show an action that took place at a definite time in the past.
     
     Examples:

1. I visited my grandparents last week.
2. Did you watch 'Beauty and The Beast' last night?
3. My mother did not go to market this morning.
4. He met with an accident yesterday.
5. This house was built a few years ago.
6. Grace drank coffee last night.
7. The little boy broke the teapot just now.

2.Used to show a past habit, usually with adverbs like 'always', 'often', 'never', etc.

   Examples:

1. I often played with them when they lived next door.
2. He always made fun of me when he was here.

3.Used in the 'If' clause of a conditional sentense to show an unlikely event.

     Examples:

1. If she knew the answer, she would not ask you.
2. What would you do if you met a tiger?

4.The passive form is used to show that the action was done to the subject and not by the subject.

     Examples:
Active    : They rewarded the boy for his bravery.
Passive  : The boy was rewarded for his bravery.

5.Used to replace the Simple Present Tense in Indirect Speech.

     Examples:

Direct     : He said, ''I understand what you mean.''
Indirect   : He said he understood what I meant.

Let's watch the following videos to practise Simple Past Tense.

1.  I _______ to music every night.
    A  listen
    B  listens
    C  listened
    D  listening

2.  My younger brother _______ with grandparents.
    A  live
    B  lives
    C  is live
    D  living

3.  Ducks _______ beaks and webbed feet.
    A  has
    B  had
    C  have
    D  having

4.  The earth _______ around the sun.
    A  move
    B  moved
    C  moves 
    D  moving

5.  Bees _______ honey.
    A  make
    B  made
    C  makes  
    D  making

6.  Mr Ramu _______ newspapers to our house every morning.
    A  deliver
    B  delivers
    C  delivered
    D  delivering

7.  There _______ a butterfly on the sunflower.
    A  were
    B  are
    C  am
    D  is

8.  There _______ many people at the circus.
    A  was
    B  are
    C  am
    D  is

9.  _________ the windows.
    A  Shut
    B  Shuts
    C  Shutting

10. "Go and _______ up your room now," said mother.
     A  clean
     B  cleans
     C  cleaned
     D  cleaning


1.  A
2.  B
3.  C
4.  C
5.  A
6.  B
7.  D
8.  B
9.  A
10.A

 

1. We can't go out now. It ............... ( rain ) heavily .

2. Look at them. They ............... ( play ) in the garden now.

3. There! The sun ............... ( rise ) now.

4. We ............... ( go ) for a show tonight.

5. ............... he ............... ( sleep ) now?

6. I am waiting for my father. He ............... ( drive ) me to school today.

7. Switch off the radio. I ............... ( try ) to read this book.

8. Listen! Someone ............... ( call ) for help.

9. The phone ............... ( ring ) . Go and answer it.

10. I'm ill. I ............... ( not go ) to school today.



1. is raining
2. are playing
3. is rising
4. are going
5. Is; sleeping
6. is driving
7. am trying
8. is calling
9. is ringing
10. am not going

1. I walk to school everyday.
2. He plays badminton every evening.
3. She always forgets her purse.
4. The train leaves every morning at 8 a.m.
5. We never forget our promises.
6. Samantha often bakes a butter cake for her family.

1. Cats like milk.
2. Most birds fly but some do not.
3. Bees are insects.
4. Windows are made of glass.
5. Fish swim.

1. If she asks you, don't tell her.
2. I shall stay here until they come.
3. If we meet you at the shops, we will join you.

1. Do not do that.
2. Keep quiet.
3. Switch off the light.
4. Sweep the floor.