Tense Time! A Worksheet on Past, Present, and Future Verbs

How to use this worksheet

Look at the first given verb together, like 'cook,' and talk about what it would look like in each tense. Ask your child to write the past tense form in its box first — 'cooked' — sounding out the added ending as they write. Move to the present and future tense boxes the same way, writing 'cooks' or 'is cooking' and 'will cook' as appropriate. Repeat this process for each verb on the worksheet, reading all three forms aloud together once each row is complete.

Materials needed

• Pencil
• Eraser

Extension activities

• •Have your child create full sentences using the verbs in each of the three tenses they wrote.
• •Act out a single verb three different ways to match its past, present, and future forms.
• •Play a quick verbal game where you say a verb and your child has to give all three tense forms.
• •Talk through your child's actual day using verbs in past, present, and future tense.
• •Sort a mixed pile of verb cards into three piles by tense.

Tips for parents and teachers

Say each sentence out loud together as your child writes, since hearing the tense spoken aloud helps confirm the written form sounds correct. Irregular verbs that don't follow the standard '-ed' pattern will likely need extra support and repetition. Provide assistance as needed but let your child attempt each tense form first, since the productive writing task here is more challenging than simple recognition.