Verbs and tenses

Verbs

Subject, verbs, tenses

Verbs are the action words in a sentence.

When we are trying to give people information, we need to say what is being done. It is the same with our writing, we need to ensure that our writing gives the reader information about what is going on.

The action word (verb) in a sentence is related to the subject of a sentence.

Subject and verb

John jumped over the wall.

In the sentence above John is the subject of the sentence.
In our sentence, John (the subject) is jumping the wall. The action that john is carrying out is to jump.
So jumped is the verb.

Look at all these words each of them is an action word (verb):
Digging, writing, reading, blowing, jump, climb, look, think
These are only a few of the many verbs( action words) we use everyday.

Spot the verbs in these sentences - we have done the first one for you:

Sentence	Verb
Dad is washing the car.	Washing
Dave fell on the floor.
The bird flew through the window.
The bird was flying fast.
The ball bounced off the wall.
The window opened slowly.

Answers

How did you do?

Sentence	Verb
Dad is washing the car.	washing
Dave fell on the floor.	fell
The bird flew through the window.	flew
The bird was flying fast.	flying
The ball bounced off the wall.	bounced
The window opened slowly.	opened

You will notice that washing is different from washed and flying is different from flew.
Do you know why?

Answer

The verb changes depending on when something is being done.

Washed tells you it happened in the past.
Washing means it is happening now.
Will wash means it will happen in the future.

The past, present and future are called the tenses. The tense of a verb tells us when the action happens.

Dad looked for his watch (past)
Dad is looking for his watch (present)
Dad will look for that watch (future).

In writing is important that we tell our reader when something happened.
When we say jumped we know that it happened in the past (Past tense).
If it is happening NOW we say jumping (Present tense).
If it is going to happen in the future we say will jump (Future tense).
When something happens it is important we have to ensure that the verb matches the tense.

Look at this sentence and see how odd it sounds when the tense is wrong:

John will jumped the wall.

This does not sound right because the sentence is saying that John will do something that he as already done
Always make sure that your tense is right.

Look at these sentences and work out the tense. The first one has been done for you.

sentence	tense
The box of matches fell on the floor.	past tense
The boy kicked the ball.
I will buy those red shoes.
Martin will be going to the shop.
Peter is sitting still.

Answers

Answers to questions

sentence	tense
The box of matches fell on the floor.	past tense
The boy kicked the ball.	*past tense*
I will buy those red shoes.	*future tense*
Martin will be going to the shop.	*future tense*
Peter is sitting still.	*present tense*

Now finish the next table by putting in the verb and the correct tense.

sentence	verb	tense
Dad is washing the car.	is washing	present
Dave fell on the floor.
The bird flew through the window.
The bird is flying fast.
The ball bounced off the wall.
The window opened slowly .

Answers

Here are the answers:

sentence	verb	tense
Dad is washing the car.	*is washing*	*present*
Dave fell on the floor.	*fell*	*past*
The bird flew through the window.	*flew*	*past*
The bird is flying fast.	*is flying*	*present*
The ball bounced off the wall.	*bounced*	*past*
The window opened slowly .	*opened*	*past*

Now you can recognise that verbs are action words and can change depending on the tense of a sentence, ensure that you use the correct tense in your writing.

If you are writing about past events use the past tense.
If you are writing about things happening now use the present tense.
If you are writing about things that are going to happen use the future tense.

We will come back and look at verbs and tenses again. Well done!

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