Myriora English › Grammar and punctuation › Chapter 3: Tenses

Past, present and future

Ages 5–7Chapter 3 · Lesson 1

In this lesson

The present is now: I walk.
The past is before now: I walked.
The future is later: I will walk.
Time words like yesterday and tomorrow help you choose.

Your turn

Which word fits? Last night, Mum blank a cake.

Show the answer

Baked! Last night is in the past, so we use the past tense.

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. Yesterday I play football. Yesterday means the past, so the verb must be in the past tense too. Yesterday I played football.

Try it at home

Time travel talk: tell each other one thing you did yesterday, one thing you do every day, and one thing you will do tomorrow. Listen for the -ed and the will.

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Verbs tell us when something happens. This is called the tense.

The present tense is now: I walk to school. The past tense is before now: I walked to school yesterday. For lots of verbs, we just add E, D. The future tense is later: I will walk to school tomorrow. We put will before the verb.

Time words help you spot the tense. Yesterday and last week point to the past. Today and now point to the present. Tomorrow and next week point to the future.

Let's try one together. Which tense is this? We will play football tomorrow. Say it out loud!

Future! Will play, and tomorrow, tell us it hasn't happened yet. Well done if you said future!

Here's a common mistake. Yesterday I play football. Yesterday means the past, so the verb must be in the past tense too. Yesterday I played football.

Your turn! Which word fits? Last night, Mum blank a cake. Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Baked! Last night is in the past, so we use the past tense.

Quick review. The present is now: I walk. The past is before now: I walked. The future is later: I will walk. Time words like yesterday and tomorrow help you choose. See you next time!