1. Using Verbs to Express Different Times
Verb Tense
Using Verbs to Express Different Times

2. What is verb tense?
Verb tense tells when an action happened: in the past, in the present, or in the future.
Verbs change their form and use the helping verbs have or be to indicate different tenses.
Present tense: Rick hikes every weekend.
Past tense: He hiked ten miles last weekend.
Future tense: He will hike again on Saturday.

3. Types of verbs
Most verbs in English are regular verbs that follow standard rules about what endings to use to express time.
Irregular verbs do not follow the regular pattern for endings.

4. Regular present-tense endings
The present tense is used for actions that are happening at the same time that they are being written about (the present) and for things that happen all the time.
Present-tense, regular verbs end either in –s, or they have no ending added.
Use the –s ending when the subject is he, she, it, or the name of one person or thing. Use no ending for all other subjects.

5. Regular verbs in the present tense
Singular
Plural
First person
I jump
We jump
Second person
You jump
Third person
She (he, it) jumps
The child jumps
They jump
The children jump

6. Using present-tense regular verbs
Select the correct verb form:
My roommate (cook / cooks) us breakfast on Sundays.
A) cook
B) cooks

7. Using present-tense regular verbs
Select the correct verb form:
My roommate (cook / cooks) us breakfast on Sundays.
ANSWER:
A) cook
B) cooks

8. Regular past-tense endings
The past tense is used for actions that have already happened.
An –ed ending is needed on all regular verbs in the past tense.

9. Present tense and past tense verb endings
First person
I avoid her.
I avoided her.
Second person
You help me.
You helped me.
Third person
He walks fast.
He walked fast.

10. Using the past tense of regular verbs
Select the correct past-tense form of the verb in parentheses:
Robert (hike) many miles through the woods of Maine.
A) hikes
B) hike
C) hiked
D) none of the above

11. Using the past tense of regular verbs
Select the correct past-tense form of the verb in parentheses:
Robert (hike) many miles through the woods of Maine.
ANSWER:
A) hikes
B) hike
C) hiked
D) none of the above

12. Regular past-participle ending
The past participle is a verb that is used with a helping verb, such as have.
For all regular verbs, the past-participle form is the same as the past tense form. It uses an –ed ending.
Past tense: I visited my cousins.
Past participle: I have visited my cousins.

13. Using the past participle of regular verbs
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
Every weekday night, I have (study) for three hours.
A) study
B) studied
C) studies
D) none of the above

14. Using the past participle of regular verbs
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
Every weekday night, I have (study) for three hours.
ANSWER:
A) study
B) studied
C) studies
D) none of the above

15. Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs do not follow the regular pattern for endings. The following are some common irregular verbs: be, bring, do, get, give, go, have/has, make, say, see, speak, take, write.

16. Irregular verbs Present tense Past tense Past participle
(used with has/have)
be (am/are/is)
was/were
been
bring
brought do
did
done
get
got
gotten
give
gave
given go
went
gone
have/has
had
make
made

17. More irregular verbs Present tense Past tense Past participle
(used with has/have)
say
said
see
saw
seen
speak
spoke
spoken
take
took
taken
write
wrote
written
cost
begin
began
begun
read

18. Present tense of two irregular verbsBe
Have
I am
We are
I have
You have
You are
He, she, it is
The editor is
Beth is
They are
The editors are
Beth and Christina are
He, she, it has
They have

19. Using be and have in the present tense
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
We ___ (be) happy that you have decided to take the job.
A) be
B) is
C) are
D) none of the above

20. Using be and have in the present tense
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
We ___ (be) happy that you have decided to take the job.
ANSWER:
A) be
B) is
C) are
D) none of the above

21. Using be and have in the present tense
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
To enter the building, you (have) to get a pass.
A) has
B) haven
C) have
D) none of the above

22. Using be and have in the present tense
Select the correct form of the verb in parentheses:
To enter the building, you (have) to get a pass.
ANSWER:
A) has
B) haven
C) have
D) none of the above

23. Irregular verbs in the past tense
Irregular verbs do not use the –ed ending for the past-tense form. They show the past tense with a change in spelling or in some other way.

24. Irregular verbs in the past tense
Present tense
Past tense
I begin today.
I began yesterday.
You sleep very soundly.
You slept late this morning.
I let the dog in today.
I let the dog in yesterday.

25. The verb be, past tense
The verb be is tricky because it has two different forms for the past tense: was and were.
Singular
Plural
First person
I was
We were
Second person
You were
Third person
He, she, it was
The student was
They were
The students were

26. Using be in the past tense
Select the correct past tense of the verb be:
She decided that her problems not going to stop her.
A) were
B) was
C) is
D) none of the above

27. Using be in the past tense
Select the correct past tense of the verb be:
She decided that her problems not going to stop her.
ANSWER:
A) were
B) was
C) is
D) none of the above

28. Using irregular verbs in the past tense
Select the past tense of the irregular verb in parentheses:
I (think) my pronunciation was terrible, but the teacher said I was improving.
A) thought
B) thinked
C) think
D) none of the above

29. Using irregular verbs in the past tense
Select the past tense of the irregular verb in parentheses:
I (think) my pronunciation was terrible, but the teacher said I was improving.
ANSWER:
A) thought
B) thinked
C) think
D) none of the above

30. Irregular verbs in the past participle
For irregular verbs, the past participle is often different from the past tense.
It is difficult to predict how irregular verbs form the past participle. It may be helpful to refer to a chart or list of irregular past participles.
Past tense
Past participle
Regular verb
I walked home.
I have walked home before.
Irregular verb
I drove home.
I have driven home before.

31. Using irregular verbs in the past participle
Select the correct helping verb (a form of have) and the correct past-participle of the verb in parentheses:
Many people (choose) natural methods of getting more sleep.
A) has chosen
B) have chosen
C) have choosed
D) has choosed

32. Using irregular verbs in the past participle
Select the correct helping verb (a form of have) and the correct past-participle of the verb in parentheses:
Many people (choose) natural methods of getting more sleep.
ANSWER:
A) has chosen
B) have chosen
C) have choosed
D) has choosed

33. Using past participles
A past participle, by itself, cannot be the main verb of a sentence.
But when a past participle is combined with another verb, called a helping verb, it can be used to make the present perfect tense and the past perfect tense.

34. Have/has + past participle = present perfect tense
The present perfect tense is used for an action that began in the past and either continues into the present or was completed at some unknown time in the past.
Present perfect tense: My car has stalled several times recently. (This sentence says that the stalling began in the past but may continue into the present.)
Past tense: My car stalled. (This sentence says that the car stalled once and that it’s over.)

35. Using the present perfect tense
Select the correct tense of the verb in parentheses:
Evidence ____ (show) that disorientation is a major risk for inexperienced pilots.
A) has shown
B) showed
C) has showed
D) none of the above

36. Using the present perfect tense
Select the correct tense of the verb in parentheses:
Evidence ____ (show) that disorientation is a major risk for inexperienced pilots.
ANSWER:
A) has shown
B) showed
C) has showed
D) none of the above

37. Had + past participle = past perfect tense
Use had plus the past participle to make the past perfect tense.
The past perfect tense is used for an action that began in the past and ended before some other past action.
Past perfect tense: My car had stalled several times before I called the mechanic. (This sentence says that both the stalling and calling the mechanic happened in the past, but the stalling happened before the calling.)

38. Using the past perfect tense
Select the correct tense of the verb in parentheses:
By the time my grandfather retired at the age of seventy, he ____ (hold) many different jobs.
A) held
B) had holded
C) had held
D) none of the above

39. Using the past perfect tense
Select the correct tense of the verb in parentheses:
By the time my grandfather retired at the age of seventy, he ____ (hold) many different jobs.
ANSWER:
A) held
B) had holded
C) had held
D) none of the above

40. Be + past participle = passive voice
A sentence that is written in the passive voice has a subject that does not perform an action. Instead, the subject is acted upon.
To create the passive voice, combine a form of be with a past participle.
Passive: The newspaper was thrown onto the porch. (The subject, newspaper, did not throw itself onto the porch. Some unidentified person threw the newspaper.)

41. Active voice
Most sentences are written in the active voice, which means that the subject performs the action.
Active: The delivery person threw the newspaper onto the porch. (The subject, delivery person, performed the action: he or she threw the newspaper.)

42. Passive vs. active voice
Use the passive voice when no one person performed the action, when you don’t know who performed the action, or when you want to emphasize the receiver of the action.
Do not overuse the passive voice. When you know who performed the action, it is usually preferable to identify the actor.
Active: The bandleader chose Kelly to do a solo.
Passive: Kelly was chosen to do a solo.
(If you wanted to emphasize Kelly’s being chosen rather than the bandleader’s choice, you might decide to use the passive voice.)

43. Changing from active to passive voice
He sent the payment over two weeks ago.
First, identify the subject (he) and the verb (sent).
Ask: What word in the sentence is receiving the action? Payment.
Cross out the subject.
Make the word that is receiving the action the subject by moving it to the beginning of the sentence.
Add the correct form of the verb be in front of the main verb.
You can either delete the performer of the action or put this information after the verb and the word by.
The payment was sent two weeks ago by him.

44. Using the passive voice
Which of the following correctly rewrites this sentence in the passive voice?
Someone spilled a drink on this book.
A) Someone was spilled a drink on this book.
B) A drink was spilled on this book.
C) On this book, someone spilled a drink.
D) none of the above

45. Using the passive voice
Which of the following correctly rewrites this sentence in the passive voice?
Someone spilled a drink on this book.
ANSWER:
A) Someone was spilled a drink on this book.
B) A drink was spilled on this book.
C) On this book, someone spilled a drink.
D) none of the above

46. Consistency of verb tense
Consistency of verb tense means that all actions in a sentence that happen (or happened) at the same time are in the same tense.
If all of the actions happen in the present or happen all the time, use the present tense for all verbs in the sentence.
If all of the actions happened in the past, use the past tense for all verbs.
When you edit your writing, make sure that any time a verb tense changes it is because the action the verb describes happened at a different time. Otherwise, the shift in tenses causes an inconsistency.

47. Consistency of verb tense
Inconsistent: The movie started just as we take our seats. (The actions both happened at the same time, but started is in the past tense, and take is in the present tense.)
Consistent, present tense: The movie starts just as we take our seats. (The actions and verb tenses are both in the present.)
Consistent, past tense: The movie started just as we took our seats. (The actions started and took both happened in the past, and both are in the past tense.)

48. Using consistent verb tense
Choose the word that fits into the following sentence without causing a shift in verb tense:
Anthony broke the track record and home to tell his family.
A) rushed
B) rush
C) rushes
D) none of the above

49. Using consistent verb tense
Choose the word that fits into the following sentence without causing a shift in verb tense:
Anthony broke the track record and home to tell his family.
ANSWER:
A) rushed
B) rush
C) rushes
D) none of the above

50. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I the flu last winter at the end of February.
A) catch
B) catched
C) caught
D) none of the above

51. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I the flu last winter at the end of February.
ANSWER:
A) catch
B) catched
C) caught
D) none of the above

52. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
Almost the whole flu season by already, so I thought I would avoid catching it.
A) had went
B) gone
C) had gone
D) none of the above

53. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
Almost the whole flu season by already, so I thought I would avoid catching it.
ANSWER:
A) had went
B) gone
C) had gone
D) none of the above

54. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I sick for more than three weeks.
A) was
B) am
C) was being
D) none of the above

55. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I sick for more than three weeks.
ANSWER:
A) was
B) am
C) was being
D) none of the above

56. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
After I from the flu, I got bronchitis and an ear infection.
A) am recovering
B) had recovered
C) recovered
D) none of the above

57. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
After I from the flu, I got bronchitis and an ear infection.
ANSWER:
A) am recovering
B) had recovered
C) recovered
D) none of the above

58. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I ____ taking no chances next flu season; I plan to get a flu shot.
A) be
B) am
C) is
D) none of the above

59. Correcting various verb problems
Pick the form of the verb that will complete this sentence correctly:
I ____ taking no chances next flu season; I plan to get a flu shot.
ANSWER:
A) be
B) am
C) is
D) none of the above