Language Arts Grade Four

Unit Seven, Lesson Three: Verb Tense

  1. ship
  2. slip
  3. trip
  4. clip
  5. ripen
  6. pipe
  7. dome
  8. remains
  9. aspen
  10. trail
  1. autumn
  2. dinosaur
  3. ruins
  4. ghost
  5. town
  6. prospect
  7. cliff
  8. granite
  9. stream
  10. fossil
Verb Tense

Remember that verbs are names for actions. Actions happen at a particular time. In general they can happen in the past or the present. (Actions can also occur in the future, but we're not worried about that in this lesson.) In the following sentences the verbs are underlined. 


  John is sweeping the sidewalk.   (present tense)

  John swept the sidewalk.         (past tense)
We could also say: 

  John sweeps the sidewalk.    (present tense)
The only problem with the verb sweeps is that people don't usually talk that way. The verb sweep is more likely to appear in a sentence such as: 

  John sweeps the sidewalk once a week.

Here are a couple more examples of sentences written in the past and present tense: 


  I am crushing cans.  (present tense)

  I crushed cans.      (past tense)

  The tree fell on his car.  (past tense)

  The tree is falling on his car. (present tense)

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