Year 6 · SPaG · Autumn: Verbs and tenses
Year 6 past tense worksheet and PowerPoint
To recognise and use the simple past, the past progressive and the past perfect.
The past tense forms
The past tense forms show that something has already happened. Many verbs add -ed, but irregular verbs change in other ways (run, ran; break, broke) and must be learned.
| simple past | the past form: the baker carried a bag |
|---|---|
| past progressive | was / were + the -ing form: the baker was carrying a bag |
| past perfect | had + the past participle: the baker had carried a bag |
Examples
- The farmer opened the gate.
- The farmer was opening the gate.
- The farmer had opened the gate.
Key words
- past tense
- shows that something has already happened
- irregular verb
- does not just add -ed: run, ran, run
- past progressive
- was or were + the -ing form
- past perfect
- had + the past participle
- past participle
- the verb form used after has, have and had
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Write the story of a storm in six sentences. Use the simple past, the past progressive and the past perfect twice each, and include two irregular verbs. Underline every verb.
Pupil target: I can recognise and use the past tense forms.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the past tense PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 16 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Autumn term, block “Verbs and tenses”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Present tense
- Keeping the tense the same
- Was and were in Standard English
- Recognising the subjunctive
- Using the subjunctive
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