Year 6 · SPaG · Autumn: Active and passive
Year 6 verbs, auxiliary verbs and verb forms worksheet and PowerPoint
To identify main and auxiliary verbs in a sentence and to name the tense they make.
Verb phrases
A verb can be one word or a verb phrase of two or three words. The main verb carries the meaning. Auxiliary verbs (be, have, will) help the main verb to show the tense.
| simple present / past | one word: the baker carries / carried |
|---|---|
| progressive | auxiliary is / was + -ing: the baker is carrying |
| perfect | auxiliary has / had + past participle: the baker has carried |
| future | auxiliary will + base verb: the baker will carry |
Examples
- The farmer had opened the gate. (had is the auxiliary, opened is the main verb)
- The dog will bark.
Key words
- main verb
- carries the meaning of the verb phrase
- auxiliary verb
- a helping verb such as is, was, has, had, will
- verb phrase
- a main verb with its auxiliary verbs
- tense
- shows when something happens
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 one sentence in each of the seven tenses on this sheet's table. Circle every auxiliary verb in one colour and every main verb in another.
Pupil target: I can find main and auxiliary verbs and name the tense.
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 verbs, auxiliary verbs and verb forms PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 21 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Autumn term, block “Active and passive”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
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