The Six Tenses and Forms of a Verb

A ______________ is a form of a _______________ that shows when

something ____________ or when something ______________.

tense

verbhappens

exists

The Basic Forms of the Six Tenses

TENSE BASIC FORM

PRESENT

PAST

FUTURE

PRESENT PERFECT

PAST PERFECT

FUTURE PERFECT

BASIC FORMS OF THE SIX TENSES OF BEGIN

I begin

I began

I will begin

I have begun

I had begun

I will have begun

Practice: Complete each sentence with the verb and the tense indicated in the parentheses.

1. Hiking in the Catskills, we _____________ (lose-past) our compass.

2. Before we __________ (go-past perfect) far, we found an arrowhead.

3. We ____________ (find-present perfect) several during our hike.

4. By the end of the day, we ____________ (hike-future perfect) about ten miles.

5. Next time, we ____________ (keep-future) an eye on our compass.

lost

had gone

have found

will have hiked

will keep

Practice: Identify the tense of each underlined verb in the following sentences.

1. I often had wondered about the history of New York.

2. “If I ask my mom,” I thought, “she will tell me it is rich in history.”

3. She will say, “It extends back to the settlement of the area by Native Americans.”

4. They first occupied New York’s shores and river valleys.

5. Archaeological sites exist all the way from downstate Staten Island to upstate Lake Champlian.

past perfect

future

future

past

present

Practice Cont’d

6. Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient sites.

7. Some of these sites had been home to Cayuga and Seneca Native Americans.

8. For food, members of the ancient culture had relied on hunting and gathering.

9. A later culture substituted agriculture for hunting and gathering.

10. After more research, I will have learned other interesting facts about New York history.

present perfect

past perfect

past perfect

past

future perfect

Conjugating the Basic Forms

A _____________ is a list of the ___________ and ___________ forms of a verb in a particular ____________.

conjugationsingular plural

tense

CONJUGATION OF THE BASIC FORMS OF HIDESingular Plural

PRESENT I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

PAST I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

FUTURE I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

PRESENT PERFECT I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

PAST PERFECT I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

FUTURE PERFECT I _____________.

You ____________.

He, She, It _________.

We _____________.

You _____________.

They _____________.

hidehidehides

hidehide

hidehid

hidhid

hidhidhid

will hidewill hide

will hide

will hidewill hide

will hide

have hiddenhave hidden

has hidden

have hiddenhave hiddenhave hidden

had hiddenhad hidden

had hidden

had hiddenhad hiddenhad hidden

will have hiddenwill have hidden

will have hidden

will have hiddenwill have hidden

will have hidden

Practice: The following sentences are written in present tense. Rewrite each sentence in each of the other five tenses.

Present Past Future Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect

It exists.

It rings.

I swim.

You see.

She speaks.

They come.

It existed.

I swam. I will swim.

It will exist. It has existed. It had existed.

I have swum. I had swum. I will have swum.

It will have existed.

It rang. It will ring. It has rung. It had rung. It will have rung.

You saw. You will see.

You have seen.

You had seen.

You will have seen.

She spoke.

She will speak.

She has spoken.

She had spoken.

She will have spoken.

They came.

They will come.

They have come.

They had come.

They will have come.

Practice Cont’dPRESENT PAST FUTURE PRESENT

PERFECTPAST PERFECT

FUTURE PERFECT

It walks.

You buy.

He catches.

I do.

We look.

They take.

It walked.

It will walk.

It has walked.

It had walked.

It will have walked.

You bought.

You will buy.

You have bought.

You had bought.

You will have bought.

He caught.

He will catch.

He has caught.

He had caught.

He will have caught.

I did. I will do. I have done.

I had done. I will have done.

We looked.

We will look.

We have looked.

We had looked.

We will have looked.

They took.

They will take.

They have taken.

They had taken.

They will have taken.