Summary
If you want to write clearly, you’ll need to master several different verb tenses. If you don’t, your readers won’t know whether the actions you describe took place in the past, are happening right now, or will occur sometime in the future! In this BrainPOP movie, Tim (with a little help from a certain robot) uses his amazing psychic abilities to show you exactly how it’s done. You’ll learn the standard rules of verb conjugation, and why regular verbs are different than irregular verbs. You’ll find out when to use each tense, and why mixing up past tense, present tense, and future tense is a definite no-no. Finally, you’ll discover tenses that describe actions continuing from the past to the present! So don’t get too, er, tense about this subject--just click on the button and learn!
Viewer safety
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Tenses:
- What is one new thing you learned about tenses?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining tenses.
- Draw or give one example of your own.