Year 5 - English
Writing sentences in the simple present, past and future tense
Three tense forms and modal verbs
Study Hub
Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils review the rules for the simple and progressive present, past and future tenses as well as the perfect present tense. They learn about modal verbs for the first time, learning that they can be useful for applying to speech sentences, persuasive writing and rhetorical questions.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to write a range of sentence types in the simple present, past or future tense.
Key Notes
- The verb carries the tense of a sentence.
- Sentences can be formed in the first, second or third person.
- The simple tense can denote present, past or future action.
- The simple tense is a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb in the past and present forms.
- Tense is maintained at both sentence and whole text level (although verbs within sentences may vary in tense).
Vocabulary To Learn
- verb: a doing, being or having word
- tense: tells the reader when something happens
- simple tense: a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb
- auxiliary verb: the helping verb that is always paired with the main verb
- maintain: keep or stay the same
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may believe all verbs in a sentence are always in the same tense.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
The verb carries the tense of a sentence. Sentences can be formed in the first, second or third person.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'verb'
a doing, being or having word.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may believe all verbs in a sentence are always in the same tense. Correction: Use the examples in the lesson to draw out the point that to maintain sense, we sometimes vary the tense of verbs in a sentence.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 5 English guide library.