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Year 6

Simple and progressive tense revision

I can practise simple and progressive tense test questions.

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Year 6

Simple and progressive tense revision

I can practise simple and progressive tense test questions.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The verb carries the tense of a clause.
  2. The simple tense does not make use of an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb except in the future tense.
  3. The progressive tense denotes ongoing action and uses auxiliary verbs based on 'to be'.
  4. Standard English is often used in writing and uses different verb forms to non-Standard English.

Keywords

  • Simple tense - a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb except in the future tense

  • Auxiliary verb - the helping verb that is always paired with the main verb

  • Progressive tense - a tense that denotes ongoing action and uses an auxiliary verb based on 'to be'

  • Tense - tells the reader when something happens

  • Standard English - the formal form of language that we often use when writing

Common misconception

Pupils may believe that all verbs in a sentence are always kept in the same tense.

Constantly encourage children to think about what 'sounds right' in a sentence and to try out different verb forms orally to see what works.


To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Simple and progressive tense revision, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Complete lessons on the different tenses can be found throughout our KS2 Grammar curriculum.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these are subordinate clauses?
Correct answer: whose face was covered in bites
he was in a great deal of pain
Correct answer: after he had trudged off into the jungle
Correct answer: gripping tightly to his trusty walking stick
Q2.
Which words in this complex sentence are subordinating conjunctions? 'As the fog cleared, we gasped in astonishment because we saw we were in a beautiful place.'
Correct answer: as
in
Correct answer: because
were
Q3.
Which of these complex sentences need a comma after a fronted adverbial clause?
We all cheered when we won the competition.
Correct answer: When we won the competition we all cheered.
Correct answer: Once it was all over we felt ready to collapse.
We felt ready to collapse once it was all over.
Q4.
Match the type of word to the type of subordinate clause it starts.
Correct Answer:subordinating conjunction,adverbial clause
tick

adverbial clause

Correct Answer:relative pronoun ,relative clause
tick

relative clause

Correct Answer:-ing form of verb,non-finite (-ing) clause
tick

non-finite (-ing) clause

Q5.
Which of these sentences contain a relative clause?
Correct answer: The woman that I knew was no longer there.
We all knew that it was wrong.
I was shocked when it happened.
Correct answer: The moment when he fell over was hilarious.
Q6.
What are the subordinate clauses in this sentence? 'Before I realised what was happening, she had jumped up on her chair, which was tilting dangerously.'
Correct answer: before I realised what was happening
she had jumped up on her chair
Correct answer: which was tilting dangerously

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Tick the sentence that's written in Standard English.
He were my only friend.
He ain't even listening.
Correct answer: He's been here before.
We was the only ones left.
Q2.
Which sentence is written in the simple past tense?
Correct answer: He had a headache.
He has a headache.
He is having a headache.
He was having a headache.
Q3.
What is the simple past tense version of this sentence? 'She takes me to practice every Monday.'
She is taking me to practice every Monday.
Correct answer: She took me to practice every Monday.
She was taking me to practice every Monday.
She will take me to practice every Monday.
Q4.
Which of these sentences are in a progressive tense?
Correct answer: We were waiting for the movie to end.
The movie ended early.
Correct answer: She is interfering with our project.
She interferes with all our work.
Q5.
Which sentence is in the past progressive tense?
The committee is meeting in the village hall.
The committee will be meeting in the village hall.
Correct answer: The committee was meeting in the village hall.
Q6.
Which verb form completes this sentence in the progressive present tense? 'When she _________ her book, we have to be very quiet.'
was writing
Correct answer: is writing
will be writing
wrote