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Year 3

Perfect present tense

I can recognise and use the perfect present tense.

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New
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Year 3

Perfect present tense

I can recognise and use the perfect present tense.

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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The simple tense is a tense that does not make use of an auxiliary verb with the main verb in the present and past.
  2. The progressive tense is a tense that makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to be' with the main verb.
  3. The perfect tense is a tense that makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to have' with the main verb.
  4. The auxiliary verb is followed by the past tense form of the main verb in the perfect tense.
  5. The past tense form of the verb frequently expresses completed action.

Keywords

  • Verb - a being, doing or having word

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

  • Perfect tense - made using an auxiliary verb based on the infinitive ‘to have’ and a past tense form of the main verb

  • Infinitive - any verb preceded by the word 'to'

Common misconception

Pupils might presume that the past participle is always the same as the simple past tense.

Encourage pupils to hear what sounds correct, for example, 'it has flown off', 'it has flew off'. This should be 'it has flown off'.


To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Perfect present tense, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils should say the sentences in this lesson out loud as much as possible to hear how the perfect tense sounds and what sounds correct and incorrect.
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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.
A verb is a ...
Correct answer: doing, being or having word.
a naming word for a person, place or thing.
a describing word.
Q2.
Which of the following are verbs?
Correct answer: ate
Correct answer: is
beautiful
grape
Correct answer: has
Q3.
Which of these sentences is written in the first person?
Correct answer: I slept well last night.
You look very smart today.
He ripped the birthday card.
They smell nice!
Correct answer: We got soaking wet in the park.
Q4.
Which of the following sentences is written in the simple future tense?
Correct answer: We will go to the post office tomorrow.
The flowers have died because no one fed them any water.
The lion yawns sleepily.
Q5.
Which of the following would be found in a sentence in a progressive tense?
Correct answer: an auxiliary verb from ‘to be’
a verb ending with -ed
Correct answer: a verb ending with an -ing suffix
an auxiliary verb from ‘to have’
Q6.
Match the sentence to the tense.
Correct Answer:simple present,I eat breakfast at school most mornings.
tick

I eat breakfast at school most mornings.

Correct Answer:progressive past,I was helping my sister with her homework.
tick

I was helping my sister with her homework.

Correct Answer:progressive future,I will be fasting next week.
tick

I will be fasting next week.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which form of the infinitive 'to have' would you use in the following sentence? 'She __________ long, curly hair.'
Correct answer: has
have
haven't
Q2.
Which form of the infinitive 'to have' would you use in the following sentence? 'We all __________ pegs to put our coats on'.
has
Correct answer: have
hasn't
Q3.
Complete the following sentence: 'The perfect tense uses having verbs as __________ verbs.'
Correct answer: auxiliary
main
imperative
Q4.
Which of the following sentences is written in the perfect present tense?
Correct answer: I have played tennis twice this week.
I played tennis twice this week.
I play tennis every week.
I will play tennis next week.
Q5.
Which form of the infinitive 'to drink' should be used in the following sentence? 'She has __________ all her apple juice already'.
drink
Correct answer: drunk
drinking
Q6.
Match each tense to the correct sentence.
Correct Answer:perfect present,I have woken up the children.
tick

I have woken up the children.

Correct Answer:simple present,I wake up the children.
tick

I wake up the children.

Correct Answer:progressive present,I am waking up the children.
tick

I am waking up the children.