New
New
Year 5

Writing sentences in the progressive present, past and future tense

I can write a range of sentence types in the progressive present, past or future tense.

New
New
Year 5

Writing sentences in the progressive present, past and future tense

I can write a range of sentence types in the progressive present, past or future tense.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The verb carries the tense of a sentence.
  2. The progressive tense can denote present, past or future action.
  3. The progressive tense is a tense that makes use of an auxiliary verb from the infinitive 'to be' with the main verb.
  4. The progressive tense denotes ongoing action.
  5. The main verb in the progressive tense always ends with the -ing suffix.

Keywords

  • Verb - a doing, being or having word

  • Progressive tense - a tense that denotes ongoing action

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

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

  • Suffix - a letter or group of letters at the end of a word which creates another word

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to spot progressive tenses in negative forms like 'won't be waiting'.

Highlight that we still have an auxiliary verb and an -ing verb even when a negative interrupts like in 'were not watching/aren't looking'.

Build up a bank of different tenses in the classroom using the same clause, such as I stand > I stood > I will stand (simple tenses); I am standing > I was standing > I will be standing (progressive tenses).
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), 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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6 Questions

Q1.
What word class helps us to find the tense of a sentence?
Correct answer: Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Determiners
Q2.
Which simple tense needs an auxiliary verb to 'help' the main verb and show the tense?
Simple past
Simple present
Correct answer: Simple future
Q3.
Match the 'person' to the example sentences.
Correct Answer:First person,I stand over here every day.

I stand over here every day.

Correct Answer:Second person,You all need to stop talking and listen.

You all need to stop talking and listen.

Correct Answer:Third person,She believes me.

She believes me.

Q4.
Match the simple tenses to the examples that use them.
Correct Answer:Simple past,We ran down the street.

We ran down the street.

Correct Answer:Simple present,We run down this street every day.

We run down this street every day.

Correct Answer:Simple future,We will run down this street to escape.

We will run down this street to escape.

Q5.
Tick the sentence that is written in the simple present tense throughout.
When Mrs. Begum laughed, we all smiled.
Because it snowed earlier, we will stay inside for lunch.
Correct answer: The town, which is close to Manchester, has many cinemas.
Q6.
Tick the sentence that is written in the simple future tense throughout.
Mr. McIntyre, who is very strict, will teach us next year.
As the sun rises, the temperature increases.
Correct answer: Year 4 will sing their song and Year 5 will say a prayer.

6 Questions

Q1.
What kind of word will we always find in a progressive tense sentence?
A verb ending -ly
A verb ending -s
Correct answer: A verb ending -ing
Q2.
Match the keywords to their meanings.
Correct Answer:Suffix,A group of letters added at the end of a word.

A group of letters added at the end of a word.

Correct Answer:Auxiliary verb,A helping verb that's paired with a main verb.

A helping verb that's paired with a main verb.

Correct Answer:Infinitive,The 'to' form of a verb like 'to sing'.

The 'to' form of a verb like 'to sing'.

Q3.
Tick all the sentences that use a progressive tense.
Correct answer: She will be listening to us.
Correct answer: She is listening to us.
They judged me for it.
Correct answer: They were judging me for it.
Q4.
Match the types of progressive tense to the example sentences.
Correct Answer:Progressive past,He was riding a horse.

He was riding a horse.

Correct Answer:Progressive present,He is riding a horse.

He is riding a horse.

Correct Answer:Progressive future,He will be riding a horse.

He will be riding a horse.

Q5.
Tick the sentences written in the progressive present tense throughout.
Correct answer: We are waiting and we are listening.
I will be listening this time.
Correct answer: While we're playing, they're annoying us.
We were hoping for this.
Q6.
Tick the sentences that are correctly formed in the progressive tense.
While Sam was singing, Andeep is laughing.
Correct answer: While Sam was singing, Andeep was laughing.
We will be learning maths while they were doing PE.
Correct answer: We will be learning maths while they are doing PE.