How to Change a Verb's Tense
To change a verb's tense, find the verb, decide when it happens, then follow the rules.
Need more than one? Tap + for extra copies (up to 10).
How to do it
- Find the verb in the sentence.
- Decide if it happened in the past, happens now or will happen.
- Follow the rule for that tense to change the verb.
Teaching tip
Work through the "Dad cooks dinner" example out loud before starting Change the Tense or One Verb, Three Tenses. This sheet is aligned with Common Core L.3.1e.
About this chart
The steps for changing tense, the spelling rules for -ed, -s and -es endings, will for the future, and one sentence in all three tenses.
What kids practice
A verb's tense tells when something happens. Past tense already happened (walked), present tense is happening now (walks) and future tense will happen (will walk). Most past tense verbs end in -ed, but irregular verbs change in other ways, like go and went, or catch and caught. Third graders form and use all three tenses.
Watch for
- Adding -ed to irregular verbs, like runned or bringed.
- Switching tenses in the middle of a story.
- Spelling mistakes with -ed, like bakeed instead of baked.
It's free to print, as many copies as you need. See the full verb tenses guide for 3rd grade.
More sheets in this set
- See it all
1. Verb Tenses ChartPast, present and future on a timeline, plus 27 common irregular verbs like go and went. 
3. Past, Present or Future?Sentences to sort by tense, like "We played soccer yesterday."
4. One Verb, Three TensesA table to fill in with each verb in the past, present and future, like walk, walked, will walk.
5. Irregular Past TenseWrite the past tense of irregular verbs like run, eat, bring and teach.
6. Change the TenseRewrite the verb in each sentence in the past or future, like "Dad makes pancakes" to "Dad made pancakes."