Perfect tenses worksheets
Aligned with Common Core L.5.1b
Printable fifth-grade perfect tense worksheets: a chart, naming past, present and future perfect, forming the perfect tenses, irregular past participles, picking the helping verb, using the past perfect to show which event came first, and fixing tense shifts.
The worksheets
- See it all
Perfect Tenses Chart
Past, present and future perfect, each with how to form it, when to use it, a timeline and an example, plus clue words and twelve irregular past participles.
Name the Tense
Sentences with a bold verb in the past, present or future perfect to name. Fewer, Standard or More give 6, 8 or 10. Includes an answer key.
Form the Perfect Tense
Sentences with a blank, a verb and a perfect tense to write it in, like start in the past perfect. Fewer, Standard or More give 6, 8 or 10. Includes an answer key.
Irregular Past Participles
A table of irregular verbs like go, went, gone with the past participle and some past forms to fill in. Fewer, Standard or More give 8, 10 or 12 verbs. Includes an answer key.
Pick the Helping Verb
Sentences with a blank and four helping verbs to choose from, using clue words like by the time and so far. Fewer, Standard or More give 6, 8 or 10. Includes an answer key.
Which Happened First?
Sentences with two past events, like "By the time we arrived, the movie had started," and the events to number in order. Fewer, Standard or More give 4, 6 or 8. Includes an answer key.
Fix the Tense Shift
Sentences where one verb switches tense, like "We went to the park and play soccer," to fix. Fewer, Standard or More give 6, 8 or 10. Includes an answer key.
Print the whole packet
One copy of every sheet above, in order. Tap + for more copies (up to 10).
For the parent or teacher
What it is
The perfect tenses use a form of have with the past participle. The past perfect (had walked) shows an action finished before another past action. The present perfect (has or have walked) shows an action that happened at some time before now or is still going on. The future perfect (will have walked) shows an action that will be finished before a time in the future. Fifth graders also learn to keep their verb tenses consistent.
What comes next
Comma rules.
How to teach it
- Teach in order or jump to whatever your student needs. A student may form the tenses correctly and still be building the habit of using them to show which event came first.
- Draw a quick timeline and mark the two events when talking about the past perfect.
- Look for clue words like by the time, already, so far and since.
- Practice irregular past participles out loud with has, like has gone, has eaten and has written.
- When proofreading, check that all the verbs in a sentence fit the same time.
Common mistakes
- Using the simple past instead of the past participle, like "has went" or "had ate."
- Using have with a singular subject, like "She have finished."
- Switching tenses in the middle of a sentence, like "We went to the park and play soccer."
- Using the past perfect when there is only one past event.