Juan Pablo Cueva English 3-2 2-26-24

Name ___________________________________________________ Class _________ Date ____________________

Lesson 39
Tenses of Verbs

The present tense expresses an action that is repeated, always true, or happening right now.
I often buy muffins at this bakery.

The past tense expresses an action that has already occurred.

I tossed the ball in the air and hit it hard.

The future tense expresses an action that will take place in the future.

Grammar
Sharon will subtract the numbers.

The present perfect tense expresses an action that took place at some time in the past or
an action that began in the past and is still continuing.
Jake has gathered the flowers.

The past perfect tense shows that one action in the past began and ended before another
action started.
He had already come inside by the time it started to rain.

The future perfect tense shows that an action in the future will begin and end before
another action begins.
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I will have finished my exam by the time yours begins.

! Exercise 1 Draw two lines under each verb. Write in the blank the tense of the verb.
past Dr. Della Chiesa told us a strange story yesterday.
present
present 1. There is an island in the Pacific called Guam.
present
present 2. As an animal specialist, he visits the island often.
past perfect
past 3. By the 1960s, game wardens on Guam had noticed a decrease in the bird

population.
present
past 4. However, no one found any bodies of dead birds.
past
past perfect 5. By the 1980s, some species of birds had almost disappeared.
past perfect
past 6. What had endangered so many birds to the point of extinction?
past
present 7. After much study, Julie Savidge, a biologist, reached some conclusions.
past
present 8. She ruled out disease and loss of habitat as the culprits.
past
past 9. Then she discovered a relationship between the disappearance of birds and the

increase of brown tree snakes.

Unit 6, Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood 139

 Name ___________________________________________________ Class _________ Date ____________________

past 10. Was there a connection between the two events?

present 11. The brown tree snake is not native to Guam.
past perfect 12. It had probably sneaked onto the island on a plane or a boat.
past 13. Dr. Savidge often discovered eggs and feathers in the snakes’ stomachs.
past perfect 14. Further, the snake had proved its ferocity by its attacks on babies.
past, past 15. Dr. Savidge concluded that the snake was responsible for the disappearance of

the birds.
past, past 16. It was hard to convince other scientists of the truth of her findings, but finally
Grammar

they agreed.
present 17. Today biologists work to reestablish endangered bird populations on Guam.
present perfect 18. In the meantime, several brown tree snakes, hidden in air freight, have reached

Hawaii.
past, past 19. Fortunately, people captured them before they escaped into the forests.
future perfect 20. By the end of this century, many tropical birds will have disappeared due to

the brown tree snake.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

! Exercise 2 Write in the blank the tense of the verb indicated in parentheses.

we [ will have ridden (future perfect of ride)

1. it [ explodes (present of explode)

2. I [ will have fought (future perfect of fight)

3. they [ had enjoyed (past perfect of enjoy)

4. he [ will choose (future of choose)

5. you [ will have flown (future perfect of fly)

6. it [ had broken (past perfect of break)

7. they [ write (present of write)

8. I [ will have seen (future perfect of see)

9. they [ had thrown (past perfect of throw)

10. it [ will have spun (future perfect of spin)

11. I [ was (past of be)

12. we [ will tune (future of tune)

140 Grammar and Language Workbook, Grade 11