← Back to the activity

Class 8 English — Tense in stories and in reports

Choose the tense a piece of writing needs — the past for a story or a report, the present for instructions and general facts, and the past perfect for what happened earlier still.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Sort each verb by its tense.

    Groups: Simple past · Past perfect

    • had walked
    • walked
    • wrote
    • saw
    • had seen
    • had written

  2. 2.Rewrite this as a story would tell it, in the past tense: "She opens the letter." Write the whole sentence.

  3. 3.Sort each sentence by whether it belongs in a story about last summer or in a guide to looking after a puppy.

    Groups: The story · The guide

    • The boat rocked and everybody laughed.
    • A puppy sleeps for most of the day.
    • Nobody had thought to bring an umbrella.
    • Keep a bowl of clean water within its reach.
    • We reached the river just before sunset.
    • Feed the puppy twice a day.

  4. 4.Write one word: A story about events that are over and done with is normally written in the ____ tense.

  5. 5.Put the steps of turning a page of notes into a finished story in the right order.

    • Then use the past perfect for anything that had happened earlier still.
    • Last, read the piece back and check that no verb has slipped into the present.
    • First, decide which tense the whole piece needs — a story takes the past.
    • Next, put every main event into the simple past.

  6. 6.A radio commentator is describing a match as it happens. Which sentence fits?

    • a) Sharma will pass the ball to Khan.
    • b) Sharma passes the ball to Khan.
    • c) Sharma passed the ball to Khan.
    • d) Sharma had passed the ball to Khan.

  7. 7.Sort each piece of writing by the tense it is normally written in.

    Groups: Past tense · Present tense

    • A story about a journey you made last year
    • A diary entry about what happened at school today
    • A fact about how bees make honey
    • A recipe for lemon rice
    • A description of how a bicycle pump works
    • A newspaper report of yesterday's match

  8. 8.Which sentence describes how something works, rather than something that happened once?

    • a) The pump pushes air down the tube and into the tyre.
    • b) The pump was repaired on Tuesday.
    • c) The pump filled the tank in ten minutes.
    • d) The pump had stopped working by then.

Answer key — Class 8 English — Tense in stories and in reports

  1. 1. walked → Simple past; had walked → Past perfect; saw → Simple past; had seen → Past perfect; wrote → Simple past; had written → Past perfect
  2. 2. She opened the letter.
  3. 3. We reached the river just before sunset. → The story; Feed the puppy twice a day. → The guide; The boat rocked and everybody laughed. → The story; Keep a bowl of clean water within its reach. → The guide; Nobody had thought to bring an umbrella. → The story; A puppy sleeps for most of the day. → The guide
  4. 4. past
  5. 5. 1. First, decide which tense the whole piece needs — a story takes the past. 2. Next, put every main event into the simple past. 3. Then use the past perfect for anything that had happened earlier still. 4. Last, read the piece back and check that no verb has slipped into the present.
  6. 6. b) Sharma passes the ball to Khan.
  7. 7. A story about a journey you made last year → Past tense; A recipe for lemon rice → Present tense; A newspaper report of yesterday's match → Past tense; A description of how a bicycle pump works → Present tense; A diary entry about what happened at school today → Past tense; A fact about how bees make honey → Present tense
  8. 8. a) The pump pushes air down the tube and into the tyre.