3rd Grade Verb Tenses: Past, Present, and Future Worksheet

One verb, three times

Verbs change form to show when something happens: walked (past), walk (present), will walk (future). Time words are the clue — yesterday signals past, now or every day signals present, and tomorrow signals future. Watch for tricky irregular verbs like go/went and eat/ate.

The three tenses

Time-word signals

• Past: yesterday, last week, ago, earlier
• Present: now, every day, always, today
• Future: tomorrow, next week, soon, later

Worked example

“Yesterday, the class ___ a field trip.” (take / took / will take) Yesterday = past → took (irregular past of take).

How to solve each item

For each sentence, find the time word, then ask did it already happen, is it happening now, or will it happen later? Match that to the verb form. If no time word, decide from the meaning of the sentence.

Guided practice (try before the worksheet)

1. “Right now, she ___ her lunch.” (eat / ate / will eat) → eats
2. “Tomorrow we ___ the museum.” (visit / visited / will visit) → will visit
3. “Last night they ___ a movie.” (watch / watched / will watch) → watched

Why it matters

Verb tense is how writers show sequence and time — readers rely on it to follow a story. Using the right tense keeps your writing clear and consistent.

Next steps

Builds on action verbs and leads into irregular past tense verbs.