English · Stage 4
Keeping the Tense
Grammar & Punctuation — keep your writing in one tense all the way through, and only shift when there is a real reason
✦ English📘 Stage 4 · S4⏱ ~10 min🧒 Ages 8–9★ Free to start
I can keep tense consistent across a piece of writing.
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Kavi's One-Time Trip
Kavi read his story out loud and stopped with a frown. "Listen," he said. "I flew to the lake. Then I land on a rock. Oops! I started in the past — flew — but then I slipped into now — land. A good piece of writing picks one time and stays there. If I begin in the past, I keep the past all the way to the end!"
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What your child will learn
1Pick a tense and stay thereWhen you write a piece, choose a time and keep it. If you start in the past, every doing word stays in the past. If you start in the present, every doing word stays in the present. Don't let a verb slip into a different time by accident.
2A story that stays in the pastTap each line to hear it. Listen — every doing word is in the past, from start to finish.
3Stays in the past, or slips to now?
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A peek inside
I walked to the shop. Then I buy some bread. Which word slips out of the tense?
walked is past; buy is present → buy is the slip
Try this at home: Keep the past: We opened the door and ___ inside. (step)
Ready to play and learn?
Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.
Part of English · Stage 4 · S4 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.