While some aspects of a new language are fairly easy to teach, tenses can pose a challenge because they vary so much from one language to another. ESL teachers - particularly new ones - tend to struggle a little with teaching tenses, because it’s not always easy to explain exactly how a given tense works in English; or how it contrasts with other, similar tenses. Throw in the problem of teaching tenses in ways that keep students active, interested, and learning, and you’ve got a recipe for a difficult lesson on your hands.
Not all teachers handle these issues in the same ways. The classic approach would be simply to drill students on grammar until they get it right - but that approach has fallen out of use, in favor of a more integrated teaching method that combines speaking, reading, activities, and other forms of learning. The challenge for the modern ESL teacher, then, is to find ways of presenting each tense that enable the students not only to learn it correctly, but also to be able to produce it and use it dynamically in sentences.
That’s exactly where BusyTeacher.org’s 4,456 verb tense worksheets come in. They’re designed by real ESL teachers to help students see how each tense is used, see examples of different applications for it, and practice using it in all kinds of different exercises. With these worksheets, teaching tenses turns from a dull repetitive process into an engaging series of learning activities, that’ll inspire your students to take what they’ve learned out of the classroom and use it in their actual English conversations.
Our 4,456 tense worksheets cover each tense in the book, from present simple to future perfect continuous - and all things in between. They cover singular and plural verbs, irregular verbs, active and passive verbs, positive and negative verbs, and every other form of a verb you want to teach. In combination with the more rigorous rules laid down in your school’s textbook, these worksheets will give students the practice they need to understand every way in which English verbs can be formed.
In addition to all the verb forms our worksheets cover, they’ll also help you introduce variety into your classroom in another way: by giving you a wide variety of different exercises for practicing verbs in various situations. Some of our worksheets, for example, include simple examples and fill-in-the-blank exercises - while others will help your students organize little drama presentations, play games like “pronoun dice” or a quiz show, or read silly stories and lyrics to popular songs - all targeted at teaching the rules for using one particular verb tense or set of tenses.
These worksheets have been proven to work in classrooms of ESL teachers around the world - and in fact, that’s exactly who contributed them to this site. They’re all free to download and use without any registration, and you’re even free to submit your own worksheets if you’d like - just click the “Submit a worksheet” button at the bottom of this page, and join our international community of English teachers helping English teachers!
All our worksheets can be previewed in thumbnail view before you click and download them - so just take a scroll down this page, see what catches your eye, and try out anything that looks interesting in your classroom. We guarantee you’ll love the results!
Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!
Make A Word Scramble:
Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!
Make A Double Puzzle:
Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!
ESL Articles
View our latest knowledgebase articles that will help you become a better English teacher. Learn from
professional teachers and put a bit of your own creativity into it!
This ice-breaker is suitable, as most of them, at the beginning of a school year when you start teaching a new group of learners. It works best if students don't know each other as well. But it is ...
"Can you talk about things you like?" is a worksheet that deals with the use of the verb like in first person singular in its affirmative as well as in its negative form. The present worksheet con ...
Auction is a game where the sold goods is sentences. You will need a list of sentences for it and your strong voice. In the list some sentences should be correct and some wrong. Examples of such l ...
It is a nice speaking activity which can be either a warm-up or it can fulfil the major part of your lesson. You will need a list of vocabulary, a CD player and a rhythmic song. Each word must be ...
This powerpoint contains a recap of the first part of the movie: Back to the future, using the simple present perfect. It also shows the contrast of personality of George Mcfly. It enables to infe ...
So this powerpoint presentation will help you to practise such constructions as "future simple" and "be goint to". The task is to fill in the gaps using these grammar structures. Hope they will sh ...
This powerpoint presentation is used to revise the difference between Present Simple and Present Progressive tenses. In the very beginning you will find the rules and then you can use the exercise ...
This is a 2-page worksheet for elementary students on present simple. There´s a brief explanation at the top of the page followed by 2 activities in which students are asked to fill in the ...
This is another worksheet working on the passive voice. There are some examples at the top of the page and all the sentences are in the present simple. Students have to put the verbs into the co ...
This is another worksheet working on the passive voice. There are some examples at the top of the page and all the sentences are in the present perfect. Students have to put the verbs into the c ...
This worksheet contains future forms (will, going to, present continuous). It's a grammar-guide. It can be used in the first lesson about the topic. There are a few exercises and it's a black and ...
It is a chart listing the verb EAT in both grammatical tenses. It can be used for ESL students as an overivew where they can look up how to form these two different present tenses and there is a s ...
This is a PowerPoint Presentation for teaching ago, since and for. Recommended for elementary or pre-intermediate students who are asked to fill in the blank spaces by choosing the correct altern ...
This worksheet is for elementary students. It is a simple dialogue with some gaps to be completed with one word. It´s a nice and simple review, which can be role-played once the activity is ...
This is a very basic but fun board game, that can be used in pairs or even small groups. It provides students with interesting topics to use in the PAST TENSE. Students may flip a coin to advance ...
This is a worksheet for elementary students on farm animals related vocabulary and present simple tense. There are 4 different and simple activities in which students are asked to match the words ...
Some restricted practice if additional practice is needed. This tests students' understanding of the present perfect simple and the past simple when talking about finished events and experiences a ...
It is my first flashcard section so it may seem a bit amateur. But you can cut the speaking baloons and you can use it s-s. It may help them to create their own sentences. There are some drilling ...
This worksheet based on a popular song of The Beatles is focused on the practice and identification of the present simple grammatical structure. It includes exercises like circle the correct item, ...
This is a diagnostic test for elementary students. There are 4 pages with several activities in which students are asked to read the text, answer the questions, ask questions for the answers given ...
I use this file to introduce my students into the world of art. As I teach at a Cinema Institute for adults, I always try to give them something of their interests. And not only grammar stuff. Yo ...
This is a worksheet about job description. Each student is given one job with all the information needed (workplace, company...) Students will ask questions such as: What do you do? Where do you w ...
This PDF contains two examples in which I conjugated a verb into many forms, creating a small story for context. A blank template is included for practice. Great for any and all levels, as it prov ...
This is a multiple choice worksheet to practice simple past. Students watch Mr Bean's video and they have to choose the correct option according to what they saw in the video.
T ...
11 21,803Elem
Got a great worksheet on
Verb Tense Worksheets?
Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!