3 mistakes learners make with tense, each one named and explained.
Tense is when it happened, and the auxiliary verbs are what carry it.
'The children are playing' is chosen as the past tense.
It has a helper verb in front of it, which makes it look like one of the more complicated tenses, and past is the complicated one being asked about.
Question. Which is past: are playing, played
A common answer. are playing
The answer. played
Why. Are places it now, and only the helper verb changes the time.
The helper verb carries the time. Look at it, not at the main verb.
'The children will play in the park' is chosen as the past tense.
Will play is clearly not the plain present, and anything that is not the present can feel like the answer when only one other tense comes to mind.
Question. Which is past: will play, played
A common answer. will play
The answer. played
Why. Will always points forwards, to something that has not happened.
Will means it is still coming.
'The children play in the park' is chosen as the past tense.
The sentence describes something ordinary and finished-sounding, and play is the form of the verb that comes to mind first.
Question. Which is past: play, will play, played
A common answer. play
The answer. played
Why. Played has the ed that marks it as already done.
Ask whether it has finished. The ending usually shows it.
WAJD spots these patterns in your child's answers and names the one behind their wrong answers, instead of just marking them wrong.