Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 86–87 · Part 2: Part II: The parts of speech in full
68. Tense and the signs of the tenses
Goal: Your child can name the six tenses and form each one.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and a pencil (or a slate)
What's in the book
Lesson 86 defines tense and the six tenses. Lesson 87 lists the signs of each tense in each mode, then gives thirteen sentences and a composition on the Pine.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Ask: What are the five modes?
Time
Read:
Tense denotes the time of an action or event.
There are six tenses: the Present, the Present Perfect, the Past, the Past Perfect, the Future, and the Future Perfect.
Build a timeline
Use "write": I write, I have written, I wrote, I had written, I shall write, I shall have written. Draw a line and place each one on it. The book's example for the last:
I shall have written the letter before the mail closes.
The signs
Look at the table of signs on page 107. For example, the future:
Prefix shall or will to the simple form.
Ask your child to find the sign for the past perfect (had) and the potential past (might, could, would, should).
Tell the tense
Do these from the page:
I had been taught.
The letter will have been written.
He may have written.
Write
The book asks for a description of the Pine with the modes and tenses of the verbs named.
Use it today
Tell what you did yesterday, what you have done today, and what you will do tomorrow.
Answers to the book's problems
1 sings: present. 2 went: past. 3 ran: past. 4 Write: present (imperative). 5 Let: present (imperative); go: present (infinitive). 6 shouted: past. 7 had been taught: past perfect. 8 will succeed: future. 9 shall be: future. 10 will have been written: future perfect. 11 go: present (subjunctive); shall stay: future. 12 might study: past (potential). 13 may have written: present perfect (potential).
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.