Tenses : Difference between the Simple Present Tense and the Past Tense for Class 3 English

Previously both simple present and past tense have been covered. In this chapter students will learn the differences between the two kinds of tenses. In addition, students also will get an understanding of the format of sentences used in the simple present and past tense.

In this learning concept, the students will learn:

• Differences between past and present tense in various contexts.
• Present tense and past tense examples show the difference between both.

All the English Grammar concepts are detailed using illustrations, tables and examples that make it interesting and simple for the students to understand. They can solve the twin past tense and present tense worksheet for class 3 to check their understanding of the specific topic. The solutions can also be verified that are available in PDF format.

How is the meaning different?

The simple present tense is used to describe habits, general facts, and persent situations, whereas the simple past tense is used to speak about events in the past.

Example:

• Simple Present Tense: He practices badminton every day.
• Simple Past Tense: He won the competition.

Difference between the Simple Past Tense and the Simple Present Tense

Let us look at the differences between the simple past and the simple present tense in the given table:

	Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense
Activity	Repeated actions or daily activity.	The action is finished in the past and not linked with the present.
What are these sentences about?	Sentences about the present situations or events.	Sentences tell us about a series of completed actions in the past or scheduled events.
Auxilaries	Helping verbs that are used are: ‘is’, ‘am’, and ‘are’.	Helping verbs like ‘was’, and ‘were’ are used.
Question start with the auxilary	The auxiliary verb ‘do’ or ‘does’used for present simple questions.	Auxiliary verb ‘did’ is used for simple past questions.
Words found in the sentence	Words like often, every day, always, sometimes, never used.	Words like last week , last year, last month , yesterday, ago in (year) are used .
Negative question statements	Auxiliary verbs ‘do’ and ‘does’ used in negative sentences.	Auxiliary verb ‘did’ used in negative sentences.
Main verb	The main verb is always in the present participle form.	Auxiliary verb ‘did’ used in negative sentences.

Examples:

No.	Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense
1.	I go to school every day.	I went to school yesterday.
2.	He doesn’t play cricket.	Our team won the cricket match.
3.	Do you go to college often?	Did you go to college yesterday?
4.	She is a professor.	She was a professor.
5.	He sings well.	He cleaned the room.
6.	I don’t read non-fiction books.	I didn’t wash the clothes.
7.	She doesn't wash her clothes.	I went there yesterday.

Common Mistakes

1. Do not confuse the adverbs of time with simple past tense. The simple present tense is used with adverbs like usually, always, seldom, sometimes, never, often, generally, frequently, habitually, once, occasionally, thrice, and twice.

   Examples :

   1. I drink a cup of warm water every morning.
   2. My mother never lies to me.
   3. I usually spend my weekends with family.

   The simple past tense is used with the adverbs like yesterday, years, months, weeks, days, hours ago, in the past year, and the last (month, week, year).

   Examples:

   1. Praveen went to Darjeeling yesterday.
   2. Manjith flew to the United Kingdom in 2001.
   3. She was here till few hours ago.
2. In story writing, ensure to keep the tense same throughout the story, except while writing dialogues. If the story starts in the past tense, maintain the flow in the past tense.

   If you are following a present-tense narrative, ensure not to go into the past tense. It must be the same, or else the readers will be confused.