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Verbs - Past Tense (Adding 'ed')
Alice played the flute in church. The word 'played' shows us this happened in the past.

Verbs - Past Tense (Adding 'ed')

Discover how adding -ed turns jump into jumped and play into played, helping you talk clearly about things that already happened.

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Fascinating Fact:

Past tense with ed shows something already happened, like play turning into played after the game.

In KS1 English, children learn that adding -ed to many verbs shows an action is finished. Understanding this rule helps them write clear sentences about yesterday, last week, or earlier today.

  • Verb: A doing or being word, such as run, shout, jump or is.
  • Past tense: A way of writing that shows an action has already happened.
  • -ed ending: Letters added to regular verbs, like talk → talked, to show the past tense.
What is the past tense using -ed for KS1?

For KS1, the past tense with -ed means we add -ed to regular verbs, like jump → jumped, to show the action is finished or happened before now.

How do I explain -ed past tense endings to children?

Show present and past pairs, such as play/played and look/looked, then ask children to change verbs with -ed when talking about yesterday or earlier today.

Do all verbs make the past tense by adding -ed?

No. Many verbs are regular and use -ed, but some are irregular, like go → went and eat → ate, which children learn separately.

1 .
Which word cannot end with 'ed'?
love
kiss
people
cuddle
If the verb already ends with an 'e', like 'cuddle' then you just add 'd'.
2 .
Which word can we add 'ed' onto the end, to change the tense?
red
postbox
post
letter
The word 'post' is a verb and 'posted' means you've already done it.
3 .
Which spelling is correct?
driped
dripeed
dripped
driepd
To change 'drip' to the past tense, we double the end letter, then add 'ed'.
4 .
Which word isn't written in the past tense?
danced
turned
partying
twirled
The word 'partying' suggests it is happening now.
5 .
Which type of words can we add 'ed' onto, to change the tense?
verbs
nouns
pronouns
proper nouns
We can only add 'ed' to the end of verbs, doing words.
6 .
If the verb ends in a short vowel sound, like 'hop', we double the last letter, then add 'ed'. Which spelling is correct?
hoped
hopped
hopeed
hoppeed
Because the 'o' sound is considered a short vowel sound, we double the 'p' then add 'ed'.
7 .
Which word can we add 'ed' onto the end, to change the tense?
push
dominoes
dots
lines
You can push the dominoes over, which means you pushed them.
8 .
Which word can we add 'ed' onto the end, to change the tense?
rope
jump
pole
girl
'Jump' is the verb and if she did it yesterday, she jumped.
9 .
Which word can we add 'ed' onto the end, to change the tense?
fingers
sky
blue
touch
To change 'touch' into the past tense, you would write 'touched'.
10 .
'He should have walked but instead he danced then skidded.' How many past tense verbs are in that sentence?
1
2
3
4
The verbs were 'walk', 'skid' and 'dance'.
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What are past, present and future tense?

Author:  Finola Waller (MEd, Primary School Teacher & KS1 English Quiz Writer)

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