Need help with Past Tense - Ate or Eaten? Ask our AI Tutor!

AI Tutor - Lucy

Connecting with Tutor...

Please wait while we establish connection

Hi! I'm Lucy, your AI tutor. How can I help you with Past Tense - Ate or Eaten today?

now

English Quiz - Past Tense - Ate or Eaten (Questions)

Learn when to say ate and when to say have eaten so your KS1 sentences sound clear, correct, and confident.

Explore the Topic →

(quiz starts below)

Fascinating Fact:

Chatty sentences often use “have eaten”, like “I’ve eaten my veg, can I have pudding?”

In KS1 English, children learn to choose the correct past tense. We use ate for something finished in the past and have eaten to link past actions to now.

Key Terms

Past Tense: A verb form that shows something already happened, like ate.
Irregular Verb: A verb that does not just add -ed, such as eat → ate.
Present Perfect: A tense using have or has plus a verb, like have eaten, to link past and present.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

When should children use ate instead of have eaten?

Use ate for a finished action in the past, for example, “I ate my lunch at 12.” It does not need to connect to what is happening now.

When should children use have eaten in a sentence?

Use have eaten to show the action is linked to now, for example, “I have eaten my lunch, so I am not hungry anymore.”

Is have eaten wrong to use in KS1 writing?

No. Have eaten is correct English. It is useful in spoken and written sentences that connect something done in the past to how things are now.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

1.

What is the past tense for the word 'eat'?

[ ]	eated
[ ]	eats
[ ]	ate
[ ]	ated

2.

Which of these is not a helping word for 'eaten'?

[ ]	dog eaten
[ ]	has eaten
[ ]	have eaten
[ ]	is eaten

3.

Which of these is not a helping word for 'eaten'?

[ ]	are eaten
[ ]	was eaten
[ ]	were eaten
[ ]	horse eaten

4.

'He eats his dinner.' Change this to past tense.

[ ]	He ates his dinner.
[ ]	He ate his dinner.
[ ]	He eaten his dinner.
[ ]	He eated his dinner.

5.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	Meals has eaten on the beach.
[ ]	Meals ate on the beach.
[ ]	Meals eaten on the beach.
[ ]	Meals are eaten on the beach.

6.

'The jumper ____ eaten by moths.' Which helping word would we use?

[ ]	are
[ ]	had
[ ]	was
[ ]	have

7.

'Baby Bear's porridge had ____ eaten by Goldilocks.' Which helping word would we use?

[ ]	been
[ ]	was
[ ]	is
[ ]	are

8.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	He is eaten the burger in two minutes.
[ ]	He ates the burger in two minutes.
[ ]	He ate the burger in two minutes.
[ ]	He eaten the burger in two minutes.

9.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	He had ate the pencil and left marks on it.
[ ]	He was eaten the pencil and left marks on it.
[ ]	He had eaten the pencil and left marks on it.
[ ]	He were eaten the pencil and left marks on it.

10.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	The bone eat by the dog.
[ ]	The bone ate by the dog.
[ ]	The bone eaten by the dog.
[ ]	The bone was eaten by the dog.

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What are past, present and future tense?

English Quiz - Past Tense - Ate or Eaten (Answers)

1.

What is the past tense for the word 'eat'?

[ ]	eated
[ ]	eats
[x]	ate
[ ]	ated

You can use the word 'ate' to move it to past tense or 'have eaten'. If you use the word 'eaten' then you need a helping word before it.

2.

Which of these is not a helping word for 'eaten'?

[x]	dog eaten
[ ]	has eaten
[ ]	have eaten
[ ]	is eaten

We could say she has eaten, we have eaten or bread is eaten all over the world.

3.

Which of these is not a helping word for 'eaten'?

[ ]	are eaten
[ ]	was eaten
[ ]	were eaten
[x]	horse eaten

We could say they are eaten at Christmas time, it was eaten at Christmas time and they were eaten at Christmas time.

4.

'He eats his dinner.' Change this to past tense.

[ ]	He ates his dinner.
[x]	He ate his dinner.
[ ]	He eaten his dinner.
[ ]	He eated his dinner.

We could say either he ate his dinner or he has eaten his dinner. If we use the word 'eaten', we must make sure there is a helping word before it.

5.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	Meals has eaten on the beach.
[ ]	Meals ate on the beach.
[ ]	Meals eaten on the beach.
[x]	Meals are eaten on the beach.

When using the word 'eaten', make sure you use the correct helping word.

6.

'The jumper ____ eaten by moths.' Which helping word would we use?

[ ]	are
[ ]	had
[x]	was
[ ]	have

If you see a moth in your bedroom make sure you get it out and away from your cupboards as they like to eat jumpers. Although, it isn't the moth that eats them but the larvae.

7.

'Baby Bear's porridge had ____ eaten by Goldilocks.' Which helping word would we use?

[x]	been
[ ]	was
[ ]	is
[ ]	are

Goldilocks also tried Mummy and Daddy Bears' porridge but gobbled up all of Baby Bear's breakfast!

8.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	He is eaten the burger in two minutes.
[ ]	He ates the burger in two minutes.
[x]	He ate the burger in two minutes.
[ ]	He eaten the burger in two minutes.

Although the first answer does show the helping word 'is', it doesn't make sense. If the sentence said 'He had eaten the burger in two minutes,' then it would have been correct.

9.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	He had ate the pencil and left marks on it.
[ ]	He was eaten the pencil and left marks on it.
[x]	He had eaten the pencil and left marks on it.
[ ]	He were eaten the pencil and left marks on it.

You can buy pencil toppers to stop from chewing your pencil. There are lots of germs on your hands, your hands touch the pencil and so, there are lots of germs on the pencil! Yucky!

10.

Which sentence is perfect?

[ ]	The bone eat by the dog.
[ ]	The bone ate by the dog.
[ ]	The bone eaten by the dog.
[x]	The bone was eaten by the dog.

Dogs like to chew things like dog bones or pigs' ears!