1st grade past, present, and future verbs worksheets
Verbs carry the time of a sentence: jumped is past, jumps is present, will jump is future. First graders sort verbs into yesterday, today, and tomorrow piles, which turns an abstract idea into something they can physically do.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.1.1.e.
Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.
Need one more? These are the skills next door at this grade.
The kind of words you'll sort
Write each verb from the bank under Past, Present, or Future.
waveswill foldsmelledlistensbarkedwill huglookswill mailhelpedwill barkrestslicked
Columns: Past and Present and Future. "barked" belongs under past; "listens" belongs under present; "will hug" belongs under future.
Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.
What's on a 1st grade sheet
1st grade sheets draw from 90 words, 15 to a page. None of these words are on 2nd grade sheets. 2nd grade sheets print 21 to a page.
Some of the words:
pushedplantedpickedrainslickscleansmailswill openwill smellwill plant
- Sorting. Write each verb from the bank under Past, Present, or Future. 15 words per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.
How to teach this
Anchor the columns to days: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Act a verb out, then ask "did it already happen, is it happening, or is it going to happen?" Keep the verbs regular at first (-ed pasts only) so the ending itself becomes a reliable clue before the irregulars arrive.
Watch for: The future never changes the verb itself; it borrows the helper will. On these sheets, if you see will, it's future. Some past verbs skip -ed and change instead: sang, wrote, ran. They're still past.
Common questions about 1st grade past, present, and future verbs
- How do I explain verb tenses to a 1st grader?
- Use time words they own already: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Jumped goes with yesterday, jumps with today, will jump with tomorrow. Sorting word cards into those three piles teaches the idea faster than any explanation.
- Should a 1st grader know the word "tense"?
- It's fine to say it, but it isn't the goal. What matters at this age is hearing that jumped already happened and will jump hasn't yet. The vocabulary word can arrive in 2nd or 3rd grade once the idea is solid.
Related worksheets
- 2nd grade past, present, and future verbs A step harder, same skill
- 1st grade action verbs Same grade, nearby skill
- 1st grade articles (a, an, the) Same grade, nearby skill
- 1st grade common and proper nouns Same grade, nearby skill
- 1st grade coordinating conjunctions Same grade, nearby skill
- Past, present, and future verbs, all grades The full progression
- All 1st grade English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 1st grade worksheets Everything at this level
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Aligned to Common Core L.1.1.e. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated July 2026.
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