Do You Write an Art Exhibition Review in Past or Present Tense

writing-tenses-tense-specific-writing-prompts-for-efl-learners — Jess Watters, via Unsplash

Many students learning English as a foreign language struggle to use the different verb tenses finer, accordingly and consistently. Frankly, I know a few native English language speakers who could apply a piffling do. In any case, over the course of five years of educational activity, I have found that writing prompts which focus exclusively on a single tense tin can exist extremely helpful for students.

Constructive use, especially in creative writing, develops over time as the student learns to shift between tenses for accuracy and effect. This approach is especially effective for students who are not peculiarly concerned with the various names of each tense, as it emphasizes the situations for which each tense is most often used. This allows students to "get a feel" for the different voices and how they all work together.

Below, I have supplied some of the more popular tense-specific writing prompts. I encourage anyone who uses these prompts for practice to exit some feedback about what worked, what didn't, and anything else that might be helpful.

Tips for Classroom Utilize

Earlier nosotros jump in, here are some tips for using these prompts in the classroom.

Collect your favorites and tweak them to adapt your students' backgrounds.
If doing these exercises orally, have your students write downwardly the verbs used.
For repeated situations such every bit, "running into an sometime friend on the street," compare the way dissimilar tenses touch on the meaning of the answer.

Present Tense Writing Prompts

The present tense, in these cases, includes the simple present ("She e'er forgets something") and the present continuous ("I am coming "), as well every bit the trickier nowadays perfect ("Nosotros have seen The Matrix far too many times") and present perfect continuous ("She has been singing since her second glass of vino"). However, it is of grade possible to carve up the four into their ain writing prompt, or to combine whatsoever number of them as is accounted necessary.

Uncomplicated Present

Describe your daily routine.
Describe a person (real or imaginary) in as much item as possible.
What's the nigh interesting thing you've learned in schoolhouse or in life? State the facts.
What is your favorite type of public transportation? Describe it. (This can be a mix of habitual or repeated actions, argument of fact or generalization and scheduled events in the near future.)
- "The uptown bus is e'er crowded in the morning, but the evening double-decker, which leaves at 6pm, is commonly very tranquility. I guess most people stay in the city for dinner later on piece of work."

Present Continuous (am/is/are + present participle)

Describe your immediate surroundings. What are the people around you doing? What are you doing?
Y'all come across an old friend on the street and he asks you, "And so what are you upward to these days?" How practise you answer? (This one in detail is best if combined with nowadays perfect continuous, below.)
Brand upwardly the near unlikable or annoying character you tin retrieve of and describe him or her. (This one is particularly popular with students who work in the service industry and have developed pet peeves.)
- "He is always talking too loud."
- "She is always complaining about how dry out the bread is."

Present Perfect (has/have + past participle)

You've lost all retentiveness of the past and cannot remember when exactly anything happened. Your grandchild comes to visit you in the nursing home and asks you many questions. Write a chat between you lot and your grandchild.
- "My, you've grown since I last saw you lot! How long has it been?"
- "I haven't seen you since my birthday party, iii months ago."
- " Take you seen a movie in 3D?"
- "No, sonny boy, I accept not seen a motion picture in 3D."
- " Have you been to France?"
- "Yes, I take been to France twice."
What have you/has mankind/has science/has your child accomplished in (option your time frame)?
- "Man has walked on the moon."
- "We have sent a monkey into space."
- "Doctors have [non yet] discovered a cure for cancer."

Present Perfect Continuous (has/have + been + present participle)

Yous go to the doctor and she asks, "How take you been feeling ?" How do you respond? Describe any kind of disease yous like. Bonus points if you can besides include possible reasons for your illness.
You see a friend on the street and he asks you how you've been and what you've been doing. What exercise y'all say in response? (Apply both present perfect continuous and present continuous to describe things you have been doing and things y'all're still doing.)

Past Tense Writing Prompts

I'll present the by tense writing prompts in much the same way, although I strongly encourage teachers and students to recombine them as they see fit, and to explore the ways each tense supports and is supported past others. More advanced ESL or EFL students will find the recombination procedure to exist an excellent opportunity to clarify their understanding of detail uses, and to explore common partnerships between the tenses.

Past Elementary

What did you practice last weekend?
Write a short fairytale. (This is mayhap about constructive when combined with the past perfect)
Draw a major historical outcome.
Write what you know of your family history. For instance, where are your parents and grandparents from? What did they do for work? (This is also good fun when combined with the past perfect.)

Past Perfect [had + past participle]

Pretend you're a stern parent and your child has made some mistakes. Rather than only proverb, "I told you so," construct more descriptive "if" clauses using the past perfect. (You can also give retroactive advice to parents from children, or from citizens to public officials, or from employees to their employer. Whatever suits the situation and pupil.)
- "If you lot had fed your fish as y'all had promised, they would not have escaped and eaten the domestic dog."
Come up up with a scenario and an imaginary dialogue. (Reported speech combines past perfect with some other tense, ordinarily past or present simple. You tin can also assign a scenario to your students.)

Past Continuous [was/were + verb-ing]

Describe a number of interruptions. (This will also require the simple past.)
Set the scene for a murder mystery.
- "The storm was howling , and a dog was barking somewhere nearby."

Past Perfect Continuous [had + been + verb-ing]

Continue the mystery and transition from stage-setting to the action! (Hither, students utilize the by perfect continuous for its most common purpose: to express actions that were in progress earlier another action. They will see how it is used to add temporal layers to a story, or to force the plot to progress.)
Explain the crusade of something. (Provide your students with a selection of situations or images, such as someone in detention, someone in a wheelchair or a baby bird on the basis, and have them provide the cause)
- "The kid was in detention because he had been caught lying to his teacher."
Compare with past perfect "if" clauses (see the 'stern parent' practice) and determine the departure between the two.
- "If y'all had been feeding your fish every day, they would not have escaped and eaten the dog."

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Future Tense Writing Prompts

Future Simple [will + verb in present grade]

Make a New year's resolution or a promise. (Have your students make promises–either to themselves or others–using the future simple.)
Make a prediction. What will the coming year bring?

Time to come Continuous [will + be + verb-ing]

What are you lot doing tomorrow afternoon?
- "I will exist playing soccer in the park."
What will you be doing at viii a.m. on Mon forenoon? (Provide a fourth dimension in the future and accept your students predict what they, their family unit, or their friends volition be doing at that time.)

Future Perfect [will have + verb in by participle form]

What will you have done by iii p.m. on Sunday? (Have your students repeat the previous practice. This fourth dimension, have them country or approximate what they, their family, or friends will take done by that time.
- "By 3 p.m. I will have finished playing soccer in the park."

Future Perfect Continuous [volition have been + past participle]

The two main uses of hereafter perfect continuous are: to explicate the cause of a future situation or activeness; and to limited a clear future elapsing.

Ex. "You will have been driving for more than six hours, so I will drive afterward dinner."

Brainstorm hereafter situations (or employ the ones from the previous predictions exercise), then work backwards to supply a likely cause for said prediction.
Begin an encounter with someone, then postulate how the run across ended.

Poll for ESL/EFL Teachers, Tutors, and Students

Claire on February 09, 2020:

I've come back to these a few times now... I find targeted writing exercises enormously useful for my students, and there are some neat ideas here. I would love to see a drove of writing exercises for other grammer points \as well (for example, countable and uncountable nouns - maybe designing a restaurant menu, describing your favorite meal, taking a fridge inventory...). This is already a great list though. Cheers for sharing!

Grace Tan on August 29, 2018:

This guide has been very helpful. Thanks.

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dragonballcartoon on February 26, 2018:

Nice explanation for beginners. Here is another site http://selfawarenesshub.org/ which I found useful.

happyblending on April 15, 2017:

To be honest I want to acquire from you. Merely can I suggest you something from a student betoken of view?

I would exist grateful if this all grammar terms are taught in a applied manner. I hateful you can show some examples of short stories, and at the bottom yous tin can explain the wrong uses of tense.. why its wrong.. what is appropriate.. like wise you can show some examples.. I volition be start if you keep a competition.. Ha Ha

Thank yous so much for sharing your knowledge.

Moses on November xviii, 2016:

Great mail service! I like the ideas, esp with the perfect tenses. It's difficult to discover a variety of real life applications and activities for those. Thanks for the postal service!

Siva kumar on Jan 21, 2016:

Haiii......adept evening ,

I wanted write an article about past so which tense could be come up ?

Please guide me ...

Thanks .

buckleupdorothy (author) from Istanbul, Turkey on Nov 29, 2012:

Thanks for stopping by, you lot guys! I'one thousand so glad that you found this helpful. If you have any questions or a specific kind of activity or practice that would be useful for you, please let me know and I would exist very happy to write something for you.

Sailaja from Republic of india on November 29, 2012:

Gr8. I like this hub. I hail from a country where english is the second language. We speak english simply without understanding the grammer. Your's is a skillful hub for people like me. Keep it upward. Expecting more hubs like this. :)

Missy Mac from Illinois on November 14, 2012:

Thanks for the interested article. You are right! Students should empathize how to use each tense and practice helps strengthen achievement. Thanks again!

Joshua Zerbini from Pennsylvania on June 05, 2012:

Your welcome! All right I have washed ane hub, only there will definitely be more than to follow!

buckleupdorothy (author) from Istanbul, Turkey on June 05, 2012:

Thank you Josh, and welcome! I'm looking forrad to reading your ain piece of work!

Joshua Zerbini from Pennsylvania on June 05, 2012:

Dandy hub, well written and very informative. Voted upwardly and useful, keep up the good work!

buckleupdorothy (author) from Istanbul, Turkey on April 26, 2012:

I've found the same matter to exist truthful with my students - merely these exercises are particularly appreciated because y'all can beginning out simple and so work in other tenses every bit they showtime to feel more confident. That fashion they both acquire the specific uses, how to apply them consistently, and how each added tense can brand their writing more mature and nuanced. It's such fun to watch!

Kymberly Fergusson from Germany on Apr 26, 2012:

Some great writing prompts for English students at all levels!

I struggle to find ideas for conversation classes - the student want to work on tenses, simply hate contrived exercises designed to piece of work with only one or two tenses. Strangely, they are much happier when they write answers to the same exercises! Perhaps it's due to a fear of getting it wrong.

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Source: https://owlcation.com/academia/Writing-Tenses-Tense-specific-writing-prompts-for-EFL-learners