Module 5: Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary for Real Communication
Teaching Verb Tenses
Verb tenses are one of the most important — and most challenging — areas of English grammar for ESL students. English has many tenses, and learners often confuse them because their first language handles time very differently.
The most important tenses for beginners
✓Common student mistakes with tenses
- Confusing present simple and present continuous — "I am working every day" ✗
- Using present tense for past events — "Yesterday I go to the store" ✗
- Irregular past tense forms — "I goed" instead of "I went"
✓How to teach tenses effectively
- Always use a clear context — timelines are very helpful
- Contrast two tenses together — students understand tenses better when they compare them
- Use real examples from students' lives — "What did you do this morning?"
- Practice irregular verbs in groups — go/went, eat/ate, see/saw
- Give lots of communicative practice — students need to use tenses, not just study them
Try This: Draw a simple timeline on the board — past on the left, present in the middle, future on the right. Use it every time you introduce a new tense. Students will start to build a visual map of the English tense system.