Boxi Learn › English › Stage 2 · Models and Patterns
Tenses on a timeline
EN-3 Word order is informationX-3 Look from another side
What many people think
Time is shown only by words like yesterday, just as in Chinese.
The idea
A tense marks where an action sits in time relative to now; English changes the verb (its form or its helping verb), while Chinese keeps the verb and adds words like 了, 正在 or 会.
Explain it
A friend writes “Yesterday I go to the park.” Draw a timeline with now on it and use it to explain why the verb has to change, even though “yesterday” is already there.
Try at home
Stretch a string across the room and clip a card saying NOW in the middle. Clip action cards on it (eat breakfast, see a film…) and say each one aloud with the right verb form. Move a card and say it again.