English Tenses Explained for Parents: How to Help Your Child Stop Making Tense Mistakes
Published 20 June 2026
Tense errors are the single most common grammar mistake in English essays from Chinese-speaking students — and they’re easy to explain why. In Chinese, verbs don’t change form to show time. “我去了” (I went) and “我去” (I go) differ only in context, not in the verb itself. When Chinese-speaking students write in English, they have to consciously change the verb form every time they switch between past, present, and future — and under time pressure, they often forget.
The good news: tense rules, once understood, are highly consistent. This guide covers the tenses that matter most for school essays, in plain language parents can follow.
The Three Core Tenses for School Essays
Secondary school essay questions almost always call for one of three time frames:
Simple Past — for something that already happened Simple Present — for facts, opinions, or habitual actions Simple Future — for something that will happen
Understanding which tense a question is asking for is the first step. Many tense errors come from children who know the tenses in isolation but mix them up mid-essay because they didn’t decide the time frame before starting.
Simple Past Tense
Use simple past for anything that happened at a specific time in the past.
Formation: Add -ed to the verb for regular verbs.
- walk → walked, talk → talked, arrive → arrived, study → studied
Irregular verbs must be memorised — they don’t follow the -ed pattern:
| Base form | Simple past |
|---|---|
| go | went |
| come | came |
| see | saw |
| have | had |
| do | did |
| say | said |
| make | made |
| take | took |
| give | gave |
| get | got |
| think | thought |
| tell | told |
| find | found |
| run | ran |
| know | knew |
Most common error: Using the base form instead of past tense.
- Wrong: “Yesterday, I go to the market.”
- Right: “Yesterday, I went to the market.”
Signal words for simple past: yesterday, last week, last year, in [year], ago, when I was young, at that time
Simple Present Tense
Use simple present for facts, general truths, habits, and opinions.
Formation: Base form of the verb. But for he / she / it / singular nouns, add -s.
| Subject | Verb form |
|---|---|
| I | like |
| You | like |
| He / She / It | likes |
| We | like |
| They | like |
Most common error 1: Forgetting the -s for third person singular.
- Wrong: “She like music.”
- Right: “She likes music.”
Most common error 2: Using simple present in a story that happened in the past.
- Wrong: “Last week, I go to the library. I find a great book.”
- Right: “Last week, I went to the library. I found a great book.”
Signal words for simple present: every day, always, usually, often, sometimes, never, in general, nowadays
Simple Future Tense
Use simple future for something that will happen.
Formation: will + base verb (same for all subjects, no changes)
- I will go, you will go, he will go, we will go, they will go
Alternative: going to + base verb
- “I am going to submit the essay tomorrow.” (planned intention)
- “It is going to rain.” (prediction based on evidence)
For school essays, both “will” and “going to” are acceptable. “Will” is simpler to use consistently.
Most common error: Mixing future with past in the same paragraph.
- Wrong: “I think the problem will get worse. Last year, people also ignore this issue.”
- Right: “I think the problem will get worse. Last year, people also ignored this issue.”
Tense Consistency: The Rule That Matters Most for Essays
The most damaging tense error isn’t using the wrong form of one verb — it’s switching between tenses within the same essay without reason.
Tell your child: decide the main tense before you start writing. Then stick to it.
- Narrative essays (something that happened): use simple past throughout
- Opinion or argument essays (your views on a topic): use simple present throughout
- Future prediction essays: use simple future, with simple present for general statements
Switching tenses mid-essay is one of the clearest signs of uncontrolled writing. Examiners notice it immediately.
A quick check your child can do before submitting: Scan the essay and underline every verb. Are they in the same tense? If you see “went” and “go” and “will go” all in the same paragraph, something’s wrong.
How to Help at Home Without Being a Grammar Expert
You don’t need to know every tense rule to help your child. Here’s a system that works:
Before writing: Ask your child “Is this essay about something that happened, something true in general, or something that will happen?” That question helps them consciously choose a tense before they start.
After writing: Ask your child to go through the essay and read every verb out loud. If they hear themselves switching from “went” to “go” in the same story, they’ll often catch it themselves.
Using a grammar tool: Run the finished essay through a grammar checker. Tense errors are reliably flagged. Read the Chinese explanation for each one with your child, and ask them: “Why should it be past tense here?”
Focus on recurring errors: If your child consistently makes the same tense mistake (e.g., always forgetting to make verbs past tense in stories), write that down as their “watch point” and remind them specifically before the next essay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my child switch tenses in the middle of an essay?
This usually happens when a child writes quickly without a plan. They start a story in the past tense, then get caught up in explaining something generally (slipping into present tense), and forget to switch back. The fix is structural: have them write a brief outline (past? present? future?) before they start, so the time frame is decided in advance.
What’s the difference between simple past (“I went”) and past continuous (“I was going”)?
Simple past describes a completed action: “I went to the park.” Past continuous describes an action in progress at a particular moment in the past: “I was walking to the park when it started to rain.” For school essays, simple past is far more common and important to master first. Past continuous is used for setting scenes and interrupted actions.
My child uses “have gone” and “went” interchangeably. What’s the difference?
“Went” is simple past (a completed action at a specific past time). “Have gone” is present perfect (a past action with a connection to now, or without a specific time). For school essays at secondary level, simple past (“went”, “did”, “saw”) is almost always the correct choice when writing about specific events. Present perfect is used differently: “I have never seen that movie.” “She has already finished her homework.”
What should I do when my child gets a marked essay back with lots of tense corrections?
Go through the corrections together and look for the pattern. Are they mostly forgetting past tense in a narrative? Are they mixing past and present? Once you know the pattern, it’s easy to set a specific rule to check next time. Use the corrections as a diagnostic, not just a grade.
Is it wrong to use present tense in a story?
Historical present (using present tense to tell a story for dramatic effect) is a legitimate literary technique. However, in school essays, unless the question or genre specifically calls for it, past tense is the standard for narrative writing. If your child is mixing tenses accidentally (not deliberately), that’s the issue — not the choice of tense itself.
GrammarEasy flags tense errors in your child’s essays and explains each mistake in Chinese — helping both you and your child understand the rule, not just the correction. Download free on the App Store.