10.1 Present and Past Tenses

Cambridge A2 Key KET

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1 Introduction & Exam Overview

1.1 What Is Cambridge A2 Key (KET)? 1.2 Exam Format: Three Papers 1.3 Who Takes A2 Key and How It Is Delivered 1.4 Study Hours and Preparation Path

2 Scoring, Grades & Results

2.1 The Cambridge English Scale 2.2 Grades A, B, C and Certificates 2.3 How Your Overall Score Is Calculated

3 Reading Parts 1–3: Understanding Texts

3.1 Reading Overview (Parts 1–5) 3.2 Reading Part 1: Short Texts and Main Message 3.3 Reading Part 2: Multiple Matching 3.4 Reading Part 3: Longer Text Detail and Gist

4 Reading Parts 4–5: Vocabulary and Grammar Cloze

4.1 Reading Part 4: Multiple-Choice Cloze 4.2 Collocations and Phrasal Verbs for Part 4 4.3 Reading Part 5: Open Cloze 4.4 Grammar Words for Open Cloze

5 Writing Part 6: Guided Message

5.1 Writing Overview (Parts 6–7) 5.2 Part 6 Guided Writing Task 5.3 Model Emails and Content-Point Checklists

6 Writing Part 7 & Assessment Criteria

6.1 Part 7 Picture Story 6.2 Narrative Language and Connectors 6.3 Writing Assessment: Content, Organisation, Language

7 Listening Parts 1–3

7.1 Listening Paper Overview 7.2 Listening Part 1: Short Dialogues and Pictures 7.3 Listening Part 2: Gap Fill Notes 7.4 Listening Part 3: Conversation Multiple Choice

8 Listening Parts 4–5 & Detail Skills

8.1 Listening Part 4: Gist and Main Message 8.2 Listening Part 5: Matching 8.3 Numbers, Times, Prices and Spelling

9 Speaking Test

9.1 Speaking Test Format 9.2 Speaking Part 1: Interview 9.3 Speaking Part 2: Discussion 9.4 Speaking Assessment Criteria

10 A2 Grammar Essentials

10.1 Present and Past Tenses 10.2 Future Forms, Modals and Obligation 10.3 Comparatives, Superlatives, Adverbs and Word Order 10.4 Questions, Negatives and There Is/Are

11 A2 Vocabulary Topics

11.1 People, Home and Daily Routines 11.2 Free Time, Hobbies, Travel and Transport 11.3 Food, Shopping, Money and Health 11.4 Places in Town, Services and Simple Technology

12 Functional Language for Exam Tasks

12.1 Requests, Offers, Invitations and Suggestions 12.2 Opinions, Agreeing, Disagreeing and Preferences 12.3 Describing People, Places and Events; Simple Narration

13 Exam Day and Test Strategy

13.1 Digital vs Paper-Based and the 2026 Change 13.2 What Happens on Exam Day 13.3 Full Practice Tests and Timing Plans

14 Results and Next Steps

14.1 Interpreting Your Statement of Results 14.2 From A2 Key to B1 Preliminary

10.1 Present and Past Tenses

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Use present simple for habits, facts, and permanent situations; use present continuous for actions happening now or around now and for temporary situations

State verbs such as like, want, know, and need usually take present simple, not continuous, at A2

Past simple describes finished past actions; form regular verbs with -ed and memorise high-frequency irregulars such as went, had, was/were, saw, and did

Time expressions signal the tense: every day / usually → present simple; now / at the moment → continuous; yesterday / last week / ago → past simple

In A2 Key, tense control appears in open cloze auxiliaries, Writing Part 6 and 7, Speaking answers, and Listening detail about when things happen

Last updated: July 2026

10.1 Present and Past Tenses

Quick Answer: At A2 Key, use present simple for habits and facts ( She works in a shop ), present continuous for now/temporary actions ( She is working now ), and past simple for finished past events ( She worked yesterday / She went home ). Match time expressions to the tense, keep state verbs mostly in simple forms, and control was/were , did , and common irregulars in writing and open cloze.

Tense is the grammar engine of everyday English. Almost every A2 Key paper part rewards candidates who can choose present simple , present continuous , and past simple with confidence. You do not need advanced perfect or continuous stacks for this exam. You need clear, accurate elementary tense control that examiners can trust in emails, picture stories, short answers, and one-word grammar gaps.

Why Tenses Matter Across the Whole Exam

Paper area How tense control helps
Reading Part 5 open cloze Gaps often need is / are / was / were / do / does / did / not or a missing verb form
Writing Part 6 Messages about routines, plans happening now, and past reasons ( I was ill yesterday )
Writing Part 7 Picture stories usually need past simple sequence ( First she woke up… Then she went… )

Speaking Part 1 What do you do every day? What did you do last weekend?

Listening Hearing yesterday / every morning / at the moment tells you which meaning to expect

If your verbs jump randomly between present and past, readers and examiners lose the timeline. At A2, timeline clarity beats fancy vocabulary .

Present Simple: Form and Use
Form table

Subject Affirmative Negative Question

I / you / we / they work do not (don't) work Do you work?

he / she / it works does not (doesn't) work Does she work?

Spelling notes (A2 essentials)
Add -s for he/she/it: play → plays , live → lives
es after -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, -o: watch → watches , go → goes
Consonant + y → -ies : study → studies (but play → plays )
Main meanings at A2

Habits and routines: I get up at seven every day.

Facts and permanent situations: Water boils at 100°C. She lives in Madrid.

Timetables and scheduled events (simple future-like use): The train leaves at 9.15.

Likes, opinions, and states: He likes pizza. I think it’s good.

High-value time expressions for present simple
always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day/week, on Mondays, in the morning, once a week

Exam link — Speaking: How often do you watch films? Answer with present simple + frequency: I usually watch a film on Saturday.

Exam link — Writing Part 6: If a content point is about a habit ( say what you do at weekends ), present simple is the natural choice.

Present Continuous: Form and Use
Form table

Subject Affirmative Negative Question

I am working am not working Am I working?

he / she / it is working is not (isn't) working Is she working?

you / we / they are working are not (aren't) working Are they working?

Spelling of -ing
Drop final silent e: write → writing
Double final consonant in short stressed patterns: swim → swimming , run → running
Keep y: play → playing , study → studying
Main meanings at A2

Actions happening now: Please be quiet. The baby is sleeping.

Temporary situations around now: I am staying with my aunt this week.

Changing situations (light A2 use): The weather is getting colder.

Future arrangements (common in messages): We are meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

High-value time expressions for present continuous

now, right now, at the moment, today, this week, this month, Look! / Listen!

Present simple vs continuous: the decision test

Question to ask Prefer
Is it a habit or permanent fact? Present simple
Is it happening now or only temporary? Present continuous
Is it a timetable (train, film, class)? Present simple
Is it a personal arrangement already fixed? Present continuous (or going to —see 10.2)
Contrast pairs to memorise
She works in a hospital. (job = permanent) vs She is working tonight. (this evening only)

I live in London. vs I am living with friends until July.

He usually walks to school. vs He is walking today because the bus is late.

State Verbs vs Action Verbs

At A2, treat these state verbs as normally simple, not continuous :

Group Common verbs
Likes / feelings like, love, hate, prefer, want, need
Thinking / knowing know, think (opinion), understand, remember, believe
Senses / possession (basic) hear, see (often), have (possession), own
Being be, seem

Correct: I like this film. She wants a sandwich. He knows the answer.

Wrong at A2 target: I am liking this film. She is wanting a sandwich.

Careful with have :

Possession → simple: I have two brothers.

Activity phrase → continuous possible: I am having lunch now.

Careful with think :

Opinion → simple: I think the blue bag is better.

Mental activity now → continuous possible: Wait—I am thinking about the answer.

State-verb mistakes often appear when candidates overuse continuous because they “heard it sounds active.” For Key level, simple is safer with like/want/know/need.

Past Simple: Form and Use
Regular verbs

Add -ed (or -d if the verb already ends in e):

Base Past Notes
work worked standard
live lived -e + d
stop stopped double consonant
study studied y → ied
play played vowel + y keeps y
High-frequency irregulars (must-know A2 list)

Base Past Base Past
be was / were go went
have had do did
get got make made
come came see saw
take took give gave
find found buy bought
eat ate drink drank
write wrote read read (same spelling, /red/)
say said tell told
leave left meet met
feel felt put put
think thought know knew
Past simple auxiliaries

Function Form Example

Negative did not (didn't) + base She didn't go.

Question Did + subject + base? Did they arrive?

be negative was not / were not I wasn't tired. They weren't at home.

be question Was / Were + subject…? Was he late? Were you OK?

Critical error trap: after did/didn't , use the base form , not past:

✅ Did you go? ❌ Did you went?

✅ I didn't see it. ❌ I didn't saw it.

Meanings

Use past simple for finished actions and situations in the past :

I visited my grandma yesterday.

We lived in Rome in 2019.

She bought a ticket last night.

Time expressions for past simple

yesterday, last night/week/month/year, … ago (two days ago), in 2020, when I was a child, this morning (if the morning is finished), on Monday (past Monday in context)

Was / Were Control

Subject Past of be
I / he / she / it was
you / we / they were
There is/are past: There was a problem. There were two buses. (expanded in 10.4)

Open cloze loves was/were gaps. Check subject number before you write the word.

Light Note on Used to (A2-relevant, not core)

You may meet used to + base for past habits that are not true now :

I used to play tennis, but now I swim.

At A2 Key you are not expected to master full used to question/negative systems for high marks, but recognising the meaning helps Reading and Listening. For productive Writing Part 7, past simple is still the default storytelling tense: First she woke up. Then she had breakfast. Prefer I lived in Italy over forcing I used to live… unless you are sure of the form.

Error Traps Table

Trap Wrong example Correct

Missing -s She work hard. She works hard.

Continuous for habit I am usually going by bus. I usually go by bus.

State verb continuous I am wanting tea. I want tea.

did + past form Did you went? Did you go?

was/were mix They was happy. They were happy.

Wrong time signal Yesterday I go shopping. Yesterday I went shopping.

Story in mixed tenses She walks to the park and bought ice cream. Keep past: walked … bought
Open cloze do/does He ___ not like fish → do does
Exam Task Mini-Drills
Open cloze style
She ___ not work on Sundays. → does
They ___ watching a film at the moment. → are
___ you see the email yesterday? → Did
I ___ tired after the long walk last night. → was
Writing Part 6

Prompt idea: apologise and say why you missed a meeting.

Strong: I am sorry I missed the meeting. I was ill yesterday.

(Present for the apology situation + past for the finished reason.)
Writing Part 7

Three pictures: wake up → bus → arrive late.

Strong spine: First, Maya woke up late. Then she ran to the bus. Finally, she arrived at school after nine.

Speaking Part 1
What do you do every morning? → present simple routine
What are you studying this year? → present continuous temporary course
What did you do last weekend? → past simple finished weekend
Practice Plan for Tenses

Daily 10-minute form drill: one day present simple -s, next day irregular past list, next day did + base .

Rewrite drill: take five present simple habits and rewrite as yesterday past simple.

Story spine: narrate three pictures only in past simple before adding adjectives.

Cloze collection: keep a notebook of gaps that needed is/are/was/were/do/does/did .

Speaking card: answer every day / now / last week questions without translating word by word.

One-Page Memory Card

Meaning Form
Habit / fact Present simple ( works / don't / does )
Now / temporary Present continuous ( is working )
Finished past Past simple ( worked / went / didn't go )
State (like/want/know) Prefer simple
Past of be was/were

Master these three tenses first. Section 10.2 adds future forms and modals that sit on top of this foundation; Section 10.4 shows how the same auxiliaries build questions and negatives cleanly.