👩‍🏫 Teacher Guidance

Use this 12-minute quick guide to introduce or review time markers with your class.
Check answers together after learners complete all 12 practice items.

🎓 Learner Guidance

Read the 4 easy rules and example sentences first to understand the pattern.
Next, try the 12 practice tasks from top to bottom to check your understanding.

In means counting forward from now to a moment in the future.

We use it with will, going to, or the present continuous when something is coming next.

Topic Examples:

• The sunbeam will touch the prism in ten minutes.

• A violet ray is going to hit the droplet in an hour.

Ago means counting back from now to a moment in the past.

We use it only with the past simple (like left or finished) for things that already finished.

Topic Examples:

• The double arc appeared ten minutes ago.

• The beautiful violet arc faded two hours ago.

For tells us how long an action lasts from start to finish.

It does not count from right now, so it works with past, present or future.

Topic Examples:

• The reflection stayed on the wall for an hour.

• We watched the prism for five minutes.

Put in before the time and ago after the time.

Never say "ten minutes in" or "ago ten minutes", and never put in and ago together.

Topic Examples:

• The sunbeam will move in ten minutes.

• The beautiful reflection started ten minutes ago.

1. Choose the correct sentence about the sunbeam: (tense)

2. Choose the correct sentence about the violet ray: (words)

3. Choose the correct sentence about the double arc: (lasts)

4. Change the time word from in to ago and change the verb to fit: (tense)

Original: "The sunbeam will reach the horizon in ten minutes."

5. Change the time word from ago to in and change the verb to fit: (tense)

Original: "The violet ray appeared ten minutes ago."

6. Change the time word from in to ago and change the verb to fit: (tense)

Original: "The reflection will change in an hour."

7. Fill in the blank: (position)

"Look! The sun will set below the horizon ____ two minutes."

8. Fill in the blank: (position)

"The rain stopped, and a beautiful arc showed up ten minutes ____ ."

9. Fill in the blank: (lasts)

"The sun shone on the water droplet ____ ten minutes before disappearing."

10. Correct the underlined error phrase: (order)

11. Correct the underlined error phrase: (future)

12. Correct the underlined error phrase: (length)