2. VERB TENSE CONSISTENCY
Verb
•express actions, events, or states of being
e.g : run , listen , talk , jump
Tense
•a form of a verb
•refers to how a verb shows the time of happening in the sentence.
(past or present)
Marked by inflection of the verb.(walks,walked,describes)
e.g:
He called her last night.(past)
Raju talks to his friend about her.(present)
3. Future?
How do we form it?
•Usually marked in the verb phrase with:
-Modal auxiliary-(will , shall)
-Semi-modal/semi auxiliary(be going to)
e.g :
The person in charged will announce about it shortly.
He’s going to see it.
•Semi modal/semi auxiliary can be used for past and present tense.
used for Past tense(was/were going to)
-refers to a projected future time seen from a point in the past . e.g :
It was in the summer holidays and John was going to start school.
4. Aspect
expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration
3 aspects: indefinite (or simple), complete (or perfect), continuing (or progressive).
Simple/indefinite tenses
•describe an action but do not state whether the action is finished:
•when the beginning or ending of an action/event/condition is unknown or unimportant
to the meaning of the sentence.
•indicate an habitual or repeated action
the simple past ("I went")
the simple present ("I go")
the simple future ("I will go")
David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday.
5. complete tenses/perfect tenses
•describe a finished action
•indicates that the end of the action/ event/condition is known
the past perfect ("I had gone")
the present perfect ("I have gone")
the future perfect ("I will have gone")
David has fallen in love.
Incomplete tenses, or progressive tenses
•describe an unfinished action.
•indicates that the action/event/condition is ongoing in the present, the past or the future.
the past progressive ("I was going")
the present progressive ("I am going")
the future progressive ("I will be going")
David is falling in love.
6. In short,
Three basic tenses:
•present
•Past
•Future
Each tense has 3 aspects :
•a perfect form(indicating completed action)
•a progressive form(indicating ongoing action)
•a perfect progressive form(indicating ongoing action that will be
completed at some definite time.)
7. Simple Forms Progressive Forms
Perfect Forms Perfect Progressive Fo
Present take/s am/is/are taking have/has taken have/has been taking
Past took was/were taking had taken had been taking
will have been
Future will/shall take will be taking will have taken
taking
8. Present Tense
SIMPLE FORMS
Future Tense
Simple past Tense
9. Present Tense
•expresses an unchanging, repeated/reoccurring action/situation that
exists only now & a widespread truth.
Example Meaning Timeline
The mountains are tall and Unchanging action
white.
Reoccurring action
Every year, the school council
elects new members.
Widespread truth/facts/
Pb is the chemical symbol for generalization
lead.
10. Past Tense
•expresses an action or situation that was started & finished in the
past.
•Most past tense verbs end in -ed.(regular form)
•The irregular verbs (irregular form)have special past tense forms
(must be memorized)
Example Form Timeline
W.W.II ended in 1945. Regular -ed past
Ernest Hemmingway wrote
"The Old Man and the Irregular form
Sea."
11. Future Tense
•expresses an action/situation that will occur in the future.
•formed by using will/shall with the simple form of the verb.
The speaker of the House will finish her term in May of 1998.
•can also be expressed by using am, is, or are with going to.
The surgeon is going to perform the first bypass in Minnesota.
12. •can also use the present tense form with an adverb or adverbial
phrase to show future time.
The president speaks tomorrow. (Tomorrow is a future time
adverb.)
14. Present Progressive Tense
•describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time
the statement is written.
•formed by using am/is/are with the verb form ending in -ing.
The sociologist is examining the effects that racial
discrimination has on society.
15. Past Progressive Tense
•describes a past action which was happening when another
action occurred.
•formed by using was/were with the verb form ending in
-ing.
The explorer was explaining the lastest discovery in
Egypt when protests began on the streets.
16. Future Progressive Tense
•describes an ongoing or continuous action that will take place in
the future.
•formed by using will be or shall be with the verb form ending in
-ing.(
Dr. Jones will be presenting ongoing research on sexist
language next week.
18. Present Perfect Tense
•describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past
and continues in the present.
•formed by using has/have with the past participle of the verb.
•Most past participles end in -ed.
• Irregular verbs have special past participles that must be memorized.
19. Example Meaning Timeline
The researchers have
traveled to many countries
At an indefinite time
in order to collect more
significant data.
Women have voted in
Continues in the
presidential elections since
present
1921.
20. Past Perfect Tense
•describes an action that took place in the past before
another past action.
• formed by using had with the past participle of the verb.
By the time the troops arrived, the war had ended.
21. Future Perfect Tense
• describes an action that will occur in the future before some
other action.
•formed by using will have with the past participle of the verb.
By the time the troops arrive, the combat group will have
spent several weeks waiting
