Grammatical
Summary
Verb Formation
The English language has a wide menu of verb
tenses to describe the happenings or states of being of the
noun phrases in a sentence. What follows is a very brief
overview of verb tenses, formation, and use.
Simple Tenses
An English verb formation can consist of one
word, as in the "simple present" and "simple
past" tenses. In the first sentence below, the present
tense eats expresses a fact that
is a habitual action. In the second sentence, the past tense
shocked expresses an event that
occurred as some point in the past.
I eat
turnips.
The news shocked the nation.
The "simple future tense" is really
the combination of the helping (modal) verb will
along with the plain (base) form of the main verb:
Sara will
receive her diploma next May.
Progressive Verb Tenses
The progressive verb tenses are composed of
an -ing form of the main verb following
a helping (auxiliary) verb, specifically a form of the verb
be. These formations describe an
event in process. The first sentence expresses a present event
in process. The second sentence expresses an event that was
in process in the past.
Joanne is
making a quilt.
Sally was working as a receptionist
until she moved.
Perfect Verb Tenses
The "perfect verb tenses" are composed
of a form of the auxiliary verb have
followed by the -ed or -en
form of the main verb. The "present perfect" can express
an event that started in the past and still continues into the
present:
Bob has worked at NTID for twenty
years.
The "past perfect" can be used in
a sentence when two past events are compared. In the next sentence,
both events are in the past, but the past perfect had
danced signals that this event occurred prior to Twyla's
becoming a manicurist:
Twyla had
danced with the ballet for many
years before she became a manicurist.
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