Verb Forms and Tenses

Verb Forms and Tenses. Adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon.

Verb Forms. Every English verb except “(to) be” has five forms, which vary depending on whether the verb is regular (such as “type” and “text”) or irregular (such as “write”)..

Verb Forms and Tenses. Verb tense is the ability of a verb to indicate the time at which an action takes place. Verb forms are the tools you’ll use to create tenses..

Use present tense. in universally true statements not limited to a particular time: The Sun is ninety-three million miles from Earth. in definitions: Hardware is the physical system of a computer. in statements about the content of literature and other published works: Hamlet appears extremely indecisive..

Use present tense. for events that are currently happening: I am really mad at Anthony. Andrea attends mass every week..

now/the present. the distant future. the distant past.

now/the present. the distant future. the near future.

now/the present. the distant future. the near future.

Use past tense. for an earlier action: Marvin bought the car..

Use past perfect tense. for an earlier action that is mentioned after a later action: Marvin bought the car that he had seen advertised online..

Use future tense. for an action that will be completed: I will graduate from college..

Use future perfect tense. for an action that will have been completed at a specific future time in relation to another specific time: By 2020, I will have graduated from college..

Mood. Mood enables verbs to express how the speaker or writer regards the sentence. Mood can express attitudes, intentions, commands, wishes, recommendations, and possibilities..

Use subjunctive mood. to express a condition contrary to fact or a wish: If I were President, I’d work with Congress to protect the environment. You are not the President. You’ll have to protect the environment without the help of Congress. The CFO would have been terminated a long time ago were she not the CEO’s niece. The CFO is the CEO’s niece, so she’s still hanging around..

Use subjunctive mood. to express insistence, importance, necessity, or urgency after the word “that”: It is important that you be on time. We demand that the company do something about its toxic waste. The syllabus requires that each student write a research paper. Note: Use the base form of a verb (e.g. “be” instead of “are”) because if you use the present form the problem isn’t urgent – the person is already doing what you’ve asked!.