WEEK 6 – Verbs: Tense, 4 Principle Parts

WEEK 6 – Verbs:  Tense, 4 Principle Parts

TENSE

Tense means “time” and refers to the time shown by the verb.  In addition to past, present, and future, but verb tenses also include past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect.

–   Present tense:  This verb implies habitual action, action that occurs over a period of time, and tells the reader that the subject may have done this in the past and may continue to do it in the future.  It is used to show action happening now, action that happens as a regular occurrence, action that is historical, and action that indicates the future.

            Examples:

                        Jackson runs a fishing business in Florida. (action happening now)

                        Bill Woods is traveling to Argentina.  (action happening now)

                        Steve visits Ireland very six months.  (action as a regular occurrence)

                        Babe Ruth strides to the plate.  (historical present)

                        The weather man said it is going to rain.  (present tense for the future)

                       

–   Past tense:  The action is completed, over, done with, and completed.  Use of the past tense implies that perhaps the action will not occur again.

            Examples:        

                        Doug once caught a Yellow-fin tuna.

                        My uncle fought in World War II.

–   Future tense:  This verb indicates later time but also implies a continuance or an extension.  The action has not happened yet but some time later it will.

            Examples:        

                        Hugh will never forgive me for being a better fisherman.

                        The Smiths will start a college fund for their daughter.

                        I will bake a pie for dinner.

                       

–   Present perfect:  This verb shows a completed action begun in the past extending to the present time.  The writer implies that he has done something and will continue to do it.  It also implies time that is continuous or sporadic but that happens many times.

            Examples:

                        I have attended CHAT for 3 years.

Because of his musical passions, James has practiced daily for the last twelve years.

Joe Clark has opened another store in the area.

You have missed your chance to go to the concert.

–   Past perfect tense:    A verb in past perfect tense shows a completed action just as the simple past does; however, the past perfect also places this completed action before some other past action that occurred later.  Both are completed actions: one happened before the other.

            Examples:        

Sally had had many opportunities to make a lot of money but preferred live a simple life.

My mother complained that I had not cleaned my room.

Before he consulted a doctor, Mr. Brown had experienced only minor chest pains.

Authors sometimes use the past perfect to guide the reader into a flashback, a literary device to recall past events even thought the story is now in the present.  Once in the past, the past perfect may be abandoned for the simple past tense.

–   Future perfect:  This verb indicates a time in the future completed before some other completed time in the future.  Future perfect, showing action that has not taken place, can also be expressed by the simple future, consequently, may writers don’t use the future perfect.

            Examples:        

President Clinton will have written twelve books by the time he is seventy years old.

By Memorial Day, Fort McHenry will have hosted several thousand visitors.

Melissa will have attended eighteen concerts by Christmas time.

           

Note:  For the sake of this section, a short review of verb tenses will be helpful.

Infinitive	to fight	to cook	to sing	to write
Present	fight	cook	sing	write
Past	fought	cooked	sang	wrote
Future	will fight	will cook	will sing	will write
Present perfect	has fought	has cooked	has sung	has written
Past perfect	had fought	had cooked	had sung	had written
Future perfect	will have fought	will have cooked	will have sung	will have written
Progressive	is/are fighting	is/are cooking	is/are singing	is/are writing

4 PRINICIPLE PARTS

Every verb in English is composed of 4 principle parts:

            Present stem:  for forming the present and future tenses

            Past tense

            Past participle:  for forming the perfect tenses

            Present participle:  for forming the progressive mood

Examples

Present Stem	Past Tense	Past Participle	Present Participle
bring	brought	brought	bringing
sing	sang	sung	singing
dive	dived or dove	dived or dove	diving
run	ran	run	running
hang	hung (a picture)	hung	hanging
hang	hanged (a person)	hung	hanging
cast	cast	cast	casting