Simple Present, Simple Past, Simple Future	→	Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect
↓		↓
Present Progressive, Past Progressive, Future Progressive	→	Present Perfect Progressive, Past Perfect Progressive, Future Perfect Progressive

• A Perfect Tense is formed with some part of the verb HAVE (have, had, has)
• A Progressive Tense is formed with some part of the verb BE (is, are, was, were, etc.).
• A Present Progressive tense is formed both with HAVE and BE.

An Example: The Verb EAT

Simple Present	Simple Past	Simple Future	Present Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Perfect
He eats.	She ate.	He will eat.	She has eaten.	He had eaten.	She will have eaten.
Present Progressive	Past Progressive	Future Progressive	Present Perfect Progressive	Past Perfect Progressive	Future Perfect Progressive
She is eating.	He was eating.	She will be eating.	He has been eating.	She had been eating.	He will have been eating.

In addition to TENSE, verbs have three other qualities:

• Aspect. This refers to whether the action was completed or not. A verb’s aspect can be progressive or nonprogressive.

• Voice. Voice can be either active or passive. If the voice of the verb is passive, it will be formed with some part of the verb BE. What distinguishes the passive from the active voice is that in the active voice, the DOER of the action (of the verb) is subject of the verb (“Sophie ate her food.”). If the DOER of the verb is not the subject of the sentence, the verb is in the passive voice. (“The food was eaten by Sophie.”) Caution: Always determine the voice of the verb first. Because the passive voice is always formed by the verb BE followed by the past participle of the verb, it can be confused with one of the progressive tenses. Keep in mind that the concept of voice is separate from the concept of tense.

  • Mood. Mood refers to manner in which a verb is expressed: a verb’s mood shows whether the sentence is conveying a fact, a desire, a possibility or probability, or a command. In traditional terms, there are five moods:

  • The indicative is the most common; it simply expresses something as a fact.

  • The imperative is for orders (“Sit down!”).

  • The conditional brings up only the possibility or probability that something might occur. It uses the modals such as could or would.

  • The subjunctive expresses something contrary to fact, and it used in sentences after an imperative.
    The mood of a verb in English is expresses mainly by the use or absence of modals (can/could, should/would, may/might, must/have to, etc.). The subjunctive mood in English, however, has its own form, which is pretty much as the same form in the indicative, except for the third-person singular and the verb BE. The following patterns are noteworthy:

    After a verb expressing a command, order, recommendation, or demand:	In if-then phrases, when the statement is contrary to fact and it is some form of the verb BE.
    The parking committee voted that Sue pay the ticket. The teacher demanded that he be on time. The professor recommended that she buy the book.	If I were you, I would surrender myself immediately. If Joe were here, he would agree with me.

    In the last pattern above (on the right side), the if clause uses the subjunctive mood, and the main clause uses the conditional mood. Contrast with “If I am not here by 6:00 pm, start without me” (indicative mood, followed by the imperative).

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Main English 201 Page.

Posted 02/04/2005 08:12 AM