Tenses of the verb: tense, aspect and mood
Principal parts and irregular verbs, the twelve tenses built from time and aspect, the present perfect and simple past, stative verbs, time signals, reported speech and conditionals, modals, the subjunctive, and common errors of Filipino learners.
Time, tense and aspect
Every language talks about time, but languages mark it differently. English marks time on the verb in two ways. Tense places an event in time by changing the verb's form: walk / walked. Aspect shows how the speaker views the event, as complete, ongoing or both, by adding auxiliaries: is walking, has walked, has been walking. Filipino marks aspect much more than tense (kumain, kumakain, kakain), which is why the English system is one of the hardest areas for Filipino learners and one of the most tested areas on the LET.
- Principal parts – the base form, past form and past participle of a verb, from which every tense is built.
- Tense – the grammatical marking of time on the verb; strictly, English has two tenses, present and past.
- Aspect – the view of an event as simple, progressive (ongoing) or perfect (completed before a reference point).
- Mood – the speaker's attitude to the event: indicative (fact), imperative (command) or subjunctive (wish, hypothesis, demand).
- Modal – an auxiliary such as can, may, must, should, will that adds ability, possibility, obligation or prediction.
1. The principal parts
Every verb has five forms: the base (write), the -s form (writes), the past (wrote), the present participle (writing) and the past participle (written). Three of them, the base, past and past participle, are called the principal parts, because the other forms are predictable from them.
Regular verbs form both the past and the past participle with -ed: walk – walked – walked. Irregular verbs, around 200 of them and many of the most common, do not.
| Pattern | Base – Past – Past participle |
|---|---|
| All three the same | cut – cut – cut; put – put – put; hit, cost, let, set, shut, spread |
| Past = participle | bring – brought – brought; teach – taught – taught; buy, catch, think, sell, tell, leave |
| Base = participle | come – came – come; run – ran – run; become |
| All three different | write – wrote – written; go – went – gone; begin – began – begun; swim – swam – swum; choose – chose – chosen; forget – forgot – forgotten |
| Easily confused | lie – lay – lain (recline); lay – laid – laid (put down); rise – rose – risen; raise – raised – raised; hang – hanged – hanged (execute) vs hang – hung – hung (suspend) |
2. Twelve tenses from three times and four aspects
Strictly, English has only two tenses marked on the verb itself, present and past; the future uses the modal will or be going to. School grammar, and the LET, combine the three times with four aspects to name twelve tenses.
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | Perfect progressive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | writes | is writing | has written | has been writing |
| Past | wrote | was writing | had written | had been writing |
| Future | will write | will be writing | will have written | will have been writing |
What each aspect means
- Simple – the event as a whole, a habit or a general truth: Water boils at 100 °C. She teaches Grade 4. We visited Vigan last year.
- Progressive – an event in progress at a reference time, often temporary: She is teaching right now. We were eating when the lights went out.
- Perfect – an event completed before a reference time and relevant to it: I have finished my report (so I can submit it now). The bus had left before we arrived.
- Perfect progressive – an ongoing event that started before a reference time and continues up to it, stressing duration: She has been teaching for twenty years. They had been waiting for an hour when the jeepney came.
Present perfect or simple past?
This is the most tested contrast. The simple past is for a finished time: I saw that film yesterday. The present perfect connects the past to now and does not take a finished-time expression: I have seen that film (at some time up to now), but *I have seen that film yesterday is wrong.
Stative verbs
Verbs of state, such as know, believe, understand, own, belong, want, like, seem, are not normally used in the progressive: I know the answer, not *I am knowing. Some verbs change meaning: I think so (opinion) but I am thinking about it (mental activity); She has a car but She is having lunch.
3. Time signals
| Tense | Common signals |
|---|---|
| Simple present | always, usually, often, every day, on Mondays |
| Present progressive | now, right now, at the moment, currently, Look! |
| Present perfect | already, yet, just, ever, never, so far, since 2020, for three years |
| Simple past | yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago, when I was young |
| Past perfect | before, after, by the time (with a past event), already (with a past reference) |
| Future | tomorrow, next year, soon, in two days |
| Future perfect | by tomorrow, by next June, by the time you arrive |
Since takes a starting point (since Monday, since 2015); for takes a length of time (for two days). In a time or condition clause about the future, English uses the simple present, not will: I will call you when I arrive, not *when I will arrive.
4. Sequence of tenses and conditionals
In reported speech after a past reporting verb, the tense usually shifts back one step: "I am tired," she said → She said that she was tired; "I have finished" → he said he had finished; will → would. A general truth may keep the present: The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.
| Conditional | If-clause | Main clause | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero | simple present | simple present | a general truth: If you heat ice, it melts. |
| First | simple present | will + base | a real future possibility: If it rains, we will stay home. |
| Second | simple past (were) | would + base | unreal now: If I were rich, I would build a school. |
| Third | past perfect | would have + participle | unreal past: If she had studied, she would have passed. |
5. Modals and mood
The modals are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would (with ought to). They take no -s, are followed by the base form, and form questions and negatives without do: She can swim. Can she swim? She cannot swim. *She cans swim and *She can swims are errors.
- Ability: can, could – She can speak three languages.
- Permission: may, can – You may leave now.
- Possibility: may, might, could – It might rain later.
- Obligation and necessity: must, have to – Students must wear their IDs.
- Advice: should, ought to – You should see a doctor.
- Logical deduction: must (certain), can't (impossible) – The lights are off; they must be asleep. For the past: must have + participle – She must have left already.
Mood shows the speaker's attitude. The indicative states facts and asks questions; the imperative gives commands (Close the door.); the subjunctive expresses wishes, hypotheses and demands. The subjunctive survives in two forms:
- Were for every person in unreal statements: If I were you, I would apologize. I wish she were here.
- The base form after verbs and adjectives of demand, suggestion and necessity: The principal insists that every teacher submit the grades on time. It is essential that he be present.
6. Notes for Filipino learners
- Present perfect with a finished time: *I have gone to Manila last week → I went to Manila last week.
- Double past marking: *Did you went? → Did you go? After did, use the base form.
- Missing -s: *She teach English → She teaches English.
- Progressive with stative verbs: *I am having a car → I have a car.
- Overusing the past perfect for any past event: *I had eaten breakfast this morning → I ate breakfast this morning. Use the past perfect only for the earlier of two past events.
- Future in time clauses: *When he will arrive, tell me → When he arrives, tell me.