English Verbs, Tense, & Aspect
Forms of verbs: example EAT
FINITE
past
ate
present
1/2/3pl
eat
NON-FINITE
3sg
eats
infini=ve
par=ciple
present
to
past
base/bare
infinitive infinitive participle participle
eating
to eat
eaten
eat
Forms of verbs: example GO
FINITE
past
went
present
1/2/3pl
go
NON-FINITE
3sg
goes
infinitive
participle
present
to
past
base/bare
infinitive infinitive participle participle
going
to go
gone
go
Forms of verbs: example KISS
FINITE
present
1/2/3pl
kiss
NON-FINITE
past infinitive
kissed
par=ciple
present
to
past
base/bare
3sg
infinitive participle participle
kisses infini=ve
to kiss kissing
kissed
kiss
Classes of English Verbs
• Pedagogical grammars often
distinguish main verbs from
‘helping verbs’
– John has been eating shrimp
– John may eat some shrimp.
– John did not eat shrimp.
• The technical term for a helping
verb is an auxiliary.
Verb
-Aux
-Mod
– Modal auxiliaries: will, should, can...
Aspect
– Non-modal auxiliaries:
• Aspectual auxiliaries: HAVE, BE
• Support auxiliaries: DO
+Aux
+Mod
Support
Aspect + Tense
• In the English present tense, there is a distinction
between continuous and non-continuous aspect.
– non-continuous: ‘simple present’
• (She studies English.)
– continuous: ‘present continuous’
• (She is studying English.)
• Depending on the type of verb, the differences in
meaning can be very large, or
– I smoke. (=I smoke habitually.)
– I am smoking (=I am smoking right now.)
Aspect + Tense
• In the English present tense, there is a
distinction between continuous and noncontinuous aspect.
– non-continuous: ‘simple present’
• (I study English.)
– continuous: ‘present continuous’
• (I am studying English.)
Aspect + Tense
• There is also a distinction between perfect and
non-perfect aspect. Both the simple present and
present continuous are non-perfect. Two other
forms are perfect:
– present perfect
• I have eaten in the restaurant across the street four times.
– present perfect continuous
• I have been eating in the restaurant across the street lately.
• Note that while both the present perfect and the present
perfect continuous are present tense, they are used to talk
about things that happened in the past from the
perspective of the present.
Talking about the present
• Simple Present versus Present continuous
– Simple Present → habitual activity
– Present continuous → ongoing (at this moment)
activity
ØDo you eat meat? versus Are you eating meat?
Exception to remember: ‘stative’ verbs like
own or understand are never continuous.
Ways to talk about the present
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
All the other 6 forms are actually
‘past tense’ forms, in that they are
used to talk about the past.
Dynamic Verbs
(also called ‘Normal’ verbs)
In English grammar a ‘dynamic verb’
means that the verb describes an
activity or event rather than a state.
Every morning, Joe chases the bus.
Right now, Joe is chasing the bus.
Dynamic verbs use the simple
present to describe habitual action
and the present continuous to
describe ongoing action.
Dynamic verbs use the simple past
to describe actions that began and
ended in the past, and past
Yesterday, Joe chased the bus.
continuouss to describe actions
When I saw Joe, he was chasing the bus. that were in progress at some
point in the past.
Stative verbs
(also called ‘Non-Continuous’ verbs)
In English grammar a ‘stative verb’
means that the verb describes a
state rather than an action.
Stative verbs use the simple
present to describe habitual action
OR to describe ongoing action.
Stative verbs use the simple past
to describe actions that began
and ended in the past, OR actions
that were in progress at some in
the past.
Every day, Jack wants ice cream.
Right now, Jack wants ice cream.
Yesterday, Jack wanted ice cream.
When I saw Jack, he wanted ice cream.
STATIVE VERBS CANNOT APPEAR
WITH CONTINUOUS ASPECT!
Dual verbs
(also called ‘Mixed’ verbs)
Dual verbs usually have more than
one meaning. When they are used as
dynamic verbs, they mean one thing,
when they are used as stative verbs,
they mean something different.
The woman is tasting a lemon.
(Dynamic)
Ø She is experiencing the taste...
The lemon tastes sour. (Stative)
Ø It has a sour taste.
Examples of dynamic verbs
• Most verbs are dynamic, even those that don’t
involve any movement or ‘action’.
What are you doing?
I’m am...
looking at the stars.
sleeping.
meditating.
getting my hair cut.
waiting for the bus.
sitting in a chair.
ignoring you!
VERB
Examples of stative verbs
CORRECT
NOT CORRECT
VERB
Examples of stative verbs
CORRECT
NOT CORRECT
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
con,nuous
Perfect
̶
All the other 6 forms are actually
‘past tense’ forms, in that they are
used to talk about the past.
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He has (never) eaten meat (before).
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He has been eating meat (recently).
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He ate meat (then/there).
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He was eating meat (at a certain time and/or
when something else happened or while
something else was happening).
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He had (already) eaten meat (before X).
Ways to talk about the past
Present
Past
̶
simple present
simple past
+
̶
present continuous
past continuous
̶
+
present perfect
past perfect
+
+
present perfect continuous
past perfect continuous
continuous
Perfect
̶
He had been eating meat (right up until and/or
right before something else happened).
Every clause has at least one verb,
and…
• Rule 1: The first verb in the sentence must be
past or present tense.
• Rule 2: If a verb follows a modal or DO, it
must be a bare infinitive.
• Rule 3: If a verb follows HAVE, it must be a
past participle.
• Rule 4: If a verb follows BE, it must be…
– a present participle if it is an active verb.
– a past participle if it is a passive verb.
Modal
or
DO
Base form
HAVE
Past
participle
BE
Pres
(active) participle
•
•
•
•
•
•
He will eat shrimp.
He did not eat shrimp.
He has eaten shrimp.
He has been eating shrimp.
He could have been eating.
The shrimp might have been eaten.
BE
Past
participle
(passive)
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