Verb Forms and Tenses

Grammar

Verb Forms and Tenses

Verb tenses include past, present, and future, and each tense includes variations or forms, including simple, perfect, continuous, or perfect continuous. Many verb tenses require one or more helping verbs in addition to the main verb. For instance, for “Aralai will be eating…” will and be are helping verbs for the main verb eating.

Simple represents rather straightforward actions in the past, present, or future:

Aralai ate all her breakfast. Aralai eats with both hands. Aralai will eat with a fork one day.

Perfect represents actions in reference to other points in time. For past, present, and future, note the other time reference in italics:

Aralai had eaten applesauce before breakfast. Aralai has eaten applesauce every day this month. Aralai will have eaten a carload of applesauce by year’s end.

Continuous represents ongoing actions. For past, present, and future, note the ongoing actions alongside other events/actions in italics:

Aralai was eating when I arrived. Aralai is eating applesauce as we speak. Aralai will be eating applesauce during our car ride this evening.

Perfect Continuous combines elements of perfect and continuous to represent ongoing actions in reference to other points in time. For past, present, and future, note the other time reference in italics:

Aralai had been eating applesauce before someone gave her apple pie. Aralai has been eating applesauce since she turned one. Aralai will have been eating applesauce for a year when she eventually turns two.

Each tense aims to communicate a precise idea, one often dependent on ideas that come before, during, or after. Do you want to communicate that the action is ongoing, has stopped, or will occur? Or that it generally happens, often has happened, or will happen only once some other condition is met?

For example, suppose that over the past couple weeks I have noticed a skin rash flaring up from time to time, so I go to a doctor for a check-up. The doctor may ask me:

What have you been eating lately?

The doctor is using past perfect continuous to question a past ongoing state of being. The doctor doesn’t simply want to know, “What did you eat?” (past simple, as if once or only in the past) because the rash has occurred more than once over a period of time. Even “What were you eating?” (past continuous) doesn’t work because at this point in the conversation, we haven’t established any other time reference point. But let’s say I tell the doctor, “I’ve been eating a lot of nuts recently.” Follow-up questions might then use another form:

Past continuous: When you noticed a rash, were you eating nuts?

Past perfect continuous: Before you noticed a rash, had you been eating nuts?

In those two examples, the doctor has identified past points in time (italicized) that the following verbs now relate to, coordinate with. Note that each iteration says something slightly different: in Past continuous, the doctor is asking if I noticed a rash while eating (during that action, with the action ongoing right when I noticed a rash); in Past perfect continuous, the doctor is asking if I noticed a rash right after my eating of the nuts (after that ongoing action had stopped).

Colloquially, such expressions are now often used interchangeably (along with interchanging when and before), so that we might hear, “Before you noticed a rash, were you eating nuts?” Our minds can quickly make the correct assumptions here, but technically speaking, that sentence is not as precise because the act of eating nuts could have occurred at any time preceding the rash (not right before)—a question that would not be helpful for a doctor trying to diagnose what event caused an immediate (or near immediate) reaction. For similar reasons, the following Past simples wouldn’t be helpful:

When you noticed a rash, did you eat nuts? (this question asks if I ate nuts as soon as I noticed a rash [ie, after eating], which wouldn’t be helpful to diagnose what caused the rash)

Before you noticed a rash, did you eat nuts? (this question is vague and unhelpful because it asks if I ever ate nuts before noticing a rash—not whether I ate nuts immediately preceding the rash.

To find out if I ever ate nuts (at any time) prior to experiencing the rashes, the right question is:

Past perfect: Before the rashes started, had you (ever) eaten nuts?

We use words like ever to emphasize this “any time beforehand” sentiment, but grammatically, the appropriate verb (alongside the appropriate subordinating clause) can communicate such a sentiment.

Shifts in Verb Tense

A shift in verb tense occurs when one verb tense differs from another within the same sentence or passage. For instance, when relaying a previous event, we often keep the same tense, usually Past simple:

When I was ten, I used to trade baseball cards. My friend gave me my first card, a 1988 Topps Ozzie Smith. After that card, I acquired my own through card packs.

While recommended to keep verb tenses the same, there are plenty of reasons why we might shift tense, such as to communicate an event happening at a different time or to communicate conditional ideas.

When I was ten, I used to trade baseball cards. My friend gave me my first card, a 1988 Topps Ozzie Smith, which I still own. After that card, I acquired my own through card packs. I once thought baseball cards would be a good investment, but most cards sold during my day are worth very little today.

Linking Verbs and

Subject Complements

Verb Tense Exercises

In the following, input the appropriate verb tense (the base verb is in brackets). Note time references to make the best choice.

A couple weeks ago, I _______ [ride] my bike to school for the first time. Previously, I _______ [walk], something I _______ [do] for years, but my parents ________ [insist] that I _______ [try out] the bike, which they _______ [buy] for me a month ago.

At first, I _______ [be] happy with the change. Riding my bike ________ [save] me tons of time on my school commute. However, over the past couple days, my legs _________ [feel] sore from all the bike riding. I ________ [go] to stop riding but I ________ [appreciate] the time savings, so I ________ [have to] get used to the leg exercise.

1

Two weeks ago, I __rode___ [ride] my bike to school for the first time. Previously, I _had walked (or walked)____ [walk], something I __had been doing_(or did)___ [do] for years, but my parents __had insisted_(or insisted)_____ [insist] that I try out my bike, which they __had bought (or bought)_____ [buy] for me a month ago.

At first, I __was_____ [be] happy with the change. Riding my bike __saved or saves_____ [save] me tons of time on my school commute. However, over the past couple days, my legs ___have felt____ [feel] sore from all the bike riding. I __was going_____ [go] to stop riding but I __appreciate_____ [appreciate] the time savings, so I __will have to_(or have to)____ [have to] get used to the leg exercise.

Linking Verbs: While verbs typically represent actions done by the subject, in some cases, verbs link the subject to a subject complement, an adjective or noun offering some other explanation, definition, or state of being about the subject.

Aralai seemed sad. I am her parent. We became happy.

Linking verbs do not directly represent an action taken by the subject (to say that “I am a parent” is more a state of being than any action; “Aralai seemed sad” is more a mood imposed onto Aralai by the speaker). Nevertheless, we can still identify the subject of such sentences by asking ourselves “Who or what is being described or defined?” or in our cases, “Who seemed sad? Who is a parent? Who became happy?”

Linking verbs typically need the subject complement (all three sentences would read incomplete without them, right?). However, if the subject complement is given or implied in an earlier sentence, we might see rare examples without them: “People wondered if I was upset. I was.” “The situation was hopeless, or so it seemed.”