Verb tense

- [Instructor] Every sentence must have a verb. The verb is so strong, it can be the entire sentence, Go, Stop, Run. These commands, of course, have an understood subject view, because all complete sentences must have a subject and a verb. Verbs come in various categories. The four we'll discuss in this lesson are Action, Linking, Mood, and Tense. First, the Action Verbs are the workhorse verbs, Walk, Study, Laugh. Next are the linking or state of being. They're called Linking Verbs because they link or connect the subject with a word that either describes a subject, an adjective, such as She is pretty, or a word that renames the subject, He is the winner. It's a pretty she, and he equals a winner. Verbs can also have moods, Indicative, a fact of reality. The parking lot is closed. Imperative, a command, visit the client. Interrogative, to question. Will you have the report completed today? Conditional, a conditional state that will cause something else to happen. The meeting could be cancelled if anyone else calls in sick. Subjunctive, something contrary to reality. If I were the CEO of the company, I'd increase employee benefits. I'm not the CEO. These mood examples refer to the way the idea's expressed, a question or a command for example. And verbs have tenses. Tense refers to time. The rest of this lesson will focus on those what can be tricky tenses. First, what does tense mean? Simply, a verb tense shows time, and six times are possible. Simple Present, He talks. And Simple Past, He talked. But we also need to understand Present Perfect, They have talked. Past Perfect, They had talked. Future, They will talk. And Future Perfect, They will have talked. Those perfect tenses are generally the most confusing. Let's start with the Present perfect. It shows action that began in the past but continues into the present, or the result is still ongoing. Compare and contrast the Simple Past. Tyler worked for this company for 30 years, with the Present Perfect, Tyler has worked for this company for 30 years. The Present Perfect implies that he still works for the company. The Present Perfect uses a past participle, a helper, have or has, with the main verb. What about the Past perfect? Just like the simple past, it shows action in the past, but in Past perfect, the past action is completed before another action. Look at this example. First, the Simple Past. Carolyn knitted blankets and gave them to charity. Then Past Perfect. Carolyn gave blankets she had knitted to charity. The blankets had to be knitted before they could be given away. And now, Future perfect. Future perfect always shows action that will have been completed by some future time. First, Simple Future. Next week I will complete the report. Now, Future Perfect. By the end of next week, I will have completed the report. That makes sense, sort of, right? Review it until it does before we add the next group of verb tenses. Those Progressive Tenses, which show ongoing action in the present, past, or future. Let's look at the sometimes slight shades of differences in meaning. The Present progressive form often implies a process. Katelyn is driving too fast around that corner. Is driving, happening now. But the driving too fast action is in progress as she goes around the corner. Now, what about Past progressive? It shows an action or state of being at a specific time in the past with continuing action, it progresses. Kathy was rewriting the report all day yesterday. Past progressive also is used to show that something took place while something else was happening. While Lindsey was attending the meeting, the other employees were planning the conference. Was attending and were planning are in the progressive form of the past tense. Also, the Past progressive can show an incomplete action. Ted was completing the conference call when the rest of the committee arrived. The conference call wasn't complete when the rest of the committee arrived. And finally, the Past progressive can be used to criticize something that happens off and on, but on a more or less regular basis. Trish was always arriving to work late on Fridays. Now, Future progressive, the progressive version of future tense shows that the action will be in progress at some time, or at a certain time in the future, such as in this example. Monday at 9 a.m. the employees will be attending a meeting. Do note that it's important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way it's used to talk about time. For example, I hope she wins the award tomorrow. Wins is present simple, but it refers to tomorrow future. So a present tense verb doesn't always refer to present time. If Mark had some extra time now, he could start the project. Had is past simple, but refers to present now. And now let's examine the next group, one more tense. The Continuous Tense is the last group. The Present continuous of any verb has two parts, the present tense of the verb to be, is or are, for example, plus the present participle of the main verb, which is the verb plus ing, walking and singing. Let's look at a couple of its uses. It's used to describe an action that is happening at this moment. You are listening to this lesson. It is also used to describe something which has already been planned. You are going to dinner this evening. The Past continuous describes something that happened in a time before now, it began in the past and is still happening, but the action has not been completed. I was having a good time at the conference when the fire alarm sounded. I was going to complete the report, but I've decided to call a meeting first. And finally, the Future continuous tense. It has three parts, will plus be, plus the present participle, which is the root word plus ing, will be going, and will be sleeping are examples. The Future continuous refers to something that is unfinished, that will be in progress at a future time. The Future continuous has a variety of different purposes but here are two of those. One, to project ourselves into the future. By this time next year, I will be managing the company. And two, for predicting or guessing about future events. You will be missing your co-workers after the promotion. Think carefully about the tense. Don't shift tenses, your reader may be confused or even misled. You are taking, were taking, will be taking this advanced grammar course, and I will be glad you are, or I am glad you are, or I have been glad, or let's just leave it with present progressive tense. You are taking this advanced grammar course and I'm glad.