1. Tenses and Aspects Ed McCorduck English 402--Grammar SUNY Cortland

2. slide 2: present tense
Recall from slide 7 of my chapter 2 “Form Classes” lecture the two forms of verbs called the “base form” and the “-s form” (or “third person singular form”). When used, both forms can express what is traditionally called the present tense (a.k.a. the “simple present tense”). For example, we can say that the base form of the verb play— namely play—is what is traditionally the first person, second person and third person plural present tense of the verb play. And we can say that the -s form of the verb play—namely plays—is what is traditionally the third person singular present tense of this verb.
English 402: Grammar

3. slide 3: past tense
Similarly, the –ed form expresses what is traditionally called the past tense (a.k.a. the “simple past tense” or the “preterit”):
base form -ed form
play played
study studied
spend spent (irregular)
know knew (irregular)
put put (irregular)
English 402: Grammar

4. slide 4: future tense
In addition to the present tense and the past tense, the third traditional verb tense in English is the future tense which is expressed by the following expansion:
pres + will + MV
That is, will play would be the “future tense” of play, will cry the future tense of cry, and so on.
English 402: Grammar

5. progressive (a.k.a. “continuous”) aspect – continuing
slide 5: aspect
Besides the tenses of English—present, past and future— another verbal category that is involved in the description of verb phrases is aspect. In a nutshell, the choice of an aspect indicates whether an action or state is continuing or is completed. We say that there are two main aspectual categories in English:
progressive (a.k.a. “continuous”) aspect – continuing
perfect (a.k.a. “perfective”) aspect – completed
The following slides will present the “formulae” and names of the traditional combinations of tense and aspect for English verbs.
English 402: Grammar

6. slide 6: present progressive
pres + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the present progressive (a.k.a. “present continuous”).
example
present progressive of play:
pres + be = am/is/are (’m/’s/’re)
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

7. slide 7: past progressive
past + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the past progressive (a.k.a. “past continuous”).
example
past progressive of play:
past + be = was/were
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

8. slide 8: future progressive
pres + will + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the future progressive (a.k.a. “future continuous”).
example
future progressive of play:
pres + will = will be
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

9. slide 9: present perfect
pres + have + -en + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the present perfect.
example
present perfect of play:
pres + have = has/have
(’s/’ve)
-en + MV = played
English 402: Grammar

10. This is the formula for what is traditionally called the past perfect.
slide 10: past perfect
past + have + -en + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the past perfect.
example
past perfect of play:
past + have = had
(’d)
-en + MV = played
English 402: Grammar

11. pres + will + have + -en + MV
slide 11: future perfect
pres + will + have + -en + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the future perfect.
example
future perfect of play:
pres + will = will
have
-en + MV = played
English 402: Grammar

12. slide 12: present perfect progressive
pres + have + -en + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the present perfect progressive.
example
present perfect progressive of play:
pres + have = has/have
(’s/’ve)
-en + be = been
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

13. slide 13: past perfect progressive
past + have + -en + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the past perfect progressive.
example
past perfect progressive of play:
past + have = had
(’d)
-en + be = been
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

14. slide 14: future perfect progressive
pres + will + have + -en + be + -ing + MV
This is the formula for what is traditionally called the future perfect progressive.
example
future perfect progressive of play:
pres + will = will
have
-en + be = been
-ing + MV = playing
English 402: Grammar

15. slide 15: summary of simple tenses
Here is a summary of all these tenses and aspects along with examples:
present: I/They play the xylophone.
He plays the xylophone.
past: I/He/They played the xylophone.
future: I will/I’ll play the xylophone.
English 402: Grammar

16. slide 16: summary of progressive aspects
present progressive: I am/I’m playing the xylophone.
She is/She’s playing the xylophone.
They are/They’re playing the xylophone.
past progressive: I/He was playing the xylophone.
future progressive: I will/I’ll be playing the xylophone.
English 402: Grammar

17. slide 17: summary of perfect aspects
present perfect: I have/I’ve played the xylophone.
She has/She’s played the xylophone.
past perfect: I had/I’d played the xylophone.
future perfect: I will/I’ll have played the xylophone.
English 402: Grammar

18. slide 18: summary of perfect/progressive aspects
present perfect progressive: I have/I’ve been playing the xylophone.
She has/She’s been playing the xylophone.
past perfect progressive: I had/I’d been playing the xylophone.
future perfect progressive: I will/I’ll have been playing the xylophone.
English 402: Grammar