Time, Tense, and Aspect of Verbs

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we began our observation of verbs as a class. In this chapter we will be examining how English verbs function to express the time of an event (tense) and information regarding the duration or completion of an event (aspect). The chapter is divided into four sections. Section I reviews verb inflections one more time and introduces the concept of time, tense, and aspect. Sections 2 through 5 delve into the different English verb tenses: Section 2 looks at the present; Section 3 the past; Section 4 the future; and Section 5 the perfect.