What a verb is and what it does

A verb is a word (run) or a phrase (run out of) which expresses the existence of a
state (love, seem) or the doing of an action (take, play). Two facts are basic:

. !erbs are used to express distinctions in time (past, present, future) through
tense (often with adverbials of time or fre"uency).
2. Auxiliary verbs are used with full verbs to give other information about
actions and states. #or example, be may be used with the present participle
of a full verb to say that an action was going on ($in progress$) at a particular
time (% was swimming)& have may be used with the past participle of a full
verb to say that an action is completed (% have finished).

Verb Tenses: Simple and Progressive

'ome grammarians believe that tense must always be shown by the actual form of
the verb, and in many languages present, past and future are indicated by changes
in the verb forms. (n this reckoning, )nglish really has *ust two tenses, the present
and the past, since these are the only two cases where the form of the basic verb
varies: love, write (present)& loved, wrote (past).
+owever, it is usual (and convenient) to refer to all combinations of ''be + present
participle'' and ''have + past participle'' as tenses. The same goes for ''will + bare
infinitive'' to refer to the future (%t will be fine tomorrow). ,ut we must remember that
tense in )nglish is often only loosely related to time.
Tenses have two forms, simple and progressive (sometimes called 'continuous'). The
progressive contains ''be + present participle'':
T)-')' '%./0) /1(21)''%!)
PRESENT: % work
% am working
PAST: % worked % was working
PRESENT
PERFECT:
% have worked
% have been
working
PAST PERFECT: % had worked % had been working
FUTURE: % will work
% will be working
FUTURE
PERFECT:
% will have worked
% will have been
working

'imple forms and progressive combinations can also occur with:
conditionals: % would work. % would be working.
modals : % may work. % may be working.
,oth simple and progressive forms usually give a general idea of when an action
takes place. ,ut the progressive forms also tell us that an activity is (or was, or will
be, etc.) in progress, or thought of as being in progress.
This activity may be in progress at the moment of speaking:
3hat are you doing4 5 %$m making a cake.

or not in progress at the moment of speaking:
%$m learning to type. (i.e. but not at the moment of speaking)

(r the activity may be temporary or changeable:
#red was wearing a blue shirt yesterday.
(r the activity may be uncompleted:
!era has been trying to learn 6hinese for years.
(ur decision about which tense to use depends on the context and the impression
we wish to convey.


Stative and !nami" Verbs

'ome verbs are not generally used in progressive forms. They are called stative
because they refer to states (e.g. experiences, conditions) rather than to actions. %n a
sentence like:
'he loves7loved her baby more than anything in the world.
loves (or loved) describes a state over which the mother has no control: it is an
involuntary feeling. We "o#ld not #se the progressive $orms (is/was loving) here%
8ynamic verbs, on the other hand, usually refer to actions which are deliberate or
voluntary (%$m making a cake) or they refer to changing situations (+e$s growing old),
that is, to activities, etc., which have a beginning and an end. 8ynamic verbs can be
used in progressive as well as simple forms. 6ompare the following:
progressive forms simple forms
. 8ynamic verbs with progressive and simple forms:
%$m looking at you. % often look at you.
%$m listening to music. % often listen to music.
9. !erbs which are nearly always stative (simple forms only):
% see you.
% hear music.
:. !erbs that have dynamic or stative uses:
deliberate actions states
%$m weighing myself. % weigh ;< kilos.
%$m tasting the soup. %t tastes salty.
%$m feeling the radiator. %t feels hot.
'tative verbs usually occur in the simple form in all tenses. 3e can think of $states$ in
categories like:
#eelings: like, love, etc.
9 Thinking7believing: think, understand, etc.
: 3ants and preferences: prefer, want, etc.
= /erception and the senses: hear, see, etc.
< ,eing7seeming7having7owning: appear, seem, belong, own, etc.

'ometimes verbs describing physical sensations can be used in simple or
progressive forms with hardly any change of meaning:
(oh> %t hurts> ? (oh> %t$s hurting.

Can/can't and could/couldn't often combine with verbs of perception to refer to a
particular moment in the present or the past where a progressive form would be
impossible:
% can smell gas. ? % smell gas.

Time re$eren"es with adverbs

'ome adverbs like yesterday and tomorrow refer to past or future:
% saw @im yesterday. %$ll be seeing %sabel tomorrow.

(ther adverbs, such as already, always, ever, often, never, now, still can be used
with a variety of tenses, though they may often be associated with particular ones.
#or example, always is often associated with the 'imple /resent or /ast for habits:
3e always have breakfast at A.:B.
1oland always took me out to dinner on my birthday.

,ut it can be used with other tenses as well:
% shall always remember this holiday. (#uture)
-atasha has always been generous. (/resent /erfect)
.r ,iggs said he had always travelled first class. (/ast /erfect)

E&ERC'SES

. 1ead the following sentences, underline tenses in them and write names of the
tenses:

3e have been expecting them to arrive since last Thursday.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
+e kicked the ball into the net. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
,y the time you get home % will have finished my homework.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
3e had only been driving for an hour when the car ran out of petrol.
CCCCCCCCCCCCC
% have never been in a plane before. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
-ext .onday, the /resident will be celebrating ten years in power.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
The man was looking at me in a very strange way. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
% travel to ,elgrade twice a month. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
-ext year % will have been working as a teacher for 9B years.