Verbs 5: More on tense

Materials by Liz Siler

Present Tense: Agreement

• When a verb is in the present tense and it is properly inflected for number, we say it “agrees” with the subject of the verb.

• Errors in this type of agreement are sometimes referred to as “subject-verb agreement” errors and are marked as s-v or “agr” on editing charts.

Agreement: Examples• Our nation (=it) needs more linguists for global business and

diplomacy.

• Now schools in all parts of America (=they) offer instruction in Chinese.

• Some schools (=they) pay for Chinese classes on their own.

• However, hundreds (=they) get some help from the Chinese government.

• The Chinese government (=it) sends teachers from China to schools all over the world.

• The government (=it) pays part of their salaries.

• At a time of tight budgets, many American schools (=they) welcome this offer.

• Parthena Draggett (=she) directs a world languages department in Jackson High School in Massillon Ohio.

• “We (=we) have a free Chinese teacher. I (=I) also want a Spanish program for elementary children.”

S-V AGR Problems

• They has too many dogs.

• The dogs (= they) howls all night long.

• The female dog (= she) are always having puppies.

• The puppies (= they) perpetually wants milk.

• The male dogs (= they) is vicious.

The Past Tense

• All English verbs can mark the past tense to show events, actions, and states before the present.

Past Tense: Facts

• All verbs in English have a past tense form. • Regular verbs add an “(e)d” (example:

walk>walked). • Irregular verbs have many different forms,

and some verbs have multiple forms (example: dive> dived, dove).

• The same past tense form is used with all persons and numbers.

• EXCEPTION: The verb TO BE.

Regular Example: Past Tense

Verb: to walk

Singular Plural

I walked we walked

you walked you(all) walked

he/she/it walked they walked

Irregular Example: Past Tense

VERB: to buy

Singular Plural

I bought we bought

you bought you(all) bought

he/she/it bought they bought

To Be: Past Tense

• TO BE is VERY irregular. • It has TWO past tense forms, depending on

person and number.

– I was we were– You were you (all) were– He/she/it was they were

Tense and Modals

• Some modals also have a past tense form.

Can>>>could

Will>>> would

Shall>>> should

May>>> might

Tense in Verb Phrases

• In a verb phrase, tense (if it is overtly marked) is shown on only the FIRST verb on the left.

ExamplesEnglish [evolved] from the mixture of German

and several other languages.English [has been accepting] new words and

structures for a thousand years.English [will continue] its evolution.New English-based creoles [are arising] in

Africa and Asia.English [is] the lingua franca of the US.However, by 2000 Chinese [had become] the

third most spoken language in homes in the US.