English Grammar
Quick review of the English grammar.
Verbs
There are four verb categories:
Action
Typical verbs when something is done.
- walk
- study
- laugh
Linking
Link or connect subject to an adjective.
Mood
There are a few moods:
- indicative (fact of reality)
- imperative (command)
- interrogative (question)
- conditional (causes something to happen)
- subjunctive (statement contrary to reality)
Tense
A verb tense shows time and there are six possible times:
| Tense | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | he talks | |
| Simple past | past action that has completed | he talked
He worked for this company for 30 years. |
| Present perfect | past action that extends to the present, or result is ongoing. Present perfect uses a past participle, a helper 'have' or 'has' with the main verb. | he have talked
He has worked for this company for 30 years. |
| Past perfect | past action completed before another action. Make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. Formed with verb have (had) + the past participle of the main verb. | they had talked
He gave blankets he had made to charity. |
| Future - | they will talk | |
| Future perfect | action that will have been completed in the future by some future time. | they will have talked
By the end of next week, I will have completed the report. |
There are also progressive and continuous tenses.
Present progressive often implies a process She is driving
past progressive action from a specific time in the past that is continuing, or that something took place while something else was happening, or something did not complete, or something that happens periodically. she was rewriting the report all day yesterday while I was reading a book, the cat was scratching the sofa. I was painting the fence when I had to go He was always arriving late to work on Mondays.
future progressive shows action will be in progress at some time in the future at 9AM tomorrow, I will be attending a meeting