While verbs must always agree with their subject, they convey several pieces of information on their own.  This handout helps to answer the question:  what’s in a verb?

Verbs

In English, verbs convey three major types of information:  type of action (running, swimming, etc.), whether the action is continuous (“I sing” vs. “I am singing”), and time (past, present, or future). 

Type of Action

The obvious information a verb conveys is the type of action.  Most verbs in English will convey a specific action.  For example:

            Tim thinks he is smart.

            Caroline ran a mile.

However, “be” verbs convey a state-of-being.  Forms of the verb to be can also be used in compound action verbs.  For example:

            Jodi is a wizard.                                                                       State-of-being verb

            Anna is fighting a goblin.                                                            Compound action verb

Simple vs. Progressive

The second piece of information a verb conveys is whether the action is simple or progressive.  It is important to remember that this does not indicate time—an action can be simple or progressive in the past (i.e., He was sleeping), present (i.e., He is sleeping), or future (i.e., He will be sleeping). 

Simple actions are completed, one-time acts.  For example:

            John ate lunch.                                                              Simple

In this example, John ate and is done.  It was a one-time action—he is not still eating.  The progressive form uses the –ing ending to indicate that John is/was/will be in the process of eating.  For example:

            John was eating lunch.                                                   Progressive

Time

Verbs also convey the time of action.  There are three time periods (past, present, and future), each with a perfect form.

Perfects

The perfect forms indicate the point an action is completed or “perfected.”    

                        Present perfect examples:

            Allison throws the ball.                                      Present

            Allison has thrown the ball.                                            Present Perfect 

With the present, the action (throw) takes place in the present time (i.e., Allison throws the ball right now).  However, with the present perfect, the action happened in the past but completed in the present (i.e., Allison threw the ball in the past, until now.)

Past perfect examples:

            Allison threw the ball.                                                    Past

            Allison had thrown the ball.                                           Past Perfect

With the past, the action takes place in the past (i.e., Allison threw the ball last week).  However, with the past perfect, the action begins in the past and is completed in the past (i.e., Allison threw the ball until last week, but didn’t throw it yesterday).

                        Future perfect examples:

            Allison will throw the ball.                                                         Future

            Allison will have thrown the ball.                                                Future Perfect

With the future, the action takes place in the future (i.e., Allison will throw the ball tomorrow).  However, with the future perfect, the action begins in the past but is completed in the future (i.e., Allison will throw the ball at 4:00 until she runs the bases at 5:00). 

By combining these six time periods with a simple or progressive form, we get the tense of the verb.  Use the chart below to get a better grasp of this idea.

Looking at this chart, the simple form of run combined with the present perfect time gives us the present perfect tense (“I have run”).  By breaking this sentence down, we can determine what information the verb provides and what it means:

            Action:  To run

            Simple vs. Progressive:  Simple                    (indicates the running is a completed action)

            Time:  Present perfect                          (the action happened in the past                                                                                                            continues into the present)