WHAT IS A VERB? Part 2

In today's lesson we are going to focus on a common area of confusion: the difference between verb tense and time reference. 

What's the Difference between Verb Tense and

Time Reference?

In today's lesson we are going to pay attention to some basic building blocks of verbs: the difference between verb tense and time reference.

TIME REFERENCE

Time reference refers to when the action takes place, such as past, present, or future.  This is a temporal concept in how human beings look at time and reality.

VERB TENSE

Verb Tense refers to the particular grammatical form that the verb is in, such as simple past tense, future progressive tense, and past perfect tense. It is a grammatical construct.

Sometimes several different verb tenses can express the same time reference.

For example, in the sentence "My brother went out to play and didn't come back", the time reference is the past, and the verb tense is simple past tense.  In otherwords, we are using simple past tense to express the past time reference.

In the sentence "I was walking along the train tracks", the time reference is the past and the verb tense is past progressive. We are using the past progressive tense to express a past time reference.

Also, sometimes several different time references are expressed with the same verb tense.

In the sentence "Right now, I am studying English and biology", the time reference is present and the verb tense is, looking at the form of the verb,  present progressive. 

However, in the sentence "I am going to be more careful next time", the time reference is future and the verb tense is, again looking at the form of the verb, again present progressive!

Exercise 1  In the following sentences, identify the verb tense and the time reference of the verbs in bold letters.

1. She was (past time reference, simple past tense)  surprised that I was taking (past time reference,  past progressive tense)   dancing classes.  

2. I hope (present time reference, simple present tense) your dreams come (future time reference,  simple present tense) true.


What's Next?



You've heard of "subject-verb agreement", haven't you?  In our next lesson, we will discuss this essential aspect of verbs and good grammar.

Now from the ESL Help Desk, thanks for dropping by for this lesson and remember to email us your questions about English grammar by way of our blog.