LESSONS 11 AND 12: TESNSES AND ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

THE VERB

One of the most important parts of speech is the verb. What is a verb?

Here is an introduction to THE VERB.

The verb introduces the main idea of the sentence. The verb explains or tells what happens
in a sentence. By means of verbs we

* make statements, e.g., “That is a kind child”.

* give commands, e.g., “Take off your shoes in here”.
* ask questions, e.g., “Would anyone like a cup of tea?”
* express wishes, e.g., “If only I could buy a car!”

A verb often expresses an action, e.g., “The clock ticks loudly”. This is why you were told,
when you were in primary school, that a verb is a “doing word”.

EXERCISE 24

Find the action words (verbs) in the following sentences:

1. He eats bread every day.

2. She goes to work at 7 o’clock.
3. The children kick the soccer ball.
4. The TV announcer spoke clearly,
5. The cars raced around the track.

But, the verb can also be a “being word”, e.g., “I am a mother.” Sometimes the idea is one of
appearance, e.g., “He seemed to like my work”, or of existing, e.g., “I am a professional”, or
of becoming, e.g., “Prince Charles will never become king now”.

Remember that all parts of the verb “to be” are verbs - either finite verbs, or parts of verbs,
e.g., “I am happy”; “You are my star pupil”; “He is a good student”; “We have been to the
coast for a holiday”; “They had been at the shops”.

EXERCISE 25

Find the verbs that indicate appearance, existing or becoming in the following sentences:

1. I am a teacher.
2. He is late again.
3. You seem sad today.
4. He became the CEO of the company.
5. He was here a moment ago!

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A sentence must have a finite verb.

The finite verb is used to show a complete action (a final action). Finite verbs therefore form
a complete sentence.

How do we recognise a finite verb?

1. A finite verb has a subject. Thus a sentence with a subject and a finite verb is a
complete sentence.

The cat has eaten the fish.

finite verb = has eaten
To find the subject of a verb, ask “Who?” or “What?” BEFORE the verb.

“Who?” or “What?” has eaten? = the cat. The cat is the subject

Example:

The staff are drinking tea now.

Find the verb: “are drinking”.

Ask: “Who are drinking?” Answer: the staff. Therefore, “the staff” is the subject of the
verb.
Example:

The books are lying on that table.

Find the verb: “are lying”.

Ask: “Who are lying?” No answer. Ask “What are lying?” Answer: the books. Therefore,
“the books” is the subject of the verb.

Remember, ask just “who?” or “what?”. NO OTHER QUESTION.

EXERCISE 26

Find the finite verbs and state the subjects in the following sentences:

1. The boxer injured himself in the fight last night.

2. The dogs bark all evening.
3. My mother and father prepare the food for supper.
4. This cream helped my dry skin last winter.
5. She shuddered with fright.

How else do we recognise the finite verb?

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2. The finite verb shows the tense of the verb.

TENSE: Tense is the form the verb takes to show the TIME at which an action or
state occurs.

The verb gives the tense of a sentence.

e.g. Present: I walk to the post office.
Past: I walked to the post office.
Future: I shall walk to the post office.

THE PRESENT TENSE indicates that something happens now. e.g. “I see the yellow bird.”

The simple present is used to indicate

* an action that is usual or habitual

e.g. “Every day, I come to school by minibus.”

* a general truth
e.g. “The earth is round.”

* to introduce a quotation
e.g., “Hamlet says that Denmark is an unweeded garden.”

Sometimes the simple present is used to indicate a future event:

e.g. “I leave for Cape Town in the morning.”

THE PAST TENSE indicates that the action is completed, e.g. “He saw three ships in the
bay.”

The simple past is used to indicate that something happened at some time in the past.
e.g., “We went to the Drakensberg before Christmas.”; “It rained last night.”

THE FUTURE TENSE indicates that something will or might happen sometime in the future,
e.g. “They will see you tomorrow.”; “They will write their exams later this year.”; “The
couple will marry on Saturday.”

THE PERFECT TENSES are tenses that show completion of an action in the past, the
present or the future. “Perfect” means “completed”.

The present perfect tense is formed using the auxiliaries, “has” and “have”, with the past
participle of the verb. “Has” is used with the third person singular, e.g., “she has cried”; “he
has eaten”; “it has struck”; “she has married”; “it has been baked”. “Have” is used with the
first and second persons singular and plural, and with the third person plural, e.g., “I have
sown”; “I have written”; “You have sprung”; “We have seen”; “I have laughed”; “You have
reached the top”; “They have stopped”.

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With the past participle of the verb “to be” as well as the past participle of the verb, the
auxiliaries “has” and “have” form the passive voice of the present perfect tense, e.g., “we
have been mocked”.

The present perfect tense shows actions completed in the past which have a result in the
present. Though the action indicated is completed, we think of its results as lasting into the
present. There is a link between the past event and the present time.

Examples

1. We have lived in Johannesburg for thirteen years.

The use of “have lived” indicates that we are still living in Johannesburg. Compare:
“We lived in Johannesburg for thirteen years” which suggests that we no longer live
there.

2. He answered the phone. (past)

He has answered the phone. (present perfect)

In the first sentence, the action is completed. Nothing further is suggested. In the
second sentence, it is implied that something else will happen now, because he has
answered the phone.

3. My husband and I lived in this flat for over nine years.

My husband and I have lived in this flat for over nine years.
The first sentence tells the reader that we no longer live in this flat. The second
sentence tells the reader that we still live in this flat.

The present perfect tense may also be used to indicate

1. that something has happened very recently, e.g., “He has just written his exams”;
2. that some action or event is expected, e.g., “They have not yet heard whether the bank
will grant them a bond”;
3. that an action has taken place during a period of time that has not yet ended, e.g.,
“This has been Environment Week” i.e., the week is not yet over;
4. that an event or action has taken place continually over a period of time, e.g., “The
school has entered the debating competition for the last six years”;
5. that an event in the past is still important in the present, or has implications for the
present and the future, e.g., ““She has stitched the dress, so her sister can wear it to
the party on Friday.”; “We have already eaten, so you need not prepare anything for
us.”

The past perfect tense is formed by using the auxiliary verb had with the past participle of the
verb, e.g. “We had written”; “They had heard”; “He had met”; “She had watched”; “I had
planned”; “we had slept”. The past perfect tense indicates some action in the past which was
completed before a further action took place.

Action completed before a new action occurred

in the past also in the past

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I had answered the phone before the doorbell rang.

My husband had already cooked the dinner when I came home.

Examples

1. “The children had done their homework before they sat down to watch their favourite
soap opera.” i.e., the homework was completed before the viewing began.
2. “The typist had completed the work before I asked her for it”. i.e., the work was typed
by the typist before I asked her to give it to me.

3. “They had spoken to the police before the insurance company was told of the
burglary.”

4. “His health had been checked before he took out life insurance.”

With the past participle of the verb “to be” as well as the past participle of the verb, the
auxiliary “had” forms the passive voice of the past perfect tense, e.g., “You had been beaten”.

The future perfect tense uses the auxiliaries “shall” or “will” and “has” or “have”; this tense
tells you that something will be completed in the future before something else happens.
in the future
We shall have created a computer programme before you return.

The pupils will have read this book before the next lesson. (by the time the next lesson
comes)

You will have written your exam by the time I see you.

Before the end of the term we shall have written to our aunt to ask her to come for Christmas.

Pupils sometimes misuse tenses; they forget to use the past perfect and say something like,
“He phoned me before he phoned my brother.” Try to use the past perfect when it applies:
“He had phoned me before he phoned my brother.”

EXERCISE 27

Underline the finite verbs in the following sentences, and state what tense the verb indicates.

1. He has eaten the plums that were in the fridge.

2. We shall execute your commands immediately, sir.
3. The contestants had shouted at each other.
4. The wife shall have made the meal before that.
5. The fan whirls around in the centre of the ceiling.

THE CONTINUOUS TENSES

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All the tenses have a continuous form. It is formed from the present participle of the verb,
and an auxiliary is used. (To form the present participle, add -ing to the verb.)

The continuous tense is sometimes known as the imperfect tense, i.e., the incomplete or
unfinished tense.

The Present Continuous shows that an action is in progress now in the present.

Simple Present: I talk to you.

Present Continuous: I am talking to you now.

Consider the difference between:

I am watching TV now.
I watch TV for an hour every night.
The first shows I am doing this at this very moment. The second shows that I am in the habit
of watching TV.

The Past Continuous indicates that the action was in progress for some time in the past.

Simple Past: He ate his breakfast.

Past Continuous: He was eating his breakfast when the telephone rang.
Consider the difference between:
We stopped at the café for a colddrink.
We were stopping at the café when the accident happened.

The first indicates simply that an action happened at some time in the past. The second
indicates that an action was in process of happening when another one occurred.

The Future Continuous shows that an action will be in progress some time in the future.

Simple Future: “I shall sing.”

Future Continuous: “I shall be singing when you arrive.”

Consider the difference between:

I shall go to work tomorrow.
I shall be working when you arrive home.
The first indicates simply that an action will happen at some time in the future. The second
indicates that an action will be happening when another one occurs.

The Perfect Tenses also have a continuous form.

The present perfect continuous tense indicates action that has continued for some time but is
completed in the present, or has a result in the present, e.g., “I have been watching TV for the
last hour.”

The past perfect continuous tense indicates action that was in progress but was completed in
the past before another action occurred, e.g., “The football teams had been playing for a
while before we arrived.”

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The future perfect continuous tense indicates action that will be in progress but will be
completed in the future before another takes place, e.g., “They will have been writing for an
hour before they feel tired.”; “We shall have been living here for two months before you
come to stay with us.”

NOTE: A finite verb can consist of one or more words, e.g., “have been sitting”

In the following, the finite verb has been underlined:

I work; The boys are walking; She has been hurt; They will have been glancing through
their notes; we have been sitting.; He has stood. .

EXERCISE 28

Underline the finite verbs in the following sentences, and state what tense the verb indicates.

1. He was walking towards the school.

2. He shall be studying all night.
3. The swimmers were kicking furiously.
4. The clocks have been chiming the hour.
5. My computer had been making a funny noise all day.

AUXILIARIES

Verbs which help to form other verbs are called Auxiliary (helping) verbs. They help an
infinite verb form a full verb and thus a full sentence.

They also aid in forming the tense of a sentence.

The main auxiliary verbs are:

a) different forms of the verb “to be” : be, am, are, is, was, were, been, being

b) shall, will, should, would

c) different forms of the verb “to have”: have, has, had

d) may, might

e) different forms of the verb “to do”: do, did

f) can, must, ought

EXERCISE 29

Underline the finite verbs in the following sentences, making sure that you find the auxiliary
verbs also.

1. He may be happy at this school.

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2. A player can change in this area only.
3. He is suited to this job.
4. The microwave shall be delivered on Monday.
5. The mechanic must fix my car today.

VOICE

In grammar, voice may be defined as a category of verbs that expresses whether the
relationship between the subject and the verb is that of agent and action or that of recipient
(receiver) and action.

THE ACTIVE VOICE

A sentence in which the subject performs the action is said to be in the active voice, i.e., the
subject “does” or “is” the verb.
Examples:

1. The doors bangs in the wind.

The door is doing the banging, so it is in the active voice.

2. He is a good soccer player. This is in the active voice because the subject “is” this.

3. “He clasps the crag with crooked hands” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “The Eagle”).
Here, the subject is “he”; the verb, in the active voice, is “clasps” (it is in the simple
present tense), and the object is “crag”.

Here are three sentences in the active voice:

The child holds the ball in his hand.

The man kicked the ball.

I shall buy a new ball for my child.

Turn these sentences into the passive voice:

The ball is held in his hand by the child.
The ball was kicked by the man.
A new ball will be bought by me for my child.

As should be obvious, in the sentences in the passive voice, the subject receives (suffers) the
action.

The passive equivalents of the examples given here are more awkward and less effective than
the originals in the active voice. In his “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell
offers as a “rule”: “Never use the passive where you can use the active”. The passive voice
should be used only when the agents ('doers') are unknown or really unimportant in the
context of the sentence.

EXERCISE 32

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State whether the following sentences are in the Active or the Passive Voice:

1. The lawyer has won the case.

2. His eyes were hurt by the harsh glare of the sun.
3. This blinds must be washed with a soft, wet cloth.
4. The books give us all the information that the teacher has asked for.
5. The investigators were walking down the fire escape.

MOOD: Mood is the form a verb takes to show the mode or manner in which it is used.
There are four moods: the indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and infinitive. The infinitive is
discussed under Non-Finite Verbs.

Modals
You might have heard the term MODAL VERBS.

Modals express

* obligation
* doubt
* possibility
* wish

EXERCISE 31

Discuss the different meanings of the following sentences:

1. We dance.

2. We shall dance.

3. We may dance.

4. We should dance.

5. We might dance.

6. We can dance.

7. We could dance.

8. We do dance.

9. We would dance.

10. We must dance.

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