adminCharles Dube
THE verb is defined in simple terms as a doing word, while some say that it is an action word. Furthermore, they say, it is the component that denotes the action or the meaning in a statement. The following examples confirm these definitions: try, drink, drive, eat, sing, go, tear, fall, sit, jump, ride, swim etc.
The verb plays an important role in sentence construction. Wrong use of the verb tenses leads to wrong sentences and embarrassment to the user.
Many will agree with me that it looks like we are still a long way from getting rid of sentences like: I have saw your article in the newspaper, She have left, She braked all the six eggs, We got there when he had went to town. These are just a few examples of wrongly used verb tenses I have come across.
Learners present more such errors in their daily work which I believe get immediate remediation in classrooms. As I stated earlier, treating verbs in isolation from sentence construction does not help eliminate these glaring errors. Learners need to have intensive practice in the use of the different verb tenses. There are many tabulated examples of common regular and irregular verbs. While these are easy just to run through, they are not that helpful to learners who have problems in using correct tenses as they still fail to use correct tenses when constructing sentences.
There are four principal parts of a verb: the base form, the present participle, the past, and the past participle. These principal parts are used to form all the different verb tenses. We classify verbs as regular and regular verbs. A regular verb forms its past and participle by adding –d or –ed to the base form. Examples of verb base forms: ask, walk, talk, and jump. These are the versions of the verb forms you find listed in a dictionary, at times referred to as the infinitive form.
The infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its basic form. The infinitive form of the verb is usually preceded by to, for instance, to run, to walk, to smile, to dance. Above all, (the infinitive form with the word to, is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive.) An irregular verb forms its past and past participle in some other way than by adding –d or –ed to the base form. Examples of irregular verbs in their base form: be, begin, ride, steal, sit, tear and sing.
The past tenses and past participles of selected examples are as follows: be – was, were, (have been). Begin, began, (have) begun, ride, rode, (have) ridden, steal, stole, stolen, sit, sat, (have) sat. Tear, tore, (have) torn, sing, sang, (have) sung. The tense of a verb indicates the time of the action or the state of being expressed by the verb. Verbs have six tenses: present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. The tenses are formed from the verb’s principal parts.
The present tense is used mainly to express an action or state of being that is occurring now. Examples: He jumps over the wall. They listen to the preacher as he prays. The present tense is also used to show a customary or habitual action or state of being. Examples: Every October they hold their Speech and Prize-giving Day. (Customary action) The present tense is used to express a general truth — something that is always true. The sun rises from the east. (General truth).
The present tense is also used to make historical events seem current (such use is called the historical present). In 1975, Samora Machel becomes Mozambique president. It is also used to discuss a literary work (such use is called the literary present). William Shakespeare’ Romeo and Juliet, tells the story of love (literary present). In addition, to all these the present tense is used to express future time. O-level examinations begin next week (future time).
The past tense is used to express an action or state of being that occurred in the past but that is not occurring now. Examples: He drove past the shops at high speed. They wrote the examination late in the afternoon. A past action or state of being can also be shown with the verb used followed by an infinitive. Example: We used to live in Plumtree. The future tense (formed with will or shall and the verb’s base form) is used to express an action or a state of being that will occur.
Examples: She will arrive tomorrow. I shall play the part of Mercutio in the school drama. A future action or state of being can also be shown in other ways: She is going to pass. They arrive in an hour. The present future tense (formed with have or has and the verb’s past participle) is used to express an action or a state of being that occurred at some indefinite time in the past. Examples: We have done the homework. He has learned to play the guitar.
The present perfect tense is also used to express an action or a state of being that began in the past and continues into the present. Example: He has led the same band for twelve years. The past perfect tense (formed with had and the verb’s past participle) is used to express an action or a state of being that was completed in the past before some other past action or event. Examples: When you left, I had already arrived (the arriving occurred before the leaving).
There is more to learn about the verb tenses. From what has been presented here, it is obvious that learning verbs and tenses takes a long time and learners can easily get confused along the way. Teachers need to take a cautious approach when teaching elements of grammar if learners are to understand and produce sound and well-constructed sentences.
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