In Chinese languages, for example, a verb doesn’t change its spelling depending on the tense. ( Walk becomes walks and walked.) In some cases, an auxiliary verb (also known as a helping verb, like will or need) is required as well.
Interestingly, not all languages treat verb tenses the same way. In English, the ending on a verb communicates what tense it’s in. The verb walks communicates not only how many people completed the action (it’s singular), but also when it occurred. Generally speaking, verb tenses identify the time period when an action occurs. In the sentences the boy walks and the girl ran, the words walks and ran are the verbs.ĭid you also recognize that walks is in the present tense, or that ran is in the past tense? Whether you did or didn’t, we’re here to review verb tenses with you and also astound you with the fact that there are 12-count them, 12-verb tenses in all! If you’re familiar with basic English grammar, we bet you can describe a verb and perhaps name a tense or two.
