Verb Tenses & Subject-Verb Agreement – Comprehensive Review Notes

Verb Tenses – Key Ideas

• A verb tense indicates when an action happens and often how long it lasts. It also conveys the aspect (simple, perfect, continuous, perfect continuous), describing how the action unfolds (e.g., completed, ongoing).

• 3 primary time frames: Past, Present, Future → each further divided by aspect, giving 12 English tenses.

• Complete list

• Simple: Past, Present, Future

• Perfect: Past, Present, Future

• Continuous (Progressive): Past, Present, Future

• Perfect Continuous: Past, Present, Future

Formula “Cheat-Sheet”

(Boldface = auxiliary; italic = main verb form)

• Simple Tenses

• Past – $\text{V}_{\text{past}}$ (e.g., played)

• Present – Vbase​+sVbase​​ (he plays)

• Future – $\mathbf{will}+\text{V}_{\text{base}}$

• Perfect Tenses

• Past – $\mathbf{had}+\text{V}_{\text{past participle}}$

• Present – $\mathbf{have/has}+\text{V}_{\text{past participle}}$

• Future – $\mathbf{will}+\mathbf{have}+\text{V}_{\text{past participle}}$

• Continuous (Progressive) Tenses

• Past – $\mathbf{was/were}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

• Present – $\mathbf{am/is/are}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

• Future – $\mathbf{will}+\mathbf{be}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

• Perfect Continuous

• Past – $\mathbf{had}+\mathbf{been}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

• Present – $\mathbf{have/has}+\mathbf{been}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

• Future – $\mathbf{will}+\mathbf{have}+\mathbf{been}+\text{V}_{\text{-ing}}$

Quick Reference Chart – Usage & Sample Sentences

• Simple Present – habits/facts, timeless truths, scheduled events → “I study every day.”

• Present Continuous – now, temporary, developing situations → “I am studying right now.”

• Present Perfect – past event ✓ relevant now, unspecified past time → “I have studied Chapter 1.”

• Present Perfect Continuous – started past ⇢ continues, recent activity with visible results → “I have been studying for two hours.”

• Simple Past – finished past action at a specific time → “I studied last night.”

• Past Continuous – past action in progress when interrupted, background action → “I was studying when you called.”

• Past Perfect – past before past, sequence of past events → “I had studied drawing before I began painting.”

• Past Perfect Continuous – duration up to past point, cause of a past event → “I had been studying for two hours when friends came.”

• Simple Future – later action/decision, predictions, spontaneous decisions → “I will study tomorrow.”

• Future Continuous – on-going future action at future point, simultaneous future actions → “I will be studying when you arrive.”

• Future Perfect – finished before future moment, future deadlines → “He will have finished reading by the time you arrive.”

• Future Perfect Continuous – duration up to future moment, emphasis on effort or anticipation → “I will have been studying for two hours by 8 PM.”

Pair-Wise Contrasts

• Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous

• PP focus = completion of an action before another past point; PP Continuous focus = duration/ongoing nature of an action before a past point. PP emphasizes the result, while PP C emphasizes the process.

• Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Continuous (PP vs. PP C)

• PP emphasises result/experience; time often unspecified. It focuses on the completed effect.

• PP C highlights activity length/visible evidence – still happening or just finished. It focuses on the process or duration that led to a state.

• Future Perfect vs. Future Perfect Continuous

• FP focus = action completed before future time, often with a deadline in mind.

• FP C focus = action continuing up to future time (duration), often implying the effort or anticipation involved.

Past Tenses in Detail

• Simple Past

• Used for actions that began & ended in the past, often narrating a sequence of distinct events.

• Ex: “This morning, I went to the store but forgot the milk.”

• Past Perfect

• Action completed before another past action, making it suitable for non-sequential past actions or explaining why something happened.

• Signal words: before, after, by the time (past).

• Ex: “She had arrived at the office before she realized it was Sunday.”

• Past Continuous

• Action in progress in the past, possibly interrupted by another shorter action, or as a background action. Can also express irritation or repetition in the past.

• Ex: “My dog was whimpering when the TV woke him.”

• Past Perfect Continuous

• Duration leading up to a past action, often implying the cause or a prolonged state before a specific past moment.

• Ex: “He had been working as a proof-reader before landing a writing job.”

Present Tenses in Detail

• Simple Present — current truths, routines, scheduled future (“My flight leaves at 6.”). Often used for instructions, sports commentary.

• Present Continuous — actions happening now or arranged future (“We are eating pizza tonight.”). Can also express annoyance with repeated actions.

• Present Perfect — past action with present relevance (“My niece has grown so much this year.”). Focuses on completed actions with an impact now, without specifying when they happened.

• Present Perfect Continuous — action started past ⇢ still happening (“We have been waiting for an hour.”). Can imply the action is still ongoing or has just stopped, with visible results.

Future Tenses in Detail

• Simple Future — ‘will/shall’ for decisions, promises; be going to alternative for pre-planned actions or predictions based on evidence. 'Will' is often for spontaneous decisions.

• Future Continuous — action in progress at a specific future time. Can describe actions that will definitely happen as part of a fixed schedule.

• Future Perfect — completed before another future moment, often used with deadlines.

• Future Perfect Continuous — duration continuing to a future point, emphasizing dedication or perseverance over time.

Problem-Solving Take-aways (Quiz Explanations)

• Two past actions? Earlier one → Past Perfect, to establish clear chronology.

• Past action interrupted? → Past Continuous (in-progress) + Simple Past (interrupting), to show an ongoing background action broken by a shorter, specific event.

• “For/Since + length of time + now” → Present Perfect Continuous, focusing on uncompleted duration up to now.

• “So far / this year” → Present Perfect, for completed actions within an unfinished time period.

• “By + future time” with emphasis on duration → Future Perfect Continuous; focus on completion → Future Perfect. This helps to differentiate between the result of a future action and its prolonged process.

Subject–Verb Agreement – Core Definition

• Verbs must match the number (singular/plural) of their subject. Crucial for grammatical correctness and clarity.

3 Foundational Rules

1. Singular subject → singular verb (adds -s in present). Plural subject → plural verb (no -s). This is the most basic rule.

2. Subjects joined by and → plural verb. When connected by 'and', they function as a single plural unit.

3. For or / nor, the verb agrees with the nearest (last) subject. This is often called the proximity rule.

13 Additional Rules (with Illustrations)

1. Negative present (‘do not/does not’) → only “do/does” changes, main verb stays base.

   • “She does not like reading.”

2. Questions with ‘do/does/did’ → only the auxiliary agrees.

   • “Does anyone know…?”

3. If a sentence contains multiple verbs, all must agree with the same subject.

4. Mass/uncountable nouns (water, information, furniture) act singular because they cannot be counted individually.

5. Collective nouns (team, family)

   • Act singular when the group acts as one unit → “The team wins.”

   • Act plural when members act separately → “The team argue among themselves.” or "The herd are scattering in different directions."

6. Descriptive interrupters need commas; verb still agrees with true subject.

   • “The holiday, which I was looking forward to, is….”

7. Each / Every / Either / Neither / Anybody / Somebody / Nobody, etc. → singular verbs. Even if followed by a plural word, these indefinite pronouns always take a singular verb.

8. Phrases between subject & verb don’t affect agreement. The verb agrees only with the main subject.

   • “A group of tourists was waiting.”

9. ‘One of + plural noun’ → singular verb. The focus is on the 'one'.

10. With There / Here + be, match verb to the noun following. The phrase 'there is/are' is an expletive; the true subject comes after the verb.

    • “There are three options.” / “There is a problem.”

11. Portion expressions (all, some, most, percent) take the number of the object of of. The verb's number is determined by the noun they refer to.

    • “All of the cake is gone.” / “All of the cakes are gone.”

12. Distances, time, money = singular because treated as a single amount or unit.

    • “Ten miles is a long walk.”

13. Nouns existing only in plural form (news, politics, mathematics) → usually singular verbs. These refer to a single concept or field.

    • “Politics is complicated.”

    • EXCEPTION: scissors, trousers → plural (these are tools or garments with two symmetrical parts, thusplural); but pair of scissors → singular (because 'pair' is the singular subject).

Common Plural-Only or Irregular Nouns

• always plural (require plural verbs): scissors, pants, jeans, binoculars, trousers.

• always singular (look plural): news, measles, mathematics, economics, politics.

Applied Quiz Insights – S/V Agreement

• “Neither the manager nor the employees are…” (verb follows nearest plural noun). The 'nor' rule dictates agreement with the nearest subject, which is 'employees' (plural).

• “Either the students or the teacher is…” (nearest subject = teacher, singular). Similar to 'nor', the verb agrees with 'teacher' (singular).

• Collective acting together → singular: “The team was arguing….” When a collective noun acts as a unified body, it takes a singular verb.

• Portion rule: “Most of the water has evaporated.” The verb agrees with 'water', which is singular and uncountable.

• Distance rule: “Five miles seems….” Treated as a single unit or concept.

• Plural-only noun with pair: “The pair of binoculars was misplaced.” The actual subject is 'pair' (singular), not 'binoculars'.

Ethical / Practical Notes

• Mastery of tense choice and agreement boosts clarity and credibility in academic tests (e.g., UPCAT) and professional writing by ensuring precision.

• Attention to collective-noun nuance is vital in journalism and legal drafting where subject number can affect liability statements, ensuring accurate representation.

• Conscious tense usage frames narratives ethically—misplaced tenses can distort timelines and responsibility, potentially misleading readers.

Instructor Background (Relevance)

• Instructor: Cheezy Angara, BA Speech Communication (UP Diliman), focuses on politics, counter-narratives & performance, committed to scholarship for the people.

Final Reminder

• Always locate the true grammatical subject before choosing a verb, ignoring intervening phrases.

• Identify time markers (before, while, by the time, since, for, so far, next week) to pick the correct tense, as they provide critical context about when an action occurs.

• Practice with mixed-tense and mixed-subject drills to internalize patterns and develop an intuitive understanding of correct usage.