VERB TENSES AND VERB FORMS

TENSE: Simple Present (go-goes) – Simple Past (went) – Future

Simple (will go), Present Continuous, etc.

VERB FORMS:

a) INFINITIVE
 with and without ‘to’ (to go – go)
I’d rather go (swimming)
 Simple Infinitive: to go (I want to go swimming)
 Perfect Infinitive: to have gone. He is said to have gone
twice to the scene of crime. (we need the perfect
infinitive here because it refers to the past)
TO HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
It is used in Passive structures.
 Continuous Infinitive: to be going (He is supposed to be
going home)

b) PARTICIPLES
 Present Participle: studying – eating (I’m eating…)
Present Continuous: verb to be + present participle
Present Perfect Continuous: have/has + been + present
participle
 Past Participle: studied – eaten (I have eaten…/It was
found that… She has studied…) – 3rd column for
irregular verbs, ‘ed’ for regular verbs
 Perfect Participle: having studied – having eaten
Having + Past participle
Not having + Past participle: Not having eaten
 PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

Feeling tired, we eventually stopped for a rest.

Subordinate clauses or dependent clauses.

We resort to Participle Clauses to shorten a statement.

Instead of ‘Because we felt tired, we eventually stopped

for a rest’

The subject of the Participle Clause should always be the

same as the subject of the Main clause. (we felt tired, we
stopped)

Otherwise, it is ungrammatical. An ungrammatical

Participle Clause is called: Dangling Participle or Loose
Participle.

Example: Entering the room, the roof fell.

Who entered the room? The roof entered the room?

Barking loudly, Sean was approached by a large dog.

Sean was barking loudly?

Having finished my breakfast, Tanya and I set off on foot.

Tanya finished my breakfast?
Or is it that ‘I set off on foot with Tanya’?