Lesson One 

LESSON ONE 

You are about to study the most important part of speech in  English -- verbs. Verbs were created for an important purpose: They tell time.  You may not realize it; but when you speak or write, you are telling  time to the person to whom you are speaking or writing. You will be  learning in this lesson how to "tell time" using verbs. 

Review: Tenses tell time, and there are three tenses: Present, Past, and  Future tenses. You know that if you want to tell somebody something that is  occurring right now you use a Present tense verb. If you want to  communicate something that has occurred already, you use the Past tense  verb. If you want to tell someone about something that is going to happen  later, you choose the Future tense. You know to choose certain verbs  (tenses) because they indicate time to the person listening to you or reading  your writing.  

For people who are learning English for the first time, they have to memorize  the forms for each verb; but for those people who have grown up hearing  English spoken around them, they usually know the tenses of many verbs.  The problem is that even people who have grown up hearing English  spoken around them may not have heard correct English. Therefore,  everyone has to make sure to learn the correct tenses of verbs.  

To learn the tenses of verbs, you will need to learn some simple formulas. A  formula is a model to help you make sure you know the correct forms of  verbs to use. Along with the formula, you will also need to learn a few  columns. After you have learned the formula, the columns, and a simple way to write them down, you will be all set to learn a large  number of verb tenses.  

Not only is it important to learn verb tenses to help you speak and write  correct English, but it will also be important for you to understand  tenses when you learn another language since almost every language  known to mankind has tenses which tell time.  

Here are the three formulas you already know (Present tense, Past tense,  and Future tense) plus there are three new tenses: Present Perfect tense,  Past Perfect tense, and Future Perfect tense. From now on, you can drop the  word "tense" and say Present, Past, Future, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, and  Future Perfect.  

You may find the word "perfect" to be a strange word to use when talking  about tenses because you are used to the word "perfect" meaning "without  flaw." Someone long ago in England started calling these tenses "Perfect,"  and Americans have continued to use the same term.  

You have already memorized the formulas for the Present, Past, and Future  tenses; now you will need to memorize the formulas for Present Perfect, Past  Perfect, and Future Perfect tenses.

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Along with the verb formulas, you will need to know the Principal Parts of  Verbs Chart which follows. The Present tense uses the 1st column. The Past  tense uses the 2nd column. The Future tense formula directs you to put shall or will and then choose a word from the 1st column.  

All Perfect tenses are going to use words found in the 3rd column on  the chart. For instance, the Present Perfect is formed by using the words  have or has plus a verb from the third column. The Past Perfect is formed by  using the word had plus a verb from the 3rd column. The Future Perfect is  formed by using shall have or will have plus a word from the 3rd column.    

Thankfully, if you have grown up hearing English, you will probably already  know most of the words in the chart. If not, then you will need to learn  them.

As you look at the Principal Parts of Verbs Chart, you will see a column at the  far left. That is the "father" form of the verb and is called an infinitive. You  have already learned what an infinitive is -- to + a verb. To + enjoy is an  infinitive, but we are going to call it the "father" form. You learned about  infinitives in the preposition unit; but here in the verb unit, let's call the  infinitive the father form. (Remember that to + a noun or pronoun is not an  infinitive but is a prepositional phrase.) Please notice that the column to the  far left in the chart is the father form of each verb family (to enjoy, to bring,  etc.).  

It will help you to memorize the verb forms in each column if you will simply  say the words that are at the top of each column. Those words will help  you know what sounds right in most cases. 

You say, "Today I enjoy." This is Present tense and tells the listener or the  reader that you are talking or writing in the Present time. "Yesterday I  enjoyed." This is Past tense and tells the listener or the reader that you are talking or writing in the Past time. 

How can you tell someone "time" in the Future tense? What is the formula which will help you figure out the Future tense? (shall or will + 1st column.)  Now let's follow the formula and create the Future tense of to enjoy . "I shall enjoy." "I will enjoy." 

You can apply the same type of process as you look at the Present Perfect  tense. The formula is have or has + 3rd column. That means you say, "have  or has + enjoyed" -- have enjoyed or has enjoyed. From now on, when you see the verb child whose name is have enjoyed or has enjoyed, you will  know that the father is to enjoy; and he has two added children -- have  enjoyed and has enjoyed. The Present Perfect tense is used to tell about  something which has happened a little before the Present time. (Example:  They have enjoyed the game.) 

Let's step through the same process in the Past Perfect tense of to enjoy.  The father is to enjoy. So far you know he has the following children: enjoy,  enjoys, enjoyed, shall enjoy, will enjoy, have enjoyed, has enjoyed. By applying the formula for the Past Perfect tense, you can locate one more  child -- had + 3rd column or had enjoyed.  

What do you think the Future Perfect tense children would be from the father to enjoy? (shall/will have + 3rd column -- shall have enjoyed or will  have enjoyed) You have now located ten children of the father to enjoy.  Let's name them: (1) enjoy, (2) enjoys, (3) enjoyed, (4) shall enjoy, (5) will enjoy, (6) have enjoyed, (7) has enjoyed, (8) had enjoyed, (9) shall have enjoyed, (10) will have enjoyed. The father to enjoy has many children.  Isn't this fun to see how many children a verb father has?  

If you will learn the names of the verbs, their formulas, and the Principal Parts of Verbs Chart, you can locate hundreds of verb children. When you see the verb child's name shall have enjoyed, you will need to look at  the last word in the child's name to figure out who the father is. The word enjoyed looks like the father to enjoy. Yes, that is right. Shall have enjoyed is a child of to enjoy.  

The good thing about learning verbs this way is that from now on when you see shall have enjoyed, you will know that this child (verb) has three  words to his name. You will not be tempted to think the verb is shall or shall have or enjoyed. It will be clear to you that the verb is shall have enjoyed. 

Now go through the Principal Parts of Verbs Chart below and say the  heading words at the top of each column.  

Remember that the Present tense has a second form which ends in "s."  When you say “he,” “she,” or “it” with the Present form, you will need to  add an "s." He enjoys. She enjoys. It enjoys. 

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