101 Section 4.3 Verbs and Adverbs Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Tense The tense of a verb indicates when the action or state of being takes place. The present tense of a verb indicates that the action or state of being takes place now. The past tense indicates that the action or state of being has already occurred. For many verbs, the past tense is formed by adding ed to the present tense. Examples include walk/walked, hunt/hunted, and look/looked. For irregular verbs, the spelling of the past tense varies. Examples include run/ran, drink/drank, and pay/paid. The future tense indicates that the action or state of being will occur at a later time. The future tense is formed by adding will before the present tense of the verb. Examples of verb tense are as follows. Present tense The horse runs around the paddock. Past tense The horse ran around the paddock. Future tense The horse will run around the paddock. Verb tenses can be further divided into simple and perfect tenses. The simple tenses are the present, past, and future tenses discussed above. The perfect tenses are used to express that something happens over or during a certain time. The present perfect tense is formed by adding have or has to the past tense. The past perfect tense is formed by adding had to the past tense. The future perfect tense is formed by adding will have to the past tense. Examples of the perfect tenses are as follows. Present perfect tense The horse has run around the paddock. (just now) Past perfect tense The horse had run around the paddock. (last week, perhaps) Future perfect tense The horse will have run around the paddock. (next week, perhaps) Person Verbs can be in one of three persons. A verb in first person refers to an action of someone who is speaking or writing. A verb in second person refers to an action of someone who is being addressed (you). A verb in third person refers to an action of someone being discussed. Examples are as follows. First person I am getting ready to go. Second person You are not alone. Third person They are waiting.