English grammar?

There are three basic tenses:
Present, Past, and Future
These have four sub categories each:
Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous
i.e.
I write (simple present)
I am writing (present continuous)
I have written (present perfect)
I have been writing (present perfect continuous)

2007-03-20 20:32:52 · answer #1 · answered by anlarm 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋

"Morphologically?" He must mean the form that the verb takes. Let's look at an example sentence: Were I a duck, I would fly out here quick. Were here must be the same as present or past tense model. I can only think of "Were you a duck? " That is past tense. Or maybe he is not talking about this at all. Or maybe he means that you form all other tenses using elements of the present and past tenses.
So basically I would say that morphologically
is the answer to your question. I suspect that you wanted to know a specific morphologically including the number of variations. But that is not what you asked at all. You just want the number of variations. Or do you want the names of all the tenses and examples of each -- someone has given you that. I am thinking there may others that you haven't heard of yet.
I can think of pluperfect.

2007-03-21 00:35:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋

The English language, if you analyse it fully, has a large number of tense forms. In reference to the past, especially, there are very subtle distinctions between the uses of the various forms, and only several years of native familiarity with how those forms are used could make you a "natural user" of all those forms in ways that would make your speech and writing indistinguishable from a mother-tongue user of English.

Indeed, in theory there are only 3, or possibly 4, "tenses" in English, but that does not state the real usage.

2015-09-24 23:49:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋

Three simple tenses: Past, present and future...
And four "sub-category" tenses that branch off from the first three: perfect, continuous and perfect-continuous.

SAMPLES:
Simple past - I studied.
Simple present - I am studying.
Simple future - I will study.

Past perfect - I had studied.
Present perfect - I have studied.
Future perfect - I will have studied.

Past continuous - I was studying.
Present continuous - I am studying.
Future continuous - I will be studying.

Past perfect-continuous - I had been studying.
Present perfect-continuous - I have been studying.
Future perfect-continuous - I will have been studying.

What the first answerer said is also true, all are based on past & present, but this is a more detailed list.
Hope that helps.

2007-03-20 12:45:40 · answer #4 · answered by Rei-chan 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋

There are 3 tenses. Past, present and future.

Then there are 4 sub-catagories (for want of better word).

Simple, continuious, perfect & perfect continuious.

Simple present ~ i STUDY english everyday
Simple past ~ i STUDIED english
simple future ~ i WILL STUDY english

Continuious Present ~ i AM STUDYING english
Continuious Past ~ i WAS STUDYING english
Continuious Future ~ i WILL BE STUDYING english

Perfect Present ~ i HAVE STUDIED english
Perfect Past ~ i HAD STUDIED english
Perfect Future ~ i WILL HAVE STUDIED english soon

Perfect Continuious Present ~ i HAVE BEEN STUDYING english
Perfect Continuious Past ~ i HAD BEEN STUDYING english
Perfect Continuious Future ~ i WILL HAVE BEEN STUDYING english

2007-03-20 12:26:39 · answer #5 · answered by JoE BoY 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋

Present simple..I go
Present continuous..I am going.
Past simple...I went.
Past perfect...I have gone.
Imperfect..I was going.
Pluperfect...I had gone.
Future simple..I will go.
Future continuous..I will be going.
Future conditional...I would/should go.
You could add more like' I had been going' and 'I would have been going' but it just complicates matters further.
Three are enough..past, present and future.

2007-03-20 13:01:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋

There are only one "tenses" but there are many "thousandses".

2007-03-20 12:17:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋

Agree with the first Answerer

2007-03-20 12:11:13 · answer #8 · answered by MK <>< 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋

Morphologically only two: present and past. Everything else is a construction based on those two forms.

2007-03-20 12:10:15 · answer #9 · answered by Doc Occam 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋

i get tense when people ask questions i don't know the answers to.so that one as far as i know.theres probably more though

2007-03-20 12:11:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋

13 answers