Writing Lessons & Advice: Verb Tenses
Several years ago, I was big on Doctor Who! (If you haven't noticed before, I’ve made nods to the show in other posts.) A college friend introduced me around the fiftieth anniversary. In turn, I introduced it to an ex-boyfriend and then my husband. So I’ve watched the near two-decade span of the “revival era” a few times over.
For those unfamiliar, Doctor Who is a long-running British sci-fi/fantasy show centered on a human-looking alien who calls themself The Doctor and travels around time and space trying to solve mysteries and fix problems wherever possible. Incidentally, The Doctor is part of a race called the Time Lords, who, more or less, command timelines, time travel, and time travel technology. So from The (tenth) Doctor’s “non-linear non-subjective viewpoint...[time is] more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.” Several plotlines actually hinge on the intricacies and convulsions of time in the Doctor Who universe.
Expressing time of action in writing is similarly perplexing sometimes. Grammar has a whole category dedicated to written expressions of time reference, which most would recognize as verb tenses. The most basic tenses are past, present, and future tense.
Past tense refers to action or state of being before this moment. Most may recognize that past tense is formed with -d or -ed at the end of regular verbs or a changed spelling of irregular verbs. Examples: I watched Doctor Who. I wrote a blog post.
Present tense refers to action or state of being at this moment or sometimes in just a general sense. Expressions of present tense use either a base form of a verb or an -s or -es ending. Example: I watch Doctor Who. I write a blog post. My friend watches Doctor Who and writes blog posts.
Future tense refers to action or state of being after this moment. Future tense is formed with the modal verb will plus the base form of the verb. Examples: I will watch Doctor Who. I will write a blog post.
These are the simple tenses. The tenses beyond these are what start to bend the mind, or arguably even time.
Perfect tense relates to an action or state of being from the past that is now complete. Each tense uses a specific helping/auxiliary verb and a past participle in the articulation.
Present perfect uses have or has plus participle, like: I have watched Doctor Who up to the Doctor’s twelfth incarnation. I have written a blog post.
Past perfect uses had plus participle, like: I had watched Doctor Who until 2017. I had written a blog post.
Future perfect uses will have plus participle, like: By the time of this publishing, I will have written sixty-one blog posts for this website.
Continuous tense, as one can imagine, relates to action or state of being that started before the moment and goes on now, and sometimes until a later fixed point. Continuous tense is articulated with the helping/auxiliary verb be and a present participle, like: I am watching Doctor Who. I am writing a blog post. Ncuti Gatwa will be portraying The Doctor for two years as of this writing.
These two tenses can also be combined together, forming past, present, or future perfect continuous tenses. The perfect continuous tense is for ongoing action or states of being happening over time. Past and present perfect continuous tense combines the helping verbs have and be with a present participle. Future perfect continuous also includes modal will. Examples: Fans will have been watching the revived Doctor Who era for nineteen years this year. I have been blogging as a hobby for fifteen years.
How come these are important to know?
The Doctor might be able to get away with bending the rules of time, but time in most other writing needs more care and attention. Mismatched or random verb tenses will disorient readers and give them whiplash. So to avoid and alleviate the trouble, verb tenses need to be accurate to when the action happens and as consistent as possible throughout the work. Wibbly-wobbly verb tenses are common writing mistakes, likely due to ignorance, confusion, or oversight. So refer to these notes and source material as you write, study, and proofread!
Hope this gives you a new way of thinking about verb tenses!
Have you found my mentions of Doctor Who in other Lessons & Advice? Comment in the socials or web chat where you found them or share any other topic you want me to cover in the future!
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