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User:Robbiemuffin/EnglishTAM

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Tense Aspect Modal
Perfect Progressive
LEMMA (nonpast)
LEMMA-ed (past)
<span="float:left">have LEMMA-en (perfect)  <span="float:right;">be LEMMA-ing (progressive)
will LEMMA (future)
see Lemma

The difference between tense, modal, and aspect is that: tense changes the time in the phrase by inflection on the verb, modal adds an auxiliary to the verb to change the phrase (mnemonic: the presence of the auxiliary “changes the mode”), and the aspect uses both inflection and an auxiliary.

The way it breaks down is like this:

To DO

  • Simple Tenses
  1. I did (I /do +ed/) - past tense
  2. I do - nonpast tense
  • Other principle Tenses
  1. I will do - future
  2. I have done (I have /do +en/) - perfect
  3. I am doing (I /be/ doing) - continuous


And from those you can construct any frame of reference in english. For example: <span="float:left">will have been LEMMA-ing (future perfect progressive) - is made from the modal + both aspects. (And of course the modal itself is really made from the nonpast so in a sense it is nonpast tense + modal + both aspects).