Verbs Grammatical Categories

As there are relatively many English verb tenses, verbs in English come in many forms that provide different shades of meaning. However, English verbs comprise a much easier verb system than that of other languages that have distinct inflectional verb endings for different persons and number, or even change the verb stem with various tenses and aspects. In English only one verb ending remained, for verbs in the third person singular in the Present Simple tense.
Dan cooks dinner for us 3 times a week.
[3rd person, singular, present, simple, indicative, active,
meaning: habit in the present]

Yesterday we were cooking for hours on end.
[1st person, plural, past, progressive, indicative, active,
meaning: action in the past that continued over an extended period of time]

She would have cooked, if you had asked her to.
(but in reality you didn’t ask so she didn’t cook)
[would have cooked: 3rd person, singular, past, conditional, active,
meaning: hypothetic outcome in the past, contrary to fact]
[had asked: 2nd person, singular, past, perfect, subjunctive, active,
meaning: hypothetic assumption in the past, contrary to fact]

I suggest that dinner be cooked no later than 20:00.
[3rd person, singular, present, subjunctive, passive,
meaning: strong recommendation, which will not necessarily be fulfilled]

Categories Type Examples
Person 1st person
2nd person
3rd person
I go
You go
She goes
Number Singular
Plural
He has written
They have written
Tense present
past
future
I eat
I ate
I will eat
Aspect simple,
progressive,
perfect,
perfect-progressive
I study every day.
I am studying today.
I have studied for years.
I have been studying for hours.
Mood    
Voice indicative
imperative
subjunctive
I am always on time.
Be there on time!
If I were on time, I would…