INFLECTION OF VERBS
216. Verbs have inflections of tense, person and number, and mood. They also have the distinction of voice, which is expressed by the help of verb-phrases.
Tense indicates time; person and number correspond with person and number in substantives; mood shows the manner in which the action is expressed; voice indicates whether the subject acts or is acted upon.
TENSE OF VERBS
217. The tense of a verb indicates its time.[27]
Verbs have forms of tense to indicate present, past, or future time.
1. A verb in the present tense refers to present time.
2. A verb in the past tense refers to past time.[28]
3. A verb in the future tense refers to future time.
The present, the past, and the future are called simple tenses.