By using verbs correctly, writers are able to indicate the time of actions clearly and to show who or what is performing each action.
In fact, my earliest memory of anything at all is of waking up in a darkened room where I had been put to bed for a nap on a summer's afternoon, and feeling very, very hot. I disliked the feeling then and retained the bias for years.
—from "On Summer" written by Lorraine Hansberry
The sentences use verbs to show the movement of time from the present to the past.
A tense is a form of a verb that shows the time of an action or a condition. The six tenses are present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.
A verb has four principal parts: the present, the present participle, the past, and the past participle.
The past and past participle of a regular verb are formed by adding -ed or -d to the present form. Two regular verbs are learn and promise.
The past and past participle of an irregular verb are not formed by adding -ed or -d to the present form. Two irregular verbs are draw and put.
Voice is the form of a verb that shows whether or not the subject is performing the action.
A verb is in active voice if its subject performs the action.
Alice left a message.
A verb is in passive voice if its action is performed upon the subject. A passive verb is made from a form of be plus the past participle of a transitive verb.
A message was left by Alice.
Use the active voice whenever possible. Use the passive voice to emphasize the receiver of the action rather than the performer or when the performer is not important or not easily identified.
The accident victims were rushed to the hospital by ambulance. (emphasizes receiver)
The library is closed on Saturdays during the summer. (performer is not important)
