How to parse. ...

66

STATES OF ACTION.

[Par. 72.

2. What he did in past time:" He caught fish."
3. What he w ill do in future time:" He will catch fish."
A Verb, then, has three times of which it can
speak - Past, Present, and Future.
Now the French for " time " is temps; and from
this French word, slightly altered, we have made
the word Tense.
A Verb has three Tenses- Past, Present, and
Future.
72 States of Action.
Suppose you are speaking of a fisherman whom
you saw some time ago, i.e. in past time, catching
fish.
1. You may say simply" He caught a salmon."
Here you do not define the action further than
by saying it is past. This Tense may therefore be
called the "( not-defined Past," or Past Indefinite.
2. You may say -
"He was catching a salmon just as I left him."