Verbs — Tense and Mood Defined

Verbs — Tense and Mood Defined

Tense

Keep in mind that the word tense is simply a formal way of saying time. In English we think of time as being broken into three segments: present, past, and future. Both English and Spanish verbs are assigned forms (conjugated) to indicate divisions of time.

Mood

The mood of a verb expresses the attitude of the speaker or writer toward his or her statement.

Just as tense is used to indicate a period of time when the action takes place, we also can use mood to express "point of view". Mood is used to express the relation of one action to another from the point of view of the speaker. For example, to express doubt, uncertainty, or some other limitation which the speaker wishes to express.