How Romance verbs work in English

Contrary to appearances, grammar rules don't exist to make life difficult for language learners. For native speakers of the languages, they provide a way to make distinctions in meaning that are important to that speech community. One of the trickiest parts of learning the Romance languages for English speakers is the matter of the verb. It seems like the different forms never end. For consolation English speakers should listen to a French, Spanish or Italian speaker trying out English. They'll hear things like "I go to the supermarket this afternoon." In English, we draw distinctions that make sense to us. In the Romance language, they draw different distinctions. What's worse, even when we make the same distinctions, we do it different ways. In this article, I'm going to show some of the distinctions English speakers make but using the terminology I use to explain Romance grammar. Most of the examples will make things transparent, but you should look at the articles on particular grammar points in Romance to find out more of the particulars.

All verbs draw at least two distinctions with regard to the action they express. For this reason, we'll start with a definition of each distinction, then look at all the combinations. Note that this is not intended to be anywhere close to all-inclusive. It only has the most important forms you'll need for the Romance languages.

1) Tense. When did an action happen? (past, present, future)

2) Aspect. How are we considering the action? (perfect - as a completed event, imperfect - as an ongoing process)

3) Mood. Is the action considered objectively, emotionally or judgmentally, or as a possibility?

a) Indicative - the speaker thinks he or she is offering an objective fact
b) Subjunctive - the speaker's feelings, judgments or doubts color the statement
c) Conditional - the action depends on special criteria

These are the three major distinctions we're going to draw here. Now let's look at the different combinations, with examples in English, so you can see what meanings are being given. After that, you can look at the specific articles for subjunctive, imperfect, etc. for more information. Note that we're focusing on the Romance languages, so this listing only has forms of importance for the Romance languages.

past perfect indicative: I went to the store. completed action or event

past imperfect indicative: I was going to the store. action in progress, not completed I would go to the store (every Tuesday). not perfect, because it doesn't mark the completion of a specific action, hence, imperfect

present indicative (no perfect/imperfect distinction): I go to the store (Tuesdays). I am going to the store (now). aspect not an issue because a completed action can't happen or be happening; it has happened

future indicative (no imperfect/perfect distinction): I will go/will be going to the store. in Romance, these are the same

Note that all indicative forms can go in main clauses. That is because the speaker has no need to qualify them. Not so with the subjunctive.

past perfect subjunctive: I was heartened/doubtful that he would have gone/had gone to the store.

past imperfect subjunctive: I was heartened/doubtful that he would be going/was going to the store.

present subjunctive (no perfect/imperfect distinction): I am heartened/doubtful that he would be/is going to the store.

future subjunctive: does not exist; uses present subjunctive or work-around construction

Two things to note about the subjunctive: 1) It's always in a dependent clause (sometimes implied, e.g. (We pray that) the king would live long! = Long live the king!). 2. The dependent clause is of a nature that the truthfulness, or desirability of the second part (in the subjunctive) is shaded by the speaker's thoughts and feelings.

The distinctions drawn by the subjunctive are tricky for English speakers because, as the examples show, there are ways of expressing the thoughts without using a form different from the indicative. Moreover, whatever purists' efforts to retain a subjunctive, the economizing tendencies of English (the language of a plain-speaking folk and immigrant populations just learning it, both of which simplify it wherever possible) will probably level the distinction out of existence altogether. Incidentally, the imperfect subjunctive, though still with us in Italian and Spanish, might as well be dead in French. You'll need to recognize it for reading literature, but even native French speakers don't bother to master it unless they're writers.

conditional (all tenses and aspects): If I had the time, I would go to the store. statement (in italics) dependent upon the veracity of the first clause.

For past conditional, you might have: If I had had the time, I would have gone to the store. I.e. there are the same workarounds for tense as in English.

As a rule, conditional clauses for if-clauses that set the conditions in the imperfect indicative.

Therefore:
Romance: If I was rich, I'd buy a big house.
Proper English: If I were rich, I'd buy a big house.
Increasingly standard English: If I was rich, I'd buy a big house.

The "were" in the proper English version is considered subjunctive. But some grammarians then give us this:

If I were rich, I would be happy.

and propose that both italicized forms are subjunctive. This is why you need to look at this guide, and not a guide to English grammar.

The confusion, by the way, stems from attempts to make English grammar fit the Latin definitions of Latin parts of speech. If you start reading about "counterfactuality" in grammar books in trying to understand the Romance subjunctive, you'll be lost. Let's reiterate the moods or modes one more time so you'll remember what's what. After that you can turn to individual articles on different grammar points.

Indicative: simple statements that the speaker believes are facts

Subjunctive: the author's feelings or judgments set the stage for the statement

Conditional: an if-clause sets terms under which the statement is true or false

If you're feeling confused... you must be learning a Romance language. Take heart and come back to the tips in our articles. In time you'll get the flavor and as you see the languages in action, you'll start having a-ha moments where my more bizarre or abstract statements suddenly make sense.