Tense, Mood and Aspect: Summary

TENSE
It is very important to establish the difference between time and tense. One the one
hand, time is a universal concept that describes a human notion independent of
language. On the other, tense, as one of the inflectional categories of the verb, is a
linguistic convention that represents event in time and express time relationships.
Tense presents a situation depending on the orientation or perspective of the speaker, so
the event can be described as located in three ways: anterior to the orientation of the
speaker, as simultaneous with it, or as posterior to it.
From the present point of reference, simultaneous events appear in the Present tense,
events that have begun before it are expressed in the Present Perfect, and posterior
events are expressed in the Future. By contrast, from the recalled point of reference,
used to narrate the past, implies a switch of perspective known as backshift. Anteriority
to this point is expressed in the Past Perfect, simultaneity by the past tense and
posteriority by the conditional.
As for the differences between Spanish and English in terms of grammatical tense (that
is tense as inflected on the verb), the first one, which is highly inflectional, has four
tenses that are marked in the verb: Present, Past, Future and Conditional (although the
Future can also be expressed periphrastically). As for English, it has only two: Present
and Past tenses. Other time relationships, such as the future, are expressed not by verb
inflection but rather periphrastically through auxiliaries)

ASPECT
Unlike tense, that locates a situation in time, aspect specifies the internal temporal
structure of a situation or action. In this way, it refers to the nature or the event being
described and which part of the event is being depicted.

The Perfective describes a situation marking beginnings or endings, while the

Imperfective emphasises the event in its duration, middleness and repetition. In
narration, the imperfective is usually used as a way to create a framework for another
action.
As for the differences between Spanish and English, in English is generally unmarked
on the verb and only two cases in which is shown periphrastically (through an
auxiliary): the Perfective 'have - ...en' and the Imperfective 'be - ...ing'. On the contrary,
aspect in Spanish is shown both morphologically and periphrastically.

MOOD
Mood is the inflectional category that describes the speaker's relation to reality or intent
in speaking. Many languages express the inflectional distinction of mood of the verb,
but the number of moods expressed and their exact sense changes from language to
language.
The most common moods are: the indicative (that expresses facts and opinions as is
commonly used in all languages), the imperative (expresses commands, direct requests
and prohibitions), the subjunctive (used to discuss hypothetical or unlikely events, and
for expressing polite requests) and the injunctive and the optative mood (used in very
few languages and they are used to express hopes, wishes and intensions, sometimes
overlapping with the subjunctive).
In Spanish, mood is inflectional and is expressed through the verb. In this he contrasts
English, since in the latter the mood is conveyed outside the verb through different
elements called markers, such as the bare infinitive, modals and the past tense.