A grammatical category that marks time by changing the finite verb form (e.g., walked vs walks) is called what?

• A. Aspect
• B. Tenses
• C. Mood
• D. Voice

Answer: (B)

This question is about how time is shown on the verb. The change from walked to walks directly marks when the action happens: walked signals a past action, while walks signals a present action. That time-shading of the verb is what tense does.

So the best term is tense: it’s the grammatical category that encodes when an action occurs by inflecting the finite verb form.

Just to distinguish it a bit: aspect focuses on the flow of the action (whether it’s ongoing, completed, etc.) and often uses different forms or auxiliaries (like walking or has walked), mood deals with the speaker’s attitude or reality (would, could, if), and voice concerns who is affected by the action (active vs passive). The example given is about time reference, which is why tense is the correct fit.