Crossword Genius

Form of verb is beyond many English (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

past tense

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'form of verb' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'beyond many english' is the wordplay.
'beyond' becomes 'past' (to go beyond something is to go past it).
'many english' becomes 'tense' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'past'+'tense'='PAST TENSE'

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for past tense that I've seen before include "Grammatical verb form" , "It expresses something that has happened" , "Form of verb showing that the action has already happened" , "history?" , "What could be perfect in a lesson of French" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app