8. Expressing Time — Tense and Aspect When we make a statement, we usually need to indicate whether the situation exists now, existed in the past, or is likely to exist in the future, Usually, two elements indicate this: the Verbal Group (the tenses = verb forms that indicate a particular point in time or period time) and the Adjunets of time (adverb = tomorrow; a noun group = last week; prepositional phrase = on Saturday’), whenever we want to draw attention to the time of the action Adjunets of time normally come at the end of a clause, after the verb or after its object, if there is one. For emphasis, the time adjunct may also be pliced at the beginning of a clause. eg. Peter will v tense. If the Adjunct is an adverb, it can also come immediately after “be” or after the first auxiliary in a verb group. eg. She is now pretty well known in this country. The article will soon appear in the national press. Whenever we want to underline that an event takes place continuously over a period of time, or is repeated several times, we resort to Adjuncts of duration and Adjuncts of frequency. e.g. They would go on walking for hours. America has always been highly influential. it London next month. vs. Yesterday the atmosphere at the factory was A) The Verbal Group: Since tense relates the meaning of the verb to a time scale, we must first give attention to the different kinds of meaning a verb may have. Broadly, verbs may refer either to an EVENT ~ a happening with a definite beginning and end — (get, come, live, hit), or to a STATE — a state of affairs which continues over a period — (be, live, stay, know), ‘The distinction between “state” and “event” gives rise to the following three basic kinds of verb meaning: 1. STATE: Peter is Canadian, 2. SINGLE EVENT Columbus discovered America. 3. REPEATED EVENTS (HABIT) He played the piano brilliantly. ‘The “habit” meaning combines “event” meaning with “state.” (A habit is a state consisting of a series of events.) To these three types of verbal meaning a fourth one can be added, 4. TEMPORARY MEANING (expressed by the progressive aspect ) She was cooking the dinner when I came. ‘Note: The verbs which most typically take the progressive aspect are verbs denoting ACTIVITIES (walk, read, write, work) or PROCESSES (change, grow, widen, improve). Verbs denoting MOMENTARY EVENTS, ‘knock, jump, nod, kick, ete) if used with the progressive, suggest repetition eg He nodded (one movement) vs, He was nodding (repeated movements) The following verbs normally do not take the progressive: 1. Verbs of inert perception (hear, see, smell, taste, feel, sound, look, appear); 2. Verbs of inert cognition (believe, expect, consider, hope, imagine, know, suppose, think, understand); 3. Attitudinal verbs (dislike, like, loath, love, hate, mind, prefer, want, wish, refuse, regret); 4. Achievement verbs (forget, notice, realize, recognize), RB5. Verbs of having and being (belong to, contain, be, consist of, cost, depend on, deserve, have, hold, matter, own, resemble). Although these verbs may be labeled as “non-progressive,” there are special circumstances when we hear them used with the progressive. In such cases, the “state verb” has been changed into an “activity verb” — referring to an active form of behavior, or to the role a person is adopting. e.g. The doctor is feeling her pulse. vs. He says it feels normal. The actor is appearing on stage, vs. He appears to be asleep, I'm thinking about buying a new hat. vs. I think that he'll manage. You are being rude. vs. You're pupils. Ann is resembling her mother more and more. vs. Ann resembles her mother. Another exceptional case is the use of the progressive with hope and want, ete to express greater tentativeness and tact, eg. Were you wanting to see me? We are hoping you will support us. Prosent Tense vs Present Tense Continuous 1. Present Tense is used to express: present state, present event, present hal e.g. I'm awfully busy. I declare the meeting closed. He works in London, 2.General truths c.g. A molecule of water has two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. 3.Used in reviews, radio and TV commentaries, stage directions, headlines, in reporting, in commenting e.g. In this film he plays the central character. The Bible says love of money is the root of all evil. Nastase serves! I’ve never been greyhound-racing myself, but they tell me it’s a fascinating sport. I hear you're moving. This, I admit, was my favorite activity. But whenever we want to express the temporary present (the moment of speaking) emphasizing it, and temporary habit, indicating: changes, trends, development, progress, repetitive meaning, but also a feeling of disapproval, of annoyance on the part of the speaker, We resort to the Present Tense Continuous. eg. We're having a mecting. Only one hospital is functioning. His handwriting is improving. Do you know if she’s still playing these days. They are living in a rented house. I'm taking dancing lessons this winter. My children are always misbehaving. He’s washing his car whenever I call on him. Normally, we do not need to use an adjunct of time or other time expression with present tenses, but we can add them in order to emphasize the immediate present or general present, or to contrast the present with the past or future. We use Adjunets with: general truths, regular actions and frequent actions (always, generally, mainly, normally, often, traditionally, usually, seldom, never, weekly, ete) to reinforce or weaken our statements, to be more specific about how often the action happens, or to express disapproval or annoyance: eg. Babies normally lose weight in the beginning, Several groups meet weekly. I visit her about once every six months, Inever drink alone. You're always ooking for faults. It’s always raining this time of the year. Morcover, many adjuncts of time normally only used with present tenses (at present, currently, in this day and age, nowadays, presently, these days, now, today) are also 4sometimes used with other tenses — to underline the uninterrupted, continual nature of an activity, or even anticipated happenings in the future: e.g. Ishared a taxi with Jerry, who was formerly a boxer and is presently a singer. He spoke about the camping craze that is currently sweeping America. Nowadays fitness is becoming a generally accepted principle of lif. My father was for ever (forever) getting into trouble with the law. Dennis is buying me a new coat for my birthday. We're visiting him tomorrow. (b) Past Time It is well known that English has two chief ways of indicating past time by means of the verb: the Past Tense (worked, wrote) and the Perfect Aspect (I have worked, he has written), also that these two can be combined to form the Past Perfeet (or “Pluperfect”) (I had worked, he had written) signifying “past in the past When talking about the past, an adjunct of time or other time expression is necessary to specify the particular time in the past we are referring to. The time reference can be established in a previous clause, and the verbs in the following clauses arc therefore put in the past tense (Sequence of Tenses). e.g. Iwas talking to one of them yesterday. She said she got there in time, Past Tense is used to express: 1. An event that occurred at a definite time in the past, identified by an adjunet of time/ time expression: eg. Our regular window cleaner went off to Canada last year. 2. Situations which existed over a period of time in the past: e.g. He lived in Paris during his last years, 3. Habitual and regular actions in the past e.g. We walked a great deal in my boyhood. ‘ould” and “used to” can also be used to say that something happened regularly in the past but no longer does so. “Would” is typical of narrative style (formal level of the language), and “used to” is more characteristic of “colloquial English.” Note: There are two special circumstances in which the Simple Present Tense is used with past meaning: 1. The “historic present” — used in narrative for a vivid description of events, as if they were happening in our presence: e.g. Then in comes the barman and tries to stop the fight. 2. With verbs of communication, where more strictly the Present Perfect would be appropriate: e.g. hear you have changed your job. (informal) Tam informed that your appointment has been terminated. (formal) Past Continuous is used to express: 1.Repeated actions and continued states: e.g. Her tooth was aching, her bumt finger was hurting. Everyone was begging the captain to surrender. 2.For contrasting events (a situation with an event which happened just after the situation existed) or simultaneously occurring events: e.g. We were all sitting round the fire waiting for my soldier brother to come home but he arrived only about six in the evening 15| was waiting angrily on Monday morning when I saw her. Father was watching TV while the kids were playing out in the garden 1. Past actions without stating a specific time in a period leading up to the present time: eg. They have raised 180 dollars for a swimming pool. Have you been to Florence? All my family have had measles (in the last year), 2. Habit in a period leading up to the present time: eg. He has attended lectures regularly this term. 3.Past events with results in the present time (action is completed right before the moment of speaking): e.g. The taxi has arrived. (It’s now here) Her doll has been broken, (It's still not mended) 4. Situations that still exist at the moment of speaking in the present (state leading up to the present timc). When “since” and “for” arc used, then we rofer to a definite time (initial moment and period over which the action extends): e.g. His sister has been an invalid all her life. (She’s still alive) ‘That house has been empty for ages. (It still is) ‘They have been back every year since then, It was the only record to have stayed in the American charts for a full si weeks ‘Note: In sense (1) the present perfect often refers to the recent indefinite past. For such clauses there is tenteney for AmE to prefer the past tense: Did you eat yet? Secondly, there isan idiomatic use of the Past Tense with ahvays, ever, never to refer to. state or habit leading up to the present time (2) always said (have said) that he would end up in jail. ‘The Progressive Aspect has normally the same sort of meaning as the Simple Present Perfe except that: 1.) The period leading up to the present has eg. I've been writing a letter to my nephew. 2.) We emphasize the uninterrupted duration of a recent event eg. Since eight o’clock I haven’t been doing anything but shopping ited duration: Past Perfect Events before a particular time in the past or expectations and wishes (with the latter the progressive aspect may also be used to show that it has not yet happened): eg. The house had been empty for several months when I bought it. She had naturally assumed that once there was a theatre everybody would want to go. (Thad been expecting some miraculous obvious change.) ‘The Progressive Aspect shows that the event started at a particular moment in the past and is not yet completed at the moment of reference (of speaking), thus emphasizing duration, the continuous or recent nature of the event: e.g. By the time I arrived he had been watching TV for five hours. The patient had been waiting in the emergency room for only five minutes when the doctor came in. 16Adjunets: emphasizing time in the past Adjuncts of time refer either to a specific time, or to a more general indefinite period of time (again, already, ever since, earlier, finally, first, in the past, just, last, previoush recently, since, afterwards, at one time, eventually, formerly, immediately, lately, next, once, originally, subsequently, ctc). There are some cases where adjuncts have to be used to specify the time reference. In other cases, we may simply want to make the timing of the action clear, or emphatic, These uses are described below: 1.) With the Simple Past — adjuncts of frequency ~ to indicate regularity or repetition. e.g. He often agreed to work quite cheaply Sometimes he read so much that he became confused. Peter phoned his parents every day. 2.) With the Past Continuous — adjunets of frequency — to indicate the frequency of the action or to express the annoyanee about it e.g. They're always calling on us when we want to watch our favorite TV program. Her eyes squeezed up and ran with tears, so that she was forever wiping them. 3.) With the Present Perfect adjunets of frequeney — to indicate repetition and —adjunets of duration — to indicate that quality, attitude or possession still exists or is still relevant or how long it has been going on; (also valid for the Progressive Aspect) e.g. I've often wondered why we didn’t move years ago. I’ve known him for years. My people have been at war since 1925 He has looked after me well since his mother died. ‘They have been meeting together weekly now for two years 4.) With the Past Perf adjuncts of frequency — to indicate how often the repeated event took place: adjunct of duration — to emphasize the length of time; simple time adjunct ~ to mention a recent continuous activity with PPC; as well as for emphasis; e.g. The house keeper mentioned that the dog had attacked its mistress more than once. His parents had been married for twelve years when he was bom. Since then, the mother had been living with her daughter. The drive increased the fatigue she had been feeling for hours. The rain had been pouring all night. (© Future It is not possible to talk with as much certainty about the future as it is about the present or the past. Any reference you make to future events is therefore usually an expression of what you think might happen or what you intend to happen. There are six chief ways of expressing future time in the English verb phrase: 1. The Simple Future (will/shall) — for a “neutral” future event, a prediction about the future; in the main clause of conditional sentences: e.g. I'll finish my work next week. ‘Tomorrow's weather will be cold and cloudy ‘You will feel better if you take your medicine regularly 1The Future Continuous — for a temporary situation in the future: indicating certainty: €.g. I'll be waiting for you outside. Mr. Smith will be driving to London next week. 3. “be going to” — future of intention - expressing intention; the future fulfillment of present cause: in spoken English used instead of shall/will, ¢.g. I'm going to explore the neighborhood. It’s going to rain, Look at the elouds. We're going to see a change in the law next year. 4, Immediate Future: “be about to.” “be due to” — planned events expected to happen soon: e.g. Another 385 people are about to lose their jobs He is due to start as a courier shortly. 5. Simple Present — an official plan not likely to change; clauses; e.g. We start for Munich tomorrow. The train leaves at 8:30. T'lltell you if it hurts He'll phone you when he comes. 6, Present Continuous — present plan, arrangement for the future (personal character) e.g. I'm leaving at the end of this week. We're having fish for dinner. condi nal and temporal ‘The Future Perfect Tense ~ used to refer to something that has not happened yet but will happen before a particular time in the future; €.g. Maybe when you come up, you'll have heard from your sister Tomorrow Jean and Ken will have been married twenty years. ‘The Future Perfect Continuous — used to indicate the duration of an event at a specific time in the future: e.g. By March 2000, he will have been working for this organization for 12 years. The register will have been running for a year in May. ‘The Future in the Past ~ expresses the future seen from a viewpoint in the past reporting verb in the main clause is in the Past Tense; e.g. He said he would go there next week. when the Adjunets with future tenses a)for future indefinite actions adjunets of indefinite time are used (in future, in the future, one of these days, some day, sometime, sooner or later): e.g. I'll drop by sometime. Sooner or later he'll ask you to j In future she'll have to take sedentary work of some sort. b)“tomorrow” and “next™ are used for definite actions in the future: e.g. We'll try somewhere else tomorrow. Shall I come tomorrow night? Next summer your erops will be very much better She won't be able to do it the week after next. 78B) TIMING BY ADJUNCTS In many statements, it is the adjunct rather than the tense of the verb which carries the time reference. For this reason, many adjunets can be used with more than one set of tenses, because they refer to TIME and not to tense: 1.) A common use ~ tomorrow, next week, in... week's time: adjuncts which normally refer to future time may be used with the present tense to refer to future actions, including habitual actions. e.g. Afterall, youre coming back next week. We arranged to meet in three week’s time. 2.) The adjuncts — now, today, tonight, this... - refer to a period including the present moment; e.g. One of my children wrote to me today. I will ski no more today. Is dark today. 3.) Reference to time in a relative way: afterwards, at once, before long, eventually, immediately, later on, presently, shortly, soon, suddenly, within minutes, within the hour, the next day/week/month/year, the following day/week/month/year, the day/week/month/year after, beforehand, early, earlier on, in advance, late, one day, on time, punctually; e.g. Ill explain later. I was very nervous beforehand. Tired out, he had gone to bed early. woke earlier than usual. This bus is usually on time, 4.) Reference to necessary time, beyond which an event will no longer be relevant, useful, or successful — in time, too early, too late; e.g. [tried to reach the rendezvous in time. Today children hear too much about sex too early. They arrived too late for the information to be any good. 5.) Reference to previously mentioned time — use of the adverb then; e.g. We kept three monkeys then. It'll be too late then. To be more specific, we can use that with the name of a day/week/month/season; e.g. William didn’t come in that Tuesday. So many people will be pursuing other activities that night. Emphasizing the unexpected: - Adjunets: already, any longer, any more, as yet, no longer, so ‘far, still, up till now, up to now, yet — are used for an action that is: continuing, stopping, or not happening. 1.) “Still” for existing situations, often suggesting that continuation is surprising and unexpected; eg. It’s a marvel that he is still alive. Male prejudice still exists in certain quarters. We still don’t know where we're going, 2.) “Still” — for expected situations but which have not happened yet: e.g. The problems were still to come. There are many other questions still to be answered, 3.) “Yet” — for expected situations, not happened up to the present time, but likely to happen in the future; for emphasis “yet” is placed before a simple verb or after the auxiliary and negative word: e.g. We don’t know the terms yet. No one yet knows exactly what it means. Her style had not yet matured “Yet” — in questions it is usually put at the end; 9e.g. Have you read your paper yet? “Yet” — in affirmative statements to show that something expected has not happened up to the present time; e.g. The truc history of art in post-war America is yet to be written, “Yet” — in affirmative statements with superlatives to indicate that the statement applies up to the present; e.g. This would be the biggest and best version yet. 4.) Likely change ~ “as yet, so far, up to now, up till now” — to indicate a situation which existed up to the present time may change in the future; eg. As yet, there is little to suggest that he is an exception in this. So far, the terms of the treaty have been carried out according to the schedule. You haven’t once up till now come into real contact with our authorities. 5.) Past not present — use of “any longer, any more, no longer” — to express that the past situation does not exist in the present; eg. They don’t live together any more. 6.) Emphasizing occurrence ~ “already” — to emphasize that a situation exists, rather than not yet having occurred; eg. The energy already exists in the ground. We have already advertised your post in the papers. I was happy for her; she looked better already. ©) TIME EXPRESSIONS AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES 1.) Specific times ~ these expressions are used as complements when we want to state the current time, day, or year. Clock times ~ usually expressed in terms of hours, parts of hours or minutes; €.g. “one o’clockifive [minutes] past one’ one twenty/half past one/a.m. — p.m.= in the 12-hour system/24-system ~ in official contexts” ~ if hour is known, only minutes are specified: “five pastten to” ~ “midday/noon” - are occasionally used; ‘Times of the day — “morning/afternoon/evening/night/dawn/first light/sunrise/dusk/sun~ set/nightfall/daytime/night-time/breakfast-time/break-time/teatime dinnertime/suppertime/bedtime”, Naming days — the seven days of the week; Saturday + Sunday = weekend; — special names: “New Year's Day/St Valentine’s Day/Good Friday/Ash Wednesday/Easter Monday/Halloween/Christmas Eve/Christmas Day! Bosing Day/New Year’s Eve”; days can also be named by giving their date using an ordinal number: e.g. “First of July/ 18" July/October the ninth/on the fourteenth”; ‘Months, seasos dates — the 12 months have proper names; — there are four seasons: spring/summer/autumn[fall — AmE] winter’springtime/summertime/wintertime/Christmas/Easter ‘New Year = to mark the period of the year; Years, decades, centuries — decades start with a year ending in 0 and finish with a year ending in 9: “the 1960s” (1960 to 1969); if the century is already known, it can be omitted: “the 20s/the twenties/the ‘Twenties’ 80— for centuries: “AD” [before or after the numbers ]-after Christ “BC” before Christ is believed to have been born; centuries start with a year ending in 00 and end in 99: first century= “0 AD” to “99 AD” twenticth century/ the 20" century; clock times, periods of the year and periods of the day except for “morning /evening/afteroon daytime” — may also be used with: “time/moment/hour/minute”; “At” — for relating events — to relate the time of one event to another event: “at a party/ at conference”; Itis also used with ages, states of development, and points within a larger period of time: “at the age of twenty/at an carly stage of the war/at the beginning of March’ ‘In” — for periods of time in which something happens — used with centurics/years/ ‘months/the periods of the day: “morning, afternoon, evening/daytime/night-time”, “In"*— for specific time — to specify a period of time, minutes, hours, day's, using an ordinal: “in the first eight months/in the early hours/in wartime/in the holidays “On” — for short periods of time — with ordinals and special terms: “birthday/anniversary” ©. “onMonday/on the eighth or ninthion a calm afternoon/on Christmas Day’, — for longer periods of time — with words indicating travel: “journey/trip/voyage/way/ “On” — for subsequent events — used in a slightly formal way with nouns and “ing”-forms referring to actions or activities to indicate that one event occurs after another, ¢.g. I shall bring the remaining money on my return in eleven days. On being called “young lady,” she laughed, Ordering of time expressions: the usual order is: clock time, period of day, day of the week, and date: e.g. at cight o°clock on the morning of 29 October 1618; on the night of Thursday July 16. 2.) Non-specific times Approximate times — if we want to be less specific we can use approximating adverbs, approximating expressions or prepositions to relate events to less specific points or periods of time: “about, around, almost, just, after, just before, nearly, round about, shortly after, shortly before, soon afler, thereabouts” [used prepositions: after, before, by, during, over, following, prior to]: eg. “around midnight/during the summer/over the weekend round about midday’ at four o’elock or thereabouts; back in 1975 or thereabouts”; “During” — for periods of time — used instead of “in” with periods of the day, months, seasons, years, decades, and centuries; — it can also be used with most event nouns to indicate that one event takes place while another is occurring: 81e.g. “during September ‘during the Si weekendiduring the rain”: ties/during the week = on weekdays and not ver” — for events — used with “winter,” “summer” and special periods of the year to indicate that the event occurred throughout the period or at an unspecified time during it eg. “over the winter/over the New Year" — a period before or after the time of speaking or the time being talked about; eg. “over the past decade/over the last four years — with meals and items of food or drink to indicate that something happens while people are eating or drinking; ‘over lunch/over a cup of coffee”: eg. Relating events and times — occurs with the help of: “before/prior to/after'following previous to/subsequent to”; Order of events — is expressed with the help of: “before/after’carlicr than/later than”: Simultaneous events — to indicate that events happen at the same time, the adverbs: “together/simultaneously/at the same time/at once”; 1" for specific time — to emphasize that an event occurs at some time before a specific time, but not later; e.g. By eleven he was back in his office. By now the moon was up. 3.) Extended uses of time expressions Time expressions and prepositional phrases can also be used as qualifiers to specify events or periods of time; eg. “the meeting this afternoon,” “before closing time,” ete; Clock times, periods of the day, days of the week, months, dates, seasons, special periods of the year, years, decades, and centuries can be used as modifiers to specify things. eg. “six thirty-five train/eight o’elock news/morning mists/summer and winter clothes”; Possessive forms ean also be used; eg. “Tuesday’s paper/Monday’s paper'the morning’s happenings”; * Tense and Aspect are obligatory categories that help the speaker locate events in time and indicate the duration (permanent vs. temporary validity) and the type of action (completed vs. in progression), * Progressiveness and non-progressiveness mean fo produce such effects as the ‘stretching? of the event, gradual character, transition, incompletion, temporariness, repetition ofthe event, punctual and sudden character, completion and permanent state. Al these effects are exploited in discourse. 821.) Devide which is more meaningful, the Past or the Perfect, in the sentences below. Give reasons for your choi We ... (set off) early and ... (leave) the car by the bridge. “1... (get) it,” he shouted , “I think I... really (get) it.” During his short lifetime, he...(compose) some of the most beautiful organ music of his time. How many plays... Shakespeare (write)? 1...(wake up) late this morning and ...(have) any breakfast yet. What ...you (say) your name ...(be)? ‘ou (come) for a work permit, or for something else? When... your son (qualify) as a doctor? the children (like) the circus? I'm afraid there...(be) a mistake. You. put, passive) in the wrong group, 2.) Supply the correct form (Tense and Aspect) of the verbs in brackets: He (hope) to find John and was very disappointed when he didn’t We (cook) all day for the party and by 8 o'clock we still weren't ready. He (wait) for that letter for weeks when at last it (arrive). 1 (work) for about two hours when John came with a letter Mark looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes to three and he (wait) since two o’elock. ‘Their hands were quite numb because they (make) a snowman, told James that he (have) no chance of catching that train. When I (enter) the room, I (notice) that somebody was there. When they (look) everywhere for the missing screw, Joe (find) it in the turn-ups of his trousers. 1 (stand) outside the faculty at eight o’clock sharp. ‘They (listen) to music if you get there after nine. After he (explain) the situation there (be) a long silence. ‘The suspect declared that he (be) asleep in bed at the time when the bank (be robbed), He (forget) to buy petrol, although his wife (remind) him to do so just before he (leave) the house. When he (tell) them his extraordinary story, they (be) skeptical at first, but gradually (become) more interested. We (garden) and we are quite exhausted. ‘This time next week she (travel) to Spain When I get home my dog (sit) at the door waiting for me. Ina few days’ time you (wish) you had come with us, Look at the beautiful flowers that John just (bring). You (run)? You seem quite out of breath. What you (do) with the map? It disappear) from the usual place. What the children (do)? Their room is in a frightful mess! Somebody (use) my fountain-pen again. By the end of next week my wiffs (do) her spring cleaning and we'll all be able to relax again. Thope I (pass) the examination when I see you again.Apparently Venice is slowly sinking into the sea, Scientists are trying to save it but by the time they’ve found the answer the city probably (sink). In another week’s time you (see) everything worth seeing. ‘Come back in an hour. I (do) my packing by then and we'll be able to have a talk Til be back again at the end of next month. I hope I (pass) my driving test by then. He (finish) mowing the lawn by dinner time. When we (reach) Crewe we (do) half of the journey. If you leave it too late he (sell) the machine to someone else. In two months’ time he (finish) his preliminary training and will be starting work. By next October I (work) in this office for ten years, ‘On May 2 we (live) in this house exactly thirty years. When they arrive at the castle, a good fire (bum) in the fireplace since morning, When you come back home, I already (read) for three hours When Iretire, I (work) here for forty years. 3.) Reformulate the following clauses: He last shaved last Monday It’s years since Jane visited us. He last ate snails when he was a student in Paris, It’s years since I last had a really good night’s sleep. It’s ages since I last wrote a letter. She last went to the hairdresser’s for her brother's wedding, I last skated in my childhood, It’s more than ten years since that house was lived in last met her the day when she got a job. It’s quite a long time since he rode a motoreycle, 84