English-Polish Contrastive Grammar 8&9

The categories of the verb in English and Polish in contrast

Verbal categories
The verb forms the central element of the VP. If the VP is taken to denote situations, the verb
is the major (though not the only) element that decides what type of situation is denoted (i.e.
as to whether it is a state, an activity, etc.). The grammatical categories that are relevant for
the verbal system:
aspect – a system marked by either inflection or auxiliaries used for expressing aspectuality
(i.e. the internal temporal structure of the situation); aspectual meaning is closely related to
the type of situation denoted by the verb or VP
tense – a system marked by either inflection or auxiliaries used for expressing time
mood – a system marked predominantly by auxiliaries (beside syntax and inflection) used for
expressing modality (i.e. the speaker’s attitude towards the truthfulness of his proposition)
voice – a system marked by inflection; this system is somewhat different from the previous
three in that its function is both semantic and syntactic (information packaging)
other categories relevant for verbs such as person, number, and gender (only in Polish and
restricted (not marked in present tense)) are not independent verbal categories but are
determined at the syntactic level (they depend on the properties of the subject of the clause)

ASPECT IN ENGLISH – GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

IN ENGLISH, ASPECTUAL OPPOSITIONS (PERFECT VS. IMPERFECT, PROGRESSIVE VS. NONPROGRESSIVE) ARE
REALIZED BY MEANS OF CONSTANT GRAMMATICAL MARKERS. Aspect in English is clearly
grammatical; the difference between work and be working is not lexical (i.e. they are two
forms of one verb).
Progressive: be + ing-participle
Perfect: have + en-participle
Non-progressive – the situation is viewed as not being in progress; not marked (the verb is in
the simple inflected form in a tensed sentence)
George weighed his elephants. John repaired the computer.
Progressive – the situation denoted by the verb phrase is viewed as stretched out / in progress
at a particular point in time (in general, incompatible with stative verbs, which do not encode
situations that develop through time);
George was weighing his elephants. John was repairing the computer.
Perfect – perfect forms express the meaning of ‘an accomplished situation’. This meaning
occurs in two flavours: resultative, which implies the reaching of a goal implied in the
meaning of the verb, e.g. I have read this book, and continuative (when the situation continues
up to the temporal point of reference but no goal is attained, as it is not implied in the
meaning of the verb), e.g. I have lived here since 1980.
1. ASPECT IN POLISH – GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Perfective – the speaker perceives the situation as one complete whole
Imperfective – the speaker views the situation from the inside, the situation develops in time;
a variety of readings are possible
Formal characteristics aspect in Polish: grammatical or lexical?
Theoretically, there are two ways of treating aspectual distinctions in Polish. We may say that
robić : zrobić : przerobić are three different verbs in Polish, i.e. three separate lexical items. In
that case, however, we would not account for the fact that the contrasts robić : zrobić, on the
one hand, and robić : przerobić, on the other, are fundamentally different. In the pair robić :
zrobić the two forms contrast only in aspect, whereas in the pair robić : przerobić, apart from
the aspectual difference, there is an additional semantic difference. Thus, in the majority of

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accounts it is assumed that the pair robić : zrobić involves two inflectional forms of one
lexeme, whereas the pair robić : przerobić involves two different lexical items.
There is no single universal aspect marker in Polish; rather, different morphological means
are employed to encode aspect:
• prefixes: imperfective + prefix
perfective, e.g. robić : zrobić, tracić : stracić, uczyć
się : nauczyć się, czytać : przeczytać
• suffixes (sometimes with some internal modification of the stem): przepisać :
przepisywać, zdążyć : zdążać, wykończyć: wykańczać, wrócić : wracać
• stem alternation: pójść : iść, mówić : rzec / powiedzieć (derived from powiadać)
• circumfixation (prefix + suffix): stawiać : postawić, kłaniać się : ukłonić się.
Aspect can be variable (rzucić : rzucać) or invariable. The latter situation occurs when the
verb has only one form, either perfective, e.g. owdowieć, or imperfective, e.g. sąsiadować.

THE ENGLISH TENSE – FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS:

English has two systems of tense:
primary system – a deictic tense system marked by inflection; contrasts between present and
past:
He reads a lot of books these days. present
They read a lot of books these days.
He read a lot of books in his youth. preterite
secondary system – a non-deictic tense system marked by auxiliary have combined with a
past participle; contrasts between perfect and non-perfect:
He lives in Ealing. present (non-perfect)
He has lived in Ealing for years. present + perfect
The perfect occurs on its own only in certain types of non-finite subordinate clauses:
He is believed to have lived in Ealing for years.
In such a case temporal reference is produced anterior to the reference time of the main clause
(here provided by is in the main clause).
In the majority of contexts, however, the perfect is combined with the primary tense system
producing either the present perfect or the past perfect constructions:
He has lived in Ealing for years. present + perfect
He had lived in Ealing for years before he moved to Kensington. preterite + perfect
In these contexts the situation is anterior to the reference time provided by the primary tense
(either present or past), i.e. the inflectional form of the auxiliary have.
The two systems interact with grammatical aspect producing further distinctions (non-
progressive vs. progressive):
He reads a lot of novels. present (non-progressive)
He is reading an interesting novel right now. present + progressive
He has lived in Ealing for years. present + perfect
He has been living in Ealing for years. present + perfect + progressive

THE POLISH TENSE – FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Polish has one system of tense, which contrasts between present, future, and past. In addition,
there is also the archaic remote past tense, used especially in written language.
Polish tenses combine with aspect (perfective vs. imperfective), but there are some
restrictions as to the number and the use of these combinations:
Present – true present tense forms are possible only for imperfective verb forms – piszę,
piszesz, pisze, etc. Thus, there are no forms like *napisuję, *przeczytuję etc. and perfective
forms napiszę, przeczytam etc., which are built with the present tense stems, have future
rather than present time reference.

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Past – both the perfective and the imperfective variants exist. These forms are created by
adding the personal endings to the stem formed by the perfective or imperfective form of the
so-called pseudo-participle, e.g. (na)pisał-. The personal endings are agglutinative
morphemes and may be attached to another word in a sentence as well:
Coście napisali?
Aleśmy pobalowali!
Future – both the perfective and imperfective variants exist:
Perfective future tense – formally present tense inflectional endings of perfective verbs,
semantically future time reference: napiszę, napiszemy, etc.
Imperfective future tense – marked by an auxiliary:
the Polish verb być is the only Polish verb that has an inflected imperfective future tense
form: będę, będziesz, będzie etc. The Polish imperfective future tense is formed by the
imperfective future tense form of this verb followed by an infinitive (pisać) or by the
imperfective pseudo-participle – (pisał/pisała);
Remote preterite (marginal) – formed by the perfective or imperfective pseudo-participle
combined with the personal endings and followed by the auxiliary był. Both are inflected for
person and number. The usual translation English term for the Polish term czas zaprzeszły is
the name ‘past perfect’.

TENSE AND ASPECT COMBINATIONS IN ENGLISH AND POLISH:

The present – in Polish we use the imperfective present tense in all the situations below.
Timeless present (including permanent truths and habits):
Ziemia krąży dookoła słońca. The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Your brother speaks very good English. Twój brat dobrze mówi po angielsku.
Robert gra w Motorze Lublin. Robert plays for Motor Lublin
Limited present: situations happen within a limited period of present time, which includes
the time of the utterance:
Piszę właśnie na tablicy. I’m writing on the blackboard.
Docieram właśnie do szczytu. I’m reaching the summit.
Instantaneous present: in some contexts (commentary or demonstration) simple or
progressive forms may be used in English:
I add two cups of flour and fold in gently.
The sauce is beginning to boil.
The non-progressive forms are used to highlight the more prominent occurrences (especially
in a sequence), while the progressive is used to provide the context for other events that occur
in the present.
Temporary habits:
W tym roku Robert gra w Victorii Parczew.
Robert is playing for Victoria Parczew this year.
Near future:
Jutro zdaję egzamin. I’m writing an exam tomorrow.
Pociąg odjeżdża o 14:12. The train departs at 2:12.
Historical present:
1 września 1939 roku wybucha II wojna światowa.
On September 1, 1939 World War II breaks out.
NOTE:
Polish does not distinguish timeless and habitual from limited present actions with different
forms, unlike English:
Maria gotuje właśnie obiad. Mary is cooking dinner now.
Maria gotuje obiady. Mary cooks dinners.

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The past:
Completed events before the time of speaking (a specific point in time is implied in English):
1 września 1939 roku wybuchła II wojna światowa.
On September 1, 1939 World War II broke out.
Poszedłem do domu, zjadłem obiad i zdrzemnąłem się.
I went home, had dinner and had a nap.
Actions in progress that are seen as ‘background’ situations are marked by the imperfective
past in Polish and by past progressive in English:
Jadłem właśnie obiad, gdy nagle zadzwonił telefon.
I was eating dinner, when suddenly the phone rang.
The Polish imperfective may also mark past habits rendered by past simple or other
constructions in English:
Po powrocie ze szkoły zwykle jadłem obiad.
After school I usually had dinner.
After school I used to have dinner.
After school I would have dinner

Correspondences between the English secondary tense system and Polish constructions:
- stative situations that extend from the past to the present – the imperfect present tense in
Polish and Present Perfect in English:
I have lived/ have been living here for 20 years.
Mieszkam tu od 20 lat.
- habits that extend from the past to the present – the imperfect present tense in Polish
and Present Perfect in English:
Robert has played/has been playing for Motor Lublin for years.
Robert gra w Motorze Lublin od wielu lat.
- situations with a goal that is attained, leading to a result state which is relevant for the
present – the past tense in Polish, Present Perfect in English:
I have seen that film. Widziałem ten film.
I have bought a new car. Kupiłem nowy samochód.
He has made three good films since he left Hollywood.
Po wyprowadzce z Hollywood nakręcił trzy dobre filmy.
- states and occurrences anterior to a time point in the past: past tense in Polish, Past Perfect in
English:
She didn’t mention that she had seen you at the match.
Nie wspomniała, że widziała cię na meczu.
He had made three good films before he left Hollywood.
Zanim wyjechał z Hollywood nakręcił trzy dobre filmy.

THE FUTURE
English does not have a future tense, but expresses future meanings by means of a variety of
constructions, including modal verbs and some idiomatic constructions (be going to).
However, Polish does have true future tenses so that the English future constructions may be
compared with them. Note that the use of present tenses for future meanings has been already
dealt with.
Futurity in Polish:
single occurrence in the future:
Odwiedzę cię w przyszłym tygodniu.
I will visit you next week.
situations extending over a period of time in the future:

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Za dwa lata będzie chodził do szkoły. He will go to school in two years.
Będziemy się spotykać częściej. We will be meeting each other more frequently.
Futurity in English – examples of meanings that are not distinguished in Polish from those
above; most of these meanings involve some kind of modality (speaker’s attitude towards the
proposition expressed in the sentence):
Indications of future events seen in the present – be going to:
It’s going to rain. Będzie padać/padało.
She’s going to have a baby Będzie miała dziecko.
Speaker’s intentions – be going to vs. will vs. will + progressive
I’m going to study your application soon. premeditated intention
I will study your application soon. decision made on the spot; a strong
promise
I will be studying your application soon. less strong a promise
Resultative meaning – anteriority in future time: past tense in Polish, will + Perfect Infinitive
in English.
I will have repaired your car by tomorrow. Do jutra zreperuję twój samochód.
Time clauses:
In Polish we use future tenses in time clauses with future reference:
Kiedy skończę czytać tę książkę, oddam ci ją.
In English present tenses are used for future reference in time clauses:
When I finish reading this book, I’ll give it back to you.
Indirect speech:
The present tense is substituted with the past tense only in English:
He asked if I was at home.
Zapytał, czy jestem w domu.

MOOD
Mood expresses the speaker’s attitude towards the situation that (s)he is talking about: the
situation can be presented as a fact, a theoretical possibility or as a hypothesis. English has
three moods: indicative, subjunctive and conditional. The indicative, which presents events as
facts, is unmarked. The subjunctive and conditional are marked.
The subjunctive is a special kind of present tense in which there is no –s in 3 person singular.
It is used in that-clauses in a formal style, after words expressing the idea that something is
desirable or important. There is no implication that the situation in the subordinate clause is a
fact (true):
It is essential that every child have the same educational opportunities.
Our advice is that the company invest in new equipment.
In Polish, the verb is in the past tense and the that-clause is rendered with żeby.
Conditional Mood:
The form:
English: the marker of the conditional mood is should/would
Conditional I : should/would + Infinitive (I would tell you if …)
Conditional II : should/would + Perfect Infinitive (I would have told you if…)
Polish:
The marker is conditional mood is –by.
Conditional I : past participle + -by (Kupiłbym to auto, gdyby …)
Conditional mood II: Był + past participle + -by (Gdybym był kochał, …)
Real conditions:
Conditional clauses can be used to express theoretical meaning. In such a situation, the
speaker does not know that the event in the subordinate clause occurred, occurs or will occur.

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This is known as a real condition. In both E and P, real conditions are in the indicative mood
in both the main and the subordinate clauses:
If John attended 23 Middle School in 1993, he met my sister.
Jeśli Janek chodził do gimnazjum nr 23 w 1993 roku, spotkał moją siostrę.
If she goes to school every day, she has little time for practising.
Jeśli ona chodzi codziennie do szkoły, to ma mało czasu na ćwiczenie.
If she goes to school every day next year, she’ll have little time for practising.
Jeśli ona będzie chodziła do szkoły codziennie w przyszłym roku, będzie miała mało czasu na
ćwiczenie.
Unreal conditions may be used with reference to the event in the present or past time. In both
cases the meaning of the conditions is that the situation described in the sentence is not true.
Events contrary to assumption are events in the present time, e.g.:
If you really loved me, you’d buy me a new car. (but you don’t love me)
Events contrary to fact concern past time, e.g.:
If I had met him, I would have told you. (but I did not meet him)
Main differences:
- in real conditions, the only difference is that in future time reference, English uses Present
Tense in the subordinate clause, whereas Polish uses Future Tense in both clauses;
- in unreal conditions, conditional is used only in main clauses in English. In Polish, it is used
in both the main and the subordinate clause;
- in English, the difference between the meanings ‘contrary to assumption’ and ‘contrary to
fact’ is grammaticalized. There is no formal difference between such clauses in Polish.

Real conditions
Time reference English Polish
Present Main Subordinate Main Subordinate
Present t. Present t. Present t. Present tense
Past Past Past Past Past
Future will Present Future Future

Unreal conditions
English Polish
Contrary to Main Subordinate Main Subordinate
assumption Conditional I Simple Past. Conditional I Conditional I
Contrary to fact Conditional II Past Conditional I/II Conditional I/II

Exercise. Comment on the mistakes in the following:

1. *I think they do not talk at least for a month.
2. *She cooks for us since she has quarrelled with her brother.
3. *It’s really hard to know when he comes. Maybe tomorrow.
4. *It’s the first time I’m on board a yacht.
5. *I would go to the show, but I had no time.
6. *Wouldn’t you mind if I will open the window?
7. *When I arrived at the station, I found that the train left.
8. *She has begun to work as secretary as early as 1974.