FUTURE TENSE AND ITS ASPECT

(ENGLISH-I)

SUBMITTED TO: MS. SAYANTANI PATHAK

ASST. PROF. OF ENGLISH

SUBMITTED BY: RAJJAK HOSSEN

BALLB(5 YRS);1ST SEMESTER

ROLL NO-55;SECTION-A
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher as well

as our principal who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic “FUTURE TENSE AND ITS ASPECT”, which also
helped me in doing a lot of research and I come to know about so many new
things.

I am really thankful to them.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my senior brother and friends who
helped me a lot in finishing this project within the limited time.

RAJJAK HOSSEN

signature signature

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CONTENTS

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 CHAPTER=1
1.1 INTRODUCTION: In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time
reference with reference to the moment of speaking. Tenses are usually
manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in
their conjugation patterns.
Basic tenses found in many languages include the past, present, and future.
Some languages have only two distinct tenses, such as past and nonpast, or
future and no future. There are also tense less languages, like Chinese,
though it can possess a future and no future system, which is typical of Sino-
Tibetan languages.[4] On the other hand, some languages make finer tense
distinctions, such as remote vs. recent past, or near vs. remote future.
Tenses generally express time relative to the moment of speaking. In some
contexts, however, their meaning may be relativized to a point in the past or
future which is established in the discourse (the moment being spoken
about). This is called relative (as opposed to absolute) tense. Some
languages have different verb forms or constructions which manifest relative
tense, such as pluperfect ("past-in-the-past") and "future-in-the-past".
Expressions of tense are often closely connected with expressions of the
category of aspect; sometimes what are traditionally called tenses (in
languages such as Latin) may in modern analysis be regarded as
combinations of tense with aspect. Verbs are also often conjugated for mood,
and since in many cases the three categories are not manifested separately
Types of tense: Tenses are forms of a verb that show the time, continuance
or completion of an action or a state that is expressed in connection with the
moment at which a statement is made about it. There are three main tenses:
the present, the past, and the future. For each of the tenses, there are four
aspects: simple, continuous or progressive, perfect and perfect
continuous or perfect progressive.
The present tense is used to refer to something that happens or exists now.
The present tense is also called the present simple or simple present.
The past tense is used to refer to something that happened or existed in the
past. The past tense is also called the past simple or simple past.
The future tense refers to something that hasn’t happened at the time of
speaking. The future tense makes use of the words will and shall.

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The continuous aspect indicates an unfinished action or state of being at the
time being referred to. It is formed using the relevant tense of the auxiliary
verb to be and the present participle of the main verb.
The perfect aspect refers to a completed action in the present, past or future.
It is formed using the combination of the relevant tense of the auxiliary
verb have and the past participle of the main verb.
The perfect continuous aspect combines both aspects
of continuous and perfect.  It refers to an action that has continued up to the
present, up to a time in the past, or up to a time in the future
The three verb tenses and four verb aspects make possible the twelve
combinations of tense and aspect, as follows: 
Present Tenses

 Simple Present Tense

 Present Continuous Tense
 Present Perfect Tense
 Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Tenses

 Simple Past Tense

 Past Continuous Tense
 Past Perfect Tense
 Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Tenses

 Simple Future Tense

 Future Continuous Tense
 Future Perfect Tense
 Future Perfect Continuous Tense

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  The present

The present tense (e.g. I am, she works, we swim, they believe) is also called
the present simple or simple present. It's mainly used in the following
ways:
to describe things that are currently happening or that are currently or always
the case (I love chocolate ice cream; my parents are in New York this
week; he has fair hair and blue eyes; some birds eat worms and insects).
 

to talk about something that exists or happens regularly (she goes out every

Saturday night; it always rains here in winter; I start work at 7.30 a.m.).
 

to refer to a future situation in certain cases and in some subordinate clauses

(the bus arrives in London at 6 p.m.;  I'll make us some coffee when
we get home).
  

 The past

The past tense (e.g. I was, he talked, we had, they worked) is also called
the past simple or simple past. As its description implies, it’s used to talk
about things or situations which happened in the past, that is, before the
present time of speaking. Its main uses are as follows:
to refer to an event or situation which happened once and is now finished
(I met Lisa yesterday; we ate a huge breakfast this morning;
they walked ten miles that day; you told me that before).
 

to describe a situation that lasted for a longer time in the past but is now
finished (he went to college for four years; my  family lived in Oxford in
the 1980s;  I loved her for ages but never told her).
 

to talk about an event that happened regularly or repeatedly but is now over
(she called for help over and over again; we ate out every night last week;
I phoned him three times today).
 

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 The future

The future tense (e.g. I shall [or will] go; he will talk; we shall [or will]

have; they will work) is used to refer to things that haven’t yet happened at
the present time of speaking, but which are due, expected, or likely to occur
in the future.  Here are the main situations in which the future is used:
to give or ask for information about the future (you will be in California
tomorrow; how long will the journey take?; OK,  I’ll write that report on
Thursday).
 

to talk about things that we think are likely or possible to happen in the
future, but which aren’t completely certain (I think she’ll
retire soon; he won’t [will not] stay married to her for
long; you’ll never lose weight, you like food too much).
 

to refer to conditional situations, namely things that will or may happen if

something else occurs (if it’s hot I’ll go swimming later; you’ll get stressed
out if you work all the time).
 

to make promises or threats, or to state decisions at the time of speaking

(Fine, I’ll callyou soon; Are you going into town? We’ll give you a lift;
I’ll never speak to you again).
 

The future tense is formed with will (or shall) and the infinitive of the verb
without ‘to’. Learn more about when to use will or shall.
 

 Continuous and perfect tenses 

There are two further types of tense: the continuous and the perfect. These
tenses are sometimes referred to as aspects rather than tenses. The
term aspect is used in grammar to talk about the form of a verb that shows,
for example, whether the action happens once or repeatedly, is completed or
still continuing.

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 Continuous

These tenses (also called progressive tenses) are used to talk about actions

that continue for a period of time. They are formed with the relevant tense of
the auxiliary verb  to be and the present participle of the main verb. There
are three main continuous tenses:
the present continuous (I am working)
 

the past continuous (I was working)

 

the future continuous (I will be working)

 
 Perfect
Perfect tenses are typically used to talk about actions that are completed by
the present or a particular point in the past or future. They are formed with
the relevant tense of the auxiliary verb to have and the past participle of the
main verb. There are three main perfect tenses:
the present perfect (I have worked)
 

the past perfect (I had worked)

 

the future perfect (I will have worked)

 

 Perfect continuous

There is a final set of tenses which combine features of the perfect and
continuous tenses. They are formed and used as follows:

the present perfect continuous (I have been working): used to talk about

how long something has continued up till now (I have been working there
for a week)
 

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the past perfect continuous (I had been working): used to talk about
something which continued up to a particular moment in the past but is now
completed (I had been working there for a week before I resigned)
 

the future perfect continuous (I will have been working): used to talk about
something which is expected to end by a particular time in the future (By
December, I will have been working there for 6 months)

FUTURE

There are a number of different ways of referring to the future in English. It

is important to remember that we are expressing more than simply the time
of the action or event. Obviously, any 'future' tense will always refer to a
time 'later than now', but it may also express our attitude to the future event.

All of the following ideas can be expressed using different tenses:

 Simple prediction: There will be snow in many areas tomorrow.

 Arrangements: I'm meeting Jim at the airport.
 Plans and intentions: We're going to spend the summer abroad.
 Time-tabled events: The plane takes off at 3 a.m.
 Prediction based on present evidence: I think it's going to rain!
 Willingness: We'll give you a lift to the cinema.
 An action in progress in the future: This time next week I'll be sun-
bathing.
 An action or event that is a matter of routine: You'll be seeing John in
the office tomorrow, won't you?
 Obligation: You are to travel directly to London.
 An action or event that will take place immediately or very soon: The
train is about to leave.
 Projecting ourselves into the future and looking back at a completed
action: A month from now he will have finished all his exams.

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It is clear from these examples that several tenses are used to express the
future. The future tense section shows the form and function of each of these
uses of future tenses.

There are four future verb tenses in English.

 Simple future tense

 Future continuous tense
 Future perfect tense
 Future perfect continuous tense

There are also several other ways to talk about the future without using a
future verb tense.

 Using the present continuous to talk about future arrangements

 Using the simple present to talk about scheduled events
 Using "going" to talk about the future
 Future obligations
 The immediate future

 ASPECT OF FUTURE TENSE:  it is the aspectof the verb that tells

us how the event will be temporally structured. The combination of
the future marker and the aspect results in the verb structures that we
usually call the future simple, the future continuous (or future
progressive), the future perfect, and the future perfect continuous.

 
 Future Simple
The future simple structure is the combination of the future tense and the
simple aspect. The future simple is used to express actions and events that
will occur at a given moment in the future. The simple aspect emphasizes the
action or state as a whole. The structure is formed using will + the base form
of the verb (the infinitive without to). For example:

 “We will go to a private school when we are older.”

 “They will move next door to us soon.”

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  “I will be famous in the future.”

Future Continuous
The future continuous structure is the combination of the future tense with
the continuous aspect. It is used to express actions and events that will be in
progress at a given moment in the future. The future continuous is formed
using will + be + the present participle. For example:

 “They will be playing outside when their father arrives.”

 “I won’t answer my phone later because I’ll be driving.”
 “We will be eating dinner at 7 o’clock.”

Like other structures that reflect the continuous aspect, it is usually only used
with action verbs, not with stative verbs. For example, we couldn’t say “I
will be knowing John later” or “She will be seeming sad this evening.”
Future Perfect
The future perfect is the combination of the future tense and the perfect
simple aspect. It is used to express actions and events that will
be completed at a given moment in the future. It is formed using will +
have + the past participle. For example:

 “She will have eaten before she arrives.”

 “We will have seen that movie already.”
 “I will have spent a lot of money after this weekend’s festivities.”

Future Perfect Continuous

Finally, the future perfect continuous is the combination of the perfect and
continuous aspects with the future tense. It is used to emphasize that an
action will be in progress until a given moment in the future, at which time
the action will stop. Like the future continuous, it is typically not used
with stative verbs, but only with action verbs. It is formed using will + have
+ been + the present participle. For example:

 “We will have been waiting for a long time when the bus finally
comes.”
 “My little sister will have been sitting quietly for an hour when the
movie finishes.”
 “I will have been cleaning all day when you arrive, so I’ll be too tired
to go out.”

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  CONCLUSION: In the previous sections tense has been discussed
in terms of its general characteristics and its various uses in
referencing present, past, and future time.  As has been previously
covered, tense is not a generic term for time in language nor is it
the only time element with which linguists are concerned.  Instead
it is one of five universal attributes of language used to convey
time information.  The other attributes (aspect, mood, perfection,
and aktionsart) are inherently tied to tense and the relationship of
all five are so intertwined that each can rarely be discussed
without consideration of all of them together.

ense is however a very straight forward concept.  It is purely a manner

of expressing the contrast between two temporal references on the
timeline of an utterance.  The primary reference for determining tense is
always the Time of Utterance (TUTT) — the point in time at which the
utterance is actually said, heard, written, read, or otherwise
communicated.  Except for in cases of reported or quoted speech that
happens in either the past or future, TUTT is always now (present).
This makes it easy for determining the primary temporal reference
because most of the time it’s present and thus doesn’t require further
analysis.  The position of the secondary temporal reference and its
relative distance from TUTT is what actually determines tense.  If the
secondary reference occurs earlier than the primary reference (or
visually, to the left of it) the tense of the utterance is past.  Likewise, if it
occurs after TUTT (or visually again, to the right of it), the tense is
future.  Unlike present tense which is absolute (it’s always now), past
and future are not specific tenses but rather ranges.  If the secondary
reference is to the left of the primary but very close to it on the timeline,
tense can be said to be immediate past.  Likewise if were to the left but
much farther away, it could be said to be distant past. It is the
interelation with aspect and aktionsart that determines which type of
secondary temporal reference is used to establish tense.  As stated
above, the primary reference is always TUTT, and that Time of
Utterance is almost always present because most utterances are
communicated at the instant they are written, read, said, or heard (for
instance, since you are just reading this, it’s being communicated to you
now, thus its TUTT is now).  The secondary reference can be either the
Time of Assertion (TAST), Time of Evaluation (TEVL) or Time of
Completion (TCOM).  TUTT, TEVL, and TCOM are always punctular,
meaning they have no duration and occupy only a single point on the
timeline of the utterance.  Depending on whether either the aspect of the

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utterance or the aktionsart of the inclusive verb are durational or not
though, TAST can be either punctular or durative — occuring over a
range of time along the timeline rather than a point.  The various types
of aspect and aktionsart are discussed in specific chapters to follow with
a more detailed discussion of their effect on methods of determining
tense.

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