UNIT 18

TIME REFERENCE: TEMPORAL

RELATIONS.FREQUENCY

0. INTRODUCTION
1. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK TO THE NOTION OF TIME REFERENCE
2. THE EXPRESSION OF TIME REFERENCE
2.1. Morphology and time reference
2.2. Syntax and time reference
2.3. Semantics and time reference
3. TIME ADJUNCTS
3.1. Time when adjuncts
3.2. Time duration adjuncts
3.3. Time frequency adjuncts
4. CONCLUSION
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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0. INTRODUCTION

Unit 18 aims to provide an insightful analysis of the different ways of expressing time
reference in the English language, namely by means of prepositional phrases, noun phrases
or clauses among others.
It is also important to note that time reference can also be expressed by means of tense and
aspect. These two notions, tense and aspect, relate the happening described by the verb to
1
time in the past, present or future .
This paper comprises three parts; the first one being a theoretical framework to the notion
of time reference. The second part centres around the expression of time reference from
three perspectives, namely morphological, syntactical and semantic. Finally, we shall focus
on time adjuncts as a major means of expressing temporal relationships. Following Quirk et
al. (1973), time adjuncts fall into the following classification: time-when, time-duration and
time-frequency adjuncts. Thus, the notion of frequency will be examined in detail in this
section.
In order to offer an insightful analysis and survey on the expression of time reference in
English, we shall deal with the most relevant works in the field, both old and current, and in
particular, influential grammar books which have assisted for years students of English as a
foreign language in their study of grammar. Flor Aarts and Jan Aarts (University of Nijmegen,
Holland) in English Syntactic Structures (1988); or Rodney Huddleston, English Grammar, An
Outline (1988). Other classic references which offer an account of the most important and
central grammatical constructions and categories in English regarding the expression of time
localisation, are Quirk & Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English (1973); Thomson &
Martinet, A Practical English Grammar (1986); and Greenbaum & Quirk, A Student's
Grammar of the English Language (1990).

1. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK TO THE NOTION OF TIME REFERENCE

Before describing in detail the different ways of expressing time reference in English, it is
relevant to establish first a theoretical framework for this notion, since it must be described
in grammatical terms.
The usual description of a language comprises four major components: phonology,
grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get five major levels: phonological,
morphological and syntactic, lexical, and semantic. Therefore, we must point out that each
of the linguistic levels discussed above has a corresponding component when analyzing the
notion under study. Thus, phonology deals with pronunciation of prepositions (i.e.
throughout, in the evening, etc.) and help distinguish those cases in which they are
emphasized (i.e. He 'stayed from 'five to 'six in the house vs. He 'stayed 'from five 'to six in
the house ); morphology deals with compound words (i.e. throughout; until/till, etc.); and
syntax deals with which combinations of words constitute grammatical strings and which do
not (i.e. NOT: she came at summer BUT in summer).
On the other hand, lexis deals with the expression of time reference regarding the choice
between different types of prepositions (i.e. in vs. on vs. at; since vs. for, and so on), the use

1
By tense we understand the correspondence between the form of the verb and our concept of time (past,
present or future); whereas aspect concerns the manner in which a verbal action is experienced or regarded
(for example as complete or in progress).

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of specific prepositions (i.e. for or during?), and other means such as other formal
realizations of these notions (i.e. a noun phrase, a verbless clause, a finite clause, etc ); and
finally, semantics deals with meaning where syntactic and morphological levels do not tell
the difference (i.e. 'He came on time =exactly at the right time vs. He came in time=before
the time arranged).
On defining the term 'time reference', we must link this notion (what it is) to the grammar
categories which express it (how it is showed).
Actually, on answering What is it?, the term 'time reference' is intended to add information
about 'When?\ 'How long?' and 'How often?' a situation has happened in order to locate
time by means of temporal dimensions (i.e present, past, future). In fact, the given answers
would provide, respectively, details about the 'exact point of time', 'duration' and
'frequency' of the action by delimiting exactly what type of time we are referring to. These
expressions would reflect then a concept of time that, as analogous to space, is enclosed in
terms of dimensions.
Regarding how time dimension is expressed, we must address to lexically specific and
labelled 'areas' and 'locations' which are known as time relators, in other words, different
grammatical categories which have in this field an institutionalized and hence quasi-
grammatical use. Like space, time units are conceived as elements in clause structure which
provide clear lexical meaning in the constant process of keeping track of when actions took
place.

2. THE EXPRESSION OF TIME REFERENCE

A descriptive approach of the localization of time regarding morphological, syntactic and,

mainly, semantic fields will be provided since they shall lead us to the expressions of
temporal relationships and frequency as spatial dimensions.

2.1. Morphology and time reference

Time reference is expressed by both open or closed classes, thus by means of verbs, modal
auxiliaries, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, specific clause structures
and also idiomatic expressions. Hence, we shall briefly establish a link between the
morphology of these grammatical categories and time reference so as to provide a more
relevant framework for our study.
■ Verbs
Regarding verbs, they generally add four inflexional morphemes to the base (Aarts, 1988) in
order to form the main verbal forms (present and past tenses) and their uses. Thus, present
tense: base + -s/-es for the 3rd person singular present tense indicative (i.e. He lives in
London); and past tense: base + -ed for past tense (i.e. regular verbs: He lived in London).
Other verbal forms, such as progressive tenses are formed by base + -ing present participle
for progressive aspect (i.e. He is living in London); and base + -ed past participle, for perfect
tenses (i.e. He has stayed in my house for two days).
It is worth pointing out that future tenses are not included in the above classification, but
considered to belong to the class of modal auxiliaries (can, may, must, shall, will) since they
cannot stand on their own and must be followed by a lexical verb, except when the latter is
understood. For instance, 'Harry will come tonight, won't he?'
■ Nouns

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Along with open-class nouns referring to time reference, some of them, like places, are
treated as proper nouns: year, century, decade, 1978, week, day, Monday, morning, night,
etc, and therefore, subjected to spelling rules when dealing with plural formation. Thus, we
find 'one year vs. for two years', 'in 1978 or in the 1970s', 'that night vs. those nights'', and so
on.
It is worth noting that the addition of the plural morpheme may affect the meaning of time
expressions. For instance, compare 'I saw her on Monday' (=last Monday) vs. 'I saw her on
Mondays' (=regularly, every Monday). Also, nouns of more general meaning are still more
firmly harnessed for grammatical use or idiomatic expressions: 'I've been studying a long
time ', 'Cristine is going abroad for a while ' or 'I haven't seen Tom for ages'.
■ Adjectives
Regarding adjectives, it must be borne in mind that this open-class category is invariable (i.e.
the previous day, a simultaneous meeting, the following year) when dealing with time
expressions. However, we may find some exceptions when the definite article 'the' precedes
the adjective in order to form nouns. Compare 'The former group arrived five minutes before
the other cyclists' vs. 'The formers arrived five minutes before the other cyclists'. Note that in
subsequent temporal ordering, the ordinals constitute a temporal series of adjectives (i.e.
first, second, third...) with next as a substitute for any of the middle terms when moving up
the series, and final or last as a substitute for the term marking the end of the series (i.e.
First, ... Second, ... Next... Last).
■ Adverbs
Regarding adverbs, they share similarities with adjectives in terms of temporal ordering
since they have the same time reference: previous, simultaneous and subsequent one:
'earlier, meanwhile, afterwards'. Moreover, affixation and compounding are the most
straightforward type of creating an adverb by morphological processes, apart from those
adverbs which are not related to any other word (simple adverbs).
Then we may distinguish different types of time adverbs: (1) simple adverbs (i.e. already,
yet, ever, now, still, then, today, tomorrow, tonight, yesterday, never, often); (2) adverb
formation by means of affixation, either by the derivational suffixes, -ly (i.e. finally,
eventually, presently) and -wards (i.e. forwards, backwards); (3) adverb formation by means
of compounding: here + preposition (i.e. hitherto ), beforehand, forthwith, henceforth,
nowadays); and (4) adverb formation by means of other constructions, such as prepositional
phrases, which keep the same properties as adverbs. For instance, ' meanwhile' (adverb)
meaning the same as ' from the time specified up to the present' (prepositional phrase).
It is in this open-class category that we distinguish a specific type of adverbs called
'adjuncts', and in particular, those adjuncts which refer to time, used when referring to
spatial dimensions figuratively. It is worth noting that adjuncts of time are predominantly
realized by prepositional phrases, with figurative adaptations of the prepositional meanings.
For instance, compare: 'At midnight, the party started' (adverbial phrase) vs. 'The party
started at midnight'(prepositional phrase).
■ Prepositions
As stated above, reference to time is predominantly realized by the closed-class of
prepositions, which are classified depending on the time dimension they describe: position
time (in, at, on), duration (from...to) or frequency (in the mornings). Morphologically
speaking, we may distinguish two main types of prepositions: first, simple, which consist of
one word (i.e. at 10 o 'clock, between 5 and 6, by the end of the day, from 6 to 8, in the
morning, on Saturday, etc.); and second, complex, which are multi-word combinations,
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historically formed from the monosyllabic ones (i.e. throughout, meanwhile) or derived from
participles (i.e. during).
The number of prepositions has been increased by mainly combining prepositions with
other words to form 'complex prepositions', and from those combinations, we have found
one referring to the expression of time: (a) first, a simple preposition preceded by an adverb
or preposition (adverb/preposition + preposition), as in 'up to, within'.
■ Conjunction
Following Greenbaum & Quirk (1990), conjunctions belong to the category of adverbial
conjuncts, whose function is that of providing peripheral information in the sentence, just as
a connecting link (i.e. First of all, later on, then, to continue with ). Morphologically speaking,
conjuncts may be simple (i.e. So far=Up to now), follow affixation rules (i.e. final-fnally ), be
set out in prepositional phrases (i.e. on the one hand, on the other hand) or specific clause
structures, such as non-finite clauses (i.e. to end up with, to start with) and -ing clauses (i.e.
By starting with ... ) in order to express order from the beginning of a set, middle terms and
final markers (first/firstly/in first place; second/secondly/next/then/later/afterwards;
finally/lastly/eventually).
■ Other syntactic structures
Moreover, time reference may also be drawn from other means rather than open and
closed-class categories. Therefore, it is worth noting that we may also find specific clause
structures, such as clauses (i.e. I was studying when she came), idiomatic expressions (i.e.
'Once upon a time...', 'once in a while ', 'once in a lifetime ', 'for a while', 'for ages', etc) and
non-finite clauses, such as subjectless -ing clauses (i.e. since leaving school) so as to indicate
time reference.

2.2. Syntax and time reference

With respect to the relationship between syntax and time reference, we shall mainly deal
with the notions of phrase structure since the expression of time is predominantly realized
by prepositional and adverbial phrases when using the language of spatial dimensions
figuratively.

2.2.1. Main syntactic structures

As stated before, the main syntactic structures related to time reference are mainly given
by: (a) prepositional phrases (i.e. in the morning, for three years, at night), which share
similarities with (b) adverbial phrases (i.e. until five o 'clock, since last summer). Yet, we may
distinguish two syntactic types within adverbial phrases, thus first, closed-class adverb
phrases, enclosed in the sentence (i.e. She always comes home at the same time) and open-
class adverb phrases, functioning as conjuncts either in initial or final position (i.e. He told
me about it quite recently).
In addition, a wider range of structures are available for time than for any other type of
adjunct. For instance, (c) noun phrases (i.e. two centuries, every month, last night); (d) finite
verb clauses introduced by such subordinators as after, before, since, until, when (i.e. Stay in
bed until your temperature goes down); moreover, (e) infinitive clauses of 'outcome' may be
placed among temporal clauses (i.e. She awoke one morning to find her husband was not
there).
Furthermore, (f) non-finite clauses (i.e. Wandering around the city, I missed the last train),
where we distinguish three main types. First, the -ing clause which is introduced by after,
before, since, until, when(ever), and while (i.e. He wrote his novel while walking along the
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river); second, -ed clauses by once, until, when(ever), and while (i.e. Once published, he
disappeared); and third, verbless clauses introduced by as soon as, as often as, once,
whe(ever), and while (i.e. She visits me as often as possible).
In addition, -ing clauses without a subject are also used to express time relationship, as in
'Nearing the entrance, I shook hands with him' meaning 'When/As I neared the entrance...'
and in 'The postman, having delivered the parcel, went away' meaning 'After he had
delivered the parcel'.

2.3. Semantics and time reference

The relationship between semantics and time reference is the most relevant for an
appropriate classification of figurative spatial dimensions. Mainly based on the category of
verbs, adverbs, nouns and prepositional phrases, time reference will be classified according
to four main semantic classes: first, when temporal relations referring to time position;
second, duration and span; third, time-frequency; and finally, other time -relationships,
which we shall analyze thoroughly in the last section of this study.

3. TIME ADJUNCTS

When-temporal relationship can be addressed from two main perspectives: first, When
temporal relations mainly expressed by verbal tenses, and second, When-temporal relations
mainly expressed by time adjuncts, referring to time position, thus specific points of time (in
1965, at half past two) and boundary of time (afterwards, now). Note how both temporal
dimensions answer to the question When? but by means of two different grammatical
categories. However, we shall just address here time adjuncts, which include both the open-
class category of adverbs and nouns, and the closed-class category of prepositions, together
with other type of clauses.
Following Quirk et al., time adjuncts are clauses or prepositional phases or noun phrases.
Time adjuncts can be divided into four main semantic classes:
- Time when adjuncts
- Time duration adjuncts
- Time frequency adjuncts
- Other time relationships

3.1. Time when adjuncts

Next, we shall focus on the When-temporal relations by means of time adjuncts, which
express temporal relations by referring to time position, by means of, first, specific points of
2
time (in 1965, at half past two) and second, boundary of time (afterwards, now). These
temporal dimensions answer to the question When? by means of the open-class category of
adverbs, nouns, the closed-class category of prepositions and other clauses.
Semantically, time adjuncts play a part in specifying the time reference of the verb phrase
when this is not stated (i.e. He is singing, present or future?) . Thus, 'now' determines that
the reference in 'He is singing now' is present, and 'tomorrow' that it is future in 'He is
playing tomorrow'. Sometime adjuncts cannot co-occur with particular forms of the verb
phrase, as for instance 'He played tomorrow', except in an apparent exception such as those

2
A point of time but also implying the point from which that time is measured.
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verbs of saying, arranging, expecting or wanting whose object has future reference (i.e. She
wanted the book tomorrow).
These figurative spatial dimensions are mainly realized by means of adverbial, noun,
prepositional and specific phrases, with figurative adaptation of the prepositional meaning.
Time adjuncts expressing time position generally add extra information to the action or
process by means of descriptions about time (yesterday morning ), on specifying first, points
of time (in 1965, at half past two) and second, boundary of time (afterwards, now).
A. Time position
This time expression is mainly drawn from adverbs, prepositions, nouns and specific
phrases. Thus:
(1) Common time position adverbs, are: again (on another occasion), just (at this very
moment), late (at a late time), now (at this time), nowadays (at the present time), presently
(at the present time), then (at that time), and today'. Most of them normally occur in final
position, but there are some exceptions. Thus, 'just' is restricted to middle position (i.e. He
has just come), 'nowadays' and 'presently' are common in initial position (i.e. Presently,
many teenagers have long hair).
(2) Regarding time position prepositions, we find three of them, at, on, and in, which are
used in expressions answering the question When? They reflect a concept of time as
analogous to space although in the time sphere there are only two 'dimension-types' (point
and period of time) whereas in space there are three (position, surface, and volume).
Therefore, (a) 'at' is used for points of time, chiefly clock time (at five o 'clock, at 7.20pm, at
noon), when time is conceived as dimensionless (i.e. The concert starts at 10 o'clock).
However, it is not only instants that can be considered, but other points of time regarded as
idiomatic expressions for holiday periods (i.e. at the weekend, at Christmas, at Easter) and
for other phrases (i.e. at night, at that time). Note that in 'at night' we may also view it as a
period and then, we use ' in the night'.
In expressions referring to days, the preposition is (b) 'on' (i.e. on Monday, on any other day,
on August the third). Also, with an interval that is specifically part of a day (i.e. on Sunday
afternoon, on Friday night). Note that this is an exceptional use of 'on' with a complement
referring to a part of a day, rather than the whole day. But with phrases like 'early morning',
'late afternoon’ , it is normal to use ' in the late afternoon' .
Where time is regarded as a period, the usual preposition is (c) 'in', reflecting analogy with
two- or three-dimensional space, as in 'In the afternoon, I listened to my new CDs', 'I visited
her in March/in 1998/in the following year'. Note that future expressions like 'in five days'
may indicate either duration (i.e. I'll do it in five days) or a point of time five days hence (i.e.
He'll take five days to do it).
In addition, (3) noun phrases are closely related to the category of prepositions of time,
since nouns stand alone in the prepositional phrase, due to absence of prepositions, when
adjuncts include, first, the deictic words last, next, this and that; the quantifying words some
and every; and nouns which have last, next, this as an element of their meaning
(yesterday/today/tomorrow), for instance: 'I saw him last Saturday' or 'I'll mention it next
time' .
Normally, the preposition is usually optional with deictic phrases referring to times at more
than one remove from the present, such as (on) Tuesday week, (in) the March before last,
(on) the day after tomorrow. Also, with phrases which identify a time before or after a given
time in the past or future: '(in) the previous spring', (at) the following week, (on) the next
day'. We also find informal types of omission, such as 'I'll see you Monday' where the
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preposition precedes a day of the week or is in initial position preceding a plural noun
phrase: 'Saturdays we go to the beach'.
Yet, time position is also drawn from (4) specific type of clauses which are usually found in
initial position. Thus, finite adverbial clauses introduced by such subordinators as after,
before, since, until, when (i.e. When I saw you last time you looked older); -ing clauses,
introduced by after, before, since, until, whenever and while (i.e. When in difficulty, call me);
subjectless -ing clauses (i.e. Nearing his old house, he started to cry); -ed clauses, introduced
by once, as often as, as soon as, whenever and while (i.e. Once he confessed, he went to
prison).
B. Time position: a boundary of time
When answering to the time position question When? in terms of boundary of time, we
must consider mainly prepositions (i.e. before, after, since, until, till), adverbs (afterwards,
beforehand, previously, until then, afterward s, subsequently, after that) and wh- clauses (i.e.
When you finish, we will leave).
(1) Prepositions are to be regarded first since these occur almost exclusively to locate a
boundary of time as prepositions of time followed by temporal noun phrases (i.e. before ext
week, until summer, after the party ); non-finite clauses and noun phrases with a deverbal
noun or any other noun phrase interpreted as equivalent to a clause (i.e. until the fall of
Rome=until Rome fell, after the party=after the party finished, and so on); and finally,
subjectless -ing clauses (i.e. since leaving school).
Note that the preposition 'until' establishes a certain boundary of time by which the initial
point has a negative sense whereas the terminal point has positive implications (i.e. We
could not sleep until midnight=negative at the beginning but positive in the end).
Moreover, there are other group of prepositions of time which indicate boundary of time
(i.e. between, from ... to, by, up to ), as in 'We'll pick you up between ten and eleven o'clock'
and 'Up to last week, I hadn't received your e-mail'. Note how the preposition 'by' specifies a
starting point (i.e. By the time you had arrived, he got asleep ). This means that by-phrases
do no co-occur with verbs of durative meaning (i.e. He lay there by midnight, but 'until'
midnight).
(2) Adverbs also indicate a boundary of time by referring to temporal ordering previous to a
given time reference (i.e. before, earlier, first, formerly), simultaneous (i.e. at this point,
concurrently, simultaneously), and subsequent (i.e. after, afterwards, finally, immediately,
later, next, then). Also, by means of adverbial phrases such as 'before then, by then, in the
meantime, after this, on the morrow'.
(3) And finally, wh- clauses, which establish a boundary by setting a given point in time (i.e.
When the film finishes, we 'll go and have a pizza).

3.2. Time duration adjuncts

As seen above, the temporal dimensions of duration and span are mainly expressed by time
adjuncts, that is, mainly by prepositions such as since, until and till, and also by ' before, by,
from, after, up to' when specifying only a starting point or a terminal point (i.e. 'She will be
there by Friday night/before Friday night/from nine o'clock onwards, after eight o'clock or
since eight o'clock). However, span may be also specified by other prepositions, such as 'for,
during, throughout, from...to, and between' when expressing emphasis on the duration.
First, the preposition 'for' expresses duration (i.e. We rented an apartment for the summer).
The same meaning, with some emphasis on the duration, can be expressed with
'throughout' and 'all through'. By contrast, 'during' indicates a stretch of time within which a
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more specific duration can be indicated (i.e. During the summer, we rented an apartment for
a month). Here, 'for a month' means 'at some time during the summer'.
Duration expressions with 'over' carry the implication of a period containing some division
or 'fences' (i.e. overnight, over the weekend, over the Easter period). Note that in these
cases, first, over normally accompanies noun phrases denoting special occasions, such as
holidays or festivals, and second, refers to a shorter period of time than 'all through' and
'throughout'.
Duration can also be specified by reference to the beginning and ending by means of 'from
... to' (i.e. They play tennis from Monday to Wednesday). It is worth noting that while
'from...to' corresponds to 'for' (i.e. They play tennis for three days), 'between...and' can be
used in the more general sense of 'during' (i.e. They play tennis between Monday and
Wednesday = for a period within the stretch specified). Finally, note certain idiomatic
expressions, such as ' for ever' and 'for good.
Just remember that when referring to position of time adjuncts at sentence level, generally,
although like other adjuncts, time adjuncts occur most frequently in initial position (i.e. In
2002, the economy started to recover; For many years, I was wrong; Even after this, I feel
happy), but middle position is also common for time adjuncts, especially those realized by
adverbs (i.e. She has just arrived; we may not often travel under this weather).
Where time adjuncts co-occur in the same sentence, time duration tends to be most
'central', time position most 'peripheral', so that if the three main types all occurred at final
position, they would most likely be ordered as duration + frequency + position (i.e. She was
there for a long time every day or so last year).

3.3. Time frequency adjuncts

Most time frequency adjuncts are addressed by the questions How often...? which refers to
the frequency ofperiod within which occasions take place (i.e. always, never, sometimes) and
How many times...? referring to the frequency of occasion (once, twice, three times,
everyday). The former (How often...?) refers to indefinite frequency and is mainly expressed
by predication adjuncts; the latter (How many times...?) refer to indefinite frequency, mainly
expressed by sentence adjuncts.
At sentence level, both are placed in the more peripheral position, usually in initial or final,
and in some cases, as with frequency adverbs, they take middle position. So far, the given
answers then are mainly drawn from adverbial phrases (which correspond to the category
of frequency adverbs: always, never, often, etc) and noun phrases (three times, every day).
Yet, the temporal dimension of frequency will be examined semantically from its two major
subclasses: definite and indefinite frequency.

3.3.1. Definite frequency: How many times...?

Definite frequency is addressed from the question How many times...? which makes
reference to the frequency of occasion, that is, definite frequency periods which can be
measured. This notion is answered by sentence adjuncts, which are usually placed in
peripheral positions in the sentence, initial or final (i.e. Veronica came to see me twice).
The main definite frequency occasions are classified in two types: first, (1) period frequency ,
which is mainly expressed by adverbs (i.e. weekly, hourly, daily, monthly, annually) and less
often by prepositional phrases (i.e. per week, per month); and secondly (2), number
frequency, usually expressed by noun phrases (i.e. once, twice, three times, etc; every
day/year/week; each year; again ) or prepositional phrases (i.e. on five occasions).
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 3.3.2. Indefinite frequency: How often...?
On the other hand, indefinite frequency is addressed from the question How often...? which
makes reference to the frequency of period, that is, indefinite frequency periods which
cannot be measured unless we establish a ranking of occurrence, from the most usual to low
frequency (i.e. from always to never). This notion is to be answered by predication adjuncts,
which are usually placed in peripheral positions in the sentence, initial or final (i.e.
Veronica came to see me daily).
The main indefinite frequency periods are classified on both semantic and grammatical
grounds, distinguishing four main subsets, which range from usual occurrence to low
frequency, thus usual occurrence, continuous frequency, high frequency and low or zero
frequency.
(1) Usual occurrence is expressed by the following adverbs: normally, generally, ordinarily,
commonly, invariably, usually, and some prepositional phrases (i.e. as usual, as a rule), being
normally placed in middle position (i.e.: They normally play hockey in the afternoons).
However, since one can speak of something normally not occurring, it is a characteristic of
these adjuncts to be sentential and to be capable of preceding a clausal negative, being
placed in initial position (i.e. Usually, Jenny does not get the bus on time).
(2) Continuous occurrence or universal frequency is expressed by the following adverbs:
always, continually, constantly, continuously, permanently, incessantly (i.e.: She always
cleans her house early in the morning).
(3) High frequency is expressed by the following adverbs: often, regularly, repeatedly,
frequently, many times, time and again (i.e. He often plays video games) and some
prepositional phrases (i.e. on several occasions, at all times, now and again).
(4) Low or zero frequency is expressed by the following adverbs: occasionally, rarely,
seldom, sometimes, never, ever, infrequently, hardly ever, scarcely (i.e. We never walk alone
at night).

3.4. Other time relationships

And finally, we shall deal with other time relationships by means of time adjuncts again,
which express some relationship in time other than in those specified before. We shall
distinguish two main groups:
A. Two-time relationships
First, one group consists of adjuncts concerned with the sequence within the clause of two
time relationships, and they co-occur with When time adjuncts. Many of the same items are
also used as correlatives to denote temporal sequence between clauses or between
sentences. Common adverbs in this group include afterwards, eventually, previously, finally,
first, later, once more, next, originally, subsequently, then.
These adverb phrases normally appear in middle position (i.e. He was finally introduced to
her), though other phrases are placed in final position (i.e. I did not know what to do later).
B. Similar time duration adjuncts: yet, already, still
The second group consists of adjuncts that are similar to time duration adjuncts in that they
express duration up to or before a given or implied time (i.e. He is still here). They are
related by assertive and non-assertive contrasts. For instance, assertive forms include
already, still, by now; non-assertive forms include yet, any more, any longer; and negative
forms include no more and no longer. Note that most of these adjuncts occur either in
Unit 18 www.oposicionestandem.com Pg.10
middle position (i.e. He has already found her car key) or finally (i.e. She has not arrived yet).
Within this group, we must highlight three items which are particularly related to each
other: yet, already, and still. In contrast to non-assertive yet, already and still cannot lie
within the scope of clause negation except in questions. Still, unlike already, can precede
negation. We therefore may classify them into the following classes: (1) declarative positive,
(2) declarative negative (adverb + negation), (3) declarative negative (negation + adverb), (3)
interrogative positive and (4) interrogative negative.
(1) Declarative positive class includes 'already' and 'still', but not 'yet'. Compare 'I
already like him' and 'Istill like him' to 'Iyet like him' (wrong).
(2) Declarative negative class, with the adverb preceding the negation, includes 'still'
but not 'already' and 'yet'. Compare the wrong sentences 'I already haven't spoken to
him' and 'I yet haven't spoken to him' to 'I still haven't spoken to him' meaning 'I
haven't spoken to him so far'.
(3) Declarative negative class, with the adverb following negation, includes 'yet' but
not 'already' and 'still'. Compare the wrong sentences 'He can't already drive' and 'He
can't still drive ' to 'He can't drive yet' meaning 'He can't drive up to this time'.
(4) Interrogative positive class includes the three of them 'still, already and yet'.
Observe the right usage of the following sentences 'Have you already seen him?',
'Have you seen him yet?' and 'Do you still see him?'
(5) And finally, the interrogative negative class includes again the three items. Note:
'Haven't you seen him already?', 'Haven't you seen him yet?' and 'Don't you still see
him?'

4. CONCLUSION

Throughout this unit the notion of time reference has been dealt with following Quirk and
Greenbaum (1973) classification of time adjuncts, namely time when adjuncts, time
duration adjuncts, time frequency adjuncts as well as other relationships.
The two aspects of the expression of time reference, that is, temporal relationship and the
expression of frequency dealt with in this study is relevant to the learning of the vocabulary
of a foreign language since differences between the vocabulary of the learner's native
language (L1) and that of the foreign language (L2) may lead to several problems, such as
the incorrect use of place adjuncts expressions, especially because of the syntactic,
morphological, and semantic processes implied in these categories.
The expression of time reference implying the use of the discussed prepositions has been
considered an important element of language teaching because of its high-frequency in
speech. We must not forget that the expression of time adjuncts is drawn from a wide range
of grammatical categories, from open class categories, such as prepositions, to closed class
categories, such as adverbs, adjectives, nouns, and other specific clause structures.
All in all, the study of time reference has proved essential in the F.L. classroom.

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

AARTS, F., and J. AARTS. 1988. English Syntactic Structures. Functions & Categories in
Sentence Analysis. Prentice Hall Europe.
BOLTON, D., and GOODEY,N.; 1997. Grammar Practice in Context. Richmond Publishing.

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GREENBAUM, S. and QUIRK, R.; 1990. A Student's Grammar of the English Language.
Longman Group UK Limited.
GREENBAUM, S. 2000. The Oxford Reference Grammar. Edited by Edmund Weiner. Oxford
University Press.
HUDDLESTON, R. and PULLUM, G.K.; 2002. The Cambridge Grammar of the English
Language. Cambridge University Press.
QUIRK, R and GREENBAUM, S.; 1973. A University Grammar of English. Longman.
THOMSON, A.J. and MARTINET, V.A.; 1986. A Practical English Grammar. Oxford University
Press.

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