Expressing Time Tense and Aspect When we make a statement, we usually need to indicate whether the situation exists

s 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 in time) and the Adjuncts 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. Adjuncts 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 placed at the beginning of a clause. e.g. Peter will visit London next month. vs. Yesterday the atmosphere at the factory was tense. If the Adjunct is an adverb, it can also come immediately after be or after the first auxiliary in a verb group. e.g. 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. 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 EVENTa happening with a definite beginning and end(get, come, live, hit), or to a STATEa 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, etc) if used with the progressive, suggest repetition: e.g. 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); 5. Verbs of having and being (belong to, contain, be, consist of, cost, depend on, deserve, have, hold, matter, own, resemble). 71

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 verbreferring 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. Im thinking about buying a new hat. vs. I think that hell manage. You are being rude. vs. Youre 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, etc to express greater tentativeness and tact. e.g. Were you wanting to see me? We are hoping you will support us. (a) Present Time Present Tense vs Present Tense Continuous 1. Present Tense is used to express: present state, present event, present habit e.g. Im awfully busy. I declare the meeting closed. He works in London. 2. General truths e.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! Ive never been greyhound-racing myself, but they tell me its a fascinating sport. I hear youre 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. e.g. Were having a meeting. Only one hospital is functioning. His handwriting is improving. Do you know if shes still playing these days. They are living in a rented house. Im taking dancing lessons this winter. My children are always misbehaving. Hes 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 Adjuncts with: general truths, regular actions and frequent actions (always, generally, mainly, normally, often, traditionally, usually, seldom, never, weekly, etc) to reinforce or weaken our statements, to be more specific about how often the action happens, or to express disapproval or annoyance: e.g. Babies normally lose weight in the beginning. Several groups meet weekly. I visit her about once every six months. I never drink alone. Youre always looking for faults. Its always raining this time of the year. Moreover, 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 sometimes used with other tenses in order to underline the uninterrupted, continual nature of an activity, or even anticipated happenings in the future: 72

e.g. I shared 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 life. My father was for ever (forever) getting into trouble with the law. Dennis is buying me a new coat for my birthday. Were 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 Perfect (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 are therefore put in the past tense (Sequence of Tenses). e.g. I was talking to one of them yesterday. She said she got there in time. Past Tense is used to express: 1. An event occurred at a definite time in the past, identified by an adjunct of time/ time expression: e.g. 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. Would 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 is 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. I hear you have changed your job. (informal) I am 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 burnt 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. I was waiting angrily on Monday morning when I saw her. Father was watching TV while the kids were playing out in the garden. 73

Present Perfect is used to express: 1. Past actions without stating a specific time in a period leading up to the present time: e.g. 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: e.g. 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. (its now here) Her doll has been broken. (its still not mended) 4. Situations that still exist at the moment of speaking in the present (state leading up to the present time). When since and for are used then we refer to a definite time (initial moment and period over which the action extends) e.g. His sister has been an invalid all her life. (Shes 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 six weeks.
Note: In sense (1) the present perfect often refers to the recent indefinite past. For such clauses there is a tendency for AmE to prefer the past tense: Did you eat yet? Secondly, there is an idiomatic use of the Past Tense with always, ever, never to refer to a state or habit leading up to the present time (2): I 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 Perfect, except that: 1.) The period leading up to the present has limited duration: e.g. Ive been writing a letter to my nephew. 2.) We emphasize the uninterrupted duration of a recent event e.g. Since eight oclock I havent been doing anything but shopping. Past Perfect Events before a particular time in the past or expectations and whishes (with the latter the progressive aspect may also be used to show that it has not yet happened): e.g. 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. (I had been expecting some miraculous obvious change.) The Progressive Aspect is used to show that the event started at a particular moment in the past is not yet completed at the moment of reference (of speaking), 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. Adjuncts: 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, previously, recently, since, afterwards, at one time, eventually, formerly, immediately, lately, next, 74

once, originally, subsequently, etc). 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 frequencyto 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 adjuncts of frequencyto indicate the frequency of the action or to express the annoyance about it. e.g. Theyre 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 adjuncts of frequencyto indicate repetition and adjuncts of durationto 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. Ive often wondered why we didnt move years ago. Ive 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 Perfect adjuncts of frequencyto indicate how often the repeated event took place; adjuncts of durationto emphasize the length of time; simple time adjunctsto 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 born. 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. Ill finish my work next week. Tomorrows weather will be cold and cloudy. You will feel better if you take your medicine regularly. 2. The Future Continuous for a temporary situation in the future; indicating certainty; e.g. Ill be waiting for you outside. 75 (c)

Mr. Smith will be driving to London next week. 3. be going to future of intentionexpressing intention; the future fulfillment of present cause; in spoken English used instead of shall/will; e.g. Im going to explore the neighborhood. Its going to rain. Look at the clouds. Were going to see a change in the law next year. 4. Immediate Future: be about to, be due toplanned 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 Presentan official plan not likely to change; in conditional and temporal clauses; e.g. We start for Munich tomorrow. The train leaves at 8:30. Ill tell you if it hurts. Hell phone you when he comes. 6. Present Continuouspresent plan, arrangement for the future (personal character); e.g. Im leaving at the end of this week. Were having fish for dinner. The Future Perfect Tenseused to refer to something that has not happened yet but will happen before a particular time in the future; e.g. Maybe when you come up, youll have heard from your sister. Tomorrow Jean and Ken will have been married twenty years. The Future Perfect Continuousused 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 Pastexpresses the future seen from a viewpoint in the past, i.e. when the reporting verb in the main clause is in the Past Tense; e.g. He said he would go there next week. Adjuncts with future tenses a) for future indefinite actions adjuncts of indefinite time are used (in future, in the future, one of these days, some day, sometime, sooner or later): e.g. Ill drop by sometime. Sooner or later hell ask you to join him there. In future shell have to take sedentary work of some sort. b) tomorrow and next are used for definite actions in the future: e.g. Well try somewhere else tomorrow. Shall I come tomorrow night? Next summer your crops will be very much better. She wont be able to do it the week after next. 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 adjuncts can be used with more than one set of tenses, because they refer to TIME and not to tense:

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1.) A common usetomorrow, next week, inweeks 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. After all, youre coming back next week. We arranged to meet in three weeks time. 2.) The adjunctsnow, today, tonight, thisrefer to a period including the present moment; e.g. One of my children wrote to me today. I will ski no more today. Its 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. I 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 successfulin time, too early, too late; e.g. I 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 timeuse of the adverb then; e.g. We kept three monkeys then. Itll be too late then. To be more specific, we can use that with the name of a day/week/month/season; e.g. William didnt come in that Tuesday. So many people will be pursuing other activities that night. Emphasizing the unexpected:Adjuncts: 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.) Stillfor existing situations, often suggesting that continuation is surprising and unexpected; e.g. Its a marvel that he is still alive. Male prejudice still exists in certain quarters. We still dont know where were going. 2.) Stillfor 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.) Yetfor 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 dont know the terms yet. No one yet knows exactly what it means. Her style had not yet matured. Yetin questions it is usually put at the end; e.g. Have you read your paper yet? Yetin affirmative statements to show that something expected has not happened up to the present time; e.g. The true history of art in post-war America is yet to be written.

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Yetin 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 changeas yet, so far, up to now, up till nowto indicate a situation which existed up to the present time may change in the future; e.g. 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 havent once up till now come into real contact with our authorities. 5.) Past not presentuse of any longer, any more, no longerto express that the past situation does not exist in the present; e.g. They dont live together any more. 6.) Emphasizing occurrencealreadyto emphasize that a situation exists, rather than not yet having occurred; e.g. 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. C) TIME EXPRESSIONS AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES 1.) Specific timesthese expressions are used as complements when we want to state the current time, day, or year. Clock timesusually expressed in terms of hours, parts of hours or minutes; e.g. one oclock/five [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 past/ten to - midday/noon are occasionally used; Times of the daymorning/afternoon/evening/night/dawn/first light/sunrise/dusk/sunset/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 Years Day/St Valentines Day/Good Friday/Ash Wednesday/Easter Monday/Halloween/Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/ Boxing Day/New Years Eve; days can also be named by giving their date using an ordinal number: e.g. First of July/ 18th July/October the ninth/on the fourteenth; Months, seasons, 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; 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 ADto99 AD/ twentieth century/ the 20th century;

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At for specific times with clock times, periods of the year and periods of the day except for morning/evening/afternoon/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. It is also used with ages, states of development, and points within a larger period of time: at the age of twenty/at an early stage of the war/at the beginning of March. In for periods of time in which something happens used with centuries/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, days, using an ordinal: in the first eight months/in the early hours/in wartime/in the holidays; On for short periods of timewith ordinals and special terms: birthday/anniversary e.g. on Monday/on the eighth or ninth/on a calm afternoon/on Christmas Day; On for longer periods of timewith words indicating travel: journey/trip/voyage/way/ flight; On for subsequent eventsused in a slightly formal way with nouns and ing-forms referring to actions or activities to indicate that one event occurs after another; e.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 eight oclock on the morning of 29 October 1618; on the night of Thursday July 16. 2.) Non-specific times Approximate timesif 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 after, thereabouts[used prepositions: after, before, by, during, over, following, prior to]; e.g. around midnight/during the summer/over the weekend/round about midday/ at four oclock or thereabouts; back in 1975 or thereabouts; During for periods of timeused 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: e.g. during September/during the Sixties/during the week = on weekdays and not weekend/during the rain; Over for eventsused 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; 79

e.g. over the winter/over the New Year; a period before or after the time of speaking or the time being talked about; e.g. 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; e.g. over lunch/over a cup of coffee; Relating events and timesoccurs with the help of: before/prior to/after/following/ previous to/subsequent to. Order of eventsis expressed with the help of: before/after/earlier than/later than. Simultaneous eventsto indicate that events happen at the same time, the adverbs: together/simultaneously/at the same time/at once. By for specific timeto 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; e.g. the meeting this afternoon, before closing time etc; 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. e.g. six thirty-five train/ eight oclock news/morning mists/summer and winter clothes/ Possessive forms can also be used; e.g. Tuesdays paper/Mondays paper/the mornings happenings/ HIGHLIGHTS
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 to produce such effects as the stretching of the event, gradual character, transition, incompletion, temporariness, repetition of the event, punctual and sudden character, completion and permanent state. All these effects are exploited in discourse.

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PRACTICE TASKS 1. Decide which is more meaningful, the Past or the Perfect, in the sentences below. Give reasons for your choice: We (set off) early and (leave) the car by the bridge. I (get) it, he shouted , I think Ireally (get) it. During his short lifetime, he (compose) some of the most beautiful organ music of his time. How many playsShakespeare (write)? I (wake up) late this morning and (have) any breakfast yet. What you (say) your name (be). you (come) for a work permit, or for something else? Whenyour son (qualify) as a doctor? the children (like) the circus? Im 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 didnt. We (cook) all day for the party and by 8 oclock we still werent ready. He (wait) for that letter for weeks when at last it (arrive). I (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 oclock. Their hands were quite numb because they (make) a snowman. I 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. I (stand) outside the faculty at eight oclock 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. In a 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? I (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 wife (do) her spring cleaning and well all be able to relax again. 81

I hope 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 theyve found the answer the city probably (sink). In another weeks time you (see) everything worth seeing. Come back in an hour. I (do) my packing by then and well be able to have a talk. Ill 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, 1999 we (live) in this house exactly thirty years. When they arrive at the castle, a good fire (burn) in the fireplace since morning. When you come back home, I already (read) for three hours. When I retire, I (work) here for forty years. 3.) Reformulate the following clauses: He last shaved last Monday. Its years since Jane visited us. He last ate snails when he was a student in Paris. Its years since I last had a really good nights sleep. Its ages since I last wrote a letter. She last went to the hairdressers for her brothers wedding. I last skated in my childhood. Its more than ten years since that house was lived in. I last met her the day when she got a job. Its quite a long time since he rode a motorcycle.

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