20140825033608_13 HBEL4403 Topic 9

� INTRODUCTION

Tense and aspect are closely related categories in that both of them concern the presentation of situations. Tense is defined as grammatically expressed assignment to situations according to the Âlocation in timeÊ. For example, by using the inflection {�s}, the speaker instructs the listener to identify a situation that applies to the moment the utterance is made, and in using the inflection {-ed} the listener is to identify a situation before the moment of utterance. Aspect is defined as grammatically expressed assignment of Âsituational focusÊ and can be illustrated, for example, by using the auxiliary was and the inflectional ending {-ing}, the speaker instructs the listener to select an internal focus, i.e., a perspective of viewing the situation as unfolding. In English, tense and aspect are tightly interwoven. We, therefore, treat them together and operate with a fused tense aspect system. The meanings belonging to this system may be expressed by a verbal inflection, an auxiliary or a combination. The tense and aspect system in English involves four ordered choices: present and past, future and non-future, perfect and non-perfect, progressive and non-progressive.

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Describe the formal characteristics of English tense and aspect; and

2. Explain the meanings expressed by tense and aspect such as present, past, future, non-future, perfect, non-perfect, progressive and non-progressive.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

TTooppiicc

99 � Tenses and

Aspect

� TOPIC 9 TENSES AND ASPECT

208

TENSE AND ASPECT

Figure 9.1: The auxiliary of a non-imperative English sentence structure

According to Celce (2000), the auxiliary of a non-imperative English sentence must have either a modal or a tense marker (which a later rule specifies as either past or present), and it may have several optional components: phrasal modals, perfect aspect, and progressive aspect. The expression „future tense‰ was viewed as inappropriate, since in English finite verb stems are not inflected to express future time. In other words, English does not have a future tense, but it does not mean that English speakers cannot speak about future events. They use other relevant structures such as modals, phrasal modals, and adverbials of time. In English, basically, there are three time periods: ppresent, ppast and ffuture. We will discuss this in terms of two tenses, present and past, aspects, perfect and progressive, modals and phrasal modals, and the passive voice. Since the precise mapping of form, meaning and use constantly changes from language to language, mastering the English tense-aspect system requires noticeable effort on the part of ESL learners. In this topic, we will study the form, meaning, and use of the English tense-aspect system at the sentence level, which is the way most teachers first introduce the forms. However, to comprehend how the system functions, it is necessary to describe its application at the suprasentential or discourse level in order to fully understand the various patterns of tense-aspect combinations. When discussing forms at the sentence level, we will introduce tense and show students how tense contrasts with aspect, and how it fits into the system as a whole. In order to see how the system functions, we first describe its form and suggest a core meaning for each of the tenses and aspects of the system. Later, we will illustrate how the core meaning applies when tenses are used by themselves and when they are integrated with aspect. Finally, we contrast the uses of some of the most perplexing combinations of tense and aspect.

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TOPIC 9 TENSES AND ASPECT � 209

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TENSE-ASPECT SYSTEM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The distinction between tense and aspect is a very controversial issue. Many English teachers would say that English has 12 „tenses‰ (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman) or 16 tenses (Bache, 1997). However, in the introduction of this topic we stated that English has oonly two tenses, which relates to time and aspect. This has to do with the internal structure of the action occurring at any time, dealt with separately at first. The system that results from their subsequent combination is much easier to see and, therefore, easier to learn. Table 9.1 is a summary of the English tenses and aspect, according to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman. We can see the two tenses, present and past, along the vertical axis, together with the future tenses. Although there are no verb inflections for future time, any description of the English tense-aspect system needs to account for the form-meaning combinations that do exist that relate to the future time. The four aspects: simple (sometimes called zero aspect), perfect, progressive, and their combination, perfect progressive, are arrayed along the horizontal axis. The tense-aspect is illustrated by the combinations of the irregular verb write and the regular verb walk.

Table 9.1: The 12 Combinations of Tense and Aspect

Simple Perfect have + -en

Progressive be + -ing

Perfect Progressive have + -en be + -ing

Present

write/writes has/have written

am/is/are writing

has/have been writing

walk/walks has/have walked

am/is/are walking

has/have been walking

Past

wrote had written was/were writing

had been writing

walked had walked was/were walked

had been walking

Future

will write will have written

will be writing will have been writing

will walk will have walked

will be walking will have been walking

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From Table 9.1, Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999) shows that the traditional 12 „tenses‰ are actually 12 combinations of tense and aspect. They are named by combining a tense with an aspect or aspects, such as present perfect or past perfect progressive. Only the forms in the first column receive their names by first specifying the simple aspect and then the tense, such as simple present. The simple present remains in its bbase form (write, walk) with one exception-the third person singular form, which is made by adding an {-s} to the verb (writes, walks). The present perfect is formed with the verb have (has for third person singular) and the past participle, here symbolised by {-en}. It is important to remember that {-en} is only a symbol. Sometimes the past participle does indeed end in {-en}, as does the irregular verb example, written. Other times, the past participle is identical to the past tense form of the verb, as you can see in our other example, where the regular verb walk has the past participle walked. The present progressive form (sometimes called the present continuous) combines with a form of the be verb (am, is, are), depending on the person and number of the subject, with the present participle, {-ing} form. Finally, the present perfect progressive can be seen to be a combination of the perfect form, with have + {en} and the progressive form with be +{-ing}. In this case, the be verb of the progressive carries the {-en} perfect ending. In other words, it is in its past participle form, been. Reading down Table 9.1, you can see that the various combinations between past tense and aspect pattern in much the same way as the present tense. The past tense in its simple form in English is formed by using its past irregular form, as in the irregular verb in our chart, wrote, or with a regular verb such as walk by adding an {-ed} to give us walked. One difference from the simple present is that the form of the simple past remains invariant for all persons and numbers. The past perfect form is made with the past form of the have verb (i.e., had) followed by the past participle of the main verb. The past progressive form combines the past form of the be verb here in two forms � first and third person singular forms precede was, and all other persons and numbers precede were followed by the present participle. The past perfect progressive is formed with the past form of the verb have (i.e. had) followed by the past participle of the verb be (i.e., been) and the present participle of the main verb, for example, writing or walking. For the future time, the matrix shows the use of modal will, since there is no inflection that marks the future tense on the verb in English. However, English uses a number of ways in addition to the use of will to indicate that an action or event is to take place in the future. The future adheres to the same patterns as the present and past in terms of its combination of aspect markers: will with the base form for the simple future, will + have + -{-en} for the future perfect, will with be


+ {-ing} for the future progressive, and will + have + {-en} + be + {-ing} for the future perfect progressive. Bache (1997) provides 16 tense-aspect forms in English, as applied to the verb happen such as the following. It is important to remember that this list contains instructions reflecting the basic semantics of the tense-aspect system. As we have seen, specific constructions may express derived meanings and/or have special uses, depending on aactional and aaspectual properties. (1) The present happens [Present [ situation]] Tag a situation of ÂhappeningÊ on to world-nnow. (2) The past happened [Past [situation]] Tag a situation of ÂhappeningÊ on to world-bbefore-now. (3) The present future will happen [Present [future [situation]]] Tag on to world-nnow and then llook ahead to a situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (4) The past future would happen [Past [future [situation]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now and then llook ahead to a situation of

ÂhappeningÊ (5) The present perfect has happened [Present [anterior [situation]]] Tag on to world-nnow and then llook back at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (6) The past perfect had happened [Past [anterior [situation]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now and then llook

back at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (7) The present future perfect will have happened [Present [future [anterior [situation]]]] Tag on to world-nnow, then llook ahead to a future time and finally look

back at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ.. (8) The past future perfect would have happened [Past [future [anterior [situation]]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now, then llook ahead to a posterior time and

finally look back at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ.


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(9) The present progressive is happening [Present [progressing [situation]]] Tag on to world-nnow, and then llook here at a simultaneously progressing

situation of ÂhappeningÊ (10) The past progressive was happening [Past [progressing [situation]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now and then llook here at aa simultaneously

progressing situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (11) The present future progressive will be happening [Present [future [progressing [situation]]]] Tag on to world-nnow, then llook ahead to a future time and ffinally look

here at a simultaneously progressing situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (12) The past future progressive would be happening [Past [future [progressing [situation]]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now, then llook ahead to a posterior time and

finally look here at a ssimultaneously progressing situation of ÂhappeningÊ. (13) The present perfect progressive has been happening [Present [anterior [progressing [situation]]]] Tag on to world-nnow, then llook back at an anterior time and finally look

at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ progressing simultaneously with the anterior-present period (i.e. towards resent time).

(14) The past perfect progressive had been happening [Past [anterior [progressing [situation]]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now, then llook back at an anterior time and

finally look at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ progressing simultaneously with the anterior-past period i.e. towards the past time).

(15) The present future perfect progressive will have been happening [Present [future [anterior [progressing [ situation]]]]] Tag on to world-nnow, then llook ahead to a future time, then llook back at

an anterior time and ffinally look at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ progressing simultaneously with the future-anterior period (i.e. towards the future time).


(16) The past future perfect progressive would have been happening [Past [future [anterior [progressing [situation]]]]] Tag on to world-bbefore-now, then llook ahead to a posterior time, then

look back at an anterior time and ffinally look at a situation of ÂhappeningÊ progressing simultaneously with the posterior-anterior period (i.e. towards the posterior time).

MEANING IN THE ENGLISH TENSE – ASPECT SYSTEM

This is an exceedingly important dimension in helping students manage the tense-aspect system. If students are able to develop a feel for the meanings conveyed by the components of the system, they will have a tremendous advantage in learning to cope with the boundary problems introduced above and discussed in detail below. As we have asserted earlier, understanding the semantics of the tenses in terms of time is inadequate. In English, there are many ways of talking about events in the future. Many students find it difficult to decide which form to use in a particular situation. The following section explains the differences between the four main forms which we use when referring to the future time.

9.3

1. Apply the following verbs, to the system advocated by (i) Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999) and (ii) Bache (1997).

(a) run

(b) read

(c) sleep

2. What are the differences between tense-aspects forms provided by Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999) as compared to the one provided by Bache (1997)? Discuss. Which one do you prefer? Why?

SELF-CHECK 9.1


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9.3.1 Basic Meanings of the Four Forms

Most students know that „will‰ and „going to‰ are used to talk about future time in English. However, we also use the present progressive („be‰ + {ing}) and the present simple tense. The basic rules of these forms are presented in the following table.

Table 9.2: Basic Rules of the Four Forms

Form Meaning/Usage Example

„Will‰

to volunteer to do something deciding at the time of speaking to do something

Ali: I need a pencil. Siti: IÊll lend you mine.

„Going to‰ to talk about something that is already decided

Ali: Have you registered for the class yet?

Siti: Not yet. IÊm going to register tomorrow.

Present Continuous

to talk about something that is already arranged

Ali: Do you want to go to the movies tonight?

Siti: Sorry, I canÊt. IÊm playing soccer.

Present simple

to talk about a schedule, timetable or programme

Ali: What time does the next bus leave?

Siti: It leaves at six.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

In predicting what we think will happen in the future, we should choose the form based on how certain we are. If we are not sure, it is fine to use „will‰, but if we are only nearly certain about something, it is best to use „going to‰: For example: (17) (a) I think it will rain. (IÊm not sure, but it looks like it might.)

(b) I think itÊs going to rain. (IÊm quite sure itÊs going to rain, I can see black clouds in the sky.)

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We could cite many other examples. The point is that in order to understand the meaning of the tenses, we must go to a deeper level of abstraction than that of temporal meaning. By so doing, we will see what core meaning underlies the use of the future tense in the preceding examples and in all other sentences in which it occurs. The core meaning of a particular form is the meaning that is most central, primary or invariant (Hatch and Brown 1995 cited in Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman 1999). We begin by analysing the core meanings of the tenses with the simple aspect. Thus, one of the reasons for displaying the tense aspect combinations in this manner is to demonstrate that the 12 or 16 „tenses‰ are simply combinations of tense and aspect. Since the perfect and progressive aspect markers contribute consistent meanings regardless of tense, in effect, ESL students have to learn only the form and meaning of the three tenses (in their simple form) and the two aspects (perfect and progressive) to develop an understanding of the tense-aspect system of English. This is why we say that by viewing the tenses and aspects as a system, the learning burden is lessened.

THE MEANING OF TENSE

Tense is defined as the linguistic eexpression of time relations realised by verb forms. Time is independent of language and is common to all human beings. Most grammarians conceptualise it, as being divided into past time, present time and future time. Tense systems are language specific and vary from one language to another as you have seen in Malay and English. Tenses distinguish in ways that reflect temporal reference. In English, for instance, it would be erroneous to imagine that the Past Tense reflects exclusively to events in past time, that there is a Present Tense to refer exclusively to events in present time and a Future Tense (e.g. modal will/would) to refer exclusively to events in future time. In the following examples, the forms often thought to correspond to past and future time reference, respectively, in fact, refer to the moment of speaking, for example: (18) (a) I thought you were in the hall. (b) Will you park there, please? (c) I was wondering whether you needed a drink.

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On the contrary, the Present Tense forms used in the following examples do not refer exclusively to the moment of speaking, for example: (19) (a) These trees look dead in drought. (b) We leave for Kuala Lumpur tonight. (c) Temperatures rise to 100 degree F. In addition to the tensed forms of verbs, other linguistic forms, particularly adverbs of time such as now, then, tomorrow and Prepositional Phrases such as in 2004 can make reference to time; English, in fact, relies extensively on such words to make the temporal reference clear.

POINTS IN TIME AND POINTS OF REFERENCE

Tense is how we express events that occur at points situated along the linear flow of time. Within the linear flow, a point of reference must be established, with respect to which past events precede and future events follow. The normal, universal and therefore unmarked point of reference is the moment of speaking. This is the ÂnowÊ, which is implicitly understood in everyday interaction. It can be diagrammed as follows:

Figure 9.2: Tenses timeline Further distinctions such as Âremote pastÊ and Âimmediate futureÊ can then be additionally made.

9.6

Construct a dialogue, in context, to demonstrate:

(a) Remote past

(b) Immediate future

ACTIVITY 9.1


THE PRESENT AND PAST TENSES IN ENGLISH

In everyday use, Âat presentÊ and Âat the present timeÊ have a wider application than simply referring to the present moment of speech time. Thus, the example The sun rises in the east includes in its time reference the present moment but also past and future time. It can be diagrammed in the following way:

Figure 9.3: Timeline for ÂThe sun rises in the eastÊ Present time in this sense can therefore mean (a) at all times, or (b) at no particular time. The grammatical tense used in the examples above is the unmarked form, having no modification, consisting of the lexical verb alone with no grammatical meaning beyond that of „verb‰. Thus, it can cover a wide range of temporal references. We can retain the traditional term PPresent or Non-progressive Present for convenience, rather than the term NNon-past, preferred by some grammarians; it is with the recognition that as a tense it only rarely has a direct relation to speech time. The NNon-past as an alternative term to the PPresent tense is based on the following reasoning: wwhile the Present tense can refer to future time as in We leave for Penang tomorrow or When do we arrive? It cannot normally be used with a time expression which refers specifically to an event in the past: *I listen to that story last week instead of He listened to that story last week. The unmarked form therefore can be used to make specific reference to a future event but not normally to a past event.

9.7

1. To what extent do the Present and Past Tenses of English correspond to the present and past time?

2. What grammatical devices are used in English to refer to future

events, and how is the choice between these conditioned by the way the speaker visualises the future events?

SELF-CHECK 9.2


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MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY THE NON-PROGRESSIVE PRESENT

Stative verbs such as be, seem, belong, or dynamic verbs, such as kick, eat, write express the verb in the non-progressive present tense differently compared to the dynamic verbs. In other words, the meaning of non-progressive depends on whether the verb is being used statically or dynamically, since many verbs lend themselves to both interpretations. Stand in the hut stands on a hill, for instance, expresses a state, whereas the phrasal verb stand up is used dynamically in All the soldiers stood up. In general, dynamic but not static meanings occur after, as seen in the following examples: (19) (a) What the children did was stand up. (b) What the house does is stand on a hill.

PRESENT AND TIMELESS STATES

The meanings of the Present static verb can express timeless statements, that is, statements which apply to all time, including speech time. These include scientific, mathematical and descriptive statements, as in the following examples: (20) (a) Cat is a mammal. (b) Gold has a relatively low melting point. (c) Two and two make four. (d) Silk feels smooth to the touch. Humans usually engage in activities whose time span is not endless, indicated in verbs such as know, seem, belong. They are nevertheless states, in which no change or limitation into the past or future is implied: (21) (a) He knows Penang quite well. (b) This land belongs to the Keretapi Malaysia. (c) Those exercises look difficult. Here, too, the temporal reference includes speech time.

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REPEATED EVENTS IN THE PRESENT

A series of events which cover an unspecified time can be expressed by dynamic verbs to show the Present. Speech time is not necessarily stated or even included, as such statements are valid at speech time: (22) (a) He sleeps in the hall. (b) Many families lose their homes in floods. (c) They spend most of their time studying. Adjuncts of time, frequency, place, destination, etc., in the Present often accompany statements which express repeated or recurrent events. Indeed, many such statements as They spend most of their time are incomplete without a circumstantial specification.

INSTANTANEOUS EVENTS IN THE PRESENT

In certain situations the event coincides, or is presented as coinciding, with the moment of speaking, and without having any duration beyond speech time. The Present is used in such situations, which are classified as specific types: (23) Performatives: I warn you that this knife is sharp. (24) Exclamations with initial directional adverb: Off they fly! (25) Commentaries: Santokh passes and Mokhtar heads the ball into the net! (26) Demonstrations: I place the coffee in the cup, stir it gently, and then sip slowly.

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REFERENCE TO PAST EVENTS

The Present can be used to refer to past events in certain limited ways, as shown in the following examples (Downing et al., 1992). (a) IIn Newspaper Headlines

(27) Hard Cash sends back a blank Czech. (Pat Cash beats Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon)

(28) Thousands flee persecution. The effect of the Present in such cases is to dramatise the event, making it

appear before the readerÊs eyes as if it was in fact an instance of the instantaneous Present.

(b) IIn Relating Incidents

(29) He was only an average athlete, and then unexpectedly he wins two Olympic medals.

(30) I was just about to go to work when all of a sudden thereÊs a knock at the door and Samad rushes in.

This use of „historic present‰ is used by a desire to achieve dramatic effect,

in this case to highlight the main point in a narrative by bringing it into the moment of speaking. Instances of the historic present in casual conversation tend to be inserted into discourse containing Past Tenses and are often preceded by an Adjunct signalling immediacy such as suddenly or all of a sudden.

(c) IIn Reporting Information With communicating verbs (say, tell) and of perception (see, hear,

understand), the use of the Present implies that the reported information is still operative, even though the communicative process took place in the past. If a past verb is used, e.g. said, announced, the present validity of the information is not stressed:

(31) (a) RTM forecasts heavy showers in the north Peninsula. (b) Pak Samad says he has changed his tyres. (c) I understand that you would like to move to Tanjong Malim.

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MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY THE NON-PROGRESSIVE PAST TENSE

The global meaning of the Past Tense in English is to demonstrate ÂremotenessÊ or distancing from the moment of speaking, whether in time, towards the past, or with regard to potential or hypothetical events which have not yet occurred in the present or the future.

9.13.1 Definite Events in the Past

Non-progressive Past Tense is used to refer to a past event or state, the Past in English contains two semantic features: (a) To visualise the event as having occurred at some specific time in the past.

(b) To show the event was completed in the past, and a gap in time separates its completion from the present.

These features are illustrated in the following examples: (32) (a) I bought some biscuits yesterday (b) Tun Perak was born in Pahang. (c) He lived in Kuala Lumpur until 1890 and spent the rest of his life in

exile.

The criteria require a fairly rigid distinction in English between what can be expressed by the Past and what can be expressed by the Present Perfect. The meanings of specific occurrence, completed event and disconnectedness from present time are not normally expressed by the Present Perfect; the above examples, for instance, are unacceptable with the verb in the Perfect: (33) (a) *I have bought some biscuits yesterday. (b) *He has been born in Pahang. (c) *We have met four years ago.

9.13

Write five sentences to represent a state or event. If it is an event, is it repeated, instantaneous, past or future?

ACTIVITY 9.2


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Adjuncts of specific past time such as yesterday and in 2002 naturally combine well with the Past, but not with the Perfect, since their function is to signal the past moment in time explicitly. We do not need to specify a past occurrence by means of an Adjunct; however, as long as we have a specific time in mind and can assume that the hearer understands this, from inference or from the situational context, the Past tense can be used alone, as in: (34) (a) Did you see that object coming down? (b) You didnÊt tell me you met Maria at the mall. (c) Did Kamal remember to buy the books? The events referred to in these examples are situationally definite, the definiteness of the event being in many cases confirmed by the definiteness of the participants (that object, my letters) or the circumstance (at the mall). The definiteness of the event expressed by the Past does not require that the time in question be specified, only that it is mentioned. For this reason, even unspecific adverbs such as once, when and conjunctions such as while and as soon as can introduce Past tense verbs: (35) (a) Latif knew football from the KL club. (b) When did you learn Swahili? (c) While we walked along, he told me about his assignment. (d) As soon as they saw us, they came to greet us.

THE PAST TENSE WITH PRESENT AND FUTURE REFERENCES

The Past tense can refer to time zone other than the past in the following three ways: (a) In rreported speech or thought: after a reporting verb in the Past tense, the

reported verbs in the dependent clauses are also in the Past. This phenomenon is known as ÂbackshiftÊ (Downing et al., 1992). Present Tense

9.14

What is the basic meaning of progressive and non-progressive aspects?

SELF-CHECK 9.3


forms are optional as in She said she would/will be glad to see us, as long as the situation is still valid, and are sometimes preferred when a resulting temporal contrast would be undesirable, as in:

I didnÊt realise that you were/are the president of the tennis club. (b) IIn polite requests and enquiries the Past form ÂdistancesÊ the proposed

action, so making the imposition on the listener less direct:

(36) (a) Would you just sit here, please? (b) Did you want to tell me now? (c) I wondered whether you needed drink.

(c) HHypothetical subordinate clauses express a counterfactual belief or

expectation on the part of the speaker. The Past in such expressions was originally a subjunctive whose only relic remains in the form were for all persons of be.

(37) (a) He speaks as if he owned the house. (b) If only we had more time! (c) I often wish I were richer.

Referring to Future Events Future events cannot be referred as facts, as past and present situations, since events in the future have not yet happened. We can predict with more or less confidence what will happen, we can plan for events to take place, express our intentions and promises with regard to future events. Here we simply outline the main syntactic means of referring to future events as seen from the standpoint of present time. „Safe‰ Predictions These are predictions which do not involve the subjectÊs volition, and include cyclical events and general truths. Will + infinitive is used, but shall for ÂIÊ and ÂweÊ: (38) (a) Jamila will be nineteen tomorrow. (b) The best will soon be with us.


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Prediction of generalities can include speech time: (39) If people have the opportunity, theyÊll take it. Will/Shall + Progressive combine the meaning of futurity with that of

limited duration, at the same time avoiding the implication of promise associated with these modals when the subject is ÂIÊ or ÂweÊ:

(40) (a) IÊll be seeing him tomorrow at about ten. (b) We shall be studying your application shortly. Programmed Events Future events seen as certain because they have been programmed can be expressed by the Present + Time Adjunct or by be + due to + infinitive: (41) (a) Our holidays start next Saturday. (b) The sun sets at 20.15 hours tomorrow. (c) She is due to retire in two monthsÊ time. Intended Events Intended events can be expressed by be + going to + infinitive, or simply by the Present Progressive + Time Adjunct: (42) (a) I am going to try to get more information about this. (b) Pete says heÊs changing his job next month. Imminent Events An event which is seen as occurring in the immediate future is expressed by be + going to or by be + about to + infinitive: (43) (a) It looks as if thereÊs going to be a storm. (b) This company is about to be taken over by a multinational. A prediction or expectation oriented to past time is expressed by these same forms in the past: (44) (a) ItÊs not what I thought it was going to be. (b) She looked as if she was about to collapse.


Future Anterior Events A future event anterior to another event is expressed by the Future Perfect: (45) (a) The program will have ended long before we get back. (b) By the time he is twenty-two, heÊll have taken his degree. Otherwise, the Future Perfect expresses the duration or repetition of an event in the future. The addition of the Progressive emphasises the Âstretching outÊ of the sequence. (46) (a) WeÊll have lived here for ten years by next July. (b) WeÊll have been living here for ten years by next July.

THE MEANING OF ASPECT

As you have seen, tense is primarily related to the event at speech time, or to a reference point in the past. Aspect is concerned with the internal character of the event as it is presented by the speaker; it focuses on such contrasts as durative (extending in time) or non-durative, whether the event is seen in its initial stage or its final stage, whether it is completed or uncompleted. We have already had the occasion to refer to the stative / dynamic contrast in describing the meanings of the tenses in English and to the perfective / imperfective contrast expressed to some extent in some complex Verb phrases. Having fewer aspectual inflections, English has fewer aspectual choices than some languages. The one obligatory choice is that of the progressive (is/was going) versus the non-progressive forms (goes, went). We shall treat progressiveness as a type of imperfectivity, or incompletion. Perfectivity is not to be confused with the Present Perfect as in Aspect.

9.15.1 Perfectivity and Imperfectivity

The term „perfective aspect‰ is used to indicate that the situation expressed by the predication is viewed as a single whole, without attention being drawn to the separate phases that make up the situation. Certain uses of the Present (Jamal passes the ball; We start tomorrow) can be considered the perfective or zero aspect. The problem is that habitual meanings, which are a form of imperfectivity (He works at night; He works on and off), are expressed in English by the same base form of the verb, the imperfectivity being conveyed by circumstantial expressions (at night, on and off) or deduced from the co-text (On Saturdays he works on the night-shift. He gets home at 8 a.m., has breakfast and goes to bed).

9.15


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With past time reference, a perfective interpretation is equally dependent on outside information. The verb spoke, for instance, in the sentence He knew he spoke too fast can have a perfective interpretation if it is understood to refer to one specific occasion, but an imperfective interpretation if it is understood as repeated, that is that he habitually spoke too fast. In many languages, these distinctions would be signaled morphologically. Imperfectivity illustrates the internal structure of the event or situation. It is a wide category, which can include such aspects as habituality, discontinued habit, interactivity and progressiveness. While habituality is signalled by adverbs or the co-text, and interactivity partly by lexical items in verb phrase complexes (kept on shouting) and by phrasal verb particles (he hammered away), English does have a specific form to express discontinued habit or state. This is the lexical auxiliary used to + infinitive as in He knew he used to speak too fast. Expressing discontinued habit or state used to + infinitive is illustrated in the following examples: (47) (a) Faris used to be a friend of mine. (b) There used to be trees all round this square. (c) This car used to belong to my sister. (d) An old house used to stand on this hill. (e) We used to visit each other quite often. This structure has the following features: (a) It is used with both stative verbs (be, remain, stand) and dynamic verbs

(speak, call) to express either a state or a series of events which were discontinued before speech time.

(b) It is particularly helpful in being able to express, without an accompanying

time adjunct, the fact that the state or habit no longer occurs. The time expression can be added; for instance, many years ago could be added to all the above examples, but the implicit meaning of not any longer is so strong that an additional expression is unnecessary.

(c) It is used to make an event into a sequence of events, that is a habit. In

other words, it makes a potentially perfective expression into an imperfective one.

(48) (a) He visited me. He used to visit me. (b) We went to the theatre. We used to go to the theatre.


(d) It is not to be confused with be used to + {-ing} ( = „be accustomed to‰ + {-ing}) as in He is not used to working late hours.

To illustrate the meaning of used to + infinitive, two examples are given below, the first as an elliptical response: (49) „YouÊre the football player,‰ Duli said. „The Premier League. You played

with the Terengganu Club.‰ „Used to. DonÊt play anymore.‰

9.15.2 Duration, Boundedness and Agency

We can understand the meanings expressed by the progressive in English, and the restrictions on its use by elaborating on the stative / dynamic distinction already made in treating the verb. We are concerned mainly with the duration or non-duration (punctuality) of the verbal situation, whether or not it is agentive and finally, whether or not it is bounded by an end point. Static Verbs States are durative, in that they last throughout time; they are unbounded in that no end point is implied in the verb itself, and they do not have agentive Subjects. Static verbs can be grouped into the following classes: (a) relational verbs: be, belong, consist, cost, depend, own, possess, seem

sound, etc.

(b) verbs of involuntary perception: see, hear, smell, taste, feel.

(c) verbs of cognition: know, think, understand, recognise, etc.

(d) verbs of affectivity: like, dislike, hate, detest, love.

1. What is perfectivity and imperfectivity?

2. Discuss the differences between perfect tense and prefectivity.

3. Define stative and dynamic verbs.

SELF-CHECK 9.4


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Verbs such as stand, lie, live are intermediate between static and dynamic. With inanimate subjects a static interpretation is common (The farm lies in a valley, The monastery stands on the hill); with animate subjects a tentative interpretation would be normal in They were lying on the beach, They were standing in the rain, He lived till the age of eighty-five. When an end-point is established, expressed by a directional adverb, the situation is evidently dynamic, as in Lie down on the ground!, Stand up!, HeÊll never live down the disgrace. Dynamic Verbs Dynamic verbs are classified as either durative or punctual. Durative verbs represent dynamic situations which extend through time such as rain, read, sleep, ripen. Punctual verbs do not extend through time: kick, blink, jump, drop. Durative verbs can be either agentive (play, sing, whisper) or non-agentive (ripen, grow, rain, snow): (50) (a) The children have gone off to play. (agentive) (b) DoesnÊt she sing beautifully? (agentive) (c) Weeds grow even faster in this climate. (non-agentive) (d) Grapes wonÊt ripen without some sun. (non-agentive) Punctual verbs can likewise be either agentive (kick, hit, swat, jump) or non-agentive (drop, blink, sneeze, explode): (51) (a) I smacked his face with a newspaper. (agentive) (b) The dog jumped out of the window. agentive) (c) The weather made me sneeze. (non-agentive) (d) The bomb exploded in the car. (non-agentive) The action of smacking a face is always agentive, whereas that of hitting something need not be, as in The car hit a tree. Similarly, it is not only animate beings that jump, but also inanimate such as profits, temperatures, prices and populations. In this very general outline of verb types, it must be remembered that a great many verbs can be associated with many different types of Subject and express a wide variety of situations. Only the most prototypical associations are presented for our current purpose. Durative and punctual verbs, both can either have an end-point or have no end-point, that is, be bounded or unbounded. Here, again, certain verbs, such as boil, can be either bounded (Âcome to the boilÊ) or unbounded (Âboil continuouslyÊ).


Unbounded verbs can become bounded by means of an adverbial particle (boil away) or a resulting Attribute (boil dry). Rather than the verb, it is, of course, the situation as it is expressed linguistically that is bounded (The water has boiled away) or unbounded (The water is boiling), and a number of devices, including the adverbial particles of phrasal verbs, expounded or unexpounded Objects, Progressive aspect and so on, are exploited to establish the differences. (52) (a) I donÊt mind which one; IÊll let you decide. (durative + bounded) (b) He runs every morning to keep fit. (durative, unbounded) (c) The traffic lights changed to red. (punctual, bounded) (d) The ambulance light flashed, warning motorists to give way.

(punctual, unbounded) Durative verbs which have an end point are either agentive such as write out, eat up, decide (bounded activities), or non-agentive such as grow up, improve, ripen (bounded processes). Durative verbs without an end-point are either agentive such as sew, whisper and play (unbounded activities), or non-agentive such as rain, shine, boil (unbounded processes). (53) (a) Eat up your food! (agentive, durative, bounded) (b) YouÊll find the tree have grown up in your absence. (non- agentive,

durative, bounded) (c) ItÊs not advisable to speak while listening to a lecture. (agentive,

durative, unbounded) (d) She polished her car till it shone. (non-agentive, durative,

unbounded) Punctual verbs which have an end-point are transitions; the agentive type includes sit down, stop (bounded transitional acts); the non-agentive type includes die, catch a cold (bounded transitional events). Unbounded punctual events are momentary, either agentive such as tap, nod, pat (unbounded momentary acts), or non-agentive such as flash, bounce, flap (unbounded momentary events). Both types will frequently be interpreted in context as iterative. (54) (a) I sat down anxiously on the edge of the wall. (agentive, punctual,

bounded) (b) The countryÊs foremost cartoonist died unexpectedly in his home

last night. (non-agentive, punctual, bounded) (c) The child patted the cat. (agentive, punctual, unbounded, probably

iterative)


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THE MEANING OF THE PROGRESSIVE

English has a progressive aspect realised by verbal periphrasis: some form of be and the {�ing} participle. It combines with both Present and Past Tenses, and also with the Perfect, with modals, with lexico-modals and with the passive: (55) (a) He is reading Present + Progressive (b) He was reading Past + Progressive (c) He has been reading Perfect + Progressive (d) He will be reading Modal + Progressive (e) He is bound to be reading Lexico-modal + Progressive (f) It is being read Present + Progressive + Passive The fundamental purpose of the English Progressive aspect is to indicate a dynamic action in the process of happening. Attention is focused on the middle of the process, which is seen as essentially dynamic. Unlike some languages which also have a Progressive, English makes a grammatical contrast with the non-progressive, as in What are you doing? as opposed to *What do you do? That is to say, there is an obligatory choice between viewing the action as in the process of happening (What are you doing?) and not viewing it in this way. Inherent Verbal Meanings and the Progressive The Progressive aspect is essentially dynamic in character, it lends a dynamic interpretation to whatever verbal action it is applied to. For this reason, not all types of verbal situation admit the Progressive, and those that do admit it are affected in different ways. States and the Progressive Many stative situations are incompatible with the Progressive. Permanent qualities such as Peter is tall, states of the weather such as ItÊs quite hot today and relations expressed by such verbs as own, belong, seem, sound are visualised in English as invariable and therefore non-dynamic. We would not find instances such as (Downing et al., 1992): (56) (a) *Peter is being tall. (b) *ItÊs being quite hot today. (c) *He is owning/possessing land in Sabah. (d) *Your hay fever is seeming a bit less severe lately. (e) *That music is sounding too loud.

9.16


Be and look as copula verbs linking the subject with a temporary attribute are more versatile and can take on dynamic meanings, often indicating attitude on the part of the speaker: (57) (a) Puthu is being unusually patient with the children. (b) You are looking a little unhappy. Verbs of involuntary perception (see, hear, smell, taste) are incompatible with the Progressive, whether the subject is the one who perceives (the Experiencer in semantic terms, such as I in I saw the match on television, we in We heard the radio commentary), or the thing perceived (the Carrier/Phenomenon, such as this fish in This fish doesnÊt smell too good, and it in It tastes even worse). When our senses are subjects, an imperfective interpretation is made possible by means of can/could with the verb of perception: (58) (a) I can smell something burning. (not ÂI am smelling. . .) (b) We could see the flamingoes wheel overhead and (could) hear the

noise of their wings. (not *we were seeing. . . hearing)

See, smell, feel and taste have regular dynamic, agentive uses which combine easily with the progressive. In such uses these verbs refer to a deliberate action rather than involuntary perception: (59) (a) IÊm seeing the doctor tomorrow. (visiting) (b) Who will be seeing to the sandwiches? (attending to) (c) Janet must be seeing her friends off. (taking leave of) (d) We have been tasting the pudding. (e) Experts were smelling the fungi in order to identify them. (f) I am feeling the childÊs foot to see if any bones are broken. Verbs of cognition (know, believe, understand, wonder, suppose, realise) do not normally admit the progressive: (60) (a) I believe you are right. *I am believing you are right. (b) He knows the answer. *He is knowing the answer.


232

However, with wonder, suppose and understand the progressive can ÂstretchÊ the state, while verbs such as understand and realise can combine with the progressive of begin to express the stretched out initiation of the mental state: (61) (a) IÊm wondering whether it was a good idea after all. (b) IÊm supposing that the money will be returnable without interest. (c) IÊm understanding Arabic a little better now. (d) We are beginning to understand the intricacies of the plan. (e) He is beginning to realise the implications of all this. Affective verbs (like, dislike, love, hate) do not combine easily with the Progressive, with the exception of enjoy, which is dynamic. They sometimes occur with the Progressive, however; the question How are you liking X seems to be more indirect and therefore more polite than the non-progressive How do you like X: (62) (a) How are you liking your visit to Disneyland? (b) Oh, IÊm just loving it. (c) Frankly, IÊm hating it. Durative Situations and the Progressive Durative ÂprocessÊ verbs are already inherently dynamic (dance, write, sew, whisper, rain, ripen, ache, etc.). The use of the progressive with durative verbs which have an end-point (decide, write out, grow up, ripen) is to stretch out the durative phase of the process before the end point: (63) (a) He is deciding about his future. (b) We are writing out the invitations. (c) She is growing up into a beautiful girl. (d) The apricots are ripening well. Durative verbs which have no end point (sew, whisper, play, rain), including verbs of bodily sensation (ache, hurt, itch, feel cold), the progressive has the effect of limiting the duration of the process, so that it includes speech time (or orientation time if this is in the past): (64) (a) Who is whispering over there? (b) It was raining hard when I left (c) WhereÊs Ken? HeÊs playing golf.


With this type of verbs, unlimited duration is expressed by the simple past. Compare the following sentences: (65) (a) Lamps were glowing in the dark -- Lamps glowed in the dark. (b) Snow was falling gently. -- Snow fell gently. (c) My back is aching. -- My back aches. Acts, Events and the Progressive With act and event verbs the use of the progressive results in a stretching out of the verbal action, it becomes a sequence. With transitional events (those which have an end point, such as arrive, die, catch a cold) and agentive transitional acts (sit down, catch a ball) the progressive has the effect of stretching out the stage before the end point: (66) (a) Just as I was sitting down, the dog barked. (b) Hurry! The taxi is arriving. (c) I think I am catching a cold. (d) The old warrior is dying. With momentary verbs (those which have no end-point, whether agentive such as tap, kick, fire or non-agentive such as sneeze, bounce, flash), the use of the Progressive must be interpreted as a repetition of the act or event. The sequence is an iterative sequence: (67) (a) Someone is tapping on the wall next door. (b) The soldiers are firing on the rifle range nearby. (c) Why is that light flashing? (d) HeÊs kicking the ball all over the field. These categories are approximate, rather than absolute. Some actions appear to be more punctual than others. Some end points appear to be more final than others. It would, for instance, be unusual to hear HeÊs slamming the door for it is not possible to keep on slamming a door unless you keep on opening it. Moreover, the type of subject and/or direct object can also lead to a different interpretation. Arrive, with a singular subject, will be interpreted as a transitional event, the progressive stretching the stage previous to the end point, as in, Hurry! The taxi is arriving. With a plural subject and the progressive, arrive will be interpreted as an iterative sequence, for example, Hurry! The guests are arriving.


234

The Discourse Functions of the Progressive Since the progressive does not establish time boundaries, it has the effect of providing a temporal frame around some point of time. With the present progressive the point of time is typically the time of utterance, ÂnowÊ (What are you doing? IÊm switching off the answer phone); but it may be interpreted as repeated as in When he gets out of bed at seven oÂclock, sheÊs already doing aerobics, or as a historic present as in We finally reach the supermarket and they are just closing the doors. Similarly, the past progressive provides a temporal frame without time boundaries around some point of time or some bounded act or event: (68) (a) At half past five, crowds were pouring into the subways. (point of

time) (b) When we stopped at the door, Pat was shouting to us. (bounded

act) Within the flow of discourse, especially narrative, the progressive frequently has the effect of ÂbackgroundingÊ certain information in order to highlight or ÂforegroundÊ events expressed in the non-progressive past tense. A series of past tenses, by contrast, will be interpreted as a sequence of events:

When we stopped at the door, Pat shouted to us. The progressive may be used alone in a situation made bounded by a time expression (an on going process within a situation seen as perfective): (69) I was working in the garden all afternoon. Be can be replaced by forms of come and go + {--ing}. The resulting combination can be both perfective and imperfective: (70) The soldiers came running across the fields.


The combination of tense aspect forms, as applied to the verb do and be (main verb) such as in the above table. We should not forget that this list matrix reflects the basic meaning of form, and function of English tense aspect system. The specific constructions may express derived meanings and/or have special uses, depending on actional and aspectual properties. For example, some forms of tense aspect of the simple aspect are provided below. The Simple Aspect There are two types of the base verb forms; verb do and be (am, is and are). The other related forms are present, past, tag question, wh-questions, negatives, modals and passive voices such as in the following examples (Table 9.3):

To illustrate the whole combinations of tense aspects system in a more simplified manner, we will look at it from the perspective of form, meaning and function. First, we will look at whole system by analysing the forms of tenses and aspects as given in the chart below. Can you provide all the forms, meaning and functions based on the combination of the following matrix of aspects, forms and tense?

ACTIVITY 9.3


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Table 9.3: Verb Forms

(71) (a) We do our job (present)

(b) He does his job very quickly (present)

(c) Do you eat rice? (tag - present)

(d) Does he play hockey? (tag � present)

(e) We do not do our job. (present � negative)

(f) We donÊt do our job. (present � negative � contraction)

(g) DonÊt you do your job? (present � tag � negative � contraction)

(h) We will do our job. (present � modal)

(i) Our job is done by them (present � passive)

(j) Our job will be done by them (present � modal � passive)

(k) Teaching is our job (present)

(l) Is teaching our job? (tag - present)

(m) Teaching is not our job (present � negative)

(n) Teaching isnÊt our job (present � negative � contraction)

(o) IsnÊt teaching our job? (present � tag � negative � contraction)

(p) We did our job (past)

(q) He did his job very quickly (past)

(r) Did you eat rice? (tag - past)

(s) Did he play hockey? (tag � past)

(t) We did not do our job. (past � negative)

(u) We didnÊt do our job. (past � negative � contraction)

(v) DidnÊt you do your job? (past � tag � negative � contraction)

(w) We would do our job. (past � modal)

(x) Our job was done by them past � passive)

(y) Our job would be done by them (past � modal � passive)

(z) Teaching was our job (past)

(aa) Was teaching our job? (tag - past)

(ab) Teaching was not our job past � negative)

(ac) Teaching wasnÊt our job (past � negative � contraction)

(ad) WasnÊt teaching our job? (past � tag � negative � contraction

Organising the tense-aspect system in a very systematic way is very important for teachers in order to present a suitable teaching syllabus to students.

SELF-CHECK 9.5


� Aspect refers to such contrasts as durative/punctual and perfective/ imperfective.

� English has only one obligatory aspectual contrast: progressive/non-progressive. Progressive is one type of imperfectivity.

� Another, that of discontinued habit or state, is expressed by used to + info. Progressive are realised by be + {-ing}, combined with the inherent verbal meaning to produce such effects as the ÂstretchingÊ of the event, repetition of the event, etc.

� These effects are exploited in discourse.

� Perfectivity is not realised unambiguously in English by verbal forms, but must be interpreted from the whole clause.

Aspect

Perfectivity

Progressive

Tense

Explain how tense and aspect combines to indicate meaning in terms of time of utterance.

Why did the topic assert that English has no Future tense? Explain further how future is indicated in sentences.


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Bache, C. (1997). The study of aspect, tense and action: Towards a theory of the

semantics of grammatical categories, second revised Edition (2nd ed.) Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, New York, Paris: Peter Lang.

Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book: An ESL/EFL

teacher's course (2nd ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Celce-Murcia. M. & Olshtain, E. (2000). Discourse and context in language

teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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