TANGENTS: TENSE, ASPECT, VOICE & MOOD Lec. 7. OBJECTIVES Learn to distinguish the various tense,...

TANGENTS: TENSE, ASPECT, VOICE &

MOODLec. 7

OBJECTIVES

Learn to distinguish the various tense, aspect, voice, and mood properties of English.

Learn to identify the modals and auxiliaries that represent these distinctions.

1. TENSE

Tense refers to the time of an event relative to the time at which the sentence is either spoken or written.

E.g.

John left

The act that John left happened before the time of writing or saying this sentence

TENSE

E = the time at which the event occurred

U = the time of the utterance or writing

a. Past tense: E < U

John danced

b. Present tense: E = U

He likes ice cream

c. Future tense: U < E

He will eat dinner

TENSE

In English, tense is marked with an –ed suffix or the verb comes with a special past tense form. The present tense is either unmarked (for first or second person or plural subjects) or marked with an –s suffix.

In formal speech, the future is marked with the modal auxiliary will. In less formal speech, the auxiliary gonna (or going to) is used.

EXERCISE I

Identify whether the following sentences are in the past, present, or future tense by circling the correct answer:

Future Present

Past

The parakeet flew home

Calvin loves snow cones

Otto drank the tuna juice

Reggie will wake everyone up

Andrew brushed the cat

I eat too much

NOTATION

TENSE itself is a value of the feature SEM (for semantics). We use the following features to represent the following tenses:

1. [SEM [TENSE past]]

2. [SEM [TENSE present ]]

3. [SEM [ TENSE future]]

2. PERFECT ASPECT

While TESNE is defined by looking at the relationship between the time of the event and the time of the utterance or writing, ASPECT is defined by making reference to some other point, typically other than the speech time, then looking at when the event happens relative to that reference point.

E.g.

John had eaten his sandwich before I could get him his pickle.

reference point

The perfect happens when the time of the event (E) occurs before some referent point (R). So the perfect E < R

DEFINITION

The perfect is always indicated in English by using the auxiliary or helping verb have (has or had) combined with a special form of the main verb known as the participle .

The participle in English can be formed four ways:

1. By attaching an –en or –n suffix: eat → eaten, fall → fallen

2. By attaching an –ed suffix: dance → danced, love → loved

3. By using a special participle form: drink → drunk, sing → sung

4. By making no change at all: hit → hit

DEFINITION

We can tell the difference between a participle and a past tense by the fact that the participle always appears with an auxiliary verb like be, have or their variants

E.g.

He danced → past

He has danced → participle / perfect aspect

To identify the perfect, we need to look for two things

1. an auxiliary has/ have/ had

2. a participle

The Perfect Formula = HAVE + PARTICPLE

EXERCISE II

Underline the verb & auxiliary marking the perfect

I was driving into Tuscon to buy some tortillas, when I noticed that my car was nearly out of gas. I was surprised because I had filled the tank yesterday. I had driven all over town. However, I hadn’t gone that far.

DISCUSSIONTHE PERFECT ASPECT CAN BE COMBINED WITH EACH OF THE

TENSES

E.g.

I had eaten the beef waffles

ASPECT: perfect (had + eaten)

TENSE: past (had)

Past perfect: E < R < U


TENSES

E.g.

I have eaten the beef waffles

ASPECT: perfect (has + eaten)

TENSE: present (have)

Present perfect: E < R=U


TENSES

E.g.

I will have eaten the beef waffles

ASPECT: future perfect (will + have + eaten)

TENSE: future (will)

Present perfect: U < E=R

DEFINITION

The opposite of perfect is imperfect

EXERCISE III

ASPECT TENSE

Perfect / imperfect

Past – Present – Future

Susan has danced already 1

Perfect / imperfect


Calvin will have slept already 2

Perfect / imperfect


Heidi danced yesterday 3

Perfect / imperfect


Art had danced yesterday 4

Perfect / imperfect


Calvin will sleep all day 5

Perfect / imperfect


Art drinks virgin Margarita 6

Perfect / imperfect


Dave will drink virgin margarita 7

Perfect / imperfect


Dan had drunk virgin Margareta 8

Perfect / imperfect


I have never eaten beef waffles 9

3. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT

The progressive aspect indicates an on-going event relative to the reference time.

E.g.

Jeff was dancing with Sylvia, while Amy sat angrily at their table.

There is co-occurrence between the reference time & and the time of dancing

• In English, the progressive aspect is always indicated by combining what is traditionally called the present participle form of the verb with some version of the auxiliary verb be.

• Present participles in English are always marked with –ing.

• Present participles will be referred to as gerunds


NAME USED IN THIS BOOK

TRADITIONAL NAME FORM

gerund Present participle ends in -ing

Participle Past participle ends in -en


FUTURE PRESENT PAST

plural singular plural singular

are amwere

was 1st

will beare were 2nd

is was 3rd


Like the perfect, the tense marking in progressive is typically indicated on the auxiliary. The progressive aspect is always presented in English by the pairing of the gerund with be.

The Progressive Formula = BE+ GERUND

DISCUSSION

E.g.

1. I was eating the beef waffles

ASPECT: progressive (was + eating)

TENSE: past (was)

2. I am eating the beef waffles

ASPECT: progressive (am + eating)

TENSE: present (am)

3. I will be eating beef waffles

ASPECT: progressive (be + eating)

TENSE: future (will)

EXERCISE IV

ASPECT TENSE

Perfect / Imp. Prog. / Non-Prog .


Calvin is sleeping on the top of the fridge

1



Otto grabbed at the passing stick

2



Heidi will be grading her papers

3



Art has pulled the outer wall 4



Andrew will eat the beef waffles

5



Jean was driving to her daughter’s house

6

Perfect / Imp. Prog. / Non-Prog.


Jean had driven to her daughter’s house

7

4. VOICE

Voice refers to a phenomenon that changes the number of participants that are described in an event.

E.g. Eat

Calvin ate the beef waffles

Calvin eater DP / External Feature

The beef waffles the eatee DP / Internal Feature

In a passive

The beef waffles were eaten

EXERCISE 5

Passive Active

Calvin ate the mouse 1

The retaining wall was torn down 2

Otto drank the tuna juice 3

Dave played the game 4

Arte tore doen the retaining wall 5

The game will be played 6

5. COMBINED TENSE, ASPECT & VOICE

Participle (-en) have Perfect aspect

Gerund (-ing) be Progressive aspect

Participle (-en) be Passive voice


It is possible to combine the three rows to form complex verb forms

E.g.

The soup had been being eaten past perfect progressive passive

PAST:

PERFCET:

PROGRESSIVE:

PASSIVE:


E.g.

The soup will have been being eaten

PAST:

PERFCET:

PROGRESSIVE:

PASSIVE:

EXERCISE 8

VoiceActive – Passive

Aspect 2Progressive /

non-progressive

Aspect 1Perfect /

Imperfect

Tense Past /Present /

Future

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect

Past /Present / Future

Pangur was being massaged

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect


Surrey will have been adopted

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect


Calvin is eating the tune

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect


The tuna has been eaten

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect


Calvin has been eating the tuna

Active – Passive

Progressive / non-

progressive

Perfect / Imperfect


The wall had been torn down

NOTATION Possible Values Feature

TenseAspectVoice

SEM

PastPresentFuture

TENSE

+Perfect+Progressive

ASPECT

passive + VOICE

PossibilityProbabilityNecessityObligation

MOOD

9. MOOD

Mood refers to the speaker’s perspective on the event; whether the event is a possibility, a probability, a necessity, or an obligation .

Mood is expressed through modal auxiliary verbs

Mood can also be expressed through adjectives (it is possible that), other auxiliaries or verbs (Calivn has to eat his tune), or adverbs (possibly John will leave)

The modals of English: can, could, may, might, would, shall, should, must

NOTATION

We use one more SEM feature to indicate MOOD.

MOOD has the following values:

Possibility

Probability

Necessity

Obligation

CONVERGENCE OF TENSE WITH SEMANTIC FEATURES

TENSE

VOICE

ASPECT

MOOD

TANGENTS: TENSE, ASPECT, VOICE & MOOD Lec. 7. OBJECTIVES Learn to distinguish the various tense,...

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