3. . . . Overview
TENSE
Past, present, &
future
ASPECT
How to locate
events in time
How to distribute
event in time
Simple,
progressive &
perfect
4. . . . Overview
“When I told people I was spending time with farmers, they
would say : how can you stand it, they just complain all day
and they’ve always got their hand out.”
5. . . . Tense
past tense present tense Future tense
Simple aspect
progressive aspect
perfect aspect
past simple
saw
past prog
was/were seeing
past perfect
had seen
present simple
see
future simple
will see
present prog
am/is/are seeing
present perfect
have/has seen
future prog
will be seeing
future perfect
will have seen
6. &Preliminaries &
Tense has to be explicated in relation to the
time of utterance which makes it a deictic
feature of language
Present Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense
Before the time
utterance
After the time
utterance
In the time
utterance
7. &Preliminaries &
Tenses are indicated by :
1. Auxiliary verbs : will, have, be
2. Irregular verbs : saw, seen, thoughts, is,
was, would
3. Inflectional suffixes :
- Past tense : -ed
- Present tense : -s or –es
- Progressive : -ing
- Past participle : -(e)n or -ed
8. &Present . past . future &
PRESENT : exist in a period of time that includes the time of
utterance.
The cat is happy (now).
And also used for timeless truths.
At sea level, water (always) boils at 100°C.
9. &Present . past . future &
There is also the present tense forms signal the future.
You arrive in Australia in time for the Melbourne Cup next year.
Next Wednesday I am examining in Newcastle.
10. &Present . past . future &
PAST : exist in a period before the time of utterance.
We ate at 7 o’clock this morning.
And also illustrated the historic present.
They were watching TV when suddenly a runaway truck crashes through
their living room wall.
11. &Present . past . future &
FUTURE : exist in a period after the time of utterance. Such
prediction :
Lemon juice will remove that stain.
Not only use will + verb but also use going to + verb
He’s going to stay at home and look after the kids.
Can also be used for timeless truths.
A diamond will cut glass.
12. &tense and adverbials&
past time present tense Future tense
then
now then
last year
at present
Next year
last Batille Day
nowadays
Tomorrow
yesterday
In forty-five minutes from
now
today, this week, this year
13. &tense and adverbials&
Today, this week, andthis year can’t be
just ‘at the time of utterance’ because they
denote periods too long to count as the
time of utterance.
And they sets include not only the time of
utterance but also either times prior to the
moment of utterance or times after the
moment of utterance, or both.
14. . . . aspect
Tense is deictic but aspect is not
deictic.
Grammatical resources for encoding
the times profiles of states and events
within an interval of time.
15. &habituality and simple aspect&
She loves music nowadays. (state)
He drinks decaffeinated coffee nowadays.
(activity)
Little Mauric brushes his teeth by himself
nowadays. (accomplishment)
The clown pops the ballon nowadays. (achievement)
c
16. &habituality and simple aspect&
past simple present simple Future simple
She loved music.
He drank decaffeinated
coffee.
Little Mauric brushed
his teeth by himself.
The clown popped the
balloon.
She loves music.
He drinks decaffeinated
coffee.
Little Mauric brushs
his teeth by himself.
The clown pops the balloon.
She will love music.
He will drink decaffeinated
coffee.
Little Mauric will brush his
teeth by himself.
The clown will pop the
balloon.
17. &habituality and simple aspect&
Habitual interpretations can be made obligatory by means of
certain adverbials :
- In those days ( past tense )
- Nowadays / these days ( present tense )
- In future ( future tense )
18. &progressive aspect&
Marked by BE + verb-ing and presenting as an ongoing activity.
When the team reached the site at five-thirty in the morning, one of two
family members would be waiting for them.
19. &progressive aspect&
It can be used to mentally extend even a short event like the
departure of a bus into an ongoing activity.
Hurry, the bus is leaving.
20. &progressive aspect&
The progressive aspect disregards the end of an event is clearly
seen in an effect that it has on the entailments with situation of
the accomplishment type
21. &progressive aspect&
a. The firm demolished the building.
>>>>> The building came down.
b. The firm has demolished the building.
>>>>> ditto
c. The firm was demolishing the building.
doesn’t entail ditto
22. &perfect aspect&
The combination of the auxiliary HAVE
(have,has or had ) in front of the past
participle form of a verb.
Used to indicate occurrences in the
aftermath of an event or state.
23. &perfect aspect&
a. The rain started.
b. The rain has started.
c. The rain was starting.
A switch from not
raining to raining
occurred.
We are in the after-math
of a switch
from not raining to
raining.
There was a switch
from not raining to
raining.
24. &perfect aspect&
Klein (1992) has pointed out about using
recently that it behaves as a past time
adverb.
*I have arrived yesterday.
*They go there recently.
They went there recently.
They have been there recently.
They have been there since 1999.
25. &perfect aspect&
In past perfect, we are talking about a
time in the aftermath.
When he phoned, I had already sent the email.
When he phoned, I had sent the email.
26. . . . summary
Tense is deictic. It locates events in
relation to the time of utterance :
present, past, and future. But time
adverbials can help reveal the mapping
between tense forms and time.
Aspect is about the time profile of events
: progressive and perfect.