Tense and Aspecti

Tense and Aspect in English Ghadah Fahad Alzaidi 426221303 Submitted to: Professor Mahmood Saleh

Tense and Aspectii

In English, verbs have different forms to indicate continuousness, completeness, and time. Time can be expressed by tense whether present, past or future. On the other hand, continuousness can be expressed by the progressive aspect of the verb whereas completeness can be expressed by the perfective aspect of the verb. Tipping (1927) points out that the word tense is derived from the Latin word tempus which means time. The word tense is used in grammar books to indicate certain "inflections" of the verb (p.125). According to Leech and Svartvik (1975) tense refers to the "correspondence" between the form of the verb and time. Aspect is related to 'the manner' in which the verb is considered "complete" or "in progress." According to them, English has two simple tenses: the present and the past, and two "marked" aspects: the progressive and the perfective (pp.305, 306). Huddleston and Pullum (2002) define tense as " a system where the basic or characteristic meaning of the terms is to locate the situation, or part of it, at some point or period of time." On the other hand, they define aspect as " a system where the basic meanings have to do with the internal temporal constituency of the situation." In fact, the features of tense and aspect are interrelated. Sometimes, we cannot separate the present and past tenses from the progressive and perfective aspects.

As we have noticed, many grammarians exclude the future from their analysis of tense because it is usually indicated by the modals shall and will. Palmer (1965) indicates that the present and past are " comparable within the analysis, in that they exemplify the formal category of tense as established in the primary pattern" (p.36). However, the forms I shall and I will belong to "the secondary patterns."

Tense and Aspectiii He argues that we can use the present simple tense or the present progressive to express the future: I am traveling to the United States next Saturday. I give my paper next week. The modals will and shall are not the only markers of the future tense. We have also the construction BE GOING. In addition to that, sometimes the modal will does not refer to the future. We can use it to express 'probability': That will be the postman. or 'habitual activity' : She will sit for hours watching TV. Or 'willingness': Will you come? Moreover, other modal auxiliaries can be used to refer to the future: I can/ may/ must/ ought to come tomorrow. (p.37)

Aarts and Aarts (1982) indicate that tense is "obligatory" in finite verb phrases. It is always "marked" on the first verbal form of the verb phrase. Consider the following examples (p.74): John goes early to school everyday. John went to school yesterday. John may go to school . John might go to school.

Palmer (1965) depicts four types of adverbials that can be used with tense. Some are used only with the past tense like last week, yesterday, last year, very long

Tense and Aspectiv time ago. On the other hand, there are those which are used with the present tense like at this moment, now, at the present time. Thirdly, there are adverbials which can be used both with the present and with the past tenses in spite of the fact that they refer to the present moment. Today, this week, this year, this week are all examples: He was studying today. He is studying today. Fourthly, there are adverbials that indicate past or present time depending on the time at which the sentence is said. This morning, this afternoon, and this summer are all examples of this kind of adverbials. This morning is present if it is said while it is still morning. However, if the time of speaking is in the afternoon or evening, this morning indicates past tense. In fact, this morning can be used with the past tense to refer to an earlier event that happened in the same morning. (p.44)

According to Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) the present time has three basic types. It can be "timeless", "limited" or" instantaneous." Timelessness is expressed by the simple present form: I always go to school by bus. So, it is used to refer to "habits." The timeless present is used also to refer to "universal statements" or general facts: The sun rises in the east. Spiders have eight legs. On the other hand, limitedness is expressed by the present progressive: She is swimming at this moment. Normally he lives in Riyadh, but at present he is living in Jeddah.

Tense and Aspectv Here, it is clear that the action is of a "limited duration." The present progressive also can be used to indicate "incompleteness" with verbs like stop. A sentence like The bus is stopping means that the bus is slowing down but has not yet stopped. However, when the progressive is used with adverbs of frequency it expresses annoyance. My children are always misbehaving. She is always laughing at me. In fact, instantaneousness can be expressed with either the simple or the progressive forms: Pay attention now: first, I put the flour, now I put the sugar. As you can see, I am putting the flour in the bowl. Furthermore, the simple present is used in "radio commentary" on sport and in "performative declarations": Sami passes to Majed. I name this ship Titanic. In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that the verbs keep (on), and go on have similar functions like the auxiliary be (pp.41,42): John keeps goes on asking silly questions.

Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) adds that an action in the past can be expressed as having taken place at a particular point of time. In this case, we use the simple past: I wrote this letter last Monday. However, the action in the past may be viewed as extended up to the present time. In this case we use the present perfect:

Tense and Aspectvi I have lived in Riyadh since 1990. The action in the past can be also viewed as it has been completed. We use the simple past in this case: I lived in Riyadh from 1990 to 2001. It can, nevertheless, be viewed as it has not been completed. This can be expressed by the past progressive: I was writing poetry with a special pen. Habitual activities can be also expresses with the simple past using used to or would: He used to would On the other hand, the expression " historic present" refers to the present tense that is used to the past time in literary English: At the moment, in comes a beautiful lady. Palmer (1965) comments on this usage by saying " it recalls or recounts the past as vividly as if it were present . . . It seems highly probable that it is not specifically English but a characteristic of many, if not all, languages that make time distinctions in the verb" (P.44). smoke cigarettes.

Leech and Svartvik (1975) clarify the difference between the past time and the present perfect. They point out that the past time is used if the event happened at a particular time in the past. In contrast to that, the present perfect is used for an event that happened in the past but is related to a later event. In fact, it is a past time related to the present time (p.65): He was in prison for ten years. (Now he is out) He has been in prison for ten years. (He is still there)

Tense and Aspectvii Sentences in the past tense usually contain ' a past time adverbial': He was born in 1977. He went to school yesterday Furthermore, It can be identified by the 'preceding language context.' John has been engaged, it took us completely by surprise. Furthermore, the past tense can be identified by 'context outside language.' Did milkman come? Here we can use the past tense without being obliged to use language context because it is obvious that the milkman comes at a particular time in the day (pp.65, 67). A proper noun can trigger the use of the past tense like its usage in the sentence Adbulhaleem was a great singer. This sentence is in the past tense because Abdulhaleem is dead now. Moreover, the past time indicates a gap between the past time moment and the present moment: Sara was sick all her life. (She is now dead) Sara has been sick all her life. (She is still alive) (p.66). Leech and Svartvik (1975) suggest four uses for the present perfect. First, it can be used to refer to " a state leading up to the present time": That place has been empty for ages. Secondly, it can be used to refer to " an indefinite event" happened in a moment leading up to the present time: Have you ever been to France? Thirdly, it can be used to refer to "a habit in a period leading up to the present time": He has attended lectures regularly this term. Furthermore, it can be used to refer to "a past event with results in the present time": The toy has been broken. (It is still not mended)

Tense and Aspectviii The toy was broken. (Now it is mended) ( p. 66). However, Tregidgo ( 1974) disagrees with the traditional view of the perfective aspect that implies "current relevance." Consider the following example: I have been a teacher for ten years. (Implying that I am still a teacher) However, the statement I have been a teacher without the time reference implies that the one who says this statement is not a teacher now. Tregidgo states that "the traditional view of the perfect in English, implying . . . that the present perfect is a sort of past tense looking forward into the present, is not entirely satisfactory. Bull's view is the opposite, i.e., that the present perfect is present tense looking backwards into the past" (p.99). He calls the present perfect the "pre present." He tries to distinguish between the past tense and the present perfect which he terms as " the pre present." The past tense always refers to the "definite" past which is defined by expressions like last night, and yesterday. The present perfect tense refers either to a period which lasts up to the present or to an "undefined" period in the past (p. 100).

Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) point out that the past perfect tense is used to indicate that an action was completed at a certain point of past time. In the following sentence we see that two actions are expressed and that one action was completed before the other took place: When I arrived home, the guests had left. They add that sometimes the simple past and the past perfect are "interchangeable": I swept the floor after my husband came had come In the previous example, the word after helps to indicate that one event happened before the other. Therefore, it is redundant to use the past perfect. However, the past home.

Tense and Aspectix perfect and the simple past are not interchangeable when the past perfect is the past of the perfect: Bill tells me that he has not gone to college since Monday. Bill told me that he had not gone to college since Monday. *Bill told me that he did not go to college since Monday (pp.44, 45). Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) comment on the usage of the past progressive by saying that it can be used to express 'the limited duration' of an action: I was working in the kitchen last night but I felt tired. Another event in the simple past usually takes place during the past progressive: While I was studying, the phone rang. The "incomplete" action of the progressive tense can be illustrated by examining the following examples: The girl was drowning in the swimming pool. (But someone rescued her) The girl drowned in the swimming pool. (This implies that no one rescued her) Furthermore, "habitual activities" can be expressed by the past progressive when it is clear the habit is of a "temporary" duration: At that time, when I was swimming everyday. However, it should not be a 'sporadic' habit: * We were sometimes walking to the office. It can be also used to express disagreeable habits: My brother was always losing his keys (pp. 45, 46). Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) also comment on the usage of the perfect progressive. They say that it can be used to express "limited duration" as well as "current relevance": He has eaten my chocolates. (They are all gone.)

Tense and Aspectx He was eating my chocolates. (But I stopped him.) He has been eating my chocolates. (But there are some left.) The perfect progressive is sometimes used to indicate a "recent activity" which effect is still clear. The adverb just usually occurs with this tense: It has rained heavily since you were here. Oh look! It has just been raining. (p.46) Greenbaum and Quirk (1973) also point out that the progressive aspect occurs only with "dynamic verbs." They do not occur with stative verbs. Dynamic verbs are of five kinds. They can be 'activity verbs' like abandon, ask, beg, and call. They can also be "process verbs" like change, grow and widen or verbs of "bodily sensation" like ache, feel, hurt and itch. Moreover, dynamic verbs can be "transitional event verbs" like arrive, die, fall, land and leave. Furthermore, they can be "momentary verbs" like hit, jump, kick and knock. However, stative verbs are of two kinds: verbs of "inert perception" and "cognition" like abhor, adore, astonish, believe, wish, want, see, smell, taste, etc. They can be "relational verbs" like apply to, be, belong to, concern, lack, posses, seem, tend, etc (p. 46). On the other hand, Aarts and Aarts (1982) point out that perfective have can occur with a modal auxiliary : You might have brought it earlier. It can also occur with the auxiliary be: We have been trying to convince him for the past three weeks. They add that perfective have comes after a modal auxiliary and before progressive be. On the other hand, progressive be can occur with a modal auxiliary: Sara may be studying now. It can also occur with all other auxiliaries except do:

Tense and Aspectxi John must have been joking. The blood is being tested. (pp.72, 73)

Bornstein (1975) points out that in Generative Grammar, tense represents a fundamental constituent of the Aux (auxiliary). It is the first element of it: Aux Tense

Tense is rewritten as either present or past. They are mutually exclusive: past Tense present Tense is obligatory for Aux because every verb must have tense. The other constituents are optional: Aux Tense (M) (Perf) (Prog)

M stands for modals, Perf stands for perfect and Prog for progressive. Since tense is obligatory, we can generate simple sentences like John drinks: S NP N John Aux Tense Pres VP V drink

Morphophonemic rules will help us spell drink as drinks. When the present tense is selected, the form of the verb is changed in case of third person singular and never with modals. However, when the past tense is selected, we change the form of modals as well as main verbs (p.40). Jacobs, Postal, and Rosenbaum (1968) indicate that traditionalist use the term aspect to refer to an inherent property of verbals. There are certain transformations through which aspect properties become words in the surface structure.

Tense and Aspectxii The perfect aspect is illustrated by the following sentences: The boys have locked the door. She has locked the door. The perfect aspect consists of two parts: a form of have (have, has or had), and usually either an -ed or -en ending (p.108). Jacobs, Postal, and Rosenbaum (1968) use the feature <+ perfect> to represent the perfect aspect in the deep structure. The deep structure of the sentence The boys have locked the door is as follows:

S NP N The boys <+N> <- singular> VB lock <+VB> <+V> <+ perfect> VP NP N the door <+N> <- singular>

We can apply what is called 'the perfect transformation' which introduces a perfect segment with the feature <+ perfect> to the left of the verbal. The following structure will be generated:

S NP N The boys <+N> <- singular> <+ perfect> VP VB lock <+VB> <+V> <+ perfect> NP N the door <+N> <- singular>

Tense and Aspectxiii

However, if we apply only this transformation, the ungrammatical structure *The boys have lock the door will be generated. In fact, "the affix transformation" should be applied. It introduces a segment with the feature <+ perfect> to the right of the segment that comes after the perfect segment:

S NP N The boys <+N> <- singular> <+ perfect> VP VB lock <+VB> <+V> <+ perfect> <+ affix> <+ perfect> NP N the door <+N> <- singular>

When we replace each segment by lexical words, we will have the following surface structure (pp.114, 115): S NP N AUX VP VB NP

the boys

have

locked

the door

Tense and Aspectxiv The last item to appear under Aux is the progressive aspect, which introduces be plus the present participle ending ing into the sentence. The progressive is illustrated by the following sentences: The man is standing in the middle of the room. The teacher was discussing a difficult matter. Jacobs, Postal, and Rosenbaum (1968) suggest that the use of the progressive adds to the meaning of the sentence. It indicates that the activity is an "ongoing" one. Each sentence contains a form of the copula before the verb. The verb ending ing precedes either a verb or another copula. They also assume that aspect is represented in terms of features in the deep structure. The progressive aspect is represented by the feature < + progressive> on a verbal in the deep structure. The deep structure for the sentence Actors are working is as follows: S NP N actors <+N> <- singular> VP VB work <+VB> <+V> <+ progressive>

The copula segment is introduced by the "progressive transformation." It introduces a segment which contains the features < + progressive> and < + copula> to the left of the verb. The structure that is generated through this transformation is as follows: S NP N actors <+N> <- singular> VP <+ progressive> < + copula> VB work <+VB> <+V> <+ progressive>

Tense and Aspectxv

However, this transformation is not enough because it will generate the ungrammatical string *actors are work. We need -ing to the right of the verb. This could be done by the affix transformation. This transformation introduces a segment with the features <+affix> and < + progressive> to the right of the segment that comes after the progressive segment. In the preceding structure, it is the verbal segment work. The following structure is generated by the affix transformation:

S NP N actors <+N> <- singular> <+ progressive> <+ copula > VP VB work <+VB> <+V> <+ progressive> <+affix> <+ progressive>

The progressive segment is replaced by the copula are. The verbal segment is replaced by work and the affix segment by -ing. The verb phrase are working is generated in a correct way by the progressive and the affix and progressive transformations (P.111). These three transformations must be ordered. The progressive transformation comes first then the copula and finally affix transformations.

Crane, Whitman and Yeager (1981) talk about a transformation called the flipflop (FF) rule. By this rule, certain endings are attached to the verbal forms that follow them. This rule may be represented as:

Tense and Aspectxvi FF Rule: Affix + Verbal Verbal + Affix

Affix may be Tense, -en or ing. A verbal, may be V, Modal, be or have. In the deep structure of the sentence The girl has seen the man, the FF may be applied at two points: at Pres +have and at en +see. Examine the following structures: Deep structure: a girl Pres have en see the man. After FF: a girl have Pres see en the man (p.120).

In fact, tense and aspect are two important features that distinguish the verb phrase from other types of phrases. Tregidgo (1974) comments on tense and aspect by saying that "tense is concerned with time; aspect is concerned with action _ whether the action is complete or incomplete, single or repeated, regular or irregular, momentary or lasting." On the other hand, in his article The Interpretation of Tense and Aspect in English, Dalrymple (1988) talked about Haper and Charniak's analysis of tense and aspect. He states the following: Harper and Charniak . . . provide an interesting and revealing analysis of English tense and aspect involving relations between events. There are several kinds of events: the utterance event, which is associated with the time of the utterance; the main event, or the event being described by the main verb of the sentence; the perfect event; and the progressive event. The representation of every sentence involves the utterance event and the main event; sentences with progressive or perfect aspect also involve progressive or perfect events (p.68).

Tense and Aspectxvii References Aarts, F. & Aarts, J (1982). English syntactic structure: Functions and categories in sentence analysis. Pergmon Press: Oxford. Bronstein, D.D. (1977). An introduction to transformational grammar. Winthrop Publishers: Cambridge. Crane, L.B., Whitman, R.L.& Yeager, E. (1981) An introduction to linguistics. Little, Bown and Company: Boston. Dalrymple, M. (1988). The interpretation of tense and aspect in English. Association of Computational Linguistics, 26, 68-74. Retrieved May 20, 2007, from http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/acl/P/P88/P88-1009.pdf Greenbaum, S. & Quirk, R. (1973). A university grammar of English. Longman: London. Huddleston, R. & Pullum, G.K. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Cambridge University Press: UK. Jacobs, R.A., Postal, P.M. & Rosenbaum, P.S. (1968). English transformational grammar. Xerox College Publishing: Lexington. Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1975). A communicative grammar of English. Longman: London. Palmer, F.R. (1965). The English verb. Longman: London. Tipping, L. (1927). A higher English grammar. Machillan & Co : London. Tregidgo, P.S. (1974). English tense usage: A Bull's-eye view. ELT, 28, 97-107.