CHAPTER 6

6.1. PAST TENSE AND PRESENT PERFECT

PAST TENSE
1. for an action that took place in the past
and has no consequences into the present:
He had a car accident (but he is out of
hospital now)
2. for an action that started, developed
and was completed in the past:
We lived in that town for six years.
(we no longer live there)
I waited there for half an hour.
3. When the time of the action is known:
I read all these novels when I was a pupil/
in my child hood.
exception in practical usage: when
the time of the action is not
mentioned with smaller news and
announcements:
The bank was robbed by three armed
men.
4. with adverbs of frequency (always,
ever, never, often, seldom, rarely) when
the time of the action is known:
Did you ever think of that
during your holiday?
when you were younger?
last year?
5. with the adverbs:
yesterday
the day before yesterday
the other day
last year (week)
a week ago
He worked on this project for five days
last week.
I was very busy last week.
He left home some minutes ago.

PRESENT PERFECT
1. for an action that took place in the past
but has consequences into the present:
He has had a bad car accident (hes in
hospital now).
2. for an action that started in the past but
is going on up to the present (and at
present, too):
We have lived here for six years.
(we still live here)
I have been waiting for half an hour.
3. when the time of the action is not
known (till now is understood):
I have read all these novels (till now)

4. with adverbs of frequency (always, ever,

never, often, seldom, rarely) when the
time is not known (till now is understood):
Have you ever thought of that?
5. with adverbs such as:
for two months
since 1999/ six oclock
already
just
yet
lately
this year
these days
I have been very busy this week / lately.
He has just left home.
I have been working on this project for
five days.

85

6. with adverbs such as:

today (when the day is finished)
this week (when the period is over)
Did you read the papers today?
I worked a lot this week.
recently = a short time ago
I talked to him recently.
practical usage:
Did you talk to him yet? (Am E)
Did you record it already? (Am E)
7. to ask about the time of a past action:

6. with adverbs such as:

today (when the day is not finished)
this week (when the period is not over)
recently = lately
I have got a lot to do recently.
Have you read the papers today?
I have worked/have been working a
lot this week.
Have you talked to him yet?
Have you recorded it already?
(surprise)

7. to ask about the period or the beginning

of an action that started in the past but is
going on up to the present.(see use no 2.)

When did you meet him last?

How long
Since when

have you known him?

When did she talk to him?

(She talked to him yesterday/ a few days
ago)

How long
Since when has she been talking to
him? (She has been talking to him for ten
minutes /since 9 oclock)

86

6.2.PAST TENSE PAST PERFECT

PAST TENSE

PAST PERFECT TENSE

1. for an action that took place in the

past (at a given past moment or within a
past period):
I got up at 5 in the morning.
He was wiser when he was young/ in
his youth.

1. for a past action that took place before

a given past action:

2. for an action that started, developed

and was completed in the past:

2. for a past action that was completed

before another past action, or before a
past moment:
I had lived there for ten years (I no
longer lived there)
I had read the book when I wrote the
essay.
3. for a past action that started before a
given past moment and went on till then:
I had been reading
for two hours
since five a clock.
I had been reading
for two hours
since five oclock when the
telephone rang.

I lived there for ten years.

I wrote the essay yesterday.
3. for an action that was going on at a
given moment in that past; stress is laid
on the progress of the action:
I was reading when the phone rang.

4. with sequence of past actions:

I got up, washed, got dressed and left
home in a hurry.

I had got up before 5.

I had got up when he came back.

4. with correlatives:
hardlywhen
scarcelythat
no soonerthan
* inversion has to be operated
Hardly had we left home when it began
snowing.
No sooner had he finished telling the story
than they asked him a lot of questions.

87

5. with the adverbs:

yesterday
the day before yesterday
the other day
last year (week, month)
two days ago
I came across him yesterday.
I talked to him last week.
The house was done up a couple of years
ago.

5. a) in reported speech: all the adverbs in

the left hand column turn into:
a day before
two days before
a couple of days before
a year before
two days before
I had come across him a week before.
I had talked to him a day before.
The house had been done up a couple of
years before.
b) with adverbs such as:
- for a few weeks
- since five oclock/1990
- already
- just
- yet
- lately
- of late
- that year/winter
- those days
I had lived there for ten years (I still lived
there)
I had been waiting there
for / ten minutes.
since five oclock /noon.
We had already come back (when he
showed up).
The kids had just hidden the toy (when
their mother asked them what they were up
to).
He hadnt filled up all the forms yet
(when the policeman told him they had to
close the office).
He had worked a lot that year.
They had been cleaning the house those
days.

6. instead of the past perfect in

dependent clauses after a past perfect
verb:

6.
No corresponding value

He let me know somebody had sent all

the invitations when I was away.

88

7.
No corresponding value

8. to refer to present or future actions

that are contrary to reality:
if
wish
if only
would rather
as if
If he stayed here a little longer he would
feel much better. (but he wont stay).
I wish I were in the mountains now. (but
Im not)
If only he were here with us! (but he
isnt)
I would rather you were more careful
(but you are not)
He is staring at me as if he didnt know
me (but he does).
He is walking as if he were carrying
something heavy * (but he isnt)

7. to express an unrealized hope or wish:

I had hoped that I would be able to
manage myself tomorrow, but it looks rather
difficult.
We had intended to visit one more town
but we ran out of money.
8. to refer to past actions or events that did
not happen, after:
if
wish
if only
would, rather
as if
If he had stayed there a little longer he
would have felt much better (but he didnt).
I wish I had been there too. (I wasnt)
If only he had come a little bit earlier (but
he didnt).
I would rather you had told me that
before (but you didnt)
He was staring at me as if he hadnt
known me. (but he did).
He was walking as if he had been
carrying something heavy on his back.
(but he wasnt).

89

6.3. INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES

Exercise 1. Point out the differences between Past Tense and Present Perfect and give
examples of your own.
Exercise 2. Comment on the adverbs used with Past Tense and the adverbs used with
Present Perfect.
Exercise 3. Refer to the adverbs of frequency and indefinite time and the tense associated
with them and give examples of your own.
Exercise 4. Make up ten sentences with Present Perfect and Past Tense and turn them
into reported speech.
Exercise 5. Comment on the differences between Past Tense and Past Perfect and give
examples of your own.
Exercise 6. Make up ten sentences using Unreal Past Perfect.
Exercise 7. Comment on the values of present perfect and past tense used in the
following excerpts:
She sat up and stared at him.
What do you mean?
Well, a lot has happened since then and I daresay its slipped your memory, but I
did make you a proposal of marriage the other night. You dont suppose I took your
answer as final. So far, every woman Ive asked to marry me always has, you know.
I thought you were joking. You couldnt really want to marry me now.
He sat back in the armchair, smoking a cigarette, a smile on his lips and a twinkle
in his good-natured eyes; and his tone was so casual that you would have thought he was
indulging only in badinage.
You see, my dear, the advantage of me is that Im a bad hat. A lot of people
reproach me for the things Ive done; I dare say theyre right; I dont think Ive done
anyone much harm, women have liked me and I have a naturally affectionate disposition,
so the rest followed almost automatically; but anyhow Ive got neither the right nor the
inclination to reproach other people for what theyve done. Live and let live has been
my motto. You see, Im not an Empire-builder, Im not a man of character with an
unimpeachable reputation, Im just an easy-going chap with a bit of money who likes to
have a good time. You say Im rotter and an idler. Well, what about reforming me? Ive
got an estate in Kenya and Im sacking my manager because hes no good; Ive been
thinking it mightnt be a bad idea if I went out and managed it myself. Perhaps it is about
time that I settled down. You might like the life there.
He waited a moment for her to speak, but she said nothing. She was so surprised
and all he said was so unexpected that she could only look at him as though she scarcely
understood. He went on, talking with a slight drawl, as though what he was saying were
rather funny and he expected her to be amused by it.
(W.S. Maugham, Up at the Villa)

90

Exercise 8. Supply the correct tense:

They (to trust) each other but now they (be going) to part.
Mr. Casey (to lean) his head to one side and, smiling, (to look) at them.
Stephen (not to be able) to realize how that noise which Mr. Casey (to make) (to
deceive) him.
Stephen also (to remember) that when he (to try) to open Mr. Caseys hand to see
if the purse of silver (to be) hidden there, he (to see) that the fingers (can not) be
straightened out. Mr. Casey (to tell) him that he (to get) those three cramped fingers
making a birthday present to Queen Victoria
Where (to be) his boyhood now? Where (to be) the soul that (to hang) back
from her destiny? He (to turn) away from her suddenly and (to set) off across the
strand. His cheeks (to be) aflame; his body (to be) aglow; his limbs (to tremble). On and
on he (to stride), far out over the sands, and (to sing) wildly to the sea, crying to greet the
advent of life that (to cry) to him.
Her image (to pass) into his soul for ever and no word (to break) the holy silence
of his ecstasy. Her eyes (to call) him and his soul (to leap) at the call.
He (to stop) suddenly and (to hear) his heart in the silence. How long he (to
walk)?
What hour (to be) it?
Evening (to fall) when he (to wake) He (to climb) to the crest of the
sandhill and (to gaze) about him.
(James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
Exercise 9. Translate into Romanian and comment on the uses of Past Tense and Past
Perfect:
He had a squeamish appetite, so no sooner had he seen the thick slabs of poor
butter on the bread than he felt his stomach turned. That was why he was glad again
to be regularly sent potted meats and such like. He talked to himself that his parents
should not spoil him as most of them used to unduly pamper their offsprings
Presently the bell rang and they were let out for ten minutes rest; so they
wandered out into the playground where the day boys had been assembling. It was
not until they had heard the clanging of the bell that they trooped into school. They
were surprised to hear that the red-faced and bald-headed man who was said to have a
jolly manner with the boys was their master
Turning sides, he was even sadder and down to see the others losing their heads
with the delight of their new amusement, and choking with helpless merriment. The
others were laughing all the louder, as one of them had tripped him up. So much the
worse for him, as he couldnt make out why some of them had lain down on the
ground rolling about in laughter. He stood agape on seeing one of them showing an
odd, rolling limp that struck the rest as supremely ridiculous
(W.S.Maugham, Human Bondage)

91

Exercise 10. Explain the uses and meanings of Past Tense and Past Perfect in the
following excerpts:
1. He took some time to reply his last impression was more and more so mixed a one.
It produced in him a vague disappointment, a drop that was deeper even than the fall of
his elation the previous night. The good of what he had done, if he had done so much,
wasnt there to enliven him quite to the point that would have been ideal for a grand gay
finale It was of Chad she was after all renewedly afraid; she clung to Lambert Strether
as to a source of safety she had tested, and, generous graceful truth as she might try to be,
exquisite as she was, she dreaded the term of his being within reach. () She had made
him better, she had made him anything one would () It might have made Strether hot or
shy, as such secrets of others brought home sometimes do make us. () And it had never
surely risen higher than round this woman. He presently found himself taking a long look
from her, and the next thing he knew he had uttered all his thought. Youre afraid for
your life!
It drew out her long look, and he soon enough saw why. A spasm came into her
face, the tears she had already been unable to hide overflowed at first in silence, and then,
as the sound suddenly comes from a child, quickened to gasps, to sobs. She sat and
covered her face with her hands, giving up all attempt at a manner. Its how you see
me
(adapted from H. James, The Ambassadors)
2. For that was it! Ignorant of the long and stealthy march of passion, and of the state to
which it had reduced them; ignorant of how Soames had watched her, ignorant of Fleurs
reckless desperation - ignorant of all these, every body felt aggrieved.
(J. Galsworthy, Forsyte Saga)
Exercise 11. Comment on the uses and meanings of Past Tense and Past Perfect.
Translate the text into Romanian:
They had just come up unfortunately to see doctors. Other people came to
see pictures; go to the opera; take their daughters out; the Whitbreads came to see
doctors. Times without number Clarissa had visited Evelyn Whitbread in a nursing
home. Was Evelyn ill again? Evelyn was a good deal out of sorts, said Hugh, intimating
by a kind of pout or swell of his very well-covered, manly, extremely handsome,
perfectly upholstered body (he was almost too well dressed always, but presumably had
to be, with his little job at Court) that his wife had some internal ailment, nothing serious,
which, as an old friend, Clarissa Dalloway would quite understand without requiring him
to specify. Ah yes, she did of course; what a nuisance, and felt very sisterly and oddly
conscious at the same time of her hat. Not the right hat for the early morning, was that it?
For Hugh always made her feel, as he bustled on, raising his hat rather extravagantly and
assuring her that she might be a girl of eighteen, and of course he was coming to her
party to-night, Evelyn absolutely insisted, only a little late he might be after the party at
the Palace to which he had to take one of Jims boys she always felt a little skimpy
beside Hugh, schoolgirlish; but attached to him, partly from having known him always,
but she did think him a good sort in his own way, though Richard was nearly driven mad
by him, and as for Peter Walsh, he had never to this day forgiven her for liking him.
(V. Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway)

92

Exercise 12. Comment on the uses and meanings of Past Tense and Past Perfect.
Translate the text into Romanian:
Paul took up his brush again and went on painting. Arthur went outside for some
coal. Annie sat looking dismal. And Mrs. Morel, in her little rocking-chair that her
husband had made for her when the first baby was coming, remained motionless,
brooding. She was grieved, and bitterly sorry for the man who was hurt so much. But
still, in her heart of hearts, where the love should have burned, there was a blank. Nor,
when all her womans pity was roused to its full extent, when she would have slaved
herself to death to nurse him and to save him, when she would have taken the pain
herself, if she could, somewhere far away inside her, she felt indifferent to him and to his
suffering. It hurt her most of all, this failure to love him, even when he roused her strong
emotions. She brooded awhile.
(D.H. Lawrence, Sons & Lovers)
Exercise 13. Translate into English:
1. M-a ntrebat unde l-am ntlnit i de ct timp l cunosc.
2. Nu mi-am dat seama c a ascultat tot ce am vorbit noi i s-a speriat de ceea ce am
spus.
3. Mi-a spus c nimeni n-a avut niciodat o cas nconjurat de peisaje att de
frumoase.
4. Speram c a auzit deja vestea pe care o atepta de mult vreme.
5. S-a dus la culcare gndindu-se la ceea ce fcuse toata ziua; se simea obosit pentru
c muncise fr ntrerupere.
6. Chelnerul i spuse c un pescar prinsese petele dimineaa i c buctarul l-a gtit
special pentru el.
7. O ducea bine datorit averii pe care o motenise de la bunicul ei.
8. Tom era furios pentru c o ateptase mai bine de o jumtate de or.
9. tiam c au locuit n casa aceea muli ani, dar nu au reparat niciodat nimic.
10. Nu fcuse nimic toat ziua i asta l necjea foarte tare.
11. Cnd am ajuns asear fratele meu deja plecase. Sora mai mic mi-a spus c mi-a
lsat un bilet pe mas.
12. M gndeam la grdinar. ntotdeauna mi dduse btaie de cap i minise.
13. Doar i-am spus c tocmai am vorbit cu el i a promis c ne va ajuta.
14. Numai de mi-ai fi spus ce ai de gnd s faci!
15. Sperm c vom putea nfiina fundaia la primvar.
16. mi pare ru c n-a fost i el cu noi. Dac ar fi fost i el ne-am fi distrat grozav.
Exercise 14. Translate into English paying special attention to the uses of Past Tense
and Past Perfect:
1. Pe vremea aceea, prea puin lume se gndea la ventilaie. Dormitorul se aerisea
numai dimineaa.
2. Fiind numai n cma de noapte, Philip ncepu sa tremure de frig cnd se aez n
genunchi s-i spun rugciunile. Aa l nvase unchiul lui: c Dumnezeu i
primete mai bine rugciunile dac le spune n cma de noapte dect dac
ateapt pn se mbrac.

93

3. Nici nu se aezar bine pe bncile aflate de-o parte i de alta a celor dou mese
lungi, cnd intr dl. Watson i citi rugciunea cu glasul lui tuntor care-l sperie
puin pe Philip. Citea rugciunile de parc (acestea) erau nite ameninri
personale adresate fiecrui biat n parte.
4. Dl. Watson fu ntru totul de acord c bieii nu trebuie ndopai i rsfai.
5. Dup ce servir micul dejun, bieii nvlir pe terenul de joac unde ncepeau s
se strng toi externii.
6. Dl. Rice, un brbat rocovan, cu glas plcut, se purta frumos cu bieii. Philip l
ndrgi pe loc, deoarece era singurul de la care auzise o vorb bun.
7. Bieii se distrau pe seama infirmitii lui Philip. Unii se trnteau pe jos,
prpdindu-se de rs, pentru c un biat maimurea mersul chioptat al lui
Philip. Se sufocau de rs. Philip nu-i ddea seama de ce rd de el i era mai
speriat ca niciodat. Se strduia din rsputeri s nu plng.
8. Alergau n jurul lui chioptnd grotesc i chicotind. Philip, vznd pe unii dintre
ei aruncnd priviri furie ctre picioarele lui, i le ascunse ct putu de bine sub
banc.
9. Cand dl. Rice ntreb de ce Philip nu s-a dus s joace fotbal, ceilali rspunser c
nu poate juca fotbal pentru c are un picior strmb.
10. Seara, dupa ce se dezbrcar i se duser la culcare, doi dintre ei se repezir la
Philip i ncercar s smulg aternutul de pe el, dar el l inea ct putea de strns.
i rsucir braul. Suspinnd i icnind, Philip se ruga de ei s nu-i mai rsuceasc
braul. N-avu ncotro i scoase piciorul de sub ptur. Cei doi rmaser cu gura
cscat, apoi se strmbar cu dezgust. Auzind pe scri paii greoi ai dl. Watson,
fugir n boxele lor. Philip i nfipse dinii n pern ca s nu-l aud nimeni
plngnd. Era furios pentru c, nefiind n stare s reziste torturii, i scosese de
bun voie piciorul de sub ptur.
11. n momentul acela simi toata tristeea vieii lui. Nu se mai gndise niciodat la
dimineaa aceea rece n care Emma l luase din ptuul lui i-l pusese alturi de
maic-sa. Era prea nefericit ca s fie (ceva) adevrat. Se gndea c viseaz, c a
doua zi o s se trezeasc din nou acas.
Exercise 15. Translate and use the Past Tense and Past Perfect in the following excerpt:
Moromete nsa nu vroia s-o apuce pe acest drum, iar ct despre cellalt, al
crciumii, nu-l folosise niciodat, ca soluie Moromete luase n glum nu numai
temerea Catrinei n privina casei, dar i visurile ei nspimntate Dar n curnd pricepu
i el c a face i a crete copii muli poate fi uneori pentru o mam ceva ntr-adevr
nspimntator. ntmplrile care avur loc dup aceea n familie nu-l tulburar ns pe
Moromete n aceeai msur. Numai una dintre ele, care avu loc ntr-o iarn puin timp
dup ce familia scp de datorii, l fcu s neleag ca e totui primejdios i pentru el s
nu ia seama la copii. n anul acela recolta fusese bogat i toat lumea fcea comer cu
cereale la munte Cei care simiser cei dinti c e rost de fcut avere fur cei trei,
Paraschiv, Nil i Achim. Pe vremea aceea nu erau prea convini c ar avea dreptul s-l
nvinuiasc pe tatl lor c s-a nsurat a doua oar; nelegeau vag c tatl lor nu putea s-i
creasc, numai o femeie putea face acest lucru i abia mai trziu aveau s dea de neles
c tua lor Guica ar fi putut foarte bine s-i creasc ea.
(M. Preda, Moromeii)

94