THE VALUES OF THE PAST

SIMPLE AND OF THE PAST

CONTINUOUS

THE PAST
SIMPLE

THE PAST
CONTINUOUS

DEFINITE PAST EVENT

Sam drank a bottle of gin
(yesterday).
Sam a but o sticl de gin (ieri).

SITUATION UNFOLDING AT A
CERTAIN POINT IN THE PAST
Sam was drinking gin at the pub
yesterday.
Sam bea gin la crcium ieri.

NARRATIVE VALUE
A guy went to the pub and drank
a glass of gin. He then started to
sing loud.
Un tip s-a dus la o crcium i a but
un pahar de gin. Apoi a nceput s
cnte tare.

FRAME VALUE (past)

I came in the pub while they were
drinking
gin.
Am intrat n crcium n timp ce ei
beau gin.

HABITUAL VALUE
Sam drank a bottle of gin every
day.
Sam bea o o sticl de gin zilnic.

EMOTIONAL VALUE (past habit +

excitement, annoyance)
He was always falling in love with
the
wrong person!
Mereu se ndrgostea de cine nu
trebuie!

FUTURE VALUE (mainly in time

FUTURE VALUE ( personal plan)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

When they lived in their grandmothers house, they were
allowed to sleep late, spend time watching TV and eat all
the sweets they wanted. Their grandmother indulged
every whim they had. They would go to fairs, visit the
Zoo, they were even allowed to talk to the strange
monkey that sat on an old mans shoulder in the large
square of the city. One day, however, their visits were
discontinued and they never went back to that wonderful
place. They left the city and were driven to a lonely place
in the forest. They entered a large gloomy cottage,
where a fire was burning in a small fireplace. Then they
were left completely alone after they were told that they
could no longer leave that forest again....

HABITUAL versus
NARRATIVE
State versus Dynamic
Stories might start with passages in which a description is made
(about the setting, about the characters, about the habits of the
characters). You would expect to see a lot of Past
Simple forms that would be either forms of state verbs (be,
love, feel, stand, stay, etc.) or forms of dynamic verbs (run,
write, jump, work, etc.) used with a habitual value. Such
descriptions are
followed by passages where a series of events are presented:
sequences of events that create a story line. In these narrative,
dynamic passages, the frame is set by one or two Past
Continuous
forms and then strings of Past Simple verbs forms are employed
to build the narrative. So, in a way, a story is often made up of a
paragraph where a generalization is made and then more
paragraphs follow in which events take place: this means that at
least two values of the Simple Past are joined in the story: the

SIMPLE versus CONTINUOUS

NOTA BENE! A Habitual Past
Simple form may be replaced by a
Past Continuous form when the
person uttering the sentence
containing it needs to imply a
feeling of excitement or
annoyance regarding the habit of
the subject in the sentence.

THE POLITE USE OF THE

PAST TENSE
NOTA BENE! Past Tense Simple and Past
Tense Continous are also used when one
wants to express a polite request. This is
the so-called polite use of the Past
Tense.
a. Go fetch my slippers!
b. Will you (please) go and fetch my slippers?
c. Could you go and fetch my slippers?
d. Would you be so kind as to go and fetch
my slippers?
e. I was wondering if you could go and fetch
my slippers.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

In English, Present Perfect is the tense
employed to refer to events directly
connected to the
present moment (now).The events
are said to have current relevance.

VALUES OF THE
PRESENT PERFECT
RESULTATIVE
CONTINUATIVE
EXPERIENTIAL
HOT NEWS

RESULTATIVE
1)Oops, youve spilt the wine on your new dress!
[Your dress is stained.]
(2)(Irritable Mother): Now youve done it! Youve
woken him up! [The baby is crying.]
(3)The elevator has broken down. [It doesnt
work any more.]
(4)Whats happened to Jim? [Jim looks ill.]
(5)Congratulations, youve done a great job. [We
can use your work.]
(6)Look at him, hes been drinking! [His speech
is slurred, he is staggering.]
(7)Ive been sleeping badly. [I look awful, I am
tired.]

RESULTATIVE
The result is implied and can
be easily inferred about the
events expressed.
Types of situations:
achievements and
accomplishments

CONTINUATIVE

They have been married for 20 years.

Sunt cstorii de douzeci de ani.
I havent been myself since he left me.
Nu mai sunt om de cnd m-a prsit.
Hes been writing at his novel since morning.
Scrie la roman de diminea.
The baby has been crying for an hour.
Bebeluul plnge de un ceas.
Shes been trying to contact you all morning.
Toat dimineaa a ncercat s ia legtura cu tine.
The patient hasnt left her bed for a week now.
Bolnavul nu s-a mai ridicat din pat de o sptmn

CONTINUATIVE
All these sentences express the
continuation of a state or activity
up to the present moment. It is
important to notice that the
continuative interpretation is
provided by the presence of the
durative time adverbials (for a
week, since 1985, all this time,
etc.).

CONTINUATIVE
The patient hasnt left the bed. (=
hes been behaving himself, hes
been good, he is here, ready for
treatment, etc.)
Lets generalize!
It is the combination between a
Present Perfect form and a durative
adverbial that provides the
continuative interpretation.

EXPERIENTIAL

(1) I have seen Avatar at least ten times.

Am vzut Avatar de cel puin zece ori.
(2) Ive never shirked duty myself.
Eu unul n-am dat niciodat bir cu fugiii de la datorie.
(3) Weve met John before.
l cunoti pe John.
(4) Ive always preferred to do the chores first thing in the
morning.
ntotdeauna am preferat s mi termin toate treburile dimineaa.
(5) I havent met anyone as stubborn as you.
N-am mai ntlnit om aa de ncpnat ca tine.
(6) Ive been to The Tower of London and, let me tell you, it is
quite an experience.
Am fost la Turnul Londrei i nu greesc cnd spun c a fost o adevrat
experien.
(7) Where have I heard this song before?
Oare unde am mai auzit cntecul sta?

EXPERIENTIAL
These sentences have some important
points in common:
a) They refer to past events.
b) These past events are presented as past
experience that has some influence over the
present moment.
c) Frequency is implied (how many times the
subject has had the experience, how often,
if at all, etc.) or overtly stated (by means of
time adverbials of frequency such as
never, ever, always, often, rarely, etc.)

EXPERIENTIAL
SITUATION TYPES:
Dynamic situations: activities,
accomplishments, achievements

A Stylistic Use: The Hot

News Present Perfect
Jamaican Authorities Seize 3, 300 Warheads
KINGSTON, Jamaica) Police in Jamaica say
authorities have seized 3,300 missile warheads and a
machine to make missiles and bullets. Deputy Police
Superintendent Steve Brown said Friday that custom
officials discovered the weapons late Thursday
aboard a ship at Kingston Wharf. He declined to say
where the shipment originated from or its
destination. No one has been arrested.
Brown told reporters that police are seeking helping
from international agencies after their findings. He
said it was the first time authorities had made such a
discovery.
(http://world.time.com/2013/11/29/jamaicanauthorities-seize-3300-warheads/)

A Stylistic Use: The Hot

News Present Perfect

Two important items of news are discussed in the text

above: the apprehension of a
number of missile warheads and the fact that no arrests
were made. The author chooses to
make use of the Hot News Present Perfect to emphasise
upon the fact that this is the most
recent information he has on the subject. The text is
otherwise built in a narrative style, by
means of Past Simple forms (see the words in italics). We
might conclude that the Hot News
Present Perfect appears as a sort of a stylistic device,
embedded in a narrative so as to
buttonhole the reader and give him the impression that he
is in possession of the latest news.
The literature treats this value of Present Perfect as derived
from the Resultative one.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Consider the following texts and comment
upon the values of the underlined forms:
This is how Buddhist temples have tested
applicants going back for bahzillion years,
Tyler says. You tell the applicant to go
away, and if his resolve is so strong that
he waits at the entrance without food or
shelter or encouragement for three days,
then and only then can he enter and
begin the training.
(Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk)

GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
CONTEXT IS CRUCIAL WHEN
INTERPRETING PRESENT
PERFECT FORMS!
TO USE PRESENT PERFECT
CORRECTLY YOU NEED TO
IDENTIFY THE CLUES IN THE
CONTEXT.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS
I have written a novel.
Am scris un roman.
(36) I have been writing a novel (for a year).
Scriu la un roman (de un an).
She has read the Harry Potter books.
A citit crile cu Harry Potter.
Shes been reading the Harry Potter books (for some time now).
Citete crile cu Harry Potter (de ceva vreme).
Ive received threat letters.
Am primit (nite) scrisori de ameninare.
Ive been receiving threat letters (lately).
Am tot primit scrisori de ameninare. /n ultima vreme primesc
scrisori de ameninare.
Its snowed.
A nins.
(42) Its been snowing (for some time now).
S-a pornit s ning (i nc ninge).

THE PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS

Present Perfect
Continuous sentences
are often continuative in
meaning.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)

?She has drunk.

She has been drinking.
?Bill has fought.
Bill has been fighting.
?They havent slept.
They havent been sleeping.

RESULTATIVE
The sentences above may be
interpreted as resultative with
an emphasis on the results.
The effects are still very
visibile/have a major impact
on the speaker.

GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
IS MAINLY INTERPRETED AS
CONTINUATIVE. HOWEVER, CONTEXT
IS CRUCIAL IN INTERPRETING THE
TENSE FORM CORRECTLY!
SOMETIMES THE VALUE IS
RESULTATIVE

A CLUSTER OF VALUES
PRESENT PERFECT

PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

Resultative
They have cut off the electricity in Resultative (rare)
the
Theyve been drinking.
building!
Continuative
They have been here all day/ for
three hours.
Experiential
They have visited London many
times.
Hot News (in the media)
A bomb has been dropped over a
village and
has killed thirty people. The
authorities have
sent soldiers to surround the
area.

Continuative (frequent)
They have been rehearsing all
day/ for three
hours.

A great puzzle: Present

Perfect or Past Simple?

She has won first prize!

(Present Perfect)
A luat premiul nti!
She won first prize in 2010.
(Past Simple)
A luat premiul nti n
2010.

A great puzzle: Present

Perfect or Past Simple?

I played tennis with Elvis

Presley.
Am jucat tennis cu Elvis
Presley.
*I have played tennis with
Elvis Presley.

A great puzzle: Present

Perfect or Past Simple?

Lets generalize!
The Past Adverb
Constraint
Present Perfect is not to be
combined with a [+THEN]
adverbial.

ADVERBIALS

[+THEN] adverbials: co-occur

with Past Tense (then, yesterday, long
ago)
[THEN] adverbials:
co-occur with both
Past Tense and
Present Perfect (today, recently, for
two years)
[-THEN] adverbials:
co-occur with Present
Perfect (at present, up till now, lately)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We met at a restaurant on
Monday.
Luni ne-am ntlnit la un
restaurant.
* We have met at a restaurant
on Monday.

GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
IN ENGLISH, PRESENT
PERFECT CANNOT OCCUR
WITH [+ THEN]
ADVERBIALS OF TIME AND
CANNOT BE USED TO NARRATE
PAST EVENTS.