Eng. Gr. 2: Tense and aspect

All tenses

Present

1. Simple present / present non-progressive: I work

2. Present progressive: I am working

3. Present perfect (non-progressive): I have worked

4. Present perfect progressive: I have been working

Past

1. Past simple / past non-progressive: I worked

2. Past progressive: I was working

3. Past perfect (non-progressive): I had worked

4. Past progressive: I had been working

Future

1. Future simple / non-progressive: I will work

2. Future progressive: I will be working

3. Future perfect (non-progressive): I will have worked

4. Future progressive: I will have been working

What is tense and aspect

Tense: when does states of affairs take place

Aspect: How is it presented or structured:

• Perfective aspect (SoA is complete. Link between two points in time) (have+PaPa) and Imperfective aspect (SoA is incomplete)

• Progressive(SoA is in progress at a particular point in time)(auxiliary be + -ing)((limited) duration + viewed as in progress through time) and Non-progressive (global view on SoA)

→ Progressive can only be used with dynamic verbs

• Dynamic verbs (things that can be timed) vs stative verbs (No development in time. No co-occurrence with the progressive)

Meaning difference present perfect and simple past (I have dropped my suitcase - I dropped my suitcase)

• Emphasizes current relevance. The dropping happened in the past but there’s a connection to now

• Reports a past event as a completed occurence with less emphasis on present relevance

Two semantic types of dynamic verbs

• Activity verbs: eat, read, think

• Process verbs: change, arrive, die

Three semantic types of stative verbs

• Verbs denoting relations: contain, possess, seem,…

• Verbs denoting mental and emotional states: forgive, understand, suppose,…

• Verbs of involuntary or inert perception: taste, notice, smell,…

When is ‘have’ a dynamic verb and a stative verb

Dynamic

• Causative and experimental have (I’m having my car towed right now)

• Lexical verb meaning take/receive/experience (I’m having dinner right now)

• Sometimes when expressing obligation or necessity (I have / I am having to go no

Stative verb

• Auxiliary of the perfect (I am having already eaten → I have already eaten)

• Lexical verb meaning possess (I am having understanding parents → I have understanding parents)

What do the present tenses mean?

• Present simple: describes facts, habits, or completed actions, without emphasizing duration

• Present progressive: Shows an action in progress at a specific time.

• Present perfect: Shows a completed action that is connected to another time and is relevant now

• Present perfect progressive: Shows an action that was ongoing and emphasized duration

Different time references for Present Progressive

1. Action going on now – starting before and continuing after moment of
   speaking (I am talking about the English present progressive right now

2. Action related to ‘enlarged’ now: Doesn’t need to be taking place right now, but still not a habit (We are studying the verb phrase this semester)

3. Temporary habit (I’m reading the assigned sections in Foundations every Monday evening this semester)

4. Background setting. What is already in progress: (She just runs into my room, while i’m trying to study)

5. Repeated SoA that are unexpected or annoying in a way (My neighbor is constantly banging the wall at night)

Different time references for Present simple / non-progressive

1. SoA presented as global (not in progress)→ event viewed as a whole. Describe actions that happen almost instantly. (with punctual verbs) (Someone knocks. Who could it be)

   • Series of SoA’s closely following each other: ( Courtois throws the ball to De Bruyne. De Bruyne passes to Meunier)

   • Instructions: (First you whip the eggs in a bowl, then you add the sugar)

   • Verbs introducing quotations: (Then she says: “Go for it!”)

   • Exclamations: (Off we go!)

2. With stative verbs (she adores waking up early)

3. Expression of repeated / habitual activities: (She always wakes up early)

4. Universally valid SoA (Water boils at 100c°)

Different time references for Present perfect

Relate past to present: subtypes

• Resultative perfect: Present result or consequences of a past SoA (I’ve caught the flu, so I won’t be there tonight.)

• State-up-to-the-present: SoA starts in the past and continues into the present + always with a time adverbial of duration (I’ve known him for years)

• Indefinite past: Past experiences relevant for the present (I’ve been to the US multiple times, so I know what Americans are like)

  • General indefinite past: adverbs: ever, never, before, always

  • Recent indefinite past: adverbs: recently, just, already, yet

Different time references for Present perfect progressive

Semantically very close to state-up-to-the-present perfect but the non-progressive present perfect does not focus on duration or interruptedness

Restrictions

• No present perfect progressive with stative and punctual verbs (I have been understanding you for a long time)

• Present perfect progressive not suitable to express interrupted repetition (I have been blinking 5 times)

• A time adverbial is not necessary (I have been reading lots of pages)

• Verbs with inherently durative meaning are typically progressive (I have been sitting/lying/waiting here for hours.)