Understanding English Tenses

Tense and Aspect in English Grammar

• Tense refers to the grammatical markings on verbs indicating time relative to speaking or other situations.
• Time reference is linked to meaning; events can be placed in the past, present, or future context.
• English features three main tenses: present, past, and future, with present and past having inflectional markings.
• The future tense is indicated with modals "will" or "shall" alongside the base form of the verb.

Definition of Aspect

• Aspect reflects how an event is viewed or experienced.
• It can signify if an event is a complete whole (simple), has occurred earlier (perfect), or is currently ongoing (progressive).
• Example: "Noel has attended the review classes." (perfect), "Now he is studying for the LET exam." (progressive).

Tense-Aspect Combinations

• English has 12 tense-aspect categories combining simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive forms.
• Present tense forms:
  • Simple: dream/dreams
  • Perfect: has/have dreamed
  • Progressive: am/is/are dreaming
  • Perfect Progressive: has/have been dreaming
• Past tense forms:
  • Simple: dreamed
  • Perfect: had dreamed
  • Progressive: was/were dreaming
  • Perfect Progressive: had been dreaming
• Future tense forms:
  • Simple: will/shall dream
  • Perfect: will/shall have dreamed
  • Progressive: will/shall be dreaming
  • Perfect Progressive: will/shall have been dreaming

Use of Adjuncts of Time

• To emphasize the timing of actions, adjuncts of time (adverbs, noun groups, or prepositional phrases) are used.
• Examples include:
  • Adverb: "She’s coming tomorrow."
  • Noun group: "Results of the examination were released last week."
  • Prepositional phrase: "He will feel relieved after the exam."

Simple Aspect Characteristics

• The simple aspect describes complete wholes or constant states.
• Simple Present usage:
  • Expresses thoughts or feelings in the current moment: "I’m terribly busy."
  • Describes a settled state of affairs: "He lives in Sagada."
  • Has four inflections for different verb forms.

Inflections and Their Forms

• Third person singular present tense verbs take the {-s} suffix.
• Simple past tense verbs use {-ed} inflection.
• Past participles are marked by {-en}, while present participles have {-ing}.
• Past tense inflection has three allomorphs based on the final sound of the base verb.

Types of Verbs

• Intransitive Verbs: Do not take an object (e.g., "Flowers bloom.")
• Transitive Verbs: Require a direct object (e.g., "Flowers need water and sunlight.")
• Ditransitive Verbs: Take both direct and indirect objects (e.g., "Alex gave his girlfriend three red roses.")
• Linking/Copula Verbs: Connect subject to complement (e.g., "Roses are lovely Valentine's Day gifts.")
• Complex Transitive Verbs: Relationships between direct objects and complements (e.g., "They chose Niña, muse of the team.")
• Prepositional Verbs: Require a prepositional phrase to complete meaning (e.g., "We looked at the pictures taken during our graduation.")

Overall Importance

• Tense indicates the time of an action, while aspect provides context on the nature of the action.
• Understanding these concepts is essential for proper English verb usage and sentence structure.