Tense Aspect Modality Mood PDF

Tense and Aspect Tense marking indicates, to varying degrees of precision, the time when an event occurred or a situation existed. In other words, it specifies the situation’s “location” in time. Tense can also be defined as reference to the forms of verbs that are used to indicate the time of actio...

Tense and Aspect Tense marking indicates, to varying degrees of precision, the time when an event occurred or a situation existed. In other words, it specifies the situation’s “location” in time. Tense can also be defined as reference to the forms of verbs that are used to indicate the time of action or the state expressed by the verbs.  Aspect on the other hand relates to the distribution of an event over time; is it instantaneous or a long slow process? Completed or ongoing? Once or a recurring event? Verbs in English express three aspects: progressive, perfect and habitual.  1. Progressive aspect The progressive aspect is used to indicate an event that is ongoing or uncompleted. Examples: 1. The children are playing in the room. (present progressive) 2. She was leaving when we came in. (past progressive) ii. Perfect aspect The perfect aspect is used to express actions that refer to a time that includes the present time (present perfect), a particular point in the past (past perfect) and a particular point of future time (future perfect). The perfect tense is formed with have, has or had and the past participle form of the lexical verb. Examples: 1. I haven’t seen him today. (present perfect) 2. They had gone before we arrived. (past perfect) 3. I will have finished the work by the time you returned. (future perfect) iii. Habitual aspect The habitual aspect refers to events that occurred in the past. E.g. We used to swim in the stream in the village when we were children Types and examples of aspectual usages: Stative Examples:  1. I believe in God (Not I am believing in God). 2. I know God ( I am knowing God) 3. Although he knows Mathematics (Not “knowing Mathematics), he attended the course.  Instantaneous Aspect 1  1. He hits Mary. (instantaneous)  2. I have taken my share of the cake. (Instantaneous)  Dynamic (Durative) Aspect 1. Although walking many miles away from Lagos, Jacob attended the course. 2. He is hitting Mary. (durative) 3. He will be hitting. Mary (durative). 4. I am taking my share of the cake (durative) Identify the difference between “He sang the song” and “He is singing the song”.  Consider these:  1. Explosions occurred at Maiduguri yesterday 2. Chaos broke out/occurred in Kaduna yesterday.  Uses of Tense and Aspect in English The simple present tense has the simple form of the verb with -s or -es added when there is a third person singular subject. Example: He speaks English with a Yoruba accent. The present continuous tense has a form of the verb be (agreeing with the subject in number and person) and the -ing form of the verb (called the present participle). Example: I am writing a letter. The simple present tense is generally used to refer to: (i) a habit For expressing habitual action/activity. Examples; 1. Olu goes to work every day. 2. My friend plays football. 3. Spiders have eight legs 4. I go for a walk every morning. (ii) For expressing Timeless action for statements that are true of all times. i.e. Something which is always true Example: a. The sun rises in the east. b. The earth is round. c. The man is brilliant. (cruel, handsome, generous) The present continuous is generally used to refer to an action going on at the moment of speaking. Examples: The child is crying. 2 Look! He is coming now. Some verbs are generally not used in the present continuous even when they refer to the real present. Examples I hear a strange sound. I like some of the television serials. I know the Dean of faculty very well. We have no papers in stock. He wants to be a musician. This bag contains all my jewelleries. I remember your friends Franca. Common Errors in Nigeria (i) I am hearing a strange sound. (ii) I am liking some of the television serials. (iii) I am knowing the dean of faculty very well. (iv) We are having no papers in stock. (v) He is wanting to be a musician. (vi) This bag is containing all my jewelleries. (vii) I am remembering your friends Franca. Fill in the blanks with the simple present or the present continuous forms of the verbs given in brackets. 1. She...................... (have) a small shop in the market. 2. I...................... (do) my home work now. My brother...................... (play) in the garden. 3. I...................... (go) to the doctor. My father...................... (suffer) from pain in the stomach. 4. Every time you..................... (visit) him, he...................... (think) you...................... (want) some help. 5. He...................... (seem) to be very busy. 6. You cannot go now. It...................... (rain) iii. Simple Present Tense used For expressing future when the future activity is regarded as certain. Examples: 1. The man arrives from Britain tomorrow. 2. The plane lands at 2:00pm tomorrow. 3. The president leaves for India on Friday. iv. Commentaries and “performance declarations”. Examples : 1. Ike dribbles the ball, he shoots and it’s a goal. 2. I pronounce you man and wife. 3  3. I declare this conference open. v. Historic present in which past events are treated as if they were in the present as it often happens with newspaper headlines or in fiction. Examples: 1. Man kills neighbour. 2. Police put politician under cover 3. military moves to tackle internal insecurity 4. Firm donates drugs to Edo State. The Past Tense 1. The Simple Past Tense or the past indefinite: It is used to express an event that took place before the time of speaking or at a specific time in the past. Examples: 1. I went out with Ojo yesterday. 2. Man landed on the moon in 1969. 3. The Nightingale heard him, and she looked through the leaves and wondered. 4. His eyes filled with tears. 2. It is used to express hypothetical meanings as in 1. If I were you, I would accept the offer. 2. I wish you had gone. 3. It is used to express politeness in request and everyday conversation. Examples: 1. Could you help with this? 2. Did you want to see me? The Progressive Aspect; It combines with the present tense and past tense to express limited progression or duration of the activity or state expressed. Examples: 1. The boy is singing. (present progressive) now 2. The boy was singing (past progressive) now 3. I am writing (on this occasion) with a special pen (since I lost my writing pen) 4. He is stupid/dull. (simple present) Not clever at all. 5. He is being stupid/dull. (present progressive) Not clever just for the moment. The Present/Past Tense with Perfect Aspect The present perfect expresses a past event with present relevance or present result. Examples: 4 This tense is used (a) to describe past event and (b) to emphasize their effect on the speaker’s present. It is formed by using has or have with the past participle form (sometimes called the third form) of the verb. Examples 1a. I have washed the plates (see, they are clean) 1b. The house has been rented (see, it is not empty) 2a. I had washed the plates (before you asked me) 2b. The house had been rented (before you asked for it)  3. I have read all the novels written by Hardy. (And I still remember them). 4. The winter has chilled my veins. (And at the moment of speaking, I am still cold). As the present perfect is linked to the speaker’s present, we never use it with past time expressions. It would be incorrect to say: I have written a letter an hour ago Other combinations 1. I have been writing a letter. 2. He should have been punished In “I have been writing a letter”, have is present and is the carrier of tense. Therefore, the tense in the sentence is present tense. Rule: When the perfective aspect and the progressive aspect are both present in the verb phrase, the perfective aspect precedes the progressive aspect. E.g. I have been dancing.  The Present Perfect Continuous Tense This tense is used to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing. It is formed by using have (or has) with been and the -ing form of the verb. Examples (i) The farmers have been ploughing their fields for two hours now. (They are still ploughing them.) (ii) My friend has been studying English since 10 o’clock. (She is still studying.) Notice the difference between these two sentences: (i) The farmers were ploughing their fields when it started raining. (The action continued for some time in the past.) 5 (ii) The farmers have been ploughing their fields for some time now. (The action began in the past and is still continuing.) Sometimes, the present perfect continuous is also used for an action that has just finished after it has continued for some time. Example: I am very tired. I have been playing cricket. Future Tense or Ways of Expressing the Future You will now learn various ways of expressing the future. Here are some examples: 1. I shall see you in the evening. (simple future) 2. We are going to spend the vacation in Dubai. (intention) 3. It is going to rain. (likelihood) 4. The train is going to start. (action about to take place) 5. My father is going to Bombay next month. (planned programme) 6. I’ll be staying here for a week. (planned programme) 7. The President arrives here next Monday. (official schedule) There is a controversy as to whether there is a future tense in English language. Those who base their arguments upon morphology say there are no specific morphological forms which characteristically mark futurity. Indeed, there are several forms in which futurity can be indicated in the English language. Hence the argument is put off by others that since future can be marked with a number of possibilities. Futurity, modality and aspect are closely related and future time is rendered by means of modal auxiliaries or semi-auxiliaries or by simple present or progressive forms (of the verbs). You can indicate futurity by the use of auxiliary + verb. Examples: 1. will/shall 1. The boy will go tomorrow. 2. We shall move to our new house next week. 3. After resting, you will feel better. 4. I shall endeavour to write a reference tomorrow.  Note that will and shall are still present tense and indicate mere prediction of the future event. 2. be going to + the infinitive  1. Sue is going to have a baby.  2. It is going to rain tonight.  3. The dog is going to die. 4. The wall is going to collapse. Present/Past (tense/time relation)  6  1. I write with a special pen. (simple present tense) ii. I wrote with a special pen. (Simple past tense) iii. I am writing with a special pen. (Present progressive/Continuous tense)  iv. I was writing with a special pen. (past progressive/continuous tense) v. I have written with a special pen. (Present perfective) vi. I had written with a special pen. (Past perfective) vii. I have been writing with a special pen.(present perfect progressive) viii. I had been writing with a special pen. (past perfect progressive) Lexical verbPhrasal verb (lexical verb + preposition) distributehandout resisthold out arrestround up overcome get over abandon give up retrenchlay off to arrange/spreadlay out to stop fightinglay down arms Modality Modality is related to the system of mood. All verbal groups select from the system of mood; only finite select from the system of modality. Examples: Finite Verbal Group + modality e.g. James can sing everyday (modality positive) -modality e.g. James sings everyday (modality negative) The concept of modality is related to particular manner in which something is experienced or expressed. Modality is expression of aspects of interpersonal relationship such as permission, ability, possibility, politeness, obligation etc. In English, modality is realized in modal auxiliary verbs also called modal verbs. Modal auxiliaries are those helping verbs which help to express the mode or manner in which an action is carried out. They are used to express the subjective attitudes and opinions of speakers i.e. attitudes and opinions which include possibility, probability, 7 necessity, obligation, permission, ability, willingness, unwillingness, desire etc. The modal verbs are: can, could, shall, should, may, might, must, ought to, will and would. Examples: 1. Ability i. Musa can speak English fluently. ii. Jane could speak English when she was younger 2. Possibility i. He might begin the lucrative business. ii. The Chemistry teacher may give us text next week. 3. Permission i. Can I borrow your pen? (asking) ii. Would you mind if I take the car out? iii. You may come in. Giving permission Obligation i. All students shall submit their assignment tomorrow. Necessity ii. You will do as I say. iii. Joan must get to the interview venue early. Desirability i. We should sort out this problem at once. ii. You ought to give your wife a second chance. Wish/hope iii. May her gentle soul rest in peace. Probability i. That man standing by that car must be rich. ii. Getting to the village shouldn’t be difficult. Prohibition i. Books may not be taken out of the reference section of the library. ii. You may not pass through this piece of land. Willingness/ i. I will look after the baby while you are out. 8  1. unwillingness ii. I won’t give her my novel to read. 2. Suggestion i. You could go into poultry production. ii. Shall we meet at 8:00am on Friday? 3. Request i. Would you mind joining the queue? ii. Will you kindly give me a ride to town? 4. Past Habitual i. When the man came back from the war front, he would sit down alone gazing into emptiness. Mood in the verb The mood of the verb shows the manner in which a statement is made. They include indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood. For a statement of fact, a verb in the indicative mood is used. 1. Indicative Mood: For a statement of fact, a verb in the indicative is used. Examples: i. Beer is an alcoholic drink. ii. I ask questions. Indicative mood is the mood of fact, or rather, of statement presented as fact. A question that uses a verb in the indicative mood demands simple answer. “Is beer an alcoholic drink? 2. Imperative Mood: For command or request, a verb in the imperative mood is used. Mood of command and request i. Do the work. ii. Hold your tongue. iii. Consider the boys. iv. Join the army. Note: “You” is understood to be part of the sentence but is generally not expressed in the imperative. 3. Subjunctive Mood: For an idea presented as doubtful, contrary to fact, conditional or imaginary, the verb in subjunctive mood is used. Mood of doubt, condition, wish, imagination and the like refer to subjunctive mood. 9 Examples: i. Contrary conditions a. If he were to fall into the pond, he would come up with a fish in his mouth. b. I wish you were here (instead of me). ii. Doubtful or uncertain condition a. If he be innocent, we are all guilty. b. If he survives, the doctor’s fees will kill him. iii. In that-construction: which denotes asking, agreeing, demanding. a. He moved that the meeting be adjourned. b. The prisoner asks that he be shot rather than hanged. iv. Subjunctive in idioms, formulae, fossilized expressions a. Far be it from me b. O that it were impossible! c. Peace be with you d. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. e. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. f. Be that as it may, my resolve is intact. 10