CHAPTER 1: TIME, TENSE AND ASPECT

1.1. Introductory Theoretical Notions

According to Ron Cowan1, use of verb forms is one of the two or three most difficult
areas for English language learners to master. New research indicates that several factors are
responsible for the difficulties in learning to use appropriate verb forms. In order to
understand the difficulties and how to deal with them, we first have to examine the basic
concepts of tense and aspect underlying forms and their uses.
Verb forms main verbs and combinations of auxiliary verbs and main verbs
indicate both the time of the action expressed by the verb and the speakers view of that
action of time. Two concepts are used to describe time and action in verbs tense and aspect.
In what follows, we look at each in turn.
1.2. Tense vs Time
It is important not to confuse tense with time. The category of tense is specific to the
verb only. A common mistake in approaching the category of tense is not to make a clear
difference between tense and time.
It is to be noted, however, that at the level of natural languages, the temporal specification
of sentences is not only given by the tense inflection marked upon the verb, but also by
temporal adverbials and temporal adverbial phrases.
Ioana tefnescu2 states that the generally accepted definition of the category of
tense explains tense as representing the chronological order of events in time as perceived
by the speaker at the moment of speaking.
Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy3 define tense as a grammatical category to
indicate the relationship between the form of the verb and the time reference of an event or
action.
According to Randolph Quirk4, time can be thought of as a line (theoretically, of
infinite length) on which is located, as a continuously moving point, the present moment.
1

Cowan, Ron (2008) The Teachers Grammar of English A Course Book and Reference Guide, Cambridge
University Press.
2

tefnescu, Ioana (1988) English Morfology, volumul 2: The nominal and verbal categories, Universitatea din
Bucureti, Bucureti.
3

Carter, Roland & McCarthy, Michael (2007) Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press.

Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, Jan Svartvik (1972) A Grammar of Contemporary
English, Longman.

Anything ahead of the present moment is in the future, and anything behind it is in the past.
In sum, time is a universal concept with three divisions: Past Time, Present Time and Future
Time (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: An interpretation of past, present and future on a referential level

Quirk (1985: 175) states that This is an interpretation of past, present and future on a
referential level. But in relating this view of time to language and, more precisely, to the
meaning of verbs, it is useful to reformulate the threefold distinction such that present is
defined in an inclusive rather than in an exclusive way: something is defined as present if it
has existence at the present moment, allowing for the possibility that its existence may also
stretch into the past and into the future. Hence Paris stands on the River Seine may be
correctly said to describe a present state of affairs, even though this state of affairs has also
obtained for numerous centuries in the past, and may well exist for an indefinite period in the
future. (See Figure 2)

Figure 2: An interpretation of past, present and future on a semantic level

On the semantic level of interpretation, present is the most general and unmarked
category. Contrast the following two sentences:
(i)
Albatrosses are large birds. (a generic statement applicable to present, past,
and future)
(ii)
Albatrosses were large birds. (a more limited statement, suggesting that the
albatross is extinct)
TIME is a non-linguistic concept which refers to the past, the present and the future.
Time can be expressed by tense, through a change of verb forms. Time is also related to
aspect, which represents speakers perspectives on time in relation to events.
PRESENT TIME denotes time reference for actions, events or states at the moment of
speaking or writing, or at time around now.
PAST TIME denotes time reference for actions, events or states before the time of
speaking or writing.
FUTURE TIME denotes time reference for future actions, events or states. There is no
future tense ending for English verbs; future time is mainly expresses by shall/will, be going
to, present progressive form, be about to, be to, etc.
1.3. The Meaning of Aspect
While tense is used to locate events in time, aspect is concerned with the way in which the
event is viewed with regard to such considerations as duration and completion when encoded
by a verb. This is sometimes defined as the internal temporal contour of the event. Compare,
for instance, the following representations of a situation:
(i)
She locked the safe.
(ii)
She was locking the safe.
As regards tense, both are the same the Past. They both locate the situation in past
time. The difference is one of aspect, expressed by the verbal form was locking as opposed to
the ordinary past locked. What we have is a difference of viewpoint and of focus of
attention.
Angela Downing and Philip Locke5 distinguishes between perfectivity and
imperfectivity.
Perfective: the situation is presented as a complete whole, as it viewed externally,
with sharp boundaries as in (i). (Note that perfectivity is not the perfect aspect.)
Imperfective: the situation is viewed as an internal stage, without boundaries and is
conceptualised as ongoing and incomplete; the beginning and end arent included in this
viewpoint we see only the internal part, as in (ii). The Progressive is thus a kind of
imperfectivity.
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Downing, Angela & Locke Philip (2006) Engish Grammar A University Course, 2 nd edition, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London & Ney York.

Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy6 also state that aspect indicates the
speakers perspective on time as indicated in a verb phrase, particularly whether an action is
treated as finished or is still in progress or still relevant to the moment of speaking.
English has two aspects: the perfect aspect and the progressive (sometimes known as
continuous continuous) aspect. The progressive aspect is indicated with be + present
participle (-ing), and the perfect aspect is indicated with have + past participle (sometimes
called the EN form). For example:
I saw the principal. (past tense, no aspect)
I had seen the principal. (past tense, perfective aspect)
These aspects combine with tense/time.
Progressive tenses?
There are no progressive tenses - progressivity has to do with aspect, not tense - but
there are progressive verb forms when progressive aspect combines with a tensed form.
e.g She was climbing - contains a progressive past tense form.
The difference between the progressive form and the non-progressive form is a matter
of grammatical aspect rather than tense. Thus, both walked and was walking are past tense
forms. The labels progressive tenses and non-progressive tenses will therefore have to be
avoided. On the other hand, we will use phrases like the past progressive, etc., which refer
to verb forms encoding both tense and aspect, but which do not confuse the different
conceptual natures of tense and aspect. (Some grammars speak of the continuous form or
be + -ing instead of the progressive form).
Aspect is always combined with tense/time. The present and past tenses can form
combinations with the progressive and perfective aspect.
Present Time:
The Simple Present e.g. He always writes long letters.

The Present Progressive He is writing one now to his wife.

The Simple Past He also wrote to her yesterday.

The Past Progressive He was writing a letter when somebody came in.

The Present Perfect He has written several letters to her.

The Present Perfect Progressive He has been writing letters all morning.

The Past Perfect He had written five letters by lunch-time.

Past Time:

The Past Perfect Progressive He had been writing letters all morning and
felt tired.
These are ACTIVE tenses and aspects. The PASSIVE is formed by adding a form of
the verb be followed by a verb in the past participle form. For example:
The Passive Simple Present Nowadays long letters are rarely written by hand.
The Passive Present Progressive The letter is just being written. (The examples
above are taken from Leech, 2003: 286).

Carter, Roland & McCarthy, Michael (2007) Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press.

The intersection of tense/time and aspect explains much about verb forms but leaves
us with questions. For example, why do native speakers interpret the act in a sentence like
(3a) as complete but that in (3b), which has the same verb form (have + past participle), as
extending to the present? To answer this, we need to look at one other concept lexical
aspect.
(3) a. John has written only one novel since 1999.
b. John has owned only one car since 1999.
The answer lies in the lexical aspect of the verbs write and own. Write, as it appears in
sentence (3a), describes an accomplishment. Hence, it expresses a completed activity. Own is
a stative verb. Stative verbs have indefinite duration, so we infer that John still has that car.
Understanding how lexical aspect affects the interpretation of verb action will help
teachers to explain why we can get different interpretations of verbs that have the same form,
as illustrated in the examples above. We have to mention that ESL/EFL courses and materials
often ignore lexical aspect and its effects. With an understanding of how lexical aspect factors
into the learning of tense, teachers can address these shortcomings in textbooks, answer
students questions fully, and design materials that enhance students ability to use forms
accurately.
LEXICAL ASPECT
Verbs can be classified by the type of the act they denote. That is, a verb can be
classified based on answers to questions such as the following: Does the act have duration?
Does it have an end point? Does it involve change? The resulting properties, called semantic
features, make up the lexical aspect of verbs. The basic categories of English verbs from this
standpoint of lexical aspect are stative and dynamic.
Stative verbs describe states or situations rather than actions. States are continuous
and unchanging and can be emotional, physical, or cognitive. They have the following
characteristics, which can serve as tests for stative verbs:
The states expressed are continuous and unchanging while they last, which usually is
for a long or indefinite time.
They do not have an end point. Verbs expressing something that has no end point are
referred to as atelic verbs.
Thus, stative verbs occur with start and stop but not with finish (Alex stopped loving
Susan but not *Alex finished loving Susan).
It is possible to ask the question How long have/has ? (e.g. How long have you
known him?)
They do not normally occur in progressive aspect forms. (*She is having a car.)
They cannot occur with most manner adverbs (*She understood methodically).
They usually cannot occur in pseudocleft sentences (*What John did was resemble
his brother).
Dynamic verbs
Stative verbs contrast with dynamic verbs verbs that require some input of action by
the subject. Dynamic verbs can be further classified in terms of their lexical aspect features

into three subcategories - activity verbs, achievement verbs, accomplishment verb - each with
its characteristics, or tests.
ACTIVITY VERBS
Activity verbs, which include develop, grow, sit, work, are dynamic verbs with the
following characteristics:
The actions they can express can go on for a potentially indefinite period of time.

Like stative verbs, they are atelic, lacking an end point. The actions are constant
(e.g. run, swim, walk, observe) or involve an inherent change (e.g. decline, develop,
grow)
He is walking around the park.
This plant is really growing fast.
It is possible to ask the question How long did? (e.g. How long did you work?)

Activity verbs can occur in the progressive aspect.

ACHIEVEMENT VERBS
Achievements verbs describe an action that occurs instantaneously either punctually
(e.g. bounce, faint, hit, kick) or as a change of state (e.g. find a solution). Change of state
actions involve a preliminary activity that is terminated by the achievement verb.
He bounced the ball several times. (punctual)
I crossed the finish line. (change of state)
With punctual verbs, progressive aspect form is understood as meaning repeated
(rather than ongoing) action. For example: He is kicking the tires.
With change of state verbs, progressive aspect may or may not be possible, depending
on whether the activity leading up to the achievement is treated as being the same activity, for
example, My plane is arriving at noon, but not *He is recognizing the thief.
Other characteristics of achievement verbs include the following:
Achievements verbs are telic verbs. In contrast to stative and activity verbs,
they do have an end point. This is obviously true whether the verbs are
instantaneous or change of state.
They usually cannot occur with start or stop (e.g. *He started catching the
cat, *He stopped recognizing the thief).
With these verbs, it is possible to ask the question At what time did..? (e.g. At
what time did he faint?) or How long did it take to? (e.g. How long did it
take to find a solution?).
ACCOMPLISHMENT VERBS
Accomplishment verbs terminate in an end point that is logical in terms of their
action, as in the case, for example, with build (a house) or paint (a picture).
I wrote a book about foreign language teaching.
Examples of accomplishment verbs include: build, draw, attend, make, paint, recover
(from an illness), solve and write. Accomplishment verbs are telic verbs. Other characteristics
of accomplishment verbs include:

Since their actions goes on for a certain amount of time and ends with
completion, with accomplishment verbs it is possible to ask the question How
long did it take to?

With these verbs, the subject performs the action of the verb in a certain
amount of time, not for a certain amount of time (He painted his room in less
than three days, not * He painted his room for less than three days).

The activity expressed by an accomplishment verb can occur with start, stop
and finish. However, with these verbs, stopping and finishing are different, and
if the action is stopped, the accomplishment does not occur. (For example, if a
person stops painting a picture, then, of course it isnt finished, and the action
has therefore not been accomplished.

Ron Cowan7 (2008: 353) has argued that it is possible for some verbs to express more
than one type of meaning. There are two reasons for this:
First, some verbs can be seen as belonging to two semantic classes. For example,
know, see, and understand are basically stative verbs, since they denote conditions that do not
change (e.g. I see poorly = I have poor vision). However, they can also express a dynamic
event that occurs instantaneously, i.e. I see a parking spot over there. In this case, they are
achievement verbs.
Second, certain verbs will express a different meaning when constituents are added to
the sentence they appear in. Activity verbs, for example, can express accomplishments. Thus,
run is an activity verb in the sentence She ran, but if the prepositional phrase to the
schoolyard is added, it expresses an accomplishment. Only some prepositional phrases will
have this effect. (She ran through the schoolyard/in the schoolyard is still an activity.)
The addition of an object NP (noun phrase) after an activity verb like recite creates the
context for an accomplishment.
I recited is an activity, but I recited a poem is an accomplishment.
The grammatical features of the noun countable or uncountable, singular or plural can
also play a role. With uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns we are dealing with an
activity (e.g. She sang pop music/songs). With singular or plural countable nouns preceded by
articles or numbers, we have an accomplishment (e.g. She sang a song/two songs).
1.4. Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Time
English has only two tenses of the verb: PRESENT and PAST (if tense is defined as
being shown by a verb inflection). If we exclude the verb BE for a moment, the past tense
may be realized through either regular suffixation:
We walked to school. (walk)
or other irregular vowels and consonant changes:
We saw the principal. (see)
The present tense is explicitly marked in the case of third person singular
subject nouns: He walks to school.
7

Cowan, Ron (2008) The Teachers Grammar of English A Course Book and Reference Guide, Cambridge
University Press.

or expressed implicitly with a lack of marking for all the other subjects:
I/You/They/We walk to school.
From a structural point of view, English has no Future Tense, since future time
is expressed using auxiliary verbs or adverbs of time in combination with the present
tense instead of grammatical future tense (i.e. an inflected form of the verb).
The verb be is more highly inflected than other verbs in English and can
express the present through three forms: am, is, are and the past through two forms:
was, were.
Angela Downing and Philip Locke8 point out that English has no verbal inflection to
mark a future tense. The forms shall and will are not verbal inflections but modal
auxiliaries which, when reduced, are attached to pronouns, not to the verb root (Ill wait
outside). Also important are the formmeaning relationships. Shall and will belong to a
set of modal auxiliaries and can express meanings other than reference to future time.
Instead of a future tense, English makes use of a number of combinations such as be
going to to refer to future events. Compare:
I do the shopping on Sundays. (present tense)
I did the shopping on Sunday. (past tense)
I am going to do/ will do the shopping on Sunday. (lexical auxiliary/ modal)
In general, as these examples illustrate, past and present events are taken to have the
status of real events, while references to the future are to potential, that is unreal, events. In
English, therefore, the three-term semantic distinction into past, present and future time is
grammaticalised as a two-term tense distinction between Past tense and Present tense.
Besides tensed forms of verbs, other linguistic forms, particularly adverbs of time
such as now, then, tomorrow, and lexico-grammatical expressions such as ten minutes after
the plane took off can make reference to time. English, in fact, relies to a considerable extent
on such units to make the temporal reference clear.
The Past tense in English is the marked form. Cognitively, the situations
conceptualized by the speaker as past have the status of known, but not immediate, reality;
they are not currently observed. Morphologically, the vast majority of verbs in English have a
distinctive past form, (played, saw) and, semantically, the past tense basically refers to a
situation that is prior to the present, as in Yesterday was fine.
The Present tense is the unmarked tense. Cognitively, it expresses situations which
have immediate reality, that is, what is currently observed. Morphologically, it is marked only
on the 3rd person singular (with the exception of be, which has three forms (am, are and is).
Semantically, it covers a wider range of temporal references than the Past tense, including
reference to future time (e.g. Tomorrow is a holiday).
8

Downing, Angela & Locke Philip (2006) Engish Grammar A University Course, 2 nd edition, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London & Ney York.

However, the language teacher must be concerned with meaning as well as form. The
meaning of tenses entails a language-specific way of dealing with time and the relationship of
events and interlocutors to time. Because tense systems are language-specific, it is not
surprising that ESL/EFL learners have a great deal of difficulty mastering the English tenseaspect system.
1.5. Tenses in English Language Teaching
Over the years English teachers and some traditional grammarians have blurred the
formal distinctions between time, tense, and aspect. Instead they have tended to refer to the
twelve traditional English tenses which we shall mention here because so many EFL
teaching materials and many reference grammars, too view the English tense system in this
way.
Ron Cowan9 remarks that: explanations in English language teaching textbooks are,
and traditionally have been, in terms of the unified phenomenon of verb tenses. Thus,
aspect is not discussed with much clarity, and lexical aspect is rarely mentioned at all.
Instead, the aspect terms progressive, or continuous, and perfect are combined with the three
times past, present and future to produce, along with each time on its own, the so-called
12 tenses of English:
1.

Simple Present
(She sings.)

Present Progressive
(She is singing.)

2.

Simple Past
(She sang.)
Simple Future
(She will sing.)
Present Perfect
(She has sung).
Past Perfect
(She had sung.)
Future Perfect
(She will have sung.)

Past Progressive
(She was singing.)
Future Progressive
(She will be singing.)
Present Perfect Progressive
(She has been singing.)
Past Perfect Progressive
(She had been singing.)
Future Perfect Progressive
(She will have been singing.)

3.
4.
5.
6.

Cowan, Ron, The Teachers Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press, pag. 356

CHAPTER 2: VERBAL MEANS OF EXPRESSING THE PAST IN ENGLISH

2.1. Past Time: Introduction

Past time is seen as time before the moment of speaking or writing, or as time around
a point before the moment of speaking.
References to past time are most typically indicated in the verb phrases through the
simple and progressive forms of the past tense.
Forms of the past tense
Form

Structure

Examples

PAST SIMPLE

past tense forms of lexical

verbs or of auxiliary do

I worked eight hours a day.

I didnt work eight hours a day.
Did you work eight hours a day?

PAST PROGRESSIVE

Past tense forms of be +

lexical verb in ing form

I was reading a newspaper when

my husband came.

The past tense is the most common way of referring to past time, but we should note
that past tense forms may also occasionally refer to present time, often for reasons of
politeness or indirectness, especially with verbs such as be, hope, look for, think, want,
wonder:
[on the phone to train timetable enquiries]
Actually I wanted to check if theres a twenty-five-past train.
[dry cleaners store: customer (B) is leaving a coat for cleaning]
A: Right. What was the name please?
B: Brown.
Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy10 state that be is not used in the past tense
form in this way to comment on the immediate situation:
[dinner guest to host, at the moment of tasting a dish fish]
10

Carter, Roland & McCarthy, Michael (2007) Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press.

A: This fish is delicious. (NOT: This fish was delicious.)

B: Thank you. Im glad you like it.
THE PERFECT FORMS (present perfect and past perfect, simple and progressive)
refer to events in time from a point in the past up to the moment of speaking/writing (present
perfect), or events in time from one point in the past up to another, later, point in the past
(past perfect).
Forms of the present perfect and past perfect
Form
PRESENT PERFECT
SIMPLE

Structure

Examples

present tense forms of have +

past participle (we form the
past participle of regular
verbs by adding ed to the
verb; e.g. work - worked)

I have read the book.

She has read the book.
I havent worked hard.
Has she worked hard?

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

past tense forms of have +

I had read the book.

past participle

She had worked hard.

PRESENT PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE

present tense forms of have +

I have been working hard.

PAST PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE

past tense forms of have +

been + lexical verb in ing He/She/It/One has been

form
working hard.

been + lexical verb in ing

form

I/you/he/she/it/we/they had
been working hard.

SIMPLE PRESENT and PRESENT PROGRESSIVE may also be used in reference to

past time. Collins Cobuid11 comments on these less common uses of the present tenses in the
following way: Stories are normally told using past tenses. However, if you want to make a
story seem vivid, as if it were happening now, you can use present tenses, the simple present
for actions and states and the present continuous for situations.
e.g. Theres a loud explosion behind us. Then I hear Chris giggling. Sylvia is upset.
He pulls the van into the decrepit terrace. He packs and hurries indoors.
11

Cobuild, Collins (2004) English Grammar, Harper Collins Publishers, London, pag. 257.

Chris is crying hard and others look over from the other tables.
He sits down at his desk chair, reaches for the telephone and dials a number.
Modal WOULD and semi-modal USED TO are also used for past time reference. We
use used to + infinitive to refer to past habits or states. In such cases, used to can be
replaced by the past simple with no difference in meaning.
e.g. They used to travel/travelled a lot when they were younger. (They dont any
more).
It is to be noted that we use the past simple, and not used to, in the following cases:
a) to refer to an action which happened at a definite time in the past.
e.g. I drove to work yesterday. (NOT: I used to drive to work yesterday.)
b) To say how many times an action happened at a definite time in the past.
e.g. I went to the cinema four times last month. (NOT: I used to go to the cinema
four times last month.)
We use would/used to for repeated actions or routines in the past.
e.g. We would/used to eat out on Sundays.
We do not use would with state verbs.
e.g. They used to live in London. (NOT: They would live in London. - state)
e.g. I used to have a pet dog. (NOT: They would have a pet dog.)

2.2. The Past Simple