TENSE AND TENSE SEQUENCES IN ENGLISH
Introduction
In this chapter, we will consider the notion of tense in English in relation to the phenomenon of time and then show the verb forms that reflect these changes in English. Examples and illustrations that will make the topic interesting to the learner and exercises that will be structured in line with the application of some rules or the sense denoted in such structures.
Time and Tense
Time is an abstract and a concept with which all humankind is familiar. The word ‘tense’ stands for a verb form. It is something independent of language. These forms of tenses vary in different languages. Tenses are used to indicate whether an action or activity or state is past, present, or future. Tenses may also indicate whether the state is past, present, or future. Tenses may also indicate whether the state is simple or complete, or whether it is, was, or will be in progress over a period of time.
English verbs have only two simple tenses: the Simple Present, e.g., write/writes, do/does, give/gives, etc., and Simple Past, e.g., wrote, did, gave, etc. However, this simple present and past tense are used to express past, present, and future time. Consider these questions and answers:
- A: How does Joseph earn his living?
- B: He sells books.
The verb sells is a simple present tense. But this verb describes Joseph’s activities in the present, past, and possibly in the future. He sold books last year; he is selling books now, and may still sell books in the future. Let us consider another sentence:
- The plane leaves Ibadan Airport at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
The verb leaves is a simple present tense. It is used to express an action that is yet to take place but which will take place in the future. In general, statements of what was true in past time, is true now, and is likely to be true in the future are all expressed with the simple present tense, for example:
- The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
- Birds fly, while snails crawl.
- The River Nile rises in Central Africa.
- The earth moves round the sun.
- Twice two is four.
Let us now briefly examine the basic tense types in English. For any avoidance of doubt and for advanced study of the English language, English has just two tenses: present and past (Downing & Locke, 2006). This is because all other tense descriptions, especially as recognized in traditional grammar, can be located within the two. It should be pointed out emphatically that English has no verbal inflection to mark a future tense. In the words of Downing & Locke (2006: 353):
“The forms shall and will are not verbal inflections but modal auxiliaries which, when reduced, are attached to pronouns, not to the verb root (I’ll wait outside). Also important are the form-meaning relationships. Shall and will belong to a set of modal auxiliaries and can express meanings other than reference to future time.”
However, for our present purposes, we will present a brief discussion of tense types on these three headings: the present, the past, and how they combine in very interesting ways with the progressive and perfective aspects, which show whether or not an action is in progress or has been completed, respectively.
Present Tense Construction
English is a language in which there are two present tense constructions: the simple present tense, which denotes continuous and habitual actions, and the present continuous tense, which denotes an action happening now.
- I am working; it is raining.
- What is Victor doing? He’s tearing up the mail note on the table.
- I am reading a play by Soyinka. (i.e., I am reading a play at this time but not necessarily at the moment of speaking.)
- She is teaching French and learning Spanish. (i.e., She may not be reading at the moment or speaking Spanish, but she is studying.)
The first type is the simple present tense, which is mostly used to express habitual actions; for example:
- He/She/It moves round the field.
- Cats eat fish; some drink milk.
In “He writes,” what he “writes” might be anything from a poem, a letter to an essay, but he is now doing this; however, “He was writing” signifies an event or action that was ongoing. He was writing at this moment, or this was discussed but his writing means that he is no longer writing at this moment; the past is reduced to the residual time.
Past Tense Construction
There are two corresponding constructions in the past tense: the simple past, which indicates a simple past action or event, and past continuous (was doing/ writing; were discussing/ walking).
The Perfective Aspect
The perfective aspect construction in English relates state or event to a relevant time. In other words, the action or state might have taken place or come to be, but such actions are relevant to the time of speaking, in the case of present perfect tense. According to Downing & Locke (2006:362):
“[t]he present tense is a subtle retrospective aspect which views states or events as occurring in a time-frame leading up to speech time […]. The event is psychologically connected to the present […].”
Downing & Locke (2006) give the example below to illustrate the point made above:
- His marriage has broken down and he has gone to live in another part of England.
In the example above, has broken and has gone express present perfect tense. On the other hand, has collected, has eaten, and has gone describe actions that have occurred in the past but are completed with HAVE: past, and thus essentially, the present perfect is produced by two forms of the verb auxiliary: with HAVE, plus a past participle. Also, the perfective aspect tense relates to a definite time of the event to refer to a definite moment of occurrence of the event. For example:
- We have collected our money.
- It has eaten the food.
In the examples above, it is either that the exact time of the events was not necessary for the complete realization of the message being put across, or that the speaker does not wish to mention the time. This is different from the definite time used for the past tense:
- We collected our money an hour ago.
- We ate in the morning.
On the other hand, the past perfect tense describes actions taking place before a certain time in the past (putting emphasis only on the fact, not the duration):
- Before I came here, I had spoken to Jack.
Past perfect tense is introduced by the past tense form of the verb HAVE: had. The past perfect is used to refer to events or actions preceded by a past tense. In other words, the event or action expressed with the past perfect had taken place and may no longer be relevant at the time of speaking.
- We had collected our money. (Probably the job has also been completed.)
- It had eaten the food. (It might probably be hungry already.)
Now that we have considered tense relations in English, it is expedient to consider temporal relationships. In the English language, when it comes to the reflection of sequences of events, a series of sentences expresses similar relationships within a given context.
Also Read
A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE ON PHRASES AND CLAUSES IN ENGLISH
THE ENGLISH SENTENCE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
