Chapter Five
Indicating When It Happened

introduction | grammar | pragmatics and discourse | reflections | grammar detective | teaching ideas |

Some Concepts. Grammar Focus. Tense and Aspect

Introduction.

    Before we look at how tense works in English, let’s test your grammatical intuitions in Awareness Activity (AA) 5.1. How do we talk about things that have already happened?

Awareness Activity 5.1. Talking about the past
    Suppose you were the second speaker in the following conversational snippets. Which verb form would you choose? (Don’t think about it too much.)

A. Speaker 1. : Let’s go see the new Matrix movie
    Speaker 2: Thanks, but I (saw) (‘ve seen) it already.

B. Speaker 1: Let’s go see the new Matrix movie
    Speaker 2: Thanks, but I (saw) (‘ve seen) it yesterday.

C. Speaker 1:  Barbara sure is hanging around a lot lately.
    Speaker 2: Yah, I (bumped) (‘ve bumped) into her several times this week.

D. Speaker 1:  Did you go dancing at the new club last night?
    Speaker 2:  Naw, I (was) (‘d been) there already. I wanted to go somewhere new.

E. Speaker 1:  Did you help John wax his car yesterday?
    Speaker 2: Yep, we were finished by ten. He sure (loved) (loves) that machine.


    In snippet A did you choose  ‘ve seen? The majority of native speakers of English do. The descriptive rule is that when a conversation focuses on present time events (Let’s go see), the verb uses forms based on the present tense. To indicate that something happened earlier (i.e. completed or “perfect”), use the present perfect rather than the past. However, in B with the definite past time word yesterday, native speakers choose the past tense form saw.

    Did you choose ‘ve bumped in snippet C? Notice that it follows the same descriptive rule. The conversation revolves around the present time (Barbara is hanging around), so it continues in the present using the present perfect (I’ve bumped) to indicate an action that happened earlier. Notice again that the present perfect is used rather than the past to talk about past actions.

    Notice in snippet D that speaker 1 used the past tense (did) because of the time word “last night.” Native speakers choose ‘d been for the second speaker to indicate that the speakers action had already happened. In other words, in order to decide which tense form to uses, you have to know more than whether or not the event has already happened. You also have to know the time frame of the conversation. If the discourse (written or spoken) is set in the present time, then earlier events are indicated through the present perfect unless a past time word is also given. If the time revolves around the past, the past perfect is used.

    In snippet E notice that speaker 1 uses the past tense (did) because of the time word “yesterday.” Speaker 2 continues in the past (were) because of the discourse rule we just looked at. Notice, however, that the meaning changes when it comes to choosing “loved” or “loves”. “Loved” implies that he no longer has the car because he crashed it or sold it. Maybe he even died. “Loves” indicates that he is still alive, he still has the car, and the feelings are still true. This is the second discourse rule to keep in mind when deciding which tense to use. If you want to indicate that something still is true or always is true, switch the time to the present until you finish making your “true” statements. In other words, tense forms are used in English not just to indicate the time something happened, but to indicate whether or not something is still true.

Grammar.

    To understand how tense works in English we first have to look at what linguists call tense and aspect. Tense indicates the time that the action of the verb took place in relationship to when the activity is being reported (e.g. now or the present tense, earlier or the past tense, or later or the future tense). Historically English has endings or vowel changes for only two tenses, present and past (He plays/he played. She swims/She swam.) but no future. This is a characteristic of all the Germanic languages (e.g. Danish, Dutch, English, German, Norwegian, Swedish.) If you have studied French of Spanish, you know that their verbs also have endings for the future. (e.g. Spanish hablo, hablé, hablaré I speak, I spoke, I will speak).

    In addition to marking the verb for tense, English may mark it for one of two aspects. Aspect is closely related to tense but rather than indicating when something happened, it emphasizes that the action is in progress or is happening or that it is completed. In the last chapter we saw that the ending that indicates the action of the verb is happening is –ing and that verbs with this ending are traditionally called present participles. Probably a better label would be action participles because as an aspect they are independent of the present tense. They can be used in the past (He was swimming). They can also be used as adjectives to indicate that the noun it modifies is causing or doing the action expressed in the adjective (The swimming dog, the falling tree, the embarrassing event). It can also be used as a noun to emphasize involvement in the action (Swimming is such fun. I stopped swimming.) When present participles are used as nouns, they are called gerunds. This –ing form with its associated meaning of being involved in the action is very common. It is the first verb ending that children learn.

    As we saw in the last chapter, the second ending is closely related to the past tense since it indicates that the action is over or completed. The verb when it has the –ed/-en ending is called the past participle. However, as with the label present participle, past participle is misleading since it too is independent of tense. It is commonly used with the present tense have (Have + Verb+-ed/-en) (I have seen him.). Another common frame is with be (Be + Verb + -ed/-en) (The garbage is picked up at noon. It is reported that...) to form the passive, indicating that the subject of the verb is not causing the action but receiving or experiencing it. In fact, for pedagogical purposes it might be useful to call this the passive participle to contrast it with action participle. This contrast can especially be seen when these two participles are used as adjectives. Contrast for example the bloodied nose with the bleeding nose. In the first something has happened to the nose and there is blood on it. In the second the blood is coming from the nose. Notice the same contrasts in the bored woman and the boring woman or the bruised wrestler and the bruising wrestler.

       No matter what we call these two participles, they combine with the present and past tense and with a form that has developed to indicate the future tense to form the twelve English tenses. Since these tenses are formed by combining words rather than by adding endings, they are called periphrastic tenses. Their names are based on the various combinations of tenses and aspects.

  The first four tenses are based on the present tense. The first, often called the present or the simple present since it does not include an aspect, was discussed in the last chapter. It is characterized by verb agreement with the third person singular. (Sharon makes bread every day.) The next, called the present perfect, is based on the frame Have +  Verb +-ed/-en, in other words the auxiliary verb “have” in the present tense followed by the past participle. (Sharon has made bread every day.) The third is the present progressive, based on the frame Be + Verb +-ing, in other words the auxiliary verb “be” in the present tense followed by the present participle. (Sharon is making bread every day.) The fourth of the present tenses is the present perfect progressive, which as the name indicates is based on the frame Have + Be + -ed/-en + Verb + -ing, in other words the auxiliary “have” in the present tense, “be” as a past participle followed by the verb in its present participle form. (Sharon has been making bread every day.)

     The four tenses based on the past are formed in similar ways. The past or simple past, since it has no aspect, was also discussed in the last chapter. (Sharon baked bread every day.) The past perfect is based on the same frame as the present perfect except the auxiliary have is in the past tense form. (Sharon had baked bread every day.) In a similar manner the past progressive (Sharon was baking bread every day) and the past perfect progressive tenses (Sharon had been baking bread every day) are formed.

    The future is not quite a straight forward. For most of the history of the English language, the future was formed simply by adding a future time word, such as “tomorrow” or “next Sunday,” to a sentence in the present tense. This is still possible, as in “Sharon bakes bread tomorrow.” The future, reflecting its new development, has different forms for the spoken and written language. In the written language, the most common future is formed by adding a “will” to the beginning of the frame that identifies the verb as in “Sharon will bake bread every day” “Will” or the contraction “’ll” can also be used in conversation, but there is another competing form commonly called the “gonna” or “going to” future, as in “Sharon is going to (gonna) bake bread every day.” This form doesn’t appear in writing except in a very conversational style that might be found in cartoons or in fiction. Another way to indicate the future is to use the progressive with a future time word, as in “Sharon is baking bread tomorrow” Grammar books, since they tend to focus on academic English, ignore all but the will form of the future. Thus they give the four tenses based on the future as the future, based on the frame Will + Verb (Sharon will bake bread every day.), the future perfect, based on the frame Will + have + Verb +-ed/-en (Sharon will have baked bread every day.), the future progressive, based on the frame Will + Be + Verb + -ing (Sharon will be baking bread every day.) and the future perfect progressive, based on the frame Will + Have + Be + -ed/-en + Verb + -ing (Sharon will have been baking bread every day.

    However, the difficulty with tenses comes not with knowing their names or even their forms but with deciding which one to use and when. There is no one-to-one correspondence between form and meaning in the verb phrase. Even the names of the tenses are misleading as to when they are to be used. One tense form can represent quite different meanings and similar meanings can be expressed by different tense forms. Take for example the present tense form. He eats there a lot can indicate an action that happened in the past and probably will happen in the future but may not be happening now. In jokes, the present tense can indicate actions that took place in the past (A priest, a pastor and a rabbi are stranded on a desert isle, the priest sees.....). We have already seen that the future can be represented four different ways. The answers for how to match tense forms to the messages we want to convey are found in looking a discourse and pragmatics.

Pragmatics and Discourse.

    Let’s look first at the present time frame since it predominates in conversation, in the news, and in academic writing. For pedagogical reasons it might be best to think of the simple present tense as the truth tense rather than as the tense that tells what is happening now. We use the present to state the facts. In fact mental verbs introducing our feelings of logic and our sense of right and wrong tend to be in the present (bet, differ, feel, imply, know, mean, mind, reckon, think, want). The facts being expresses might be such things as general conditions (The food is ready. Water freezes at 32 degrees. It rains in Spain mainly on the plain.) or habitual behavior (I shave in the morning. He mows the lawn himself.).  To indicate that a physical activity not only is true but is going on right now, the present progressive, sometimes called the conversational present, is used. (I’m shaving. We’re serving the food. It’s raining in Spain. He’s mowing the lawn.) As we saw in AA 3.1 to indicate that something has already happened, the present perfect is used (I’ve washed the dishes.). To indicate that this fact or condition will be true in the future, one of the future tense forms is used (It will rain in Spain. He’s going to mow the lawn. She washes the dishes tomorrow.) As we see, the discourse rule is that when we decide to focus on the indicating true conditions, we switch between these four tense forms depending on whether we are emphasizing what has happened already, is happening now, will happen in the future, or is a general condition.

    The past time frame is used to talk about things that happened in the past with no reference to whether or not it is still a true condition. Although the past time frame can be used in conversation, journalism, or academic writing, it is most common in fiction. In fact certain verbs tend to always be in the past, reflecting their use for reporting conversation in fiction (exclaim, remark, reply, say, whisper). Things that happened in the past are expressed using the simple past (The water froze. I shaved. She washed the dishes.). The past progressive indicates what was happening when another event expressed by the past tense occurred (I was shaving when the phone rang.) Events that happened earlier than the event expressed by the past tense are expressed through the past perfect (I had finished my work when the phone rang.) There isn’t really a future in the past. Things that have not yet happened are sometimes expressed with “would”, the past tense form of “will”  (I thought I would come with you.), with the implication that the event did not happen.

    The future time frame is much less frequently used, occurring mostly in promises or predictions. (We will eat when you arrive.) Notice that the future as a new tense form in English seldom occurs in subordinate clauses, clauses which begin with such words as when or if (If you do that, we will be happy). The future perfect indicates that something has already happened when the future event takes place (We will have finished the test by the time you get here.) In much the same way that the past progressive is used with the past tense, the future progressive indicates a future action that will be going on when another action, usually expressed in the present tense, occurs (We will be eating when you call.).

    Notice how these discourse principles govern the selection of tenses in the following paragraphs that might appear in a newspaper.

A. The Center for the Performing Arts plays host to two performers at opposite ends of the musical spectrum this week. First up is Bob McGrath from Sesame Street, who appears at the Center for one show Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. McGrath teaches children the joys of musical theatre and dance. Then classic rock and roller Little Richard explodes on the stage on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. The architect of rock ‘n’ roll performs his smash hits from the ‘50’s.

B. Toyota Motor Corp. rolled out the world’s first gasoline-electric hybrid car Tuesday. The car is only being sold in Japan. All major automakers, including Detroit’s Big Three, are working on some type of hybrid. Toyota has priced the Prius at about $17,700.

    Notice in passage A how only the present tense or the truth tense is used to indicate exactly what people can expect when they attend the show. Passage B starts out in the past because of the time word Tuesday then switches to the present time frame to report true facts that the reader can count on. The progressive is used to emphasize that the work is happening now. It closes with a present perfect to indicate the price has already been set.

    Passage C demonstrates another way that tenses can switch to indicate to the listener that what they are hearing is true. This is a story being told to some friends.

C. We were so scared. Suddenly I hear this sound behind me. I turn around and guess what I see—a bear.
    This is an example of what some call the historical present or the narrative present. Although the story starts out in the past, it switches to the present to indicate that this really happened. This is common in conversation when telling stories. You may have used it yourself in telling spooky stories around the campfire. It also is used in telling jokes.

    Politeness and tense. One of the basic principles of politeness is that we do not impose our ideas on others. One of the characteristics of the present tense is that it indicates that something is true. What do English speakers do if they want to be more gentle or subtle in their requests and statements?  There are two ways we want to look at now. One is to use past tense forms and the other is to use modals to indicate a stance.
As we saw in our look at the past tense, although the present tense imposes the truth of an event on the listener, the past tense does not. In fact, as we saw in the “future of the past” (I thought I would come.), there is an underlying assumption that what is being reported may not still be true. Notice how this use of past tense forms is less imposing or implies a negative in interpersonal relations in the following pairs.
 

A. Do you want a cup of coffee?
    Did you want cup of coffee?

B. Professor McHenry, I think I’ll ask a favor of you.
    Professor McHenry, I thought I’d ask a favor of you.

C. If you are prepared, you can solve a few of these problems.
    If you were prepared, you could solve a few of these problems.

    Another way to be more polite is to indicate a stance or a moderating opinion about the verb by using a modal auxiliary such as may, might, can, or could.  We’ll look at the modals in more detail in Chapter 5. Notice how the modals soften the certainty of the present tense in the following pairs.
D. The present tense indicates the truthfulness of a statement.
    The present tense may indicate the truthfulness of a statement.

E. The decision is final.
    The decision might be final.

    Notice that these modals do not fit in the tense system. Both the may with a present tense form and might with a past tense form give the same notion of indefiniteness or tentativeness. The same modals can be used to indicate a tentative stance for events in the past. In this case they are combined with the auxiliary Have + Verb + -ed/-en (The decision was final, The decision might have been final, The present tense indicated the truthfulness of a statement, The present tense may have indicated the truthfulness of a statement). Therefore when asked to name the tense of a sentence with modals, consider the sentence in the present time frame if the modal is not followed by the auxiliary have + Verb + -ed/-en and consider the time frame past if it is.

Reflections.

1. Why are the following concepts important for teachers or learners of English?

2. Name the tenses: Find the frame that surrounds the main verb in the sentences below (i.e. the verb and its auxiliary or helping verbs). Then look at the first word in the frame and name the tense. Then give the names of any aspects that follow (i.e. perfect or progressive).
  1. The baby has eaten all her food.
  2. My cat loves dog food.
  3. TicketMaster was selling tickets until 10 last night.
  4. They will have been swimming two hours by sundown.
  5. We’ll be there tomorrow.
  6. They had been working on it all night.
  7. I’m doing my homework.
  8. We will have seen the parade by then.
  9. The rat hid in the corner.
  10. They had made the best possible plan.
3. Tense in sporting events: Listen to the play by play announcing of an action packed sport such as football or basketball. What tense is used, the present or the present progressive? Do the announcers use the same tense when they are simply talking about the game rather than describing the actions?

4. Deciding on –ing or to. An –ing is added to a verb to indicate that action is going on or involvement in the action. To indicate that the actors or objects in a sentence are not yet involved in the action, a to may be added to a verb to create what is called an infinitive (literally, a verb without time). Look at the following lists of verbs. Using the frame I ____-ed go  check which of the following verbs can be followed by verbs with –ing, which by verbs with to, and which can be followed by either. Does the notion of involvement-noninvolvement  seem to apply?

Example:  want  I wanted to go,  enjoy I enjoyed going, stop I stopped smoking, I stopped to smoke.

refuse, hope, dislike, enjoy, promise, quit, recall, remember, expect


5. Present versus the Present Progressive. The present tense generally represents conditions that are considered true. The progressive may indicate an activity that may be true now but is only temporarily true. With this in mind which of the following indicates your are temporarily having bad luck and which indicates you are quite comfortable with your living situation?

  • I’m living with my parents.
  • I live with my parents.
6. Stative versus dynamic verbs. Stative verbs typically denote stable states of affair. The subjects of stative verbs may experience the action or mental condition of the verb but they do not control the outcome. Dynamic verbs denote actions or processes where the subject to some extent controls some sort of change or action. The difference shows up in the present time frame.  To indicate that something is not just a general truth but is happening now, the –ing may be added to dynamic verbs. Stative verbs use only the simple present in both cases. When the –ing is added to stative verbs, rather than indicating that the action is happening now, it indicates that something unusual is happening. Using this criteria, read through the following sets of sentences and based on the meaning decide which verbs seem to be stative and which dynamic. 7. Pragmatics and tense choice. Which tense would you probably use in the following situations? Do you sometimes have a choice of tenses? Does the choice have any effect on meaning? Grammar Detective 5. Tenses in Discourse
1. Find an article in the newspaper from either the front page or the sports section.

2. Cut it out and attach it to a sheet of paper.

3. Start from the beginning and count the words until you come to 100. Continue to the end of that sentence.

4. Mark and number the main verbs with their auxiliaries in the selected section.

5. At the bottom of the page or along the side of the paper next to the article list the verbs with their auxiliaries by number and give the name of their tenses.

6. Look at the first sentence and determine the time frame being established for the discourse (present, past, future)

7. Look at the next sentence. Does the tense selected revolve around the time frame established in the first sentence as expected? (i.e. for the present time frame--present perfect, present progressive, simple present, future. Past time frame--past perfect, past progressive, simple past. Future time frame--future, future perfect, future progressive) If the time frame changes, what triggers the change?

8. Continue through the article noting if the time frame is kept constant (e.g. in the present time frame the author uses perfect tense to indicate earlier time and changes the time frame to the past only when a definite time is indicated. Likewise, if the time frame is in the past the author changes to the present time frame only to indicate that the statement is a generalization that is still true.)

9. Bring your marked article to class and be prepared to discuss your findings.

10. How might this descriptive approach help students who are learning how to sequence tenses in their writing?

Teaching Ideas.

1. Daily Routines. Have the students write an outline of a typical Monday according to the hours of the day. Give the students a situation (e.g. You are reporting what you did last Monday. Today is Monday and it is noon. Today is Sunday and you are giving your plans for Monday) and have them report to a partner their activities using the appropriate tenses for the given situation.

2. Action Pictures. Collect pictures that show people doing actions. Demonstrate to the students how the activity goes. Show them a picture and then ask, “What are they doing?”  Students answer with sentences such as “They are swimming.” Then put the students into pairs, give each pair an action picture and have them do the same thing with each until they have used at least two action verbs apiece. Have them write the verbs they chose on a piece of paper. Collect the papers. Randomly read the verbs and have the pair whose picture represents those verbs show their picture and say an appropriate sentence with that verb.

3. Remember. Remember is a handy verb for interpersonal language. However, it can be followed by both the –ing form and the to form of the verb depending on what is meant. The first indicates that an earlier action was remembered. The second indicates that the remembering resulting in a subsequent action. (I remember swimming in the lake when I was a boy. Yesterday I remembered to swim in the lake.)  Make a list of routine activities (lock the car, buy milk, do homework, brush teeth) on flash cards. Create situations when the to version and the –ing version would be appropriate with remember.  For example, checking up on someone: Did you remember to brush your teeth? or reminiscing Do you remember doing your homework in high school? Give one of those situations to the class, show them a flash card and have them create an appropriate sentence adding any appropriate words they wish.