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Part 3: Tense and aspect


4. Tense as a verbal category in English

4.O. Overview of tense system: primary tenses

4.O.1. Tense vs time English verbs as a word class characteristically display a number of grammatical categories more or less specific for verbs. The most important of these categories are tense, aspect, mood and voice. They interact in many interesting ways and this will be the subject matter of the remaining chapters. Categories such as number and person, also appear on verbs, but are considerably less important. All of these categories are in fact systems of oppositions, with exponents functioning as formal indicators of grammatical concepts. Tense system, the first of these systems to be described below, comprises a given number of tenses, or tense forms, whose function is to link the time of an event or situation that the speaker refers to and the moment of communication. In other words, the primary function of tenses is to express time reference. There is a considerable amount of confusion surrounding both theoretical and descriptive issues concerning tense systems, in general, and in English. Part of this is due to the unfortunate fact that the very terminology used to discuss tenses is ambiguous. English linguistics is in a fortunate position since at least there are two distinct terms at the most general level, viz. tense and time. In some other languages the two are referred to by the same term, e.g. in Croatian vrijeme corresponds to both tense and time (of course, it can be premodified by glagolsko); in Latin there is tempus. The terms tense and time must not be confused. The word time stands for a concept independent of language. In most cultures, time is metaphorically experienced as something that is spatial in its nature, i.e. as a time line or axis, or, dynamically, as something that moves along this time line or axis. Time is a non-linguistic concept with three nearly universal divisions: past, present and future. (1) ______________________________________________________ past time present time now future time

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The past is in most cultures seen metaphorically as behind the present moment, the future is considered to be ahead of us. The present moment is the reference point from which judgements are made on whether something is in the past or not. The term tense, on the other hand, stands for a verb form, or a series of verb forms making up the core of a verb phrase, indicating a time relation. In other words, by tense we understand the correspondence between the form of a verb and our concept of time. Tenses are in a manner of speaking frames we impose or project onto time, or reality in a wider sense, which would otherwise be continuous for us. Languages may carve up the time continuum by means of a tense system in a number of different ways. The correspondence between tense and time is far from being perfect. This imperfect match may manifest itself in a number of ways. First of all, the number of tenses in a given system need not coincide with the number of concepts relevant in the subdivision of time. This is, for example, exemplified by the existence of a large number of tense forms in many languages, Croatian among them, clearly exceeding the threefold division of time in conceptual terms. But a language may have a fewer number of tenses as well. In this and the following chapters we shall demonstrate that English may plausibly be described as having only two tenses. We shall first turn to the issue of the absence of a future tense in English. Note that formally we can distinguish between simple and complex verb phrases in English. Those verb phrases that consist of two or more verbs have been said to be complex. Future time reference can be achieved by means of a whole variety of constructions, all of which but one are complex verb phrases. Discounting for the present simple tense that can be used for future time reference as well, we have various complexes consisting of one or more auxiliaries (or semi-auxiliaries) followed by an appropriate form of the main verb. Cf. some examples: (2) a. I shall/will come. b. Peter is going to revenge us. c. We are leaving tonight. d. Shell be wearing a blue coat and a white scarf.

It is telling that most of these have other functions as well, i.e. most of these are not used exclusively for the future time reference. Auxiliaries in (1) a. can be claimed to have their specific modal meanings of willingness, insistence, prediction, etc. It stands to reason to assume that all statements about future are based on speakers beliefs, predictions or intentions, and cannot be considered factual, such as statements about the past, or present. So it appears that we have an example here of simultaneous expression of time reference and modality by means of analytic (or periphrastic) constructions consisting of more than one word (or more than one verb). Tense forms belonging to simple tensed VPs are the present tense and the past tense. They consist of only one verb form, base + ending (, -s or -ed). What happens here in terms of the expression of time reference is that the stem, or the base form, of the verb gets modified in a certain way. More precisely, the formal exponents used to express

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time reference here synthetically are morphological entities called suffixes. The inflected forms of verbs are thus polymorphemic structures but still single words. These two tenses are also called primary or absolute tenses. In fact, the term tense could be reserved for such inflected forms, but not applied to cover the whole of the Present Perfect, the Past Perfect, etc. Besides these, the traditional grammar holds that there are secondary tenses. They indicate that a situation is brought into relation with some other situation or action. Formally, this is reflected in their complexity of the VP. They consist of several verb forms: e.g. the so-called Present Perfect Tense = to have as an operator auxiliary + -en form or past participle of the main verb. Such complex constructions are also called relative tenses. The complexity of VPs naturally increases when tense is combined with aspect and/or voice. Note that the very name of complex constructions such as the Present Perfect or the Past Perfect indicates that they are combinations of the present and the past tense with other verbal categories, viz. aspect. The mismatch between tense and time is also manifest in the use of tenses outside their default time reference. The present tense, as will be demonstrated below, is also used to refer to both the past and future time, as well as to refer to situations that are in fact atemporal. A similar observation could be made for the past tense, too. Combinations of tense and aspect, e.g. the present progressive, the present perfect, etc. can also be used outside their default time reference. As an interim conclusion, we can say that regardless of whether we take a conservative or a liberal stand concerning the number of tenses in English, i.e. regardless of whether we recognize only two tenses or more than two, the number of traditional divisions of time and the number of tenses do not match. If we recognize the future tense, then we would have to admit all the other constructions, i.e. the present progressive, the present perfect, the past perfect, etc. This mismatch is partly due to the fact that the content side of this grammatical category, the set of grammatical concepts in terms of which the time reference takes place in English is slightly but importantly different from the set of time concepts in the folk model of time that we use in everyday situations. The conceptualization of time in grammar is in a sense somewhat more intricate, but in another sense it is simpler. This difference in the complexity of the two conceptual sets largely goes unnoticed in everyday communication. The philosophical model of time (but to a degree some folk models of time as well) relates all situations (i.e. events and states) to a universal point of time reference which is in the present, and places them in one of the three compartments, the past, the future, or in the present, in case the event is simultaneous with the point of reference. The universal reference point is always in the present. In other words, there are always just two points necessary to determine whether we talk about past, present or future, the event time and the present point in time as the point of orientation or reference time. The grammatical conceptualization of time in English on the other hand, can do with just two divisions, past and nonpast, but this is made possible by the fact that the reference point is not necessarily the same as the moment of communication (also called, the speech time, or the time of utterance), i.e. it is not necessarily identical with the present moment. The English tense system thus makes use of at least three points in

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time: the situation time, the time of communication (or the speech time) and the reference time (or the point of orientation). The label time, or point in time should in certain cases be understood to refer to periods of time, particularly when we talk about situation time. This is most obviously necessary when we refer to the time of situation that is a state or process, but the reference time may also be a period of time. The time of communication, or the speech time is usually simultaneous with the present moment of the physical world, and normally a point in time. The reference time can be either in the past, or in the non-past (i.e. the present or the future) with respect to the time of communication, or simultaneous with it. If it is in the past relative to the speech time, it is anterior to it. If it is in the non-past relative to the speech time, but not simultaneous with it, the reference time is posterior to the speech time. The situation time can precede the reference time point (be anterior to it), or follow it (be posterior to it), or be simultaneous with it. The reference time is the time helping to locate a situation in time. It is thus time pointed from or referred from. It is established by the context or by the formal oppositions actually expressed on the verb phrase. The reference time can be explicitly mentioned by means of a time adverbial (e.g. yesterday, today, ten years ago, on Tuesday, etc.). In that case, it is in fact time referred to. The time referred to and the time referred from may be simultaneous, but may be different. This means that we may have a single reference point, or more than one. After all, more than one time adverbial is possible in a sentence, and therefore we can have more than one time referred to. Complex combinations of tense and aspect, may also require more than one time referred from. The various possibilities can be illustrated diagrammatically as follows below. The pictogram symbolizes the time referred from, i.e. the time of orientation from which a situation is viewed, while stands for the time referred to by means of time adverbials. The pictogram stands for the speech time, and denotes the situation in general. When discussing individual uses of tense forms and their combinations with aspect, we shall use various symbols to represent different types of situations. (3) a. Nick is in the kitchen with our guests.

________________________________________ now b. Yesterday Jenny wrote some letters.

_________________________________________ yesterday now c. Mary had gone before we arrived.

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_________________________________________ now In (3) c. the event of our arrival is referred to in a temporal adverbial (which happens to be a temporal clause). It is therefore marked by the upper . This time, which is referred to by means of the past tense, is anterior to the present moment. This present moment is simultaneous with the speech time, and is also the moment of orientation relative to which the event of our arrival is anterior. This adverbial clause establishes the time of orientation for the event mentioned in the main clause: Marys leaving. This event is anterior to this second reference point. The event of Marys leaving is referred to by means of the combination of the past tense and the perfective aspect, and this tense establishes the second time referred to. This set of at least three points in time (including the time of communication), i.e. the speech time, the situation time, and at least one or more reference points in time, coupled with a distinction in terms of situation structure (state, and events such as processes, activities/actions) is capable of accounting for a whole range of meanings (or uses) of simple and complex verb phrases, combining tense, aspect and modality. Before we actually start describing various uses and meanings of the two tenses and their combinations with aspects, it is advisable to devote some time to a basic situation typology distinguishing first states from events, and then making finer subdistinctions that appear to be necessary later in the course of the above mentioned descriptive procedure. Our discussion of the English tense system follows below with the two primary ones, the present tense and the past tense. We shall first consider their normal temporal uses, and then consider their special uses, where they are used outside their default time reference.

4.O.2. Basic types of situations: states vs events In Chapter 2, we said that verbs denote certain phenomena existing in time. Unfortunately, there is no single generic term for such verb-denoted phenomena, except the rather vague label situation types. In all languages verbs denote either events or states. In addition to terms such as states and events, grammarians have also operated with notions such as actions, processes', activities, etc. It therefore appears advisable to clarify these before we embark on analyses of the tense, aspect and modality systems.

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The fact that verbs denote either events or states, means that they can be used in two ways: in a dynamic or in a stative way. Most verbs in English are inherently dynamic, i.e. they normally denote events. Only a fraction of English verbs can be considered inherently stative, since they denote a state. There is a third class of verbs that are inherently neither dynamic nor stative, but can be either, according to the context in which they appear, e.g. think. Events can be either actions or processes. The former involves an animate entity that is semantically an agent and functions syntactically as the subject of the clause: (4) I wash my hands before eating. Wash is here an action and I is agentive subject. Process verbs such as grow or fall in (5-6) involve either an animate or inanimate entity as its subject: (5) (6) a. He has grown a lot last summer. b. Footballs popularity continues to grow. a. He fell onto the floor. b. The pen fell from his hand.

States, i.e. non-developing situations, can similarly be further subcategorized as mental states or relational states. The former require an animate entity as their experiencer subject, the latter can have either animate or inanimate subjects: (7) (8) a. He knows me well. b. John thinks that we are honest. a. Peter resembles his mother. b. This painting resembles that one.

Event verbs, i.e. actions and processes can be further subdivided into a number of finer classes such as activities, postures, transitions and accomplishments, or instantaneous verbs. All of these come as actions or as processes. Hit is, for example, an instantaneous action, whereas bounce is an instantaneous process. Distinctions such as these will be shown in the following chapters to be relevant to the choices that can be made in the English tense-aspect system.

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4.O.3. Present Simple Tense Our discussion of the default uses of the present simple tense will open with its most frequent use, the neutral or all-inclusive present (or, as it is also called, general, state, unrestricted, or timeless present). It will be followed by two uses in which primarily it occurs with event verbs, and where it sharply contrasts with the progressive. We turn first to the so-called iterative present, and then to the use of the present tense to refer to the actual present. In other words, we start from the use of the present tense referring to the most general (and conversely, the least referential and least actual) situations and proceed towards the uses in which it denotes most referential, actual situations. The exact meaning conveyed by the present tense in all the three cases depends on the situation type denoted by the verb. We shall then take a look at the present tense with past and future time reference.

4.O.3.1. Neutral or all-inclusive present (general, state, unrestricted, timeless) With stative verbs and stative verb senses of event verbs, the present is used in an almost atemporal sense, i.e. without reference to any specific point in or period of time. This is why it is sometimes called timeless present. But we could also say that it is not only that no particular moment or period of time is meant but also that no particular situation is meant with event verbs. Therefore the term neutral present appears to be more appropriate. This use of the present simple tense can therefore be schematically represented as follows: (9)

________________________________________ now The verb form used (i.e. the fact that it is the non-past member in a two-tense system), nevertheless, makes explicit reference to the present time, and thus establishes a point of reference which is simultaneous with the speech time. We can say that we have here an instantiation of a part-for-whole relationship, specifically, present-for-alltime metonymy. For an overview of such metonymic and metaphoric extensions operating in the tense system of English as well as in the apparatus invoked to describe it, see 4.T.1. below. The other two labels that appear enclosed in brackets above can also be shown to be somewhat of a misnomer. It is not only verbs denoting states that can be used in an allinclusive sense. Since there are also some event verbs that receive a general or allinclusive interpretation in the present tense in certain contexts, we could distinguish two

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subtypes of general or all-inclusive present: general state and general characteristic event. (10) a. b. c. d. e. Two and two make four. A molecule of water has two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Honesty is the best policy. His parents live abroad. Dogs make better pets than cats.

(11) a. This bucket leaks. b. The book reads well. c. Julia speaks English fluently. d. She sings beautifully. e. Their parents work abroad. f. Horses neigh, and pigs grunt. g. War solves no problems. Note that no specific events are meant in any of the examples in (11). Thus, examples (11) a.-d. make statements about the general quality, capacity or ability of their subjects, the bucket having a hole and therefore being likely to leak if water is put into it, the book is interesting and/or well-written and therefore it is easy to read, etc., so that the difference between states and events practically disappears. It is obvious from some of the above examples that this element of generality makes the present tense suitable for the expression of eternal truths. The fact that it occurs in scientific (geographical, mathematical, physical, etc.) generalizations and formulations of laws/regularities as well as in other statements made "for all time", including proverbs, explains why this is probably the most frequent use of the present simple tense. Consider some more examples of scientific statements and proverbs: (12) a. Hydrogen is the lightest element. b. The Sava is Croatias longest river. c. The earth rotates around the sun. (13) a. A stitch in time saves nine. b. Too many cooks spoil the broth. The general present simple is often called unrestricted because it is claimed to place no limitation on the extension of the state into past and future time. In other words, it implicitly includes past and future as well although only the present is explicitly expressed. However, a limitation may be imposed by adverbials or some other clause elements. (14) a. His parents live abroad at present. b. Honesty is the best policy these days. We also note that this use of the present simple tense extends to other cases where we know that states referred to are of limited span (especially when subjects are human

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mortals as is the case below), but are relatively stable (in some of the examples we have life-long states), at least stable enough to be viewed upon in the same way as the above all-inclusive states: (15) a. Dorothy is clever/short. b. Everyone likes Joan. c. Mary doesnt believe in hard work. d. Every student in my class knows several languages. e. She lives in Osijek.

4.O.3.2. Habitual present. The present simple tense is quite often used for iterative or recurrent situations, repeated at certain intervals. This iterative use seems to be confined to dynamic event verbs, activities and processes. The iterative present represents a whole series of individual events, repeated over the period in question, as making up a generalized state. These individual events may last for some time, but they clearly have a beginning and an end, unlike the situations described above when we discussed the neutral present, which were almost endlessly protracted situations with no implication of any endpoints. We may again distinguish two subtypes of situations with the iterative present. There are habitual iterative actions, where we have a series of events that really took place, or more general potentially iterative situations that are also called inductive generalizations. The latter subtype, illustrated in examples in (17), is clearly similar to the all-inclusive states: (16) a. He walks to work. b. I get up at seven oclock. c. I buy my shirts at Harrods. d. We go to the seaside every year. e. Bill drinks heavily. (17) a. Water boils at 100 centigrades. b. The litmus paper turns red in an acid and blue in an alkali. c. Oil floats on water. d. He who hesitates is lost. These can be schematically represented as follows below. Shaded areas are meant to express the fact that these situations, taken cumulatively, can be seen to make up a sort of generalized state. The series of points and circles represent repeated individual events, the blackness of points, viz. the blankness of circles, represent the actuality and potentiality of the events, respectively. The points and circles continue beyond the present point of time indicating that these situations may continue into the future as well.

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(18) a.

now b. ______

now Notice that inductive generalizations, unlike straightforward habitual iterative situations, can also be expressed by means of will: (19) a. The litmus paper will turn red in an acid and blue in an alkali. b. Oil will float on water. To emphasize the element of repetition adverbial expressions of frequency are often added (generally, often, sometimes, rarely, most days, combinations with every like every day, etc.): (20) a. James often makes very stupid mistakes. b. He commutes to work every day. Note that many of these frequency adverbials are decidedly odd when verbs refer to inductive generalizations, i.e. potentially iterative situations: (21) a. *Water boils at 100 centigrades most days/often. b. *The litmus paper often/sometimes/every day turns red in an acid and blue in an alkali. They rather imply adverbials expressing the idea of general potentiality: (22) a. Water always boils when heated to 100 centigrades. b. The litmus paper turns red when/if dipped in an acid and blue in when/if dipped in an alkali. c. Every time someone hesitates he is lost. Without frequency adverbials, sentences with verbs in the present simple tense may be contextually incomplete/ambiguous:

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(23) a. We go to the seaside. (tomorrow or often?) b. She sings. (often or she can sing?) Without frequency adverbials, such a sentence may sometimes be ambiguous between instantaneous and habitual present. In the following set of examples the plural object in (24) c. helps to resolve the indeterminacy: (24) a. He scores a goal every Saturday. b. He scores a goal. (now report of an instantaneous actual event) c. He scores goals. (habitual)

4.O.3.3. The present simple tense referring to actual present situations This use of the present simple tense reference to the actual present, occurs with: i. certain classes of stative verbs, and ii. with some dynamic verbs referring to events that inherently do not have duration or can be seen as having hardly any duration (so called momentary verbs, performative verbs, etc.), which require certain well-defined types of contexts. The present simple tense denotes here a situation simultaneous with the present moment of communication and with the present reference time. The simultaneity is here not just meant to imply that these situations overlap with the present moment, i.e. include it within their time-span. The present moment of communication and the situation time are in fact seen as being co-temporaneous. In other words, the situations are presented as lasting not longer than the moment of communication: (25)

________________________________________ now Actual state

As indicated in 4.O.2., most stative verbs cannot be used in the progressive aspect to refer to a present actual situation obtaining at the moment of communication. Instead, they are used in the present simple aspect to refer to such situations: (26) a. Nick is in the kitchen with our guests. b. I smell something nice here. c. I hear a piano playing. d. I see stars. e. I dont quite understand you. Some of the above examples, (26) b-e, can be rephrased using the can of ability:

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(27) b. I can smell something nice here. c. I can hear a piano playing. d. I can see stars. e. I cant quite understand you. The difference, according to some grammarians, is that the examples with the modal verb do not denote an actual state, i.e. act of perception, but rather a more general ability.

Instantaneous actual event

The present simple tense (so-called narrative present) when used with event verbs denotes an event that is seen as co-extensive with the present moment. Such an event is seen as instantaneous action happening so quickly that it is practically without duration. The fact that there is usually a quick succession of several events implies that each of them is perceived as a whole and as completed. This use of the present simple tense is rather dramatic because it insists on the totality of the event, it takes a holistic or synoptic view of it, and does not allow for any interim stages or phases to be discerned. For events clearly lasting for some time, the progressive is used. The fact that the event is simultaneous with the communication time makes it clear that in all these cases we have on-line reports of events. Of course, as will become clear from the examples that follow, it is in fact not quite true that the events reported take place exactly at the present moment. There is rather, objectively speaking, a short lag between the event and the report, but the overall dramatic effect of the present simple tense of shortening the situation by eliminating one dimension (length i.e. duration), is that subjective simultaneity is conventionally interpreted as being objective simultaneity. This use of the present simple tense is usually attested in the following contexts, and/or with the following specific classes of verbs: i. On-line reports and self-reports of activity verbs in: a. sports commentaries on the radio (where the events reported cannot be seen by the addressee): (28) a. Beckham turns, shoots and a fine save from Seaman. b. Higgins passes the ball to Smith, who heads it straight into the goal. c. He punches him again, right on the jaw. d. Jones bowls, and he just misses the wicket. b. commentaries of recipes, self-reports accompanying demonstrations and descriptions of experiments; stage directions, travelogues, manuals, descriptions of works of art, etc.:

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(29) a. Now we put the cake-mixture into the bowl and add some more flour. Then we leave it for a while. b. We mix this powder with water and wait a little for the reaction. c. Look, I take this card and put it into my pocket - so. d. In the middle of her speech, HOWARD WAGNER, thirty-six, wheels on a small typewriter table on which is a wire-recording machine and proceeds to plug it in. This is on the left forestage. Light slowly fades on LINDA as it rises on HOWARD. HOWARD is intent on threading the machine and only glances over his shoulder as WILLY appears. e. From Sutivan the road turns south and it runs some way from the coast. After five kilometres it passes above a narrow, deep wooded inlet on the western coast of Bra. f. To save the file again, you click on the floppy icon. g. The painting portrays Milton dictating Paradise Lost. At the table stand his two daughters. Note that in instructional type of texts, i.e. recipes (not commentaries of recipes) and manuals, imperative forms of verbs are even more frequent (which happen to be identical with the base form of the verb). With travelogues and manuals, we have a sort of imaginary present: the events described are not real, but it could be claimed that the speaker envisages them as happening now before his minds eye. ii. With performative verbs in some formal acts of declaration. The label performative means here that the speaker while uttering certain expressions, often parts of ceremonies, legally fixed formulae, etc., being a person in a certain position of power or authority, changes the status of some participants or objects that his utterance concerns. Through the very act of speech these are more or less affected, only temporarily or even permanently. This means that these are much more than on-line reports. Performative verbs themselves are lexical items by which the speaker names the communicative act which he carries out in interaction. The simple aspect of the present tense implies that the speech act is completed at the very moment of utterance, and that practical consequences ensue from that moment onwards. (30) a. I declare these Games open. b. I name this ship Queen Mary II. c. I sentence you to four years. d. I hereby resign. e. I vow that I will revenge this insult. f. I enclose the form to be filled out and returned immediately. Very similar to these are examples with reporting verbs: (31) I say we should repeat the whole thing at once. iii. In some exclamatory sentences beginning with adverbial here and there: (32) a. Here comes our train!

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b. There goes my lunch! c. There it goes!

4.O.3.4. The present simple without present time reference Present simple with future time reference

The present simple tense may have future time reference as well. This happens in both main clauses and some types of dependent clauses. It is used in main clauses with some verbs indicating motion and commencement to describe a predetermined, planned action and it is normally accompanied by an adverbial of time specifying the future point of time in question. (33) a. Examinations begin next week. b. Our plane departs at eight o'clock tomorrow evening. The present simple tense is frequently used for future time reference in temporal and conditional clauses to replace will/shall + infinitive: (34) a. Ill phone you when I arrive in London. b. Ill tell him about it, if he comes tomorrow. This use of the present simple in dependent clauses is discussed in some more detail in 7.T.2. below.

Present simple with past time reference

The present simple tense may also be used in reference to the past. When it refers to actual situations it is traditionally termed historic or dramatic present. The present simple can also be used to refer to imaginary events in the past. This latter use is called imaginary present. For more on the metaphoric extension of the present simple tense into the past time reference, see 4.T.1. below. The historic present occurs in a number of specific contexts. Most prominently, it is used in narratives: (35) a. Last week I am in the sitting room with my wife when this chap next door staggers past and in a drunken fit throws a brick through our window. b. I was writing some bills. All of a sudden the wind blows the window open and scatters all my papers.

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The present simple tense is used above to give a certain sense of dramatic vividness to the narrative and so bring past events nearer to the hearer. It is used similarly in summaries of literary works and films, as well as in discussing artists of the past and their works, or giving historical summaries (so-called annalistic present): (36) a. Odysseus brings not one man to shore with him. Yet he sleeps sound beside Calypso and when he wakes thinks only of Penelope. b. Borrowing a page from Sunset Boulevard, this dreamy comedy is narrated by a corpse: Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a going-nowhere writer for Media Monthly who already considers himself dead. His realtor wife (Annette Bening) is chilly and compulsive, his daughter (Thora Birch) lathes him and his boss is about to fire him. He quits his job. c. 1942: US and Great Britain establish War Crimes Commission. 1945: Roosevelt dies, Truman succeeds. When discussing an artist who lived in the past and his surviving work, or any other person of comparable stature, we can use either past or present: (37) Brahms was/is the last great representative of German classicism. The sole difference is a difference in the point of view: on the one hand we can think of Brahms as a composer still living in his work, on the other we can regard him as a man who died in the nineteenth century. The same free variation can be found in cross-references from one part of the book to another. The present simple tense alternates both with past and will + infinitive for past and future time reference respectively: (38) a. This problem is/was discussed in Chapter Four. b. This problem is/will be discussed in Chapter Ten. A related kind of historic present or the past time reference with the present simple tense is found with verbs of communication (say, tell, write, etc.) or verbs that refer to the receiving of the message (learn, hear, understand). The communicated facts are still in force for those who have received the message and so the present (simple) tense is allowed: (39) a. John tells me that youre getting a new car. b. The ten o'clock news says that it's going to be colder. c. We learn in the Book of Genesis that all differences of language originated in the Tower of Babel. d. I hear youre getting married. The simple present is preferred in newspaper headlines as a way of announcing recent past events. It is also found in newspaper captions (texts under photographs)

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(40) a. CLINTON VISITS CHINA b. PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS c. Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubbles

4.O.4. The past simple tense


In its fundamental, temporal use, the past simple tense refers to the past time, but it can also have non-past time reference, i.e. present time reference in hypothetical and socalled attitudinal use, as well as present and future time reference in reported speech.

4.O.4.1. The past simple tense referring to past situations When the past simple tense refers to the past time there are two elements of meaning that can be identified. The two can be combined in a single situation. Exclusive past: the happening takes place before the present moment

This basic element of meaning implies that the situation obtained in a period of time before the present moment and that there is no connection with the present moment. In other words, the present moment is excluded and the situation does not obtain any longer. This, however, appears to be only the usual implicature of the past tense. Strictly speaking, it is possible that the past time specified is over and that the situation obtained at that past time but that it also may obtain at the present time: (41) During the war he lived in Osijek. The period of time specified in the time adverbial is clearly over and has no connection with the present time, the war being over. He lived in Osijek during that time, but it does not necessarily follow that he now lives somewhere else. This possibility cannot be ruled out on account of the basic meaning of the past simple tense. Note that when we pointed out earlier that time can mean two things: a point in time, i.e. a moment of time, or a period of time. There is no strong difference between states and events here, because every past situation is in a manner of speaking complete. Nevertheless, coupling the distinction between points and periods of time with our typology of situations (distinguishing between states and events such as actions and activities/processes), we arrive at three possible subsenses. The situation may have: i. occupied a period of time in the past now terminated;

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ii. occurred at a moment in a past period now terminated; iii. taken place regularly, habitually in the past but not any more. (42) a. He lived in London for two years. b. Mary studied German while she was in Austria.


_________________________________ for two years now (43) My father once met Sir Winston Churchill.

_________
_____________________________________ once now (44) a. We visited them on Saturdays. b. He smoked cigars. c. She always read before falling asleep.


____________________________________ on Saturdays now Sentence (42) a. clearly implies that he no longer lives in London, i.e. that the period of past time in question is over. In (43), since Sir Winston Churchill is dead, the moment referred to by once can only be in a period of time that has no connection with the present. Again, there is no connection between the past habit and the present moment in (44). Note that the past simple can express the simultaneity of two past events, neither of which is more prominent than the other (in terms of duration): (45) As she picked the receiver, Mary noticed that it was pitch dark.

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Definite past: the speaker has a definite time in mind when the event occurred

This specific time, or rather point of past time, without connection with the present is usually named by an adverbial expression: (46) a. I spoke to him yesterday b. Francis came to see me two days ago. c. Columbus discovered America in 1492. d. Once this town was a beauty spot. e. I bought this pen when I was in London. Note that even such adverbial expressions as once, earlier this week, etc. count in English as specific or definite. The definite past time adverbial may identify the point of time at which the situation referred to by the past tense in fact commences: (47) I had breakfast at 7 this morning. The time adverbial need not always be present. The time of the past situation can be recovered from the context or from the situation: (48) a. I bought this pen in London. (i.e. when I was in London) b. Did you sleep well? (i.e. last night) c. Did you lock the gate? (i.e. at bedtime)

4.O.4.2. The past simple tense without past time reference The past simple can be used outside its normal time reference and refer to either present or future. The most frequent of these cases is the use of the past with present time reference in reported speech, due to the grammatical phenomenon called backshift. This will be only exemplified here, as it is discussed in more detail in Chapter 10. (49) a. He said he was in trouble. b. The boys declared they did nothing wrong. Similarly, when the present tense has future time reference, as discussed in 4.O.3.4. above, it is back-shifted to the past tense in reported speech: (50) a. Ill help him out if he comes to me. b. I said Id help him out if he came to me. f

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The past simple may be used with reference to the present time of communication in polite everyday conversational exchanges. Its function is to express the present feelings or thoughts, requests, etc. of the speaker in a less imposing fashion. This is sometimes termed attitudinal use of the past simple: (51) a. Now what did you say you wanted me to do with these papers? b. What was your name? c. A: Did you call for me? B: Yes, I hoped you would give me a hand with these carpets. d. A: Are you going out tonight for one? B: Yes, I thought of doing that. All the examples above could, of course, have the past time reference as well. The present and the past for the present time reference are, broadly speaking, interchangeable, but there is quite an important pragmatic difference in tone. The effect of the past tense is to make the request less direct. Being indirect, it is more polite. This shifting into the past tense morphology leaves more room for both participants to save face in case the request is for some reason declined. Politeness also extends to the original question. Other verbs similarly used include: wonder, think, hope, etc. This use of the past simple tense can also be seen as a metaphoric extension, and will be mentioned in 4.T.1. below. Some grammarians claim that the past simple is used in dependent clauses to express hypothetical meaning, especially in conditional clauses, after expressions such as its (high) time, etc. It could also be argued that these forms are in fact past subjunctives, which are formally indistinguishable from past simple forms. (52) a. If you loved me, you wouldn't do such a thing. b. Its time we had a holiday.

4.T. Topics for further discussion


4.T.1. Metaphoric and metonymic extensions in the tense system of English At various points in 4.O. above, we have characterized certain phenomena that have to do with tense and time reference as metaphoric and metonymic. We shall now take a closer look at these phenomena in turn. Before doing so, we have to clarify these two important concepts. There are several points of similarity between metaphor and metonymy. Both are traditionally considered as figures of speech or tropes. They are words or phrases used for special effect and do not have their usual or literal meaning. This means that figures

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