Lecture 11

1. Lecture 11 Tense and Aspect (I)

3. Exercises • 11.1 Uses of the simple present • 11.2 Uses of the simple past • 11.3 Uses of the present progressive • 11.4 Uses of the past progressive

4. 1. You indulge your son so much that you him harm. A. are doing B. have done C. will have done D. are going to do 2. The film ___ how a college student _____ a criminal. A. shows… is becoming B. shows…will become C. will show…will become D. shows… becomes

5. 3. Our team____ every match so far this year, but we still have two more games to play. A. was winning B. has won C. won D. had won 4. The company ____ a rise in salary for ages, but nothing has happened yet. A. has been promising B. was promising C. promised D. was promised

6. 5. I ____ a radio talk on NBA when my sister came home and started playing her violin. A. listened to B. was hearing C. was listening to D. have heard ADBAC 6. The moment he mailed the letter, he was soorry that he ____it. A. wrote B. had been writing C. had written D. was writing

7. 7. I am sorry to have begun the meeting before you came. I thought _____. A. you did not come B. you should not come C. you were not coming D. you are not coming 8. While I ____ my glasses, I ____ a pen. A. was finding; found B. was looking for; found C. was looking for; looked for D. found; found

8. 9. Jack ____ her but he changed his mind. A. would be called B. will call C. was calling D. was going to call 10. They were friends sharing weal and foe, for they ____ each other’s life in a battle. A. were saved B. have saved C. had been saved D. had saved CCBDD

9. 11.1 Uses of the simple present The simple present narrates complete events that will not continue to change or develop. It is not marked for the progressive or the perfective aspect, denoting the following meanings:

10. 1) Timeless present It is often found in the expression of eternal truths and proverbs, as well as in scientific, mathematical, geographical and other statements made for all time. This use mostly applies to stative verbs. • e.g. Honesty is the best policy.

11. Translate the following proverbs: • 入乡随俗。 • 心急水不沸。 • 吠犬不咬人。 • 兔子不吃窝边草。 • 坏事传千里.欲速则不达。 When in Rome, do as the Romans do. A watched pot never boils. A barking dog never bites.

12. No rabbit eats the grass near its own burrow. Bad news travels fast. Haste makes waste. 2) Habitual present • This use usually is typically associated with dynamic verb. • e.g. Father doesn’t smoke. • Percy often goes to his office by underground.

13. 3) Momentary and instantaneous present A. The simple present can also be used to denote a momentary phenomenon that exists at the time of speaking. This phenomenon usually has some duration and therefore is mostly associated with stative verbs. • e.g. What do you think, Jane?

14. B. The instantaneous present implies that the event takes place singly and once-for-all within the moment of speaking. It has little or no duration and therefore is confined to dynamic verbs denoting short actions. • e.g. I declare the meeting open This use is rather restricted, occurring normally in certain speech situations such as radio and television commentaries of

15. fast-moving sports, the running commentary of conjurors and demonstrators, and some formal declarations. 4) Simple present referring to the future: • This use is limited to future events conceived of as “certain”, either because they are determined in advance by calendar or timetable, or because they are part of a plan

16. or an arrangement thought of as unalterable. Usually there is one time adverbial denoting the future time. • e.g. I have a meeting next Wednesday at that time. There are some subclauses used for future: • a) I hope/ I bet + that + present tense e.g. I hope you have a good time.

17. b) see (to it)/make sure /make certain + that-clause e.g. I’ll see to it you don’t get lost. • c) if/when + conditional/temporal clauses • e.g. If it is fine tomorrow, we will go to the countryside. a.Besides temporal clauses and conditional clauses, adverbial clauses of concession, comparison usually use the simple present to denote future.

18. e.g. Whatever they say, I won’t pay. • Next time I’ll do as he says. • The harder you exercise, the better you’ll feel. b. In addition, such nominal clauses as “that” clause, “what” clause can also use the simple present to denote future. • e.g. In a few minutes I’ll ask him what he wants tomorrow.

19. c. “Take care that” is distinguished from “hope that, bet that, see (to it) that”, in that it is always followed by the simple present. • e.g. Take care that she doesn’t fall. d. “When” can introduce adverbial clause of time and nominal clauses (subjective clauses, objective clauses). Verbs in the adverbial clauses must use the simple present instead of the future time.

20. e.g. When he comes, I tell him to fetch the police. • So do verbs in conditional clauses. • e.g. I shall tell him if he comes. However, if “when” heads a nominal clauses, it depends on the specific context. • e.g. Can you tell me when the bank opens? • When she’ll be back depends much on the weather.

21. 5) Simple present referring to the past • This use is usually found with “communication verbs” such as tell, say, hear, learn, write to express the present effect of information received in the past. • e.g. I hear poor old Mrs. Smith has lost her son.

22. 11.2 Uses of the simple past • The simple past also narrates complete facts/events that have already finished, but the core meaning of the sentence has a sense of distance. (time, concepts, social distance) • The simple past is not marked for the progressive or the perfective aspect, denoting the following meanings:

23. 1) Past event and past habit • The basic use is to denote a single event or state that happened or existed at a difinite point or period of time in the past.This is what we call the event/state past. e.g. He left ten minutes ago.

24. It can also be used to denote a habitual or recurrent action in the past, known as the habitual past. Neither of the uses are connected with the present moment. e.g. He worked in a bank all his life. NOTE:Neither the event/state past nor the habitual past has any connection with the present moment, so what is denoted by the simple past must be something no longer existent at the moment of speaking.

25. e.g. His father was an English teacher all his life . –he is now dead. • His father has been an English teacher all his life. – He is still alive. 2) Attitudinal and hypothetical past A.In specific contexts, the simple past can denote the present or the future time. One is associated with the present time in independent clauses expressing a question, request or suggestion, known as the attitudinal past.

26. Its effect is to make the question, request or suggestion less direct, implying a polite, somewhat tentative attitude on the part of the speaker. • e.g. I wondered if you could give me some help. B. The other is hypothetical past, referring not to a fact but to a non-fact, and is typically found in subjunctive clauses. • e.g. It’s time you had a holiday.

27. Just like the simple present, the simple past can also denote past, present or future eternal truth, which is called 普遍过去时(generic preterite tense)或中性过去式(neutral preterite tense) • e.g. Fingers were made before forks. • God made the country and man made the town. • Faint heart never won fair lady. • The course of true love never did run smooth.

28. Some people don’t use the simple past: • Care killed the cat. 忧伤会伤身。 • Hang sorrow! Care will kill the cat. And therefore let’s be merry.

29. 11.3 Uses of the present progressive The progressive aspect denotes incomplete, unfinished, or temporary state, that is, the event concerned is a part of the whole and can develop further. 1) Denoting an action in progress at the moment of speaking • It is usually used with dynamic verbs. • The differences between the simple present and the present progressive referring to present time are that

30. A. the former carries a permanent meaning and the latter a temporary meaning. • e.g. He lives with his parents.(permanent residence --because it costs him too much to live alone) • He is livng with his parents. (temporary residence –until he gets a better job ) B. an action vs. a habit • e.g. Why are you wearing glasses? (present/at this moment) • Why do you wear glasses?(habitual)

31. C. specific event vs. general situation • e.g. what are you doing for Thanksgiving? (a specific holiday– the forthcoming) • What do you do for Thanksgiving? • (the holiday in each year) D. action vs. state • e.g. I am thinking about the answer. • I think it is 144.

32. 2) Denoting an action in progress at a period of time including the present • Here it can express an action that is going on over a period of time including the present but not necessarily at the moment of speaking, • e.g. He is working in a chemical factory these days.

33. When accompanied by adverbial of frequency such as always, continually, constantly or forever often imparts an emotional coloring, often of annoyance or disapproval. • e.g. She is constantly complaining about the house.

34. 3) Denoting a future happening according to a definite plan or arrangement • The present progressive used to refer to the future, more often than not the near rather than distant future, in connection with a definite plan, arrangement or program, usually occurs in situations with obvious future reference. • e.g. I’m going to Qingdao for the summer holiday.

35. The present progressive denoting futurity also occurs in temporal and conditional clauses, on condition that there is future reference in the main clause • e.g. If you are standing at the corner, I’ll give you a lift.

36. 4) Denoting other meanings • a) to denote an action in the immediate past, which is generally expressed by communication verbs such as tell, talk, say, exaggerate. • e.g. I don’t know what you are talking about. • b) It can be used to make even politer requests than does the attitudinal past with such few examples as hope, wonder • e.g. I’m hoping you’ll give us some advice.

37. 11.4 Uses of the past progressive 1) Denoting an action in progress at a definite point or period of past time • This is the most common use. Here the past time reference is usually indicated by a temporal adverbial or implied by the context. • e.g. They were building a dam last year.

38. 2) Denoting a past habitual action • a) It is most clearly characterized by its temporariness, in contrast with the past habit denoted by the simple past. • e.g. George was getting up at five every day that week. • b) It can collocate with such adverbials of frequency as always, constantly, continually, forever, to express emotional feelings, especially feelings of annoyance or disapproval on the part of the speaker.

39. e.g. My brother was always losing his keys. 3) Denoting futurity in the past • It can be used to denote a future action in the past according to a definite plan or arrangement. This use is also found in some adverbial clauses of time or condition. • e.g. They were leaving a few days later.

40. 4) Making politer requests and express hypothetical meanings • To express hypothetical meanings, the past progressive only occurs in certain conditional clauses and in subclauses after “I wish”, “I’d rather”, “it’s time”. • e.g. I’d rather you were going at once.

41. 5) Contrasts between the past progressive and the simple past • a) To denote an action in completion, we use the simple past; to denote an action in progress, we use the past progressive. e.g. I was reading a novel yesterday. • I read a novel yesterday.

42. b) To state a mere past fact, we use the simple past; to lay emphasis on the duration of the action, we use the past progressive. e.g. It rained/was raining all night. • c) When two actions co-occur in a sentence, the action of shorter duration is to be denoted by the simple past, while that of longer duration by the past progressive. e.g. I broke a glass while I was cooking the dinner.

43. d) In colloquial speech, the past progressive is sometimes used to show what one says is casual, unimportant and aimless, whereas the use of the simple past means differently. • e.g. I was talking to Margaret the other day. • I talked to Margaret the other day.

44. e) Compare the time sequence of the two actions in the following sentences. • e.g. When we arrived, she was making some fresh coffee. • When we arrived, she made some fresh coffee. • In the first sentence, the action of making coffee was already in progress when we arrived, whereas in the second sentence, the action of making coffee followed our arrival in time sequence.