TENSE AND ASPECT

NASRIANDI
Within the English predicate, mood, reality status, modality, tense, and
aspect are shown by a variety of formal means:
 MODAL and SEMI-MODAL verbs; these are secondary-A semantic types;
 The auxiliary verbs have (taking –en on the following word) and be ( With –
ing on the following verb)
 Verbal suffixes:
- What is traditionally called “past”, which is –ed on regular verbs, with a
variety of morphological processes applying for irregular (or ‘strong’) verbs
- What is traditionally called ‘present’, involving –s when the subject is 3 rd
person singular masculine, feminine or neuter, and zero suffix otherwise
(Verbs be and have show irregular forms)
 Basic distinctions

 Imperative mood, employed in giving orders, uses

the base form of the verb. The subject is generally 2nd
person; it can then be (and usually is) omitted. In
addition, the imperative generally has a distinctively
loud and abrupt voice quality.
 non-imperative mood, statements and questions
share the same reality status, modality, tense, and
aspect categories and can be referred to as non-
imperative mood.
STATEMENT QUESTION
Jhon is dead is John dead? Or John is dead?
He must go Must he go? Or He must go?
She resigned Did she resign? Or She resigned?
Major distinction within imperative

 realis status, something which has reality in past,

present or future time (or with negation added, which
does not have reality).
 Irrealis status, something which is uncertain in the
future, or was unrealized in the past.
Compare:
REALIS IRREALIS
John comes tomorrow John will come tomorrow
(if he can)
Mary had cooked dinner Mary would have cooked
By the time I got home dinner by the time I got
home ( but for the power failure)
 Irrealis status is marked by modals or semi-modals.
The nine choices, include prediction (will and is going
to), ability (can and is able to) and necessity (must
and has got to). Irrealis also accepts the same
aspectual distinctions as present tense-
perfective/imperfective and actual/previous.
 within realis, there are four tense choices, all but generic with
further aspect parameters; the realisation is given for each, for 3rd
person singular masculine, feminine, or neuter subject.
- generic: -s
- Future ‘established’ aspect: -s
‘Particular’ aspect: is –ing
- present ACTUAL ASPECT PREV. ASPECT
‘perfective’ -s has –en
‘imperfective’ is –ing has been –ing
- past ACTUAL ASPECT PREV.ASPECT
‘perfective’ -ed had –en
‘imperfective’ was –ing had been -ing
 Generic

 Generic (or habitual) is a timeless statement, whose core noun

phrases generally have generic form. For example: Crows are black,
Dogs bark, Ducks like water, Italians eat lots of noodles, Mosquitos
spread malaria, Well-brought-up children know how to behave, Gods
hate liars.
 A marginal type of generic may have as transitive subject a noun
with singular form, but generic meaning, as in Lead is heavy. And an
NP can have singular form but a generic sense, as in The mosquito
spreads malaria and Gods/God/My mother hate(s) a liar (that is, they
hate anyone who is a liar). Note that verbs from the LIKING and
ANNOYING semantic types typically have a generic sense.
 Future

 there are two aspects within realis future:

- established (es), a regular occurrence: -s
- particular (pa), a non-regular or special
occurance: is –ing
 Each will normally be accompanied by an adverb
referring to future time:
- (1es) I get paid tomorrow
- (1pa) I’m getting paid tomorrow
Another example is:
- (2es) We have a meeting this afternoon
- (2pa) we’re having a meeting this afternoon
 In essence, established future describes some event
which is typically regular and expected. Particular
future refers to a ‘one-off’ event. Perhaps specially
arranged.
 there are some instances where only the established
future is possible. for example:
- (3es) The sun rises at 7.06 tomorrow morning
- (3pa) *The sun is rising at 7.06 tomorrow morning
 another example:
- (4es) The cuckoo comes out at ten o’clock
- (4pa) *The cuckoo is coming out at ten o’clock
 an alternative to (4es) could be:
- (4es’) The cuckoo comes out on the hour
This is ambiguous between established future and a
variety of generic. We can now illustrate situations
where only the particular future is allowed:
- (5pa) she’s having a baby in June
- (5es) * She has a baby in June
Another example:
- (6pa) we’re having our own house next year (our
insurance policy matures next year, and we’ll use the
money as deposit against a mortgage for a new house)
- (6es) *we have our own house next year
 The contrast between irrealis prediction (pred),
shown by will which is often called ‘future’ and the
realis future can be seen in:
-(7es) *it rains tomorrow
-(7pa) *it is raining tomorrow
-(7pred) it will rain tomorrow
 There are of course, will –versions of the other
examples just given. It sounds odd to say she will have
a baby in June. However, the following is acceptable:
- (5pred) She will have a baby quite soon (When She
got married, she said they planned to start a family right
away
 Sentences with will convey a prediction that something
will happen; it is never a certainty and often bears
qualification. For example:
-(4pred) The cuckoo will come out at ten o’clock (if the
repairman who just left has done his job properly)
-(1pred) I’ll get paid tomorrow( if the computer system
doesn’t break down again)
-(2pred) We’ll have a meeting this afternoon( if enough
people turn up to ensure a quorum)
 sometimes a prediction is as good as certain. But
there is always some miniscule element of doubt.
While listening to the ranting of a maniac I might well
respond to a question about the time of sunrise with:
- (3pred) The sun will rise tomorrow morning- if
indeed, the world doesn’t end before then, as this
fellow is predicting it will
 There is an idiomatic particular future. When called to
come, someone could reply:
- (8pa) I’m coming in a couple of minutes
Or the time adverb may be omitted, giving just:
- (8pa’) I’m coming
 Present and past system

 There are three binary systems underlying present

and past realis:
- perfective aspect (pe)/ imperfective aspect(im)
- actual aspect (ac)/ previous aspect (pr)
- present tense/ past tense
 The combination of these
generate eight possibilities
Perfective versus Imperfective
 Many statements can be phrased either with
perfective –es or with imperfective is –ing. A
commentary on a domestic scene could include any
of:
- (9pe) John washes up
- (9im) Jhon is washing up
- (10pe) Mary does the ironing
- ( 10im) Mary is doing the ironing
 a perfective sentence treats an activity as a unit,
without regard for its internal composition. It may
have a duration in time but this is not taken into
account in the perfective statement.
 in contrast, an imperfective statement refers to the
activity as spanning a period of time.
 A perfective can locate its event as included within
the time span of an event described by an
imperfective, as in both of (again from commentary
on a domestic situation):
- (11) John washes up while Mary is doing the
ironing.
- (12) Mary does the ironing while John is washing up
 However, the imperfective in english does not just
focus on the time span and internal composition of an
event. It also implies that the activity described is
dynamic and evolving. Consider a perfective sentence
with inanimate and animate subjects:
- (13pe) The wall surrounds the city
-(14pe) The army surrounds the city
These describe a continuing state, that the wall/army is
all around the city. When imperfective is used the
results are quite different:
- (13im) *The wall is surrounding
- (14im) The army is surrounding the city
 consider also:
- (15pe) I think (that you should go)
- (15im) I’m thinking about (whether you should go)
 The contrast between a normally invariable state, and
some unusual activity which interrupts it, can also be
shown by using perfective for the former and
imperfective for the latter, in order to stress the change.
For example:
(16) He normally drives a Volvo but this week he’s
driving a Volkswagen (his Volvo is being repaired and the
garage has lent him a Volkswagen for the week)
 Whether or not an imperfective can be used may depend not
on subject or verb but on the nature of a non-subject
argument. One can say:
(17) John is having a series of injections
This is an extended dynamic process, with one injection after
another. But it is infelicitous to say:
(18) John is having a lot of fruit in his orchard this year
Such a non-dynamic statement is limited to the perfective: John
has a lot of fruit in his orchard this year
 Actual versus previous
 in general linguistic terminology, the label ‘perfect’ is
‘used of an action, etc. Considered as a completed
whole’ (Matthews 1997: 271). Although english has –
en has traditionally labeled ‘perfect’, this is not an
appropriate label. Indeed, in the last sentence we
read, has…been labelled does not imply that this
labelling is a thing of the past; it is, indeed, still very
vogue
 Has –en is used of an event or state which
commenced previous to the time of speaking.
Depending on the verb used and accompanying
adverb (if any), it may or may not be continuing up to
the present.
 consider the verb live, first with actual perfective and
actual imperfective present:
- (19pe) Roy lives in New York
- (19im) Roy is living in New York (Now)
 now consider the corresponding sentences with actual and
previous choices within perfective present:
- (20ac) Roy lives in New York
- (20pr) Roy has lived in New York
- (20pr’) Roy has lived in New York since his wife died/ for ten
years
 even without a time adverb, a has –en sentence may refer to
some activity which began at a previous time and continues up to
(and quite likely beyond) the present. Suppose that I turn a street
corner and come across two louts fighting, with a friend of mine
standing close by. I could ask him Did you see what happened? And
receive the reply, with my friend’s eyes still on the battle:
(21) I’ve watched it all
 Present versus past

 generally, descriptions of past events use past tense,

which shows exactly the same aspectual parameters
as the present. One simply uses –ed place of –s, was
for is had for has.
 the time of reference is shifted to some point in the
past, with respect to which the parameters operate.
For example, The wall surrounded the city (in 300 BCE,
before it fell into disrespair) and Your child was very
stupid/rude/good (yesterday).
 What is of particular interest is the contrast between
previous perfective present, has –en, and actual perfective
past, -ed. Compare:
- (21) I’ve watched it all
- (21’) I watched it all
The –ed sentence, (21’), implies that the fight is over, whereas
use of have –en, in (21), implies that it may still be going on.
Compare:
(27) John tried (and failed)
(27’) John has tried (but not yet succeeded)
 Irrealis and aspect
 The aspectual parameters perfective/imperfective
and actual/previous, for present and past realis-also
apply for irrealis status, marked by a modal. For
example(illustrating with Verb Live):
 Back-shifting

 What is called ‘back-shifting’, relates to change of tense-aspect marking

in a clause, when direct speech is converted to indirect speech. Compare:
(35) ‘John is hungry.’ Fred told us
(35’) Fred told us that John was hungry
(36) ‘Mary is having to leave,’ Jane said
(36’) Jane said that Mary was having to leave
(37) ‘Charlie ate the chocolate biscuits.’ Kate announced
(37’) Kate announced that Charlie had eaten the chocolate biscuits.
(38) ‘Charlie has been eating the chocolate biscuits.’ Kate announced
 the formula of back-shifting is:
 It is instructive now to examine how back-shifting applies to
modals and semi-modals. Semi-modals show present and
past tense, and behave like other verbs under back-shifting;
for example:
- (39) ‘John isn’t able to tie his shoelaces.’ She said
- (39’) Mary remarked that John wasn’t able to tie his
shoelaces
 however, in modern English modals have no past
tense forms. How then they back-shifted?
- (40) ‘it will rain this afternoon,’ she said
- (40’) She said that it would rain that afternoon
- (41) ‘ I shan’t go, I said
-(41’) I said I shan’t go
 occurance

 all verbs occur with modals and semi-moals for making

irrealis status and all occur in generic tense (-s), in actual and
previous perfective present (-s and has –en), and in actual
and previuos perfective past (-ed and had –en). However,
there are restrictions on which verbs can occur with:
- realis future (-s and is –ing)
- realis present and past imperfective (is –ing, was – ing.
And also has/had been –ing)
- imperfective (base form of verb)