The English tense ‘system’.

English verbs tell us:

1)      Whether something happened in the past, present or future (3 points in time)

2)      Whether something happen of a period of time or a point in time

3)      Whether an action/event has finished/is completed or not

4)      Whether an action/event still has current relevance or not

5)      Whether an action/event is habitual or not

6)      Whether can action/event is real or not

 

We do #1 with the division of time using the past, present and future tenses

We do #2 by contrasting the progressive tense with other tenses

We do #3 by contrasting the simple past with other tenses

We do #4 by contrasting the perfect tense with other tenses

We do #5 by contrasting the simple present with other tenses

We do #6 by using models auxiliaries

 

1. English tense is a 3-way system:

I am eating (present)

I ate/ I have eaten (past)

I will eat (future)

2. English tense distinguishes between action which occur at a point in time versus over a period in time

I eat/I ate (point in time)

I am eating/ I was eating (period of time)

Therefore it can happen while something else happens:

I was eating when the family arrived (during their arrival)

Cf

I ate when the family arrived (after they had arrived)

 

But we can override this restriction with the adverb 'until'

I was eating until the family arrived

 

3. Completion versus non-completion

She went to Sydney (has arrived there)

She has gone to Sydney (may/may not have arrived)

 

4. Relevant versus no longer relevant

I have spilt my coffee over there, can I have a clothe to clean it up

I spilt my coffee in the staff room this morning

*I have spilt my coffee in the staff room this morning

I baked foccacia yesterday

*I have baked foccacia yesterday

 

5. Habitual versus non-habitual (using the present continuous or the simple present)

She is going to university

He is going to church

She is baking bread

Cf        She goes to university (= she's a uni student)

He goes to church (= he's a churchgoer)

She bakes bread (= regularly)

6. Real/non-real (hypothetical)

They are starving (real)

They may/might/could/should/would be starving (not real)

 

We do all the above by contrasting simple and compound tenses. Our understanding of tense is helped by looking at what the different tenses indicate on a time line.

 

1. Simple tenses

Simple present

Eg, He goes to church (habitual, He is a church goer) (signifies repeated points  in time)

Simple past

Eg, She arrived yesterday (signifies a point in time)

Simple future Eg. She will leave tomorrow (signifies a point in time)

 

Compound tenses (using the verb 'be')

 

Present continuous/progressive  (signifies a period of time)

Eg, She is leaving

Past progressive/continuous Eg, She was leaving (signifies a period of time in the past)

Future progressive/continuous Eg, She will be leaving (signifies a period of time in the future)

Compound tenses (using the verb 'have')

 

Present perfect Eg, I have seen her/I've seen her (signifies an event in time which is still relevant)

 

Past perfect Eg, I had read for two hours, I'd seen her before last Sunday (signifies an event in time which was relevant at a particular time in the past)

Future perfect Eg, I will have been here a week on Tuesday (signifies an event in time which will be  relevant at a particular time in the future)

Notice how the English perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect) are used to indicate that an action of event is still relevant or was relevant at a particular point in time).

She has taken the medicine

She had taken the medicine

It also describes an action or event of which the consequences are still salient or relevant, at the time of speaking or the time in focus, eg:

I have spilled my coffee

is only acceptable until the coffee is cleaned up. When the consequences of the action (spilled coffee) no longer exist then the perfect tense is no longer appropriate:

*I have spilled my coffee in the refectory this morning

but the simple past is acceptable:

I spilt my coffee in the refectory this morning

 

See also

I've cut my finger (It's still bleeding)

He's broken the window (It hasn't been mended yet)

They've fallen into the river (They need help)

You've had an accident (I can see the evidence)

 

So the present perfect represents an action or event which began in the past and extends up to the present (or time in focus) AND the consequences of which are still salient/relevant (or were salient/relevant at the time in focus).

 

The past perfect represents a period of time that began in the past and extends up to the point of time in focus:

I had read for an hour when Sue arrived (the point on time in focus) (past perfect)

In this sentence I would have been reading for an hour before she arrived.

Contrast this with the following simple past, where the reading would have had to take place after the arrival of Sue:

I read for an hour when Sue arrived

 

Some adverbials are restricted with the present perfect tense:

I read for an hour yesterday

*I have read for an hour yesterday (cannot refer up to the present)

I painted the bedroom last week

I have painted the bedroom last week (cannot refer up to the present)

 

The perfect tense not only requires some relevant consequence of the action or event to still exist but also requires a verb with some sort of culmination:

Harry has reached the top

*The star has twinkled

In the second sentence there is no consequence of the action so the perfect tense doesn't work.