AULA 5

ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS DE
LÍNGUA INGLESA – ESTUDOS
GRAMATICAIS

Prof. Leonardo Felipe Salmoria

INTRODUCTION

The verb part three – tenses

It is a common sense to outlook time, apart from any philosophical

abstraction, as a straight line, where the central point represents the present time,
now, and whatever is ahead of it represents the future, and what lays behind this
central point represents the past (Quirk et al., 2005). There are, though, other
imaginary points in between past points, for example, and the relation that is
stablished between these points we call it the Perfective aspect.
In this lesson, you will understand the movements of this imaginary timeline,
and how it reflects the way we understand ongoing past situations, or past
situations ended up before another place in time. You will also understand the
different ways to refer to the future, and the complex sentences to refer to any
place in time, considering our imaginary timeline.

THEME 1 – THE SIMPLE ASPECT

We refer to as the Simple aspect the verb tenses that express direct relation
with the present point in the timeline. One being the ‘now’ point, and the other being
the point before the ‘now’.

1.1 The present simple

The present simple tense is usually referred to as the unmarked tense,

once the morphology of its base form does not change when inflected, like ‘I live’,
as opposed to ‘I lived’ in the past tense. There are three meanings of the present
simple with reference to the present time: The State present, the Habitual present,
and the Instantaneous present.
The State present is represented by the stative verbs because there is no
reference to any specific time, or limitation on the extension of the state in the
future or the past. This category also refers to general timeless statements, or fixed
truths (Quirk et al., 2005).

[1] “And now, the final frame. Love is a losing game.”

In the art of reflecting about the meaning of ‘love’ countless artists have
been coming across with different conclusions, being “Love is a losing game” [1]

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Amy Winehouse’s. Most of State present sentences refer to proverbs, or any
scientific statement.
When referring to Habitual present, we tend to use dynamic verbs, usually
followed by adverbs, to express a whole sequence of events, which are repeated
over an unrestricted time span.

[2] “The Smiths go to Italy every year.”

Some Habitual present sentences can also be scientifical, but the meaning
expresses the time movement represented by the adverbials, like ‘Water boils at
100ºC.’, where time plays an important role as the heat increases the temperature
of the water slowly up to the boiling point.
Finally, the Instantaneous present expresses a single action begun and
completed at around the time of the speech. Since the events have small durations,
there are specific contexts of use, like demonstrations or self-commentaries ‘I pick
the mop and dip it into the bucket.’; special exclamations such as ‘Off you go!’; and
for commentaries, like in football:

[3] “Maddison passes the ball to Son… Son shoots and scores! Goal!!!”

This kind of statement holds a deliberate dramatic charge, because even

though the action described in [3] could have been written or uttered in the present
continuous tense, the dynamic movements performed by the football players and
described by the commentators would lose its discourse style.

1.2 The past simple

The past simple tense morphology has been scrutinised in the previous
lesson about Irregular and regular verbs; as you remember, the regular verbs
usually receive the suffix -ed, like ‘love=loved’, ‘dance=danced’, etc.; whilst the
irregular verbs change part or the whole of their morphology, like ‘go=went’,
‘leave=left’.
This tense usually follows two features of meaning: The event has
happened in the past with an interval between this event and the present; and the
time when this event took place must be definite.

[4] “This is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world.”

In the song “Absolutely (story of a girl)” in [4], by the 1990’s pop band Nine
Days, the sad girl described by the composer is someone he knows at the present

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time, but he is referring to a past situation, in a metaphorical figure, of how bad she
used to cry.
Simple past sentences are also used in interrogative or/and negative form,
with the auxiliary verb flexed into the past form, referring to immediate past
situations, like ‘Did you lock the door before leaving?’, or ‘Did(n’t) you know?’. And
also, for historical or biographical statements, like ‘Queen Victoria died in 22
September 1901.”

THEME 2 – THE CONTINUOUS ASPECT

The Continuous aspect is also referred to as Progressive aspect, once it

indicates a situation in progress at a given time (Quirk et al., 2005). When
compared to the simple aspect, there is a substantial change in meaning:

[5] “She dances very well.”

[5a] “She is dancing very well.”

As [5] refers to an inherent talent, [5a] implies that the woman has been
improving her talents quite recently, or that in a specific season she dances better
than previous seasons. Basically, the morphology of the Continuous is the verb
‘be’ + the gerund form of the main verb.

2.1 The present continuous

In the three senses of State, Event, and Habit, we have many restrictions
for stative verbs in the State Continuous, like the change in meaning of the verb
‘live’, in ‘I live in Glasgow.’, meaning permanent residence, while ‘I’m living in
Glasgow.’ means temporary residence. The main restriction lies in the realm of
semantics, once stative verbs do not imply progress, or any kind of continuous
movements.
In the sense of Event Continuous, the progressive refers to the duration of
an event or situation that has not yet ended, or to temporary situations as a contrast
to the present simple sense of permanent, or long-term situations.

[6] “Every shattered limb repeatedly reminding us of what we're searching

for.”

The Villagers song “Cecilia and her selfhood” in [6], is a narrative of revenge
for a statue which was vandalised, and the two progressive movements described

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is the search for the culprits, and the constant reminder of the statue’s broken
pieces scattered around the streets.
In the sense of Habit Continuous, the progression occurs as the event is
repeated over a limited period of time, and generally it is accompanied by an
adverbial of time, position or frequency.

[7] “Don't you know I'm still standin' better than I ever did?”

In the stretch [7] from Elton John’s classic “I’m still standing” we can see the
continuous ‘standing’ referring to the action of being alive and able to take care of
oneself, after the adverb ‘still’; in this sense, the habit, which implies a repetition
over a limited period of time, is not being reckless about one’s health and becoming
more conscious of self-love.

2.2 The past continuous

Considering our imaginary timeline, we explain the Past continuous as an

event happening, for a limited period of time, at a place in time in the past.
Sometimes it is accompanied by the adverbs ‘when’ and ‘while’.

[8] “I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you.”

In the above stretch from the British Electro-pop band Human League song
“The don’t you want me”, the singer Susan Ann Sulley refers to the continuous
action of her position waiting tables at a bar somewhere in the past ‘when’ she had
met Philip Oakley and their doomed relationship had started.
Another usage of the Past Continuous is to express uncompleted actions
[9], and also to express the different meanings of the three verb senses of State
[10], Event [11], and Habit [12].

[9] “Last time I saw Richard, he was cutting down Christmas trees.”

[10] “I was being honest when I told you all about it.”

[11] “Finally, the bus was arriving, late though.”

[12] “The students were texting while the professor was talking.”

The examples above consider specific meanings of sense verbs when

combined with the progression in which these actions take place in the imaginary
timeline (Quirk et al., 2005).

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THEME 3 – THE PERFECT ASPECT

As you might already know, the English language has only two tenses,
being one the present, and the other the past. For that reason, the perfect aspect
of the present tense is used to refer to past situations or events that still continue
to happen or has not come to an end. While the perfect aspect of the past tense
usually refers to a ‘past-in-the-past’ situation or event (Quirk et al., 2005).

3.1 The present perfect

The present perfect aspect form occurs by adding the auxiliary verb ‘have’
+ the past participle. The basic function of this aspect is to express a past situation
or event that is still relevant to the present moment.

[13] “Step into the soul serene, where have you been all my life?”

The example above is a stretch from the song “The soul serene” by Irish
band The Villagers, and in the context, Conor O’Brien discovers a calmness of the
soul as he walks along the shores of Dublin on a rainy day, and for being such a
mundane action to trigger intimate cathartic emotions, he asks himself where this
calmness have been his entire life, when he needed the most.
When compared with the Simple past, the Perfect aspect of the past tense
has a change in meaning for the time being of the particular situation or event
mentioned.

[14] “Have you seen the art exhibition at the British Museum?”

[14a] “Did you see the art exhibition at the British Museum?”

In [14] it is implicit, by a time zone reference, that there is a special art

showcase still in exhibition in London, while the past simple construction in [14a]
implicates that the referred exhibition is no longer available at the British Museum
and there is no other chance to see it in London for the time being.

3.2 The past perfect

The form of the past perfect is basically the past form of the auxiliary verb
‘have’ + past participle verb. Still considering the imaginary timeline, this aspect
refers to a situation or event that happened at some point in the past before another
past situation or event, in a chronological sequence.

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 [15] “I had hoped you'd see my face.”

In Adele’s song “Someone like you” she uses the Past Perfect to establish
a timeline of past events; before confronting her ex-lover, in which it is a situation
described in past simple, she was hopeful that he would remember her with the
same tenderness she is feeling towards their past.
In a broader sense, the Perfect Aspect is not so usual in American English
as it is in British English. Americans tend to use the past simple to stablish a
timeline of past events by using the adverbials ‘before’, ‘after’, and ‘then’, which
makes the Past Perfect, depending on the context, quite redundant.

[16] “I had my lunch after my sister had come back from work.”

[16a] “I had my lunch after my sister came back from work.”

Both [16] and [16a] keep the same meaning, even though they use different
aspects; however, if we try to do the same in Adele’s song, a complete rephrasing
would be necessary to stablish the timeline using the Past Simple and adverbials
of time position.

THEME 4 – THE PERFECT CONTINUOUS ASPECT

When we have a combination of the Perfect Aspect and the Continuous

Aspect, we also combine all of their features, naming a new aspect: The Perfect
Continuous. However, there is also a semantic change up to an extent, which
makes it not so easy to predict as most features in meaning from their separated
aspects (Quirk et al., 2005).

4.1 The present perfect continuous

The Present Perfect Continuous form is the auxiliary verb ‘have’ + the
past participle of the verb ‘be’ + the -ing form of the main verb. We use this aspect
to express a continuous action which started sometime in the past and is still
happening up to the present or has not ended yet. We can use it with the adverb
‘since’ and the adverbial use of the preposition ‘for’.

[17] “Well I've been sitting here for hours, baby.”

In the song “You’re my waterloo” by the Libertines, in [17], Pete Doherty

puts the Waterloo station as the very heart of London, bombing the other

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underground lines around the city as a metaphor for the love he feels for his
beloved one. It also depicts a long time waiting before his girlfriend finally arrives.

[18] “heat waves been faking me out.”

In the song “Heat waves” by the British band Glass Animals, we can see a
very common phenomenon of spoken language, with the elimination of ‘have’
before ‘been faking’ due to a natural contraction of ‘v’ sounds, especially the
previous word having the same final sound ‘waves’. The phrasal verb ‘fake out’
means to deceive or play tricks on someone’s head; in the context of the song, the
late-night heat waves confuse Dave Bailey’s thoughts, but as a progression which
started in the past, when Summer started, and it still goes on up to the present,
and eventually the future.
Another feature of this aspect is to express a continuous or repeated action
that happened quite recently, and generally had just finished.

[19] “These aren’t tears of sadness because you’re leaving me, I’ve just
been cutting onions, I’m making a lasagna, for one.”

In the highly satirical song “I’m not crying”, originally composed by the New
Zealander duo Flight of the Conchords for their homonymous HBO show, the
Present Perfect Continuous is used to explain why Jermaine Clement has teary
eyes, to avoid the shame of crying in front of the person who had just broke up
with him. The allegedly just finished continuous action to explain the tears in his
eyes is the act of cutting onions, part of the process to prepare a lasagna, the
perfect excuse.

4.2 The past perfect continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous structure is basically the auxiliary verb ‘have’
in the past form + the auxiliary verb ‘be’ in the past participle + the main verb in the
gerund form. We use this aspect to express an action which happened up until a
certain time in the past (Frodesen; Eyring, 2000).

[20] “When the police caught him, he had been running for months.”

Considering the imaginary timeline, the main event happens for a period of
time, as a repeated or continuous action, and has come to an end at some point
in the past, before the secondary past event, which is closer to the present.

[21] “Waiting, I'd been waiting so long for this.”

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 In Pet Shop Boys’ song “Hit and miss”, we can find a very clear example of
the usage of this aspect; in the context of the song, Neil Tennant refers to a past
relationship, when he fell deeply in love for the first time, so the continuous past
event was his long time waiting for love, being the secondary event the very
beginning of his relationship with his now ex-boyfriend.
In a general manner, the Past Perfect Continuous refers to incomplete or
interrupted events happening before another past event. Like in [21] where the
primary past event is interrupted by the secondary past event, which is the arrival
of Tennant’s longing love.

THEME 5 – FUTURE FORMS

Considering what you have seen so far, the verb tenses in English are only
two: the past, roughly expressed by the suffix -ed, and the present, roughly
expressed by the suffix -ing. When we want to express the future, we use different
forms, like the auxiliary verb will before a bare infinitive, or the verbal phrase be
going to, and we can include even the forms -ed and -ing in the present tense of
the simple and the continuous aspect (Quirk et al., 2005).

5.1 The future with ‘will’ and ‘be going to’

The most common way to express the future is by using the auxiliaries ‘will’,
‘shall’, or the contracted form ‘’ll’. The negative contracted form of ‘will’ and ‘shall’
is ‘won’t’ and ‘shan’t’, respectfully. This construction is often referred to as the
Future Simple, and we generally use it to express rough predictions about the
future, or dim opinions about the probability of future situations or events, and also
plans and decisions, made without due consideration, or promises (Ducksworth,
2011).

[22] “but if I make the pearly gates, I'll do my best to make a drawing of God
and Lucifer.”

In [22], the song “The trapeze swinger” by the American performer Iron &
Wine, presents the contracted future form ‘will’ to express a conditional, once
Samuel Beam imagines what will happen soon after his death, considering the
possibility of going to heaven, implied by the expression ‘pearly gate’, where he
previously in the song have suggested is full of graffiti made by newcomers, and

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he makes a promise that he will try his best artistical feats to include his own graffiti
to the pearly gate’s wall.
Another way to express the future is by using the construction ‘be going to’,
usually in informal speech, which happens in two possible situations; being one
[21] for future fulfilment of a present intention, and the other [22] for future results
of a present cause (Quirk et al., 2005).

[21] “We’re going to get married next year.”

[22] “Look at those dark clouds, I think it’s going to rain.”

The basic difference in meaning between ‘will’ and ‘be going to’ to talk about
future plans and predictions, is that for ‘be going to’, the future plan suggests full
preparations and considerations, like the wedding in [21], and the prediction occurs
only with the presence of an evidence that can be seen of felt at the moment, like
the dark clouds in [22].

5.2 The future with present simple

After the auxiliaries ‘will’ and ‘shall’, the Present Simple to express the
future is one the most usual, and, unlike ‘be going to’, generally happens in
conditional clauses [23], and also to express plans and schedules (Quirk et.al.,
2005).

[23] “If you eat too much sugar, it will be bad for your health.”

[24] “Tomorrow morning I can’t come because I have piano lessons.”

The piano lessons in [24] were previously booked by the speaker and
cannot be cancelled. This tense is also used to describe future immutable events
or situations that sometimes are not determined by human planning.

[25] “Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory.”

The upcoming rain in Eurythmics hit “Here comes the rain” is actually a
metaphor for the act of crying copiously but it is still an immediate future unplanned
situation.

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5.3 The future with present continuous

Like ‘be going to’, the main aspect of the Present Continuous to express
the future is that the event or situation is imminent, unless it is marked by a time
clause specifying the distant future:

[26] “They are travelling to Rome in a year or two.”

Generally, this tense, in a future context, is used to determine a future which

has been planned, arranged, or programmed, and hardly ever is used with stative
verbs, as you might remember from previous lessons.

[27] “I’m leaving you for the last time, baby.”

In Duffy’s hit “Warwick Avenue” in [27], she is planning a meeting with her
boyfriend, at the Warwick Avenue Station in London, because she wants to break
up with him, once their relationship is far from healthy, and now she is resolute
about her decision as she is doing it ‘for the last time’.

5.4 The future with the perfect aspect

Other forms, though less usual, are also acceptable to describe the future:
one being the Future Perfect, and the other being the Future Perfect
Continuous.
The Future Perfect is basically the auxiliary verbs ‘will’ and ‘have’ before a
past participle, and it is used to describe a future action that will be finished before
some other time in the future:

[28] “By the time I’m 35 I will have met the man of my dreams.”

The Future Perfect Continuous, which is formed with the combination of

the auxiliaries ‘will’ and ‘have’ + the past participle of the auxiliary verb ‘be’ + a
main verb in the gerund form, is used to describe a continuous action that will
continue up until a point in the future:

[29] “Next year, I will have been teaching English for five years.”

The Future Perfect and the Future Perfect Continuous, for a rhetorical
purpose, lay in the field of Pragmatics, once they are less usual in everyday
communication, but flourish in literature. The next lesson will provide you with
useful information about it.

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REFERENCES

BRITISH COUNCIL. Learning English: Grammar reference. British Council,

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2023.

COLLINS Cobuild – English Grammar. Suffolk, Great Britain: William Collins

Sons & Co Ltd, 1990.

DUCKSWORTH, M. Essential business grammar & practice. 6. ed. Oxford,

UK: Oxford University Press, 2011.

FRODESEN, J.; EYRING, J. Grammar dimensions: form, meaning, and use. 4.

ed. Thomson Heinle: Boston, MA. 2000.

LONGMAN dictionary of contemporary English. Essex, England: Longman

Group UK limited, 1990.

QUIRK, R. et al. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. 20. ed.

Essex, England: Longman Group Limited, 2005.

SCHENDL, H. Historical linguistics. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University

Press, 2001.

SWAN, M. Grammar. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 2005.

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