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A clear
distinction should be made between ‘tense’ and
‘time’. The notion of time indicates present
time, past time, and future time. Tense, on the other hand, is
a linguistic device. It means a verb-form or forms used to
express certain time relations. Thus, one form,e .g .‘I write’
indicates present time, another form,’ I wrote’ past time
still another form ‘I shall/will write’ indicates the future
time.
Students,
however, should not confuse the word ‘tense~ with
‘time.’ Tense indicates sense rather than time. The
tense we use depends on the sense we
wish to give our sentence.
A Present
Tense does not necessarily express an action taking place in
the present time, nor does a past tense necessarily express an
action taking place in the past time. For example, the Present
Simple can be used to indicate the future: He leaves for
Damascus Tomorrow.
In the
sentence: George teaches English at R.L.C.
The verb
‘teaches’ is in the Present Tense. But the sentence does not
mean that the action of teaching takes place only in the
present. George has taught for some years in the past, is
teaching, and will teach for some years in the future. Thus
the Present Tense can express actions taking place in the
present, the past, or the future.
Here are
two other sentences
(a) If
he left now, he would arrive before time.
(b)
George wishes he lived in a castle.
In both
sentences the verbs have a Past Tense form. In (a), the verb
‘left’, although it is Past Simple of ‘to leave’, does not
refer to past event at all. It expresses a present time. And
though ‘lived’, in (b), is a Past Tense form, the time is not
past. Both sentences talk about things that wanted to be true
now, but are not true. George does not live in a
castle, but he wants to live in one.
Grammar
books tell us that the Present Progressive expresses an
activity that is in progress at the moment of speaking. But
what about sentences like:
(a) I
am meeting a friend of mine tomorrow.
(b)Susan
is writing another book this year.
As a
matter of fact, sentence (a) expresses future time. Sentence
(b) does not mean that at the moment of speaking Susan is
sitting at the desk writing a book.
Similarly, the Present Perfect does not necessarily express a
present action, e.g.:
Sally
cannot go for the picnic because she has caught a cold.
The
action of catching the cold happened in the past, but the
writer uses the Present Perfect Tense . This is due to the
fact that he/she wants to emphasize the connection between the
past action of catching the cold and the present time. In
other words, Sally cannot go for the picnic because her cold
prevents her of doing so. It is important to know that it is
incorrect to say, “Sally cannot go for the picnic because she
caught a cold.”
Modals,
grammar or books tell us, have two forms : past and present
-
Can
could
-
Will
would
-
Shall
should
-
May
might
-
Must
-
Ought
to
But a
detailed discussion of the uses of these modals reveals that
‘could’ does not express the past:
Can you
open the door for me?
Could you open the door for me?
Both
modals express a present time . Their use depends on the
degrees of politeness. Furthermore , their use depends on the
relationship between the speaker and the listener. The use of
modals gives considerable difficulty because students look
upon:
could,
would, should and might as past form: can, will, shall, and
may. For example
George
could come tomorrow.
The
speaker uses could instead can because he! she connects the
action of coming with the wish of the listener .In other
words, George can come tomorrow if he wants to.
The same is applied to all modals because you can use the past
forms of modals in the present and the future.
Students
are sometimes not aware that shall and should have meanings as
separate modals and are not simply the present and the past
forms of one modals should + 0 form has a present! future
meaning. Should does not represent the past forms of shall
(which makes it curious for me that some teachers define
should as a past form of shall.
Time is
not the only concept expressed by the tense of the verb. Tense
may also indicate the completeness or incompleteness of an
action-whether it is or was still continuing, whether it took
place within a time that began in the past but extends to and
includes the present and so on.
Of course
, there is much more to be said about time and tense In brief,
tense and time are certainly very dynamic ideas the full
discussion of which lies beyond the scope and time of this
paper/lecture.
Lattakia,
February 2001.
Khalid Kurr
MA (Lecturer in English,R.L.C.)
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