Grammar II. Verbs. Bradius V. Maurus III

Transcription

1 Grammar II Verbs Bradius V. Maurus III Posnaniae 2006 by the author

2 The English Verb The English verb traditionally is said to have five properties: 1. person: first, second, third 2. number: singular, plural 3. voice: active, passive 4. tense (no consensus among all authorities) 5. mood (authorities disagree, but in this class the list is: indicative, interrogative, imperative, subjunctive, infinitive) Polish students normally have special difficulties with the use of certain pairs of tenses and with the contrastive use of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and these are what wwill be discussed in these notes. Tense Problems 1) Past Simple vs. Past Continuous The past simple (plain past) is used to express: 1. Single past actions/events (He came to school yesterday.) 2. Repeated past actions/events (We got up early every day for a week.) 3. Past states (The temperature was warm all that month.) The past continuous (past progressive) is used to express: 1. a longer background activity in a sentence contrasted with a shorter and usually more important activity expressed by the simple past tense. While John was skiing, he broke his leg. The telephone rang while she was taking a shower. The rope broke when he was still holding it. Note that while is most often used with the past continuous, but when is possible. 2. the setting of the scene at the beginning of a segment of writing: The rain was falling by the bucketful and water was dripping from the eaves. Eve opened the window and looked out. The economy was collapsing and people were panicking. The government knew it had to do something. Note that the next sentence, however, beginning the real story or exposition is going to be in the simple past tense. Advice: Use the past continuous only in these two structures. Although it is occasionally used in other ways, it is much easier to go wrong with them, so only attempt them when your English is very sophisticated. 2) Past Simple vs. Present Perfect The meaning of the past simple has already been discussed above. The present perfect expresses present situations which are the result of events in the past. He has broken his leg. (Therefore, he cannot walk now.) She has been to Paris. (So she knows now personally what it is really like.)

3 They all have done their homework. (So, now they have it to hand in to the teacher.) The Israelis and the Palestinians have been quarelling for years. (So, it is difficult for them to make peace now.) Note that when we express a time in the past, it is impossible to use the present perfect: I have done my homework. but I did my homework last Tuesday. 3) Present Perfect Simple vs. Present Perfect Continuous 1. The present perfect continuous expresses activity from some time in the past until the present: I have been living in Warsaw for five years. (I still live there now and I moved there five years ago.) 2. The present perfect simple expresses any activity at any time in the past affecting the present: I have lived in Warsaw for five years. (It could have been in one block since five years ago, or it could have been for one year now plus four years between 1990 and It is summative in that sense. So, if we say how many times, it should be with the simple present perfect: I have been to Berlin five times. (The visits are episodic, not continuous.) Note also: I lived in Warsaw for five years with the simple past tense means that I no longer live there. Also note that I live in Poznańfor five years is impossible unless you are using it to express a firm plan for the future using the simple present. 4) Simple Past vs. Past Perfect The past perfect tense is not used alone, but with the close support of the past simple. 1. It can be used in sentences about past time with a before clause or after clause: It had rained before he reached home. After he had done his homework, he wrote a letter for Amnesty International. Americans especially tend to clarify such sentences by using both tenses. Britons and sloppier Americans tend to use just the simple past in both clauses, and this must also be counted as being correct in most cases. 2. It can be used when a narrative has already been started in the simple past and one wishes to return to a time previous to the time the narrative has reached: He did not have to study for the examination because he had studied already the day before. He had trouble walking because he had broken his leg. She had come early and had to wait a long time. Sometimes we might see this use without a previous simple past clause when the writer for stylistic effect wishes to drop us in media res, but that is just a variant of use 2. Note that unlike with the present perfect we may express time when with the past perfect ( the day before ).

4 Advice: Do not use the past perfect in an independent sentence except to retrogress from a narrative in the simple past tense. Remember that after the retrogression you will probably wish to return to the narrative using the simple past tense once more. The above are the most common basic tense problems for Polish students in English. Mood Problems The principal problem with mood in English is with the use of the subjunctive. Although the subjunctive is slightly complicated, most of the problems come from a confusion with very similar forms of the indicative and inadequate textbooks and teaching which confuse the two moods. To really understand how English works and to compare the use of the subjunctive (called in some languages the conjunctive) in English and other languages one may know a sound knowledge of the English sunjunctive is necessary. All the important facts are provided below. The subjunctive mood has fewer tenses than the indicative mood. Here we will deal with only the simple present, past and past perfect forms, but related continuous and going to future forms exist, and there are various important paraphrastic (paraphrasing) forms exist using the subjunctive forms may, might, should and could. 1) Present Subjunctive The form of the present subjunctive is that of the bare infinitive, the first principal part of the verb or the dictionary form (all these being the same form). The present subjunctive is used: 1. To express wishes. God save the Queen! (May God save, i.e. take care of, the Queen.) Long live the revolution! (May the revolution live for a long time.) God bless you! (May God bless you.) 2. In a special form of present/future if-clause expressing doubt that it will really be fulfilled. If you go there again, you will surely die. (Future meaning of present.) If this be treason, make the most of it. (Patrick Henry) (True present meaning.) 3. With certain verbs of command. The commander orderd/commanded (that) he come at once. ( = The commander ordered/commanded him to come at once.) The judge ruled he be hanged. The crowd demanded (that) he receive justice. She requested (that) he he leave at once. ( = She requested him to leave at once.) They suggested/proposed (that) he return the next day. Note that according to the first verb sometimes the alternative structure with the accusative case plus the infinitive can be used. With the verbs where this is not indicated above, this alternative is not possible. Also note that the word that

5 is optional to introduce the subjunctive clause, but very common. 1) Past Subjunctive It is of absolute importance to understand that the past subjunctive has present force! ( Force in grammatical terminology means meaning.) Thus, both the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive refer to present time, but their meanings and uses are different. The form of the past subjunctive is the same as that of the second person plural indicative past: we went, so subjunctive went we were, so subjunctive were we had, so subjunctive had The only place where there is a difference between the past indicative (with past meaning) and the past subjunctive (with present meaning) is in the third person singular of the verb to be, which is always were in the subjunctive. If he were here, he could help them. (He is almost certainly not here, however.) Contrast this with the indicative in the if clause: If he is here, he can help them. (Maybe he is here, maybe not.) And contrast also with the past indicative: If he was here, he could have helped them. (Maybe he was here, maybe not. We do not know if he was here or if he helped them, but in any case it relates to the past because past indicative always means past time.) Note: sometimes native speakers whose grammar is poor confuse was and were in these last two cases. This is a true error and should not be imitated. The use of the past subjunctive is to form contrary-to-fact conditional sentences. Contrast the following open conditionals (OC), using the indicative mood, with the contrary to fact conditionals (CTFC) using the subjunctive mood: PRESENT OC: If he has enough money, he will go on holiday. CTFC: If he had enough money, he would go on holiday. PAST OC: If he had enough money, he went on holiday. (I do not know what he did.) CTFC: If he had had enough money, he would have gone on holiday. (He did not.) Note: the first clause of the last sentence is an example of the past perfect subjunctive, which has simple past meaning. FUTURE OC: If he has enough money, he will go on holiday. CTFC: If he were to have enough money, he would go on holiday. (This form is not as clearly CTF as the others. Were-to conditionals can also be used in the present tense.) Note that the OC has an if-clause with the present tense in obedience to the rule that we use the present to represent future time in an if-clause. Sometimes we do not follow this rule, but in that case there is normally some special reason, for example:

6 1. There was doubt about the future action/event, but now it seems that it will indeed happen. (E.g. Oh, if he really is going to come to the party, I ll make sure to make some vegan food for him. (There was doubt before. The shall/will -future could also be used here instead of the going-to-future: really will come ) 2. We are discussing willingness to do something. (E.g. If you will come to my home, I can give it to you tonight. ) Note in general that a typical conditional sentence has two clauses: the if-clause (protasis) and the result clause (apodosis). In open conditionals the indicative is usually used in both clauses, but sometimes there is an imperative in the result clause. ( If you are here tomorrow, drop in to my office. When there is a contrary-to-fact conditional in the if-clause, the result clause usually has the past subjunctive would to make a kind of future tense with another verb. Sometimes should, might, and could may be used in place of would. They all denote the presumed unreality of the activity denoted by the verb. Keep in mind, however, that sometimes these same auxiliary verbs are simply past indicatives used to make, for example, the future-in-the-past tense: I knew that I should do it one day. (Future-in-the-past indicative of shall, not subjunctive meaning that I would do it.) I knew that I should do it. (Past subjunctive of shall, meaning ought to with past force) He thought that he could do it. (Past indicative of can with future force) We know that he might (or may) do it. (Past subjunctive with present/future force, expressing possibility, not certainty.) We knew that he might do it some day. (Future-in-the-past of may ) He knew that he might use the kitchen. (Past subjunctive of may with past force, meaning he knew he was allowed to use the kitchen) These are rendered especially confusing because the meanings of possibility and duty and permission are heavily implicated in use of the mood and tense. The above examples are provided to alert one to the many possibilities, not to exhaustively teach the active use of these forms. Note that there is also an alternative to using if in an if-clause in a contrary-to-fact conditional which has the verb had or were. Inversion of the subject and verb is then required: Had I the money, I would help you. ( Had as main verb) Had he come on time, he wouldn t have had that problem. ( Had as auxiliary verb) He wouldn t have had the problem, had he come on time. Were he here, I would ask him. ( Were as main verb) Were he blown up by terrorists, I wouldn t be able to ask him. ( Were as auxiliary verb forming the passive) Were you to forget, it would cause complications. ( Were in the were to constuction introduced above) N.B. If the verbs are used in the indicative in open conditions in the past tense, it is not possible to use this inverted form without if! Were they there, they surely saw the lake.! Had he the money, he surely bought it then. Such sentences as those are clearly incorrect. Finis