sequence of tenses: a useful principle?

Sequence of Tenses: A Useful Principle?Author(s): Rodger A. FarleySource: Hispania, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Sep., 1965), pp. 549-553Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/336482 .

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OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS 549

VIRGINIA ALEXANDRIA: St. Agnes School: Leslie Ferrell; ARLINGTON: Wakefield H.S.: Suzanne Riodan; Washington-Lee H.S.: Diana Martin; Yorktown H.S.: Claudia Deverall, Heather McHugh; BLACKSBURG: H.S.: Martha Mattus; FALLS CHURCH: JEB Stuart H.S.: Deborah Rivers, Robert Stoss; NEWPORT NEws: H.S.: Anne Saw- yer; St. Vincent Central H.S.: Karis Ann Castrale; NORFOLK: Catholic H.S.: Joanne Connell; RICHMOND: Westhampton Col- lege: Karen Dyer; VIENNA: Madison H.S.: Grayson Stup; WOODBRIDGE: Gar-Field H. S.: Herbert Gibson.

WASHINGTON LAKEWOOD: Lakewood School: Judy Bjer- kaker, Janet Dellwing, Claudia Linth, Charles Steinhauer; TACOMA: Harry S. Truman Jr. H.S.: Diane Bundrock, Jeff Massey.

WEST VIRGINIA CHARLESTON: Stonewall Jackson H.S.: George Corey, Jill Gibson; MARTINSBURG: H.S.: Peter Pakas, Robert Sherrard.

WISCONSIN EDGERTON: St. Joseph's College: Vincent Cabras, Ben Owens, John Stellberg; MARSHFIELD: Columbus H.S.: Peggy Wes- ley; MILWAUKEE: Mount Mary College: Carroll Volz; St. John Cathedral H.S.: Jose Alba; SussEx: Hamilton H.S.: Thom- as Hallaron, Kristin Kaul, Carol Smilt- neek, Sandra Stamfl, Alice Volden, Kathy Wandsneider, Mary Ann Wegner; WAU- KESHA: H.S.: Lupe Gonzailez; WAUWA- TOSA: West H.S.: Brends Bravo-Femrnindez.

WYOMING CHEYENNE: Central H.S.: Mary Burnett, Mary Ruth Parsons.

ONTARIO, CANADA SUDBURY: H.S.: Nina Gorky, Aulie Ing- man.

GEORGE J. EDBERG, Member of the 1966 AATSP Test Development

Temple University

NOTES ON USAGE

SEQUENCE OF TENSES: A USEFUL PRINCIPLE?

RODGER A. FARLEY

United States Naval Academy

Es cierto que la Real Policia Montada del Canada propuso que la Soberana utilice un autom6vil blindado. .s.. Hasta ahora no hay confirmaci6n de que se empleara ese g'nero de vehicuio, pero la leyenda es mis poderosa que la realidad.1

This paragraph, written by an educated Spaniard, contains two subjunctives whose

use runs contrary to the principle ex- pressed in sequence of tenses." Simply stated, the principle is this: the tense of a dependent verb in the subjunctive is de- termined by the tense of another verb, or more specifically, a present subjunctive follows a verb in the present tense and a past subjunctive follows a verb in a past tense. Should we concede that the native in the above quotation communicates ex- actly what he intended to say, we should

* This paper was delivered at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference in April 1965.



550 HISPANIA

ask ourselves whether the principle is really useful.

It is quite apparent that textbook writers have realized that a one-to-one relation- ship between verb forms cannot be applied as an ironclad rule and, consequently, have found it necessary to couch their statements on sequence of tenses in such terms as "generally," "usually," "normally," "regularly," and to punctuate such imprecision with a "provided," "however," "unless," "may on occasion," "in other respects," "if," and so on.

Deviations from the basic principle can be considered under two main categories: 1) a past subjunctive after the present tense, and 2) a present subjunctive after a past tense. In the first category, classroom texts may lead the student to three different conclusions: 1. That a full range of patterns of past subjunctives after a present tense is possible (H, I).2 For example:

If the main verb is in a past tense . . . the dependent verb is also in a past tense . . . In other respects the time reference of the dependent verb itself determines the tense.3

2. That a limited range of patterns is possible (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J). For example:

However, the imperfect subjunctive may fol- low the present, future or present perfect tense when as in English, the action of the dependent clause takes place in the past.4

3. That no past subjunctive after a present tense is considered good grammar (K). No quotation can be given here because the book referred to expresses its "system" by a chart with accompanying examples.

In the second category-a present subjunctive after a past tense-texts may lead the student to two conclusions: 1. That certain combinations are possible (A,

B). For example: After a leading verb in a past tense, a dependent subjunctive is in the present tense if its action applies to all time or extends be- yond the time of speaking:5

2. That no combination is possible (C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K). For example: If the main clause is in the past or conditional, use only a past subjunctive. .. .6

If we accept the statements, charts, and examples given in the texts to which I referred for this study, there are at least eleven patterns, used in popular Spanish of today, that run contrary to one or more

of the texts. The following selected examples were

taken principally from Madrid's newspaper, the ABC, from recent successful Spanish plays, published in several volumes of Teatro espaihol, and from native conversa- tion. In some categories, many examples were encountered. In others, very few. The fact that a pattern is rare, however, does not mean that it is an exception to some rule or that it could be said in another "regular" or "normal" way. A syntactic combination is only as rare or as common as the necessity to express the thought con- tained in it.

Pattern 1: Present/Imperfect Subjunctive Los lingiiistas . . . no parecen inmutarse ante el hecho de que hablasen lo mismo paises tanr dispares como Cartago y Galia. . . .7

No creo que estos ocho millones de votos re- publicanos sintieran ningin entusiasmo por el candidato dem6crata.8 Lo alnico que hay que lamentar es que la decisi6n oficial se hiciese tardiamente.9

-Irian con el novio. -Puede que fuera el novio porque tenia cara de imbcdil.0'

. ino tienes derecho a reprocharme que te buscase una recomendaci6n!11 No hay derecho a que ocurriera lo que ocu- rri6.12 Puede que ya lo supiera de antemano.13

S. . se nos dice que es muy probable que ofrezca algunas iniciativas que pudieran fa- vorecer el deshielo. .. 14

Cabo, no creo que un poco mis de cofiac nos hiciera dafio.15

The examples above illustrate the use of the imperfect subjunctive 1) to express events whose occurence falls in past time, and 2) as a migratory form to express a present or future action in a hypothetical or "conditional" frame.

Pattern 2: Present/Pluperfect Subjunctive Despues de lo que ha ocurrido me doy cuenta de que podia haber pasado el tiempo, y la ofensiva sin Ilegar . . . y en febrero es posible que nos hubieran retirado de este puesto.16

. iDiablos de hijos! Parecen extrafios que hubieran venido anteayer."7

The pluperfect subjunctive in both of these examples is used as a migratory form to express a hypothesis pertaining to past time.



NOTES ON USAGE 551

Pattern 3: Command/Present Perfect Subjunc- tive

... perdone que hayamos convertido esto en un despacho. ... 18

Pattern 4: Command/Imperfect Subjunctive

Perd6nenme que las dejara con la palabra en la boca.19 Perdone usted que la hiciera esperar fuera.20

Supongamos que yo sospechase que habia usted entrado para robar.21

In the first two examples of Pattern 4 the imperfect subjunctive expresses past ac- tions. In the third example, involving a hortatory form, which for all practical pur- poses is the same as a command, the imperfect subjunctive is a migratory form, expressing a hypothesis. Pattern 5: Comma~d/Pluperfect Subjunctive

Suponte que te lo hubieran dado. 22 Pattern 6: Present Perfect/Present Perfect Sub- junctive

Ha conseguido que de los cuatro recalcitrantes, dos hayan decidido a romper sus relaciones con La Habana.23

Regreso a Bonn muy satisfecho de mis con- versaciones. Ha sido muy beneficioso que haya venido a Paris.24

Pattern 7: Present Perfect/Imperfect Subjunc- tive

Yo he querido que mantuviese viva siempre la memoria de lo que pas6.25 Y yo un tonto, a quien le ha dado ver- giuenza que le viesen consultar ... los libros de Ferrer.26

.Para qud ha permitido Dios Nuestro Sefior

que se inventara el teldfono?27

IPor qu6 has dejado que lo hiciera, Crist6- bal?28 Le he dicho que fuera por el otro lado.29

The imperfect subjunctive in the combination just illustrated is used to express 1) events whose inception or total occurence is prior to the moment of speaking, and 2) events posterior to the present moment as well as posterior to a past moment. Pattern 8: Imperfect/Present Subjunctive

Distrala tus nervios para evitar que te pongas a chillar.30 Se trataba de crear . . una atm6sfera de verdadera subversi6n, con el fin de que Per6n . . vuelva a la Argentina .. 31

-tQub te estaba diciendo mama?

-Que le traiga el peri6dico.32

Pattern 9: Preterit/Present Subjunctive Cuando le admiti, quedamos en que no se acostarla usted antes de las once, para que las mujeres podamos pasar por el comedor.33 Hicieron mi ficha y me dijeron que me pre- sente al mediodia.34

(Johnson) Pidid al partido que mantenga viva la llama encendida por John F. Kennedy. Solicit6 que los dem6crates sigan llevando a cabo las directrices trazadas por Kennedy.35

En resumen, aconsejd a los ingleses que hagan las maletas y dejen Chipre a su suerte.36

The present subjunctive in the above examples is used to express a future from a past but with particular attention to its present and future-from-now application. Pattern 10: Conditional/Present Subjunctive

El cardinal Ruffini .. afiadi6 que seria muy de desear que los judios, por su parte, reco- nozcan que condenaron injustamente a Jesis.37 ... les aconsejarta que si tienen alguna moci6n que presentar, lo hagan dirigi6ndose por es- crito a.

. 8 .38

Pattern 11: Imperfect Subjunctive/Present Sub- junctive

. . . el delegado de Malasia pidi6 al Consejo que no dejase que los debates se conviertan en simples pol6micas, sino que determine si hubo o no agresi6n por parte de Indonesia.39 Hace un mes que todos los dias almuerza con la sefiorita. Pero hoy, no se, como si le molestase que se case la sefiorita. .. .40

The present subjunctive in the first example of Pattern 11 is a future from a past future. Since the debates were not only in progress but continue into the future, the present subjunctive stresses the ever present danger of the discussions bogging down in petty arguments. In the second example, the young girl is going to marry. An imperfect subjunctive would suggest that she might marry.

There is no denying that the educated Spanish-speaking native uses as many combinations of tenses as the sense of his communication calls for. This does not con- tradict the fact that most of the time he uses an imperfect subjunctive after a past tense, and a present subjunctive after a present tense. This is what the textbook writer is really telling the student when



552 HISPANIA

he modifies the basic principle of sequence of tenses with such terms as "generally," "normally," "usually," "regularly." He un- consciously converts the principle into a statement of relative frequency.

Is English a good guide, as suggested in some texts (F, G, I), for determining whether to use in Spanish the present or past subjunctive? One grammar (G), for example, says: Any exception to the principle given above, such as a past subjunctive following a present indicative, will offer no difficulty, since the sequence of tenses in Spanish will be the same as that of English. Let us work with the basic sentence "I told her to bring it." Out of context, which is the way most sentences and examples for translations are presented, this sentence is ambiguous. The told could be a remote or a recent event, and the bring could imply that the event has been accomplished or was to be accomplished, or that the speaker knows that it is yet to be accomplished: -What was that doing here? -I told her to bring it. (Le dije que lo trajera.) -Has she brought it? -I don't know. I told her to bring it. (Le he dicho que lo trajera.) -Will she bring it? -I don't know. I told her to bring it. (Le he dicho que lo traiga.) -Will she bring it? -I don't know. I told her last week to bring it tomorrow. (Le dije la semana pasada que lo traiga mahana.) It is clear that any prepatterned translation of English to Spanish in a subjunctive situation, throws open to chance that one's re- sponse in any given situation may not be what is desired.

To sum up briefly, the native does not abide by the mechanical statement of sequence of tenses. Even textbook writers, sensing this phenomenon, modify the basic principle such that it becomes a statement of relative frequency, and then insert other statements, based on the meaningful use of the tense morpheme, to explain its less popular combinatory potentials. This pedagogical "salad" of a basic principle or a statement of relative frequency plus statements based on form-to-meaning re- lationship, cannot provide the student with a clear notion of tense, as far as the sub-

junctive in Spanish is concerned. Sequence of tenses, as a basic principle or a statement of relative frequency, is not a useful principle and should be replaced with meaningful pedagogy.

NOTES

1 ABC, 10 Sept., 1964, p. 25. 2 Classroom texts are referred to by letter:

A. Alfred Coester, A Spanish Grammar (New York, 1912), p. 96.

B. Marathon M. Ramsey, A Textbook of Modern Spanish, 3d ed. (New York, 1937), 358-360.

C. Charles N. Staubach, Jane R. Eldon, John W. Walsh, Second Year Spanish (New York, 1955), p. 218 and p. 256.

D. Francisco Ugarte, Beginning Spanish (New York, 1955), p. 157.

E. George E. McSpadden, An Introduction to Spanish Usage (New York, 1956), p. 195.

F. Laurel H. Turk, Foundation Course in Spanish (New York, 1957), p. 187.

G. Norman P. Sacks, Spanish for Beginners, 2d ed. (New York, 1957), 176-177.

H. Gregory G. LaGrone, Basic Conversational Spnish (New York, 1957), p. 187.

I. Zenia Sacks Da Silva, Gabriel H. Lovett, A Concept Approach to Spanish (New York, 1959), 92-93.

J. Dwight L. Bolinger et al., Modern Spanish (New York, 1960), p. 320.

K. Mariano E. Gowland, Espaiol Primer Curso (Milwaukee, 1963), 11, 167.

3 LaGrone 4 Turk 5 Ramsey G Da Silva 7Ortega y Gasset, La rebelidn de las masas, 7a ed. (Buenos Aires, 1944), p. 28. 8 ABC, 6 Nov., 1964, p. 49. 9E. Hernindez Vista, Figuras y situaciones de la Eneida (Madrid, 1964), 11, 11. lo Alfonso Sastre, Teatro (Buenos Aires, 1960), p. 196. 11 Teatro espaihol 1957-1958 (Madrid, 1959), p. 65. 12 Sastre, op. cit., p. 169. 13 Teatro espaiol 1960-1961 (Madrid, 1962), p. 305. 14 ABC, 21 June 1964, p. 65. 15 Sastre, op. cit., p. 16. r Ibid., p. 40. 17 Teatro espafiol 1961-1962, p. 111. 18Te;tro espa iol 1957-1958, p. 127. 19Teatro espaiol 1960-1961, p. 376. 20 Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, Don Jose, Pepe y Pepito, (Madrid, 1952), p. 19. 21 Source not recorded. 22Teatro espaiol 1957-1958, p. 12. 23 ABC, 23 August 1964, p. 52. 24 ABC, 11 Nov. 1964, p. 50. 25"Teatro espaiol 1957-1958, p. 195.



NOTES ON USAGE 553

26 Ibid., p. 71. 27Teatro espahiol 1956-1957, p. 306. 28Teatro espahol 1960-1961, p. 225. 29 Live speech. 30 Source not recorded. 31 ABC, 16 August 1964, p. 49. 32 Live speech. 3 Teatro espahol 1960-1961, p. 27.

34 Julia Maura, Siempre (Madrid, 1952), p. 55. 3 5ABC, 29 August 1964, p. 27. 30 ABC, 18 August 1964, p. 25. 37 ABC, 29 Sept. 1964, p. 33. 38 Juan R-Castellano, "iHasta la vista," Hispania, XLVII (December, 1964), p. 802. 39ABC, 10 Sept. 1964, p. 28. 40 Source not recorded.

iHE NOS VENIDOS... HAMIHALA!

GoRDON T. FISH

U.S.A.R., Retired

In lines 127 and 138 of the Auto de los reyes magos occur two enigmatic words whose etymology was inconclusively dis- cussed by Ford in Old Spanish Readings (108). The one is found a single time in all Spanish literature, the other is current today; both are exclamations. He is listed by the Academy and by Bello as imperative singular, hamihala has been fanci- fully interpreted in many ways.

Latin H, purely traditional except when retained by purists or added by faddists, was unheard and often unwritten long be- fore the last days of Pompeii, where one can still see on a wall: DEVS MAGNV OCLV ABET. In the Auto it is used only with the learned word humana (95), and with the related homne (65) alternating with ormne (39); but poco tempo a (4), senior a a ser (25), rogado lo e (59), la auemos veida (100), and elsewhere. But foreign h is phonemic, though transitory: hata in occidente (26), which is pure Arabic but on the way out: ata que io lo veo (116). When the Auto was composed, f had not started on the downward course that led through aspiration to extinction, a course which, by the way, it is still following in some regions: where juego and fuego are hard to distinguish. Falado (34) still had its labiodental or bilabial sound and h was the only way to write phonemic /h/.

Hamihala is a foreign word. Since it is used by one rabbi addressing another, and since ha is the Hebrew definite article, one thinks of that language. But was it a spoken language in the Diaspora, and could the

versifier of the Auto distinguish it from Arabic? Be that as it may, correction of a one-letter garble gives one of the com- monest of Arabic exclamations, used dozens of times a day, within or without appro- priate context: Hamid Allah!, roughly, "Praise God!" There is thus no need to call in St. Michael or the improbable name of a rabbi! This expression has many variants; my son, back from an Air Force tour in Arabia, shouted "Hummadilla!"l

He, whatever it is, cannot be a form of haber; if it were, the scribe would have heard it and written it as he wrote the other he: adora lo e (106). It cannot come from the late Vulgar Latin paradigm *AO AS AT EMUS ETIS ANT, with imperatives *A and *ETE, whence Portuguese imperative hc. It cannot be squeezed out of classical HABE for that persisted: habe misericordia de mi (Cuervo, note 80 on Bello). It is strange that none of the authorities quoted by Ford seem to have consulted the lexico- graphers. In my worn-out dictionary published in Barcelona "bajo la direcci6n de

Jos" Alemany de la Real Academia Es-

panola," there is less majesty: "HE (del ar. he) Adverbio demonstrativo que junto a los adverbios aqul y alli sirve para sefialar .. ." In Pequeiio Larousse, a gallicism of 1912, I read: "HE, interj.... " And in Nouveau Larousse Illustr- of 1907, referring to French: "H6 (h aspire, du Latin he, meme sens) Sert a attirer 1' attention. (Of course, no Frenchman, except in the east, can now pronounce an h aspire.) What we are deal- ing with is not just an item of Spanish vocabulary, it is part of a world-wide series,



sequence of tenses: a useful principle?

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