the perfective aspect in english

7/27/2019 The Perfective Aspect in English

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THE PERFECTIVE ASPECT IN ENGLISH

ARGUMENT

I have chosen to discuss this subject, The Perfective Aspect in English, in

detail, because it has an utter importance in learning the English language not

only for foreign learners but also for native speakers.

Along my pedagogical practice with pupils I have observed that the mostdifficult subject has been the verb tenses.

Therefore, I will treat in detail a part of them, the perfect tenses.

I do not claim that this is an exhaustive work, but I am sure that it will

highlight most of the problems encountered by teachers in their work with pupils

of different levels of study.

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CHAPTER 1

VERBS

1.INTRODUCTORY. DEFINITION

Because form and function are not sufficiently unambiguous criteria for a

definition of a verb (as to form, -s in the 3 rd person singular is identical with s,

noun plural ending; -ed is also added to nouns or noun phrases to form adjectives

e.g. talented; as to function running water can be intuitively related to water

runs although it does not form a complete sentence), grammar books must often

define it by context, without the definition being perfect: e.g. The verb is the part

of speech which denotes actions (write, run, speak, move, cut), some state or

condition (sleep, remain, lie, stand, live), existence (be, exist), the appearance of

a characteristic (wither, die, rise), the modification of an attitude or characteristic

(awake, harden, sharpen), an attitude (please, doubt, respect, appreciate, detest)

etc.

2.VERB FORMS

The verb forms are either finite (personal) or non-finite (non-personal).

2.1.The finite forms have tense distinctions, indicating grammatical time

relations; have mood, indicating the speakers attitude towards the action; have

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voice, indicating whether a person or thing is doing or receiving the action. They

can indicate the duration, completeness or incompleteness of an action, they can

form by themselves the predicate of a sentence; there is person and number

agreement between the subject and the finite verb.

2.2.The non-finite forms are the infinitive, the participle and the gerund.

They have aspect and voice distinctions; they may enter into predicate relations

with a noun, forming non-finite clauses. They do not have the categories of

mood, tense, number and person.

3.CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS

In what follows, four criteria for classification will be used:

1.the basic form of the verb;

2.its behaviour in the sentence;

3.its ability to occur in the progressive aspect;

4.verb complementation.

3.1. CLASSIFICATION OF THE VERBS ACCORDING TO THEIR

BASIC FORMS

The English verb normally has four forms: the base form (infinitive,

present indicative, with the exception of the third person singular, imperative,

subjunctive), the past tense (or preterite), the past participle, and the indefinite

participle. Verbs ending in ed in the past tense and past participle are calledregular verbs , while those which do not end in ed in the past tense and past

participle are called irregular verbs .

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3.1.1. REGULAR VERBS

The regular verb class includes the vast majority of English verbs. Even the

new verbs, coined or borrowed, adopt the regular path (-ed in the past tense and

past participle): e.g. work, worked, worked, working; gazump, gazumped,

gazumped, gazumping.

3.1.1.1. The pronunciation of the past tense and past participle

The inflection ed has three pronunciations

[d], after voiced sounds, other than [d]:

e.g. stay, stayed, stayed ['s t e i d]

move, moved, moved [m u: v d]

pull, pulled, pulled [p u l d]

[t], after voiceless sounds, other than [t]:

e.g. ask, asked, asked [ s k t]

stop, stopped, stopped [s t p t]

look, looked, looked [l u k t]

miss, missed, missed [m i s t][id], after the alveolar plosives [t], [d]:

e.g. want, wanted, wanted ['w n t i d]

admit, admitted, admitted [ d 'm i t i d]

fade, faded, faded, ['f e i d i d]

3.1.1.2. The spelling of the past tense and past participle

Doubling of the final consonant of the base form before ed occurs if the

preceding vowel is stressed and spelled with a single letter:

e.g. stop, stopped, stopped

rub, rubbed, rubbed

sin, sinned, sinned

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a) Some consonants are doubled after single unstressed vowels:

e.g. picnic, picnicked, picnicked

traffic, trafficked, trafficked

humbug, humbugged, humbugged

b) Other consonants are doubled in British English, but not in American

English: e.g. travel, travelled, travelled

program(me), programmed, programmed

kidnap, kidnapped, kidnapped

worship, worshipped, worshipped

In most cases p is not doubled: e.g. develop, developed, developed

Final -y after a consonant changes into i:

e.g. study, studied, studied

spy, spied, spied

cry, cried, cried

c) Final -e is dropped: e.g. shape, shaped, shaped

agree, agreed, agreed

3.1.2.IRREGULAR VERBS

They show no ed inflection in the past tense and past participle; they are

formed by a change of vowel (gradation ablaut). We have:

Verbs with the same form for the base form, the past tense and the past

participle: e.g. hurt, hurt, hurt; cut, cut, cut;

Verbs with the same form for the past tense and past participle only:

e.g. bleed, bled, bled; fling, flung, flung;

Verbs with the same form for the base form and the past participle:

e.g. come, came, come; run, ran, run;

Verbs with all forms different:

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e.g. be, was/were, been; strive strove, striven; steal, stole, stolen;

throw, threw, thrown.

3.1.2.1. Verbs with double forms for the past participle, one of which is

en. The en forms have only an adjectival function:

e.g. drunkdrunken man

meltedmolten metal

shrunkshrunken cheeks

shavedshaven face

In the verbal functions, swollen is more common than swelled . Swelled is

used when it means increased:

e.g. The number of dogs has swelledfrom 75 to 100 in this shelter.

As an adjective, swollen is usual, e.g.: swollen stream. Note the difference

between a swollen head , with the literal meaning, and a swelled head , of

conceit.

Proven , has a restrictive adjectival use: e.g. a proven record , not proven(used as a legal term).

Both trod and trodden have an adjectival and a verbal function: e.g. have

trod/ trodden; a trodden flower-bed/ a well trod path.

Gotten is preferred by American English especially in the meanings of

acquire, cause; in British English it is used attributively in only one phrase

i.e. ill-gotten gains.

A number of verbs have two participle forms, of which one is regular and

one ends in n. As an attributive adjective the n form is commonly used. In the

verbal function both are found: hew, hewed, hewed/hewn; saw, sawed,

sawed/sawn; sew, sewed, sewed/sewn; shear, sheared, sheared/shorn; sow,

sowed, sowed/sown.

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The participle born of the verb bear , bore, born/borne is always passive and

is used in connection with birth.

3.1.2.2. Verbs with double forms for the past tense and the past participle

Many verbs show an alternation between an irregular form and a regular

one in ed. The regular form is becoming more and more common, especially in

the past tense: e.g. quit, quit/quitted, quit; rid, rid/ridded, rid.

Certain verbs are used with the ed form in American English and with the

irregular one in British English: e.g. bet, bet/betted; burn, burnt/burned; dwell,

dwelt/dwelled; kneel, knelt/kneeled; leap, leapt/leaped; learn, learnt/learned;

smell, smelt/smelled; spell, spelt/spelled; spill, spilt/spilled; strive, strove/strived

etc.

There are, however, verbs whose regular forms seem to be favoured by

British English, while their irregular forms occur only in American English:

sweat, sweat/sweated; wed, wed/wedded.

Certain verbs are regular in their literal sense, and preferably irregular intheir metaphorical sense: e.g. knit, knit/knitted; light, lit/lighted;

She knitteda pair of socks.

She knither brows.

The verb weave, wove/weaved, woven/weaved is different:

e.g. She wove a wreath. (literal sense)

He weavedhis way through the brush .

The meanings of the regular and irregular forms of the same verb may

differ or may be narrowed: e.g.

Speed : both forms are used with relation to rapid movement:

e.g.The trucksped/speededalong.

Only the regular form is used in the sense increase the speed of:

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e.g. They speededup the building of the school.

Hang : the regular form is used only for execution:

e.g. They hangedhim for murder.

Shine : the regular form is used only in the sense of polish (especially in

American English). The irregular form is used in the sense of give out/reflect

light:

e.g. His eye shone with expectation.

Clothe is regular when meaning cover, provide clothes for. The irregular

form clad is used as a mannered expression instead of dress, especially of the

appearance of the clothing:

e.g. She was richly clad.

Dream : the regular form is the usual one; the regular form is formal or it

means to imagine:

e.g. I little dreamedId have such a chance.

Work : the irregular past and past participle wrought is only used in certain

connections:

e.g. Her nerves are wroughtup.This is a wroughtiron balustrade.

Indiscriminate use is common in the case of verbs like broadcast,

broadcast/broadcasted; chide, chid/chided.

The auxiliaries are a group apart within irregular verbs. Some have all the

basic forms (e.g. be, have), others not (e.g. may, will, ought).


BEHAVIOUR IN THE SENTENCE

According to their behaviour in various grammatical environments, we

distinguish between:

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Auxiliary verbs - special finites/ anomalous verbs

Lexical verbs - take do to build the interrogative and negative.

3.2.1. AUXILIARY VERBS

Auxiliary verbs have no independent existence in the sentence; they help to

build various tenses and moods of lexical verbs or to make up verb phrases. They

can only occur with the concept of a lexical verb attached explicitly or implicitly.

Auxiliary verbs can be classified according to the forms which they help to build.

Thus we can speak of:

auxiliaries of form : to do

e.g. She does not know how to play scrabble.

They did not readthat novel.

Do not smoke!

Where does he go?

auxiliaries of tense : to be, have, shall, should, will, would

e.g. Iam readingnow.

She has not arrivedyet.

They will come next week.

Mary said she would talkto you later.

auxiliaries of voice : to be

e.g. The letterwas written by her.

auxiliaries of aspect : to be, have

e.g. Iwas readinga book when you called.

They have justarrived.

She has neversaidthat.

auxiliaries of mood : should, would, will, may, might, let

e.g. He would write to you if he knew your address.9


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It is important that pupils should do their homework carefully.

If he were here, he might help us.

modal auxiliaries , expressing concepts like: probability, possibility,

logical necessity, volition, insistence: can, may, shall, should, will,

would, must, ought etc.

e.g. The bookshould be in my bag.

He may be at home now.

You must phone him this evening.

Wouldyou mindopening the window?

3.2.1.1. Characteristics of auxiliary verbs

1) Semantically, a distinction has to be made between auxiliary and modal

auxiliary verbs. The auxiliaries of form, tense, voice, aspect and mood have

usually no semantic value, while modal auxiliaries have a meaning of their own.

Modal auxiliaries often show a combination of time or tense concept and modal

concept. Many modal verbs have several meanings. Some of them share meaning

but are not completely interchangeable.

2) Most of them have strong and weak forms depending on thepresence or absence of sentence stress in their pronunciation, e.g.: be [bi:], [bi];

been [bi:n], [bin] etc. They alone take the contracted form of not:

e.g. Icantdo it.

3) They build their interrogative and negative forms without do:

e.g. May Ileave early?

Can you drive a car?

She wont forget.

They neednt do it.

4) They are not inflected in the third person singular of the present tense

except for do , be , have :

e.g. The teachercan see you now.

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Itmustbe arrived 12 oclock.

5) They are followed by the infinitive of a lexical verb, usually bare

(without the particle to), except for need , ought , be , used and have (all used as

modal auxiliaries): e.g. They must come tomorrow.

He cannot play the piano.

But: He is to be here soon.

They have to leave home every morning at 7.30.

You need to go to the dentist this morning.

They ought to do this quickly.

When be and have are auxiliaries of tense, voice or aspect, they are followed by

the indefinite present or past participle of a lexical verb:

e.g. They are eating.

He was askedto do this job.

He has broken his arm.

6) Except for be and have , all auxiliaries are defective verbs. They have no

infinitive and no participle. They cannot be conjugated in all the tenses and

moods. Some are forms of the present (e.g. may, must, can etc.) other are formsof the past (e.g. could, would, might etc.). Both types can be used in present tense

sequence:

e.g. I think John may/mightarrive soon.

When they are used with the indefinite (present) infinitive of a lexical verb,

they have generally present or future time reference:

e.g. He can/may/shall/mustdo it today/tomorrow.

The alternative forms might , could , should show a more tentative attitude

of the speaker; they are not the exact past equivalents of may , can , shall . Only

could, might and would are used to refer to the past time when followed by an

indefinite (present) infinitive and only in a restricted range of meaning:

e.g. He couldswim five miles when he was a boy .

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In reported speech, however, their past tense forms are used automatically,

even when the meaning is not exactly the same as that of the present in direct

speech:

e.g. You can leave early. He said you could leave early.

Must remains unchanged in indirect speech, having no past form:

e.g. You must calla doctor. She said you must calla doctor.

When followed by a perfect infinitive, modal auxiliaries refer to the past:

e.g. He may/might have toldthe truth.

7) They form various types of question phrases and occur in various types

of responses.

a) Question phrases

Negative question phrase (question-tag) added to an affirmative

statement:

e.g. You can do it, cant you?

Affirmative question phrase added to a negative statement:

e.g. She wont do it again, will she?

A less common type of question phrase has both statement and

question positive or negative:

e.g. (So) John likes movies, does he?

(Oh) You havent been there, havent you?

Conversation frequently uses a special construction when it combines

a short answer and a question phrase, to express agreement with a negative

statement or with an affirmative statement. The short answer repeats the auxiliaryof the statement or, if the latter contains a lexical verb it replaces it by do (the

pattern is the usual one):

e.g. I dont believe it. - No, you dont, do you?

A variant of this is used when one wishes to make an ironical,

sarcastic or incredulous comment on another persons statement. It is built by

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repeating the auxiliary or modal auxiliary of the statement or, if the verb is a

lexical verb, by replacing it with an appropriate form of do and by adding a

question phrase, both being positive or negative:

e.g. She is coming tomorrow. - Oh, she is, is she?

He felt very sorry for her. - Oh, he did, did he?

I dont think youre right. - Oh, you dont, dont you?

b) Short answer and responses

Auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries are used in short answers and in

responses to avoid repetition of the lexical verb and its complementation.

Types:

i. Yes and No answers to general questions:

e.g. Does she speak French? -Yes, she does.

ii. Answers to special questions (introduced by an interrogative word

which is the subject of the sentence or part of the subject):

e.g. Whos seen my bag? -I have.

How many of you can swim? -Three of us can.

iii. Short answers expressing agreement with an affirmative or negativestatement. The subject of the short answer has to be coreferential with that of the

antecedent clause:

e.g. Mary is writing. - Yes, she is. (simple agreement)

There is a man at our door.-Yes, there is. (surprised agreement)

They shouldnt do that. -Of course they shouldnt.

(agreement on something obvious)

iv. Short answers expressing disagreement with an affirmative or a

negative statement or a special question (introduced by why or how ):

e.g. Why are you teasing me? -But Im not.

How did you do it? -But I didnt.

You cant write this? -Yes, I can.

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v. Addition to affirmative or negative sentences:

- Introduced by so (=also); inversion takes place between auxiliary and

subject: e.g.He has seen the movie. So has Lucy .

- Introduced by nor or neither ; inversion takes place between auxiliary

and subject:

e.g. I cannot raise it. Nor/Neither can you.

Auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries may be used to avoid repetition of a

lexical verb within one and the same sentence:

e.g. He doesnt usually speak Spanish, but when he does he makes

lots of mistakes.

8) Auxiliaries can take a strong stress for affirmative emphasis:

e.g. I hve done it.

Mary cn sing well.

For negative emphasis, the strong stress is laid on the negation not

immediately after the auxiliary:

e.g. John cannt swim well.She will nt do it.

When the lexical verb is emphasised by strong stress, the meaning of the

verb and not its affirmative nature is being stressed:

e.g. She will lnd me the book. (i.e. she will not sell it to me)

3.2.2. LEXICAL VERBS

The verbs which need the help of do in order to build their interrogative

and negative forms, and are replaceable by do in various types of short answers

and questions are called lexical verbs .

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When they have independent existence in the sentence or when be functions

as a link between complement and the subject, be and have (which behave or may

behave like auxiliaries) are also classed among lexical verbs.


ABILITY TO OCCUR IN THE PROGRESSIVE ASPECT

We distinguish between two classes: dynamic verbs and stative verbs.

3.3.1. DYNAMIC VERBS are more likely to occur in the progressive (or

continuous) aspect. Lexically, they are grouped as:

Activity verbs: e.g. add, ask, burn, cut, catch, drive, drink, eat, fly, go, hit,

knit, learn, make, play, read, sell, shoot, take, wear, work, write etc.

Process verbs: e.g. become, change, get, go, grow, mature, narrow, prosper,

run, speed up, thrive, wake, wither etc.

Both activity and process verbs indicate incomplete events in progress in

the continuous aspect.

Verbs of bodily sensation: e.g. ache, hurt, itch, feel, pain, sting etc.They can have either common and continuous aspect with little difference

in meaning:

e.g. The knee hurts me.

The knee is hurtingme.

Transitional event verbs: e.g. arrive, die, fall, land, leave, lose, hide, kneel,

sink, withdraw etc.

In the continuous aspect, they suggest only the approach to the transition:

e.g. The man died.

The man was dying.

Momentary verbs (time-point verbs): e.g. burst, catch, drop, grasp, hit, hop,

jump, nod, seize, snatch, strike, sit down, stand up, throw etc.

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Because of their little duration, the continuous aspect may sometimes imply

repetition of the action:

e.g. He struckthe rail.

He was strikingthe rail.

3.3.2. STATIVE VERBS are not normally used in the progressive (or

continuous) aspect, except with a change of meaning. Lexically they can be

grouped into:

a)Verbs denoting mental states and processes: e.g. (dis)agree, (dis)believe,

differ, find, foresee, forget, imagine, know, mean, recall, recognise, recollect,

remember, suppose, think(=believe), (dis)trust, understand etc.

Iimagine he can do it.

They distrusthim.

b)Verbs denoting emotional states: e.g. adore, astonish, desire, detest,

forgive, hate, hope, (dis)like, love, mind (object to), (dis)please, prefer, want,

wish etc.

Ilike oranges.He didnt minddoing that.

c)Verbs of perception: e.g. see, hear, smell, taste, feel, notice, observe,

recognise, watch etc.

The roses smellgood.

He noticedthe child in the crowd.

d) Relational verbs: e.g. apply to, appear (=seem), be, belong to, concern,

consist of, contain, comprise, cost, depend, deserve, equal, find, fit, have,

include, involve, lack, matter, need, owe, own, possess, remain, require,

resemble, result, seem, sound, suffice, tend etc.

They foundthe problem easy.

They resemble each other.

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3.3.3. The same verb may have a dynamic use or a stative use, depending

on its meaning:

e.g. Im tastingthe soup. (dynamic use)

It tastes salty. (stative use)

Im feelingthe radiator. (dynamic use)

Itfeels hot. (stative use)


COMPLEMENTATION

Complementation comprises the elements of clause structure that are

obligatory for the completion of the verb meaning:

e.g. I asked him. or She saw. - are unacceptable sentences.

We distinguish here between:

the object direct: e.g. Veronica threw the ball over the wall.

-- indirect: e.g. He threw Veronica the ball.the complement subject complement: e.g. Frank is an architect.

He became angry.

-- object complement: e.g. They appointed him chairman.

3.4.1. Where no complementation occurs, three types of verb can be

distinguished:

a) Pure intransitive verbs, which do not permit any of the four object and

complement types mentioned above: e.g. ache, apologise, arrive, blossom, depart,

exist, happen, persist, lie etc.

Our friends have arrived.

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b) Verbs which can be transitive or intransitive with little or no difference

in meaning:

e.g. John openedthe window.

He writes (letters) every day.

c) Verbs which can be transitive or intransitive, but with difference in

meaning or in subject verbs relationship:

e.g. Joe stoodagainst the wall. They stoodJoe against the wall.

3.4.2. Where complementation occurs, four main types of verbs can be

distinguished:

a) Intensive verbs (copulas/linking verbs)

Intensive verbs take a subject complement; they have little meaning, but

function as a link between the complement and the subject.

The typical, purest intensive verb, devoid of any semantic value, is be :

e.g. He is an engineer. The floweris yellow.

The rest of intensive verbs are divided into two main classes:

- current copulas (verbs of being, seeming and remaining): appear, arrive,

continue feel, hold, keep, lie, look, remain. Ride, rest, seem, stand, smell,sound, taste etc.:

e.g. The argument stillholds good.

The booklay open on the table.

- resulting copulas (verbs of becoming): become, come, get, go, grow, fall,

run, turn etc.:

e.g. The riveris runningdry.

The custom has now become a rule.

b) Monotransitive verbs

Monotransitive verbs take an expressed object: e.g. abolish, amaze, afford,

accept, affect, cover, control, curb, consider, destroy, define, detest, discuss,

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describe, employ, examine, formulate fascinate, grant, interview, inspect, mean,

reveal, ruin, underline, recognise, reject, support, surprise etc.:

e.g. The climate affectedhis health.

The object can be not only a noun phrase, but also a non-finite form of the

verb, a construction with a non-finite form, a whole clause:

e.g. She asked him to come.

He admitted to doing it.

Grammar books used to define a transitive verb as a verb expressing a two

sided action: the activity of the subject, and the fact that the activity is directed

towards a direct object, which suffers it. However, many verbs classified as

transitive do not fit perfectly the pattern offered by the classical definition of

transitiveness.

Very frequently, the object is the result of the action expressed by the

transitive verb (e.g. She paints flowers .) or is the instrument by means of which

the action is performed (e.g. She shrugged her shoulders.); sometimes it is the

object that actually carries out the activity expressed by the verb (e.g. John was

flying a kite. = He made the kite fly) or it is the subject that suffers it, so actuallythe grammatical nominative is the object affected, while the grammatical

accusative represents the cause (e.g. He fears that man. = That man frightens

him.). On the contrary, in She called on John. or She looked after John., the

object suffers the action expressed by verbs traditionally classed as

intransitive.

In the prepositional and phrasal verb, the prepositional or adverbial particle

forms a semantic and syntactic unit with the verb. The semantic unity can often

be manifested by substitution with a single word verb: e.g. She made up a story .

= She invented a story.

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c) Ditransitive verbs

Ditransitive verbs take two objects that are not in coreferential, intensive

relation:

e.g. The teacher set the boys a difficult problem.

John bought Mary a present.

Other examples of ditransitive verbs are: bring, deny, do, give, grant, hand, leave,

lend, offer, promise, read, show, throw, find, make, order, reserve, save, spare,

serve, excuse for, entrust with, forgive for, blame on/for, provide for/with,

explain to, say to, thank for, charge with, confine to, remind of, interest in, refer

to, compare with etc.

The indirect objects, occurring after non-prepositional verbs can take

prepositional paraphrases:

e.g. She envied John for his success.

John gave a present to Mary.

A special group of verbs taking ditransitive complementation is represented

by verbs like ask , teach , owe , pay , show . With these verbs either object can be

omitted without changing the basic meaning; a prepositional paraphrase ispossible as well:

e.g. I taught the pupils a new rule.

I taught a new rule.

I taught the pupils.

I taught a new rule to the pupils.

When the direct object is omitted, the indirect object becomes the direct object,

and the verb- a monotransitive one.

The prepositional indirect objects are not always paraphrases of indirect

objects; many ditransitive verbs take a direct and a prepositional indirect object

only:

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e.g. The teacher explained the problem to the students .

*The teacher explained the students the problem.

He said something to her sister.

*He said his sister something.

A special type of ditransitive verbs are followed by a noun phrase and a

prepositional phrase; the verb, the noun and the preposition make a very close,

idiomatic unit: catch sight of, give place to, lose sight of, lose touch with, lose

track of, make fun of, make room for, make use of, pay attention to, set fire to,

take account of, take care of etc.:

e.g. Sorrow gave way to smiles.

One of the objects of a transitive verb can also be a whole clause:

e.g. He told me that he was leaving.

She informed John what the persons name was.

d) Complex transitive verbs

Their complementation is a fusion of the monotransitive and intensive types

of complementation:

e.g. We thought him guilty.We thought him. He was guilty .

Examples of complex transitive verbs are: announce, appoint, burst, break, bring

up, consider, create, call, christen, crown, choose, make, name, pronounce, think

etc.

Some complex transitive verbs take an object, a preposition (usually as or

for ) and a noun phrase: e.g. accept as, acknowledge as, class as, characteristic as,

consider as, define as, describe as, interpret as, know as, mistake for, recognise

as, regard as, take as/for etc.:

e.g. They took me for a fool.

A rather large class of complex transitive verbs can be followed by an

object and an adjective:

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e.g. I think it right.

Keep the children quiet.

Two groups of such verbs can be distinguished:

- those which select their complements from a very wide range of adjectives:

e.g. I think him stupid/reasonable/ ambitious/ intelligent/ rude etc.

- those which resemble phrasal verbs in that the selection is rather restricted:

one and the same verb cannot co-occur with different adjectives (e.g. cut

short, set free, work loose etc.) while the same adjective can co-occur with

many different verbs (e.g. burst open, force open, hold, kick open, knock open

etc.)

However, many of the verb-adjective combinations of the latter group can

be considered to form close units and, consequently, can be classed as

monotransitive: e.g. I tore open the letter.

Many monotransitive verbs can change into complex transitive ones:

e.g.

Transitive Complex transitive

She wiped the table. She wiped it clean.He laughed at me. He laughed himself breathless.

Intransitive verbs may behave similarly:

e.g.

She shouted angrily. She shouted herself hoarse.

4. GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF THE VERB

Verbs are characterised by the categories of tense, aspect, mood and voice

plus number and person, which they share with pronouns and nouns.

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4.1. THE CATEGORY OF VOICE

Introductory. Definition. Formation.

Voice is a grammatical category which enables us to see the action in a

sentence in two ways, while the facts reported remain the same: if it is performed

by the grammatical subject, the verb is in the active voice; if the grammatical

subject suffers the action performed by an agent (expressed or implied), the verb

is in the passive voice:

e.g. Frank read the book.

The book was read by Frank.

The performer of the action is the same. As to structure, the adjective

subject corresponds to the passive agent.

A number of verbs (e.g. bore, cast, cut, divide, drive, grind, polish, read,

sail, sell, steer, undo, unlock, wash, wind etc.) allow a distinction between a

syntactic and a notional category of voice.

Syntactically active and syntactically passive verbs are recognised by form

alone, which differs. Notionally active or passive verbs may have the same form:e.g. Peter refused the offer. (syntactically and notionally active)

The offer was refused by Peter. (syntactically and notionally passive)

They sell flowers. (syntactically and notionally active)

The flowers sell well. (syntactically active but notionally passive)

In English, the passive is formed with the auxiliary be and the past

participle of a lexical verb.

At the clause level, the active subject becomes the passive agent, the active

object becomes the passive subject, and the preposition by is inserted before the

agent. The prepositional agent phrase of passive sentences is optional.

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4.1.1. Uses of the passive voice

The passive voice is not simply a formal variant of the active voice. A

change of voice may be associated with a change of meaning, particularly when

sentences include auxiliaries of modality:

e.g. I cannot learn this poem by heart. (lack of ability)

This poem cannot be learned by heart. (lack of possibility)

As a rule, the passive voice foregrounds the object of a verb by making it

the grammatical subject of a sentence.

In English the passive is much more common than in Romanian or in other

languages, especially in scientific and technical texts, where the process or action

is more important than the agent.

A passive voice is preferred in the following situations:

a) when the active subject is unknown or cannot be easily stated:

e.g. The death of J. F. Kennedy Junior, has been just announced.

Some activity verbs (declarative) or some verbs of cognition and inert

perception (say, report, believe, expect, know, understand etc.) used in the passive

are preceded by impersonal it :e.g. It is feared that many lives have been lost in the train crash .

b)when the active subject is self-evident from the context:

e.g. His book has been greatly enjoyed.

c)when we want to make a statement sound impersonal out of modesty,

tact, or when we are to make an unpleasant statement or an order:

e.g. This book has been conceived as a guide for students .

This window must be repaired.

d)when the active form would involve the use of an indefinite or vague

pronoun or noun as subject:

e.g. I have been misled. (Someone misled me)

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Exhibits must not be touched. (Visitors must not touch the

exhibits)

In these cases [a) through d)] reference to the passive agent (who/that

performs the action) is not made, being vague or unimportant, or unknown or, on

the contrary, made obvious by context.

e)Even when the active subject is expressed, the passive form is preferred if

there is greatest interest in the passive than in the active subject:

e.g. The bridge was destroyed by the bombardment.

f) Stylistic reasons determine the use of the passive form: e.g. sentence

rhythm, syntactic parallelism, emphasis. It serves to avoid an abrupt change of

subject in mid of the sentence:

e.g. He was extremely agitated and was asked to calm down .

Sometimes the passive is felt to be an equivalent of sentences introduced by

an emphatic it:

e.g. They assigned Paul to represent them . (active)

It was Paul they assigned to represent them . (active, emphatic)

Paul was assigned to represent them . (passive, possiblyemphatic)

4.2. THE CATEGORY OF ASPECT

Aspect reflects the status of the action denoted by a verb, i.e. whether it is

durative/permanent or transitory, finished or unfinished, whether it implies a

result or not etc.

Confusion should be avoided between: lexical aspect , implied in the verbs

themselves, as lexical elements. We have durative verbs (e.g. work, run, fly,

move, swim etc.) and time-point verbs (e.g. admit, break, bring, choose, nod,

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knock, wink, hit, hop, jump etc.) and grammatical aspect , expressed by specific

verbal forms.

There are two sets of aspectual contrasts in English:

- progressive (or continuous)/ non-progressive (non-continuous)

- perfective (perfect)/ non-perfective (indefinite)

4.3. THE CATEGORY OF TENSE

The words time and tense must not be confused. Time stands for a concept

which is independent of language; tense varies from language to language and is

a category specifying time-relations in so far as these are indicated in tense

forms. Tense forms do not necessarily correspond to natural, chronological time.

For example He makes watches, considered present, relates to activities in the

past, present and future; in He comes tomorrow , reference is made to a future

event. The past tense may refer to past, present or future time: e.g. If he did that

now,If he did it before he left tomorrow , andIf he did it yesterday.Historically there were two tenses in English, past and non-past (i.e.

present). Therefore, because of the absence of a future tense inflection, many

linguists do not recognise the existence of a future tense in English

(O. Jespersen, 1933 (1966), R. Quirk et al., 1972). Others divide tenses into

simple, made up of one verb form only (i.e. present and past), and compound,

made by combining two or more verb forms, where we assume future is included

as well. The present work will accept, by analogy with Romanian, the future

expressed by shall (first person) or will (other persons) plus infinitive, as a

tense form, in spite of the fact that sometimes shall and will do not signify

mere futurity, but may be concomitantly modal auxiliary (e.g. He will leavesoon

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implies an element of volition; in There will be a meeting here today we have a

pure colourless future).

In English, as in many other languages, tense forms serve not only for time

relations, but also for other purposes: completion, progress. Tense does not

always appear in the main verb, but can appear also in an auxiliary of aspect, of

voice or for form.

4.4.THE CATEGORY OF MOOD

The attitude of the transmitter of a linguistic communication towards the

context of the communication is often called modality . Modality is conveyed by

various linguistic means phonetic, lexical, grammatical, stylistic. The

grammatical means are moods and modal auxiliaries .

Mood, then, is the grammatical category by means of which modality is

expressed, the category that reflects the attitude of the speakers towards the

action or state expressed by the verb.Many English grammars of practical orientation (O. Jespersen, 1965

(1966); C. E. Eckersley & J. M. Eckersley, 1960 (1967); H. A. Gleason, 1955

(1961); etc.) state that there are only three moods: indicative, imperative and

subjunctive, including the conditional among the equivalent analytical forms of

the subjunctive on formal grounds, disregarding the semantic and syntactic

differences.

For didactic reasons we accept four moods in English: the indicative, the

conditional, the subjunctive and the imperative. The indicative is the most

frequently used. Its indication is that the speaker considers the action as real. The

real action can be expressed also under the form of a condition or of a question:

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e.g. She works in a hospital.

If the weather clears, well go for a walk.

Did you write the letter?

The conditional indicates that the speaker considers the action as

conditioned or desirable. If the condition were fulfilled, the action could be

accomplished:

e.g. He would go fishing if he had spare time .

If the condition was not fulfilled, the action is unachievable:

e.g. He would have gone fishing if had had spare time .

The subjunctive denotes an action which the speakers consider unreal, a

supposed fact, and which is expressed under the form of a wish, supposition,

doubt, concession, purpose, condition:

e.g. I wish she were here.

They suggest that the new method be applied.

If this be true, everything is possible.

The imperative denotes an order, a piece of advice, a request, an invitation:

e.g. Shut the door, please.Help yourself.

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CHAPTER 2

THE PERFECTIVE ASPECT

The perfective aspect is expressed by a combination of some forms of have

followed by the past participle of the main verb. The perfect forms imply two

ideas mainly:

1. that an action or event occurred or will occur before the time indicated by the

context or situation : it has happened before now, it had happened before a

certain time in the past, or it will have happened before a certain time in the

future;

2. that this action or event has produced, had produced or will have produced a

result or a state of affairs, that is/was/will be relevant to the present/past/ future

situation. So, importantly, perfect forms link an earlier action or event with the

current situation. The time of the action or event is irrelevant, or is at least

disregarded. What is important is the occurrence of the action and the current

results produced by it. Consequently, we cannot combine a specific reference to

the time of a past event with a verb form that implies a specific reference to its

current relevance.The perfect tenses are used with for plus a phrase denoting a period of time ,

to show duration or continuance of the action up to the time specified by the

context or situation, and with since plus a phrase (or clause) denoting the

beginnig of an action, to show continuance of that action from the time specified

until the present time or the time specified in the past/future:

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e.g. Ihave studiedEnglish for 7 years.

By next year Iwill have taughtit for two years.

There are cases in English when the verbs used in certain sentences are

both perfective and progressive. Perfective is expressed by have plus past

participle and progressive is expressed by a form of be plus present participle.

Perfect progressive forms indicate that an action or event which occurred before

the time indicated by the context or situation, is, at the same time, still in

progress at the given moment in the present or the past:

e.g. Ihave been readingfor an hour.

Ihad been readingfor an hour when he came.

Activity verbs such as learn, lie, live, rest, stay, sit, sleep, stand, study, wait

etc.are often used in the perfect progressive tenses.

Sometimes a perfect progressive form merely emphasizes that an action has

been uninterrupted, even if it is no longer in progress:

e.g. My hand are sore. Ive been diggingthe whole day.

Sometimes the choice between a progressive and a non-progressive form

may depend on the contrast between completed and uncompleted action:e.g. I have worked in the garden since morning. (completed up to

now)

I have been working in the garden all day ( and I am still

working now)

1.THE SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

1.1.FORM OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

The present perfect is formed with the present of have + the past participle

(the third form of a verb). For regular verbs the past participle has the same form

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as the simple past tense: e.g. arrive, arrived, have arrived. For irregular verbs the

simple past participle can be formed in a variety of ways: e.g. drink, drank, have

drunk.

1.2.PRESENT TIME AND PAST TIME

The present perfect is often wrongly seen as an alternative to the past, so

that a student might think that Ive had lunch and I had lunch are

interchangeable. It is also confused with the present, so that an idea like Ive

been here since February is wrongly expressed in the present with I am.

The present perfect always suggests a relationship between present time

and past time. So Ive had lunch (probably) implies that I did so very recently.

However, if I say I had lunch, I also have to say or imply when: e.g. I had lunch

an hour ago. Similary, Ive been here since February shows a connection

between past and present, whereas I am here can only relate to the present and

cannot be followed by a phrase like since February .

In the present perfect tense, the time reference is sometimes undefined;often we are interested in present results, or in the way something that happened

in the past affects the present situation. The present perfect can therefore be seen

as a present tense which looks backwards into the past (just as the past perfect is

a past tense which looks backwards into an earlier past). Compare the simple past

tense, where the time reference is defined because we are interested in past time

or past results. The following pairs of sentences illustrate this difference

between present time and past time:

e.g. I havent seen him this morning(i.e. up to the present time: it is

still morning)

I didnt see him this morning(i.e. the morning has now passed)

Have you ever flown in Concorde? (i.e. up to the present time)

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When did you fly in Concorde? (i.e. when, precisely, in the past)

1.3.USE OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

The present perfect is used in two ways in English:

a) To describe actions beginning in the past and continuing up to the present

moment (and possibly into the future).

b) To refer to actions occurring or not occurring at an unspecified time in the

past with some kind of connexion to the present.

These two uses are discussed in detail in the sections below.

1.3.1.ACTIONS BEGINNING IN THE PAST AND CONTINUING INTO

THE PRESENT

1.3.1.1.The present perfect + adverbials that suggest up to the present

We do not use the present perfect with adverbs relating to the past time

(ago, yesterday, etc.) Adverbial phrases like the following are used with thepresent perfect because they clearly connect the past with the present moment:

before (now), Its the first time, so far, so far this morning, up till now, up to

the present. Adverbs like ever (in questions), and not ever or never (in

statements) are commonly (but not exclusively) used with the present perfect:

e.g. Ive plantedfourteen rose-bushes so far this morning.

Shes never eaten a mango before. Have you ever eaten a mango?

Its the most interesting book Ive ever read.

Olga hasnt appearedon TVbefore now.

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1.3.1.2.The present perfect with since and for

We often use since and for with the present perfect to refer to periods of

time up to the present. Since (+ point of time) can be:

- a conjunction: e.g. Tom hasnt been home since he was a boy.

- an adverb: e.g.I saw Fiona in May and Ihavent seen her since

- a preposition: e.g. Ive livedhere since 1980

Since, as a conjunction, can be followed by the simple past or present

perfect:

e.g. I retired in 1980 and came to live here. Ive lived here since I

retired.(i.e. the point when I retired: 1980)

I have lived here for several years now and Ive made many new

friends since I have lived here. (i.e. up to now)

For + period of time often occurs with the present perfect but can be used

with any tense. Compare:

e.g. Ive lived here for five years. (and I still live here)

Ilived here for five years. (I dont live here now)

Iam here for six weeks. (thats how long Im going to stay)

1.3.2.ACTIONS OCCURRING OR NOT OCCURRING AT AN

UNSPECIFIED TIME

1.3.2.1.The present perfect without a time adverbial

We often use the present perfect without a time adverbial, especially in

conversation. We do not always need one, for often we are concerned with the

consequences now of something which took place then, whether then was

recently or a long time ago. If further details are required (e.g. precise answers to

questions like When?, Where?) we must generally use the simple past:

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e.g. Have you passedyour driving test? (depending on context, this

can mean at any time up to now or after the test youve just

taken)

Yes, Ipassedwhen I was 17. (simple past: exact time reference)

Jason Villiers has been arrested. (Depending on context, this can

imply today or recently or at last).

He was seen by a Customs Officer who alertedthe police. (simple

past with details)

However, adverbs like just, used with the present perfect, can provide more

information about actions in unspecified time.

1.3.2.2.The present perfect for recent actions

The following adverbs can refer to actions, etc. in recent time:

- just e.g.Ive just tidied up the kitchen.

- recently, etc.: e.g.Hes recently arrivedfrom New York.

- already in questions and affirmative statements:

e.g. Have you typedmy letteralready? Yes, Ive already typed it.- yet, in questions, for events we are expecting to hear about:

e.g. Have you passedyour driving testyet?

or in negatives, for things we havent done, but expect to do:

I havent passedmy driving testyet.

- still, at last, finally:

e.g.I still havent passed my driving test. (despite my efforts)

I have passedmy driving testat last. (after all my efforts)

1.3.2.3.The present perfect for repeated and habitual actions

This use is associated with frequency adverbs (often, frequently) and

expressions like three/four/several times:

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e.g. Ive watched him on TVseveral times (i.e. and I expect to again)

Ive often wonderedwhy I get such a poor reception on my radio.

Shes attendedclasses regulary. Shes always workedhard.

1.3.3.THE SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE IN TYPICAL

CONTEXTS

The present perfect is never used in past narrative (e.g. stories told in the

past, history books). Apart from its common use in conversation, it is more often

used in broadcast news, newspaper, letters and any kind of language-use which

has connexion with the present.

Examples:

Broadcast reports, newspaper reports

e.g. Interest rates rose again today and the price of gold has fallen

by $10 an ounce. Industrial leaders have complained that high interest

rates will make borrowing expensive for industry.

Implied in newspaper headlines

e.g. VILLAGES DESTROYED IN EARTHQUAKE(=have been

destroyed)

Letters, postcards etc.

e.g. Weve just arrived in Hong Kong, and though we havent had

time to see much yet, were sure were going to enjoy ourselves.

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2.THE SIMPLE PAST PERFECT TENSE

2.1. FORM OF THE SIMPLE PAST PERFECT TENSE

The simple past perfect tense is formed of the past of the auxiliary have

and the past participle of the lexical verb to be conjugated: had

arrived/finished/shut/lost.

2.2. USES OF THEPAST PERFECT TENSE

It is sometimes supposed that we use the past perfect simply to describe

events that happened a long time ago. This is not the case. We use the simple

past for this purpose:

e.g. Anthony and Cleopatra died in 30 B.C.

2.2.1. The past perfect referring to an earlier pastThe main use of the past perfect is to show which of two events happened

first. Here are two past events:

e.g. The patientdied. The doctorarrived.

We can combine these two sentences in different ways to show their

relationship in the past:

e.g. The patientdied whenthe doctorarrived. (i.e. the patient died at

the time or just after the doctor arrived)

The patient had died when the doctor arrived. (i.e. the patient

was already dead when the doctor arrived)

The event that happened first need not to be mentioned first:

e.g. The doctorarrivedquickly, but the patienthad already died.

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Some typical conjunctions used before a past perfect to refer to an earlier

past are: when and after, as soon as, by the time that. They often imply a cause-

and-effect relationship:

e.g. Wecleared up as soon asour guestshad left.

Adverbs often associated with the present perfect: already, ever, for

(+period of time), just, never, neverbefore, since (+point of time) are often

used with the past perfect to emphasise the sequence of events:

e.g. When I rang, Jim had already left.

The boys lovedthe zoo. They had never seen wild animals before.

2.2.2. The past perfect as the past equivalent of the present perfect

The past perfect sometimes functions simply as the past form of the

present perfect:

e.g. Juliet is excited because she has never been to a dance before.

Juliet was excited because she had never been to a dance before.

This is particularly the case in indirect speech.

Used in this way, the past perfect can emphasise completion:e.g. I began collecting stamps in February and by November I had

collectedmore than 2000.

Yet can be used with the past perfect, but we often prefer expressions like

until then orby that time. Compare:

e.g. He hasnt finished yet.

He hadnt finished by yesterday evening.

2.2.3. The past perfect for unfulfilled hopes and wishes

We can use the past perfect (or the past simple or progressive) with verbs

like expect, hope, mean, suppose, think, want, to describe things we hoped or

wished to do but didnt:

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e.g. I had hoped to send him a telegram to congratulate him on his

marriage, but I didnt manage it.

2.3. OBLIGATORY AND NON-OBLIGATORY USES OF THE PAST

PERFECT

We do not always need to use the past perfect to describe which event came

first. Sometimes this is perfectly clear, as in:

e.g. After Ifinished, Iwenthome.

The sequence is often clear in relative clauses as well:

e.g. Iwore the necklace (which) my grandmother(had) leftme.

We normally use the simple past for events that occur in sequence:

e.g. Igot out of the taxi, paid the fare, tipped the driver anddashed

into the station.

Icame, Isaw, Iconquered, Julius Caesar declared.

But there are instances when we need to be very precise in our use of past

or past perfect, particularly with when:e.g. When Iarrived, Anne left. (i.e. at that moment)

When Iarrived, Anne had left. (i.e. before I got there)

In the first sentence, I saw Anne, however briefly. In the second, I didnt

see her at all. We normally use the past perfect with conjunctions like no

soonerthanorhardly/scarcely/barelywhen:

e.g. Mrs Winthrop had no sooner left the room than they began to

gossip about her.

Mr Jenkins had hardly/scarcely/ barely begun his speech when

he was interrupted.

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2.4. SIMPLE PAST AND SIMPLE PAST PERFECT IN TYPICAL

CONTEXTS

The past perfect combines with other past tenses (simple past, past

progressive, past perfect progressive) when we are talking or writing about the

past. It is used in story-telling, biography, autobiography, reports, eye-witness

accounts, etc. and is especially useful for establishing the sequence of events:

e.g. When we returned from our holidays, we found our house in a

mess. What had happened while we had been away? A burglar had

broken into the house and had stolen a lot of our things. (Now that

the time of the burglary has been established relative to our return,

the story can continue in the simple past). The burglar got in through

the kitchen window. He had no difficulty in forcing it open. Then he

went into the living room

Note the reference to an earlier past in the following narrative:

e.g. Silas Badley inherited several old cottages in our village. He

wanted to pull them down and build new houses which he could sellfor high prices. He wrote to Mr Harrison, now blind and nearly

eighty , asking him to leave his cottage within a month. Old Mr

Harrison was very distressed. (The situation has been established

through the simple past. What follows now is a reference to an earlier

past through the use of the simple past perfect.) He had been born in

the cottage and stayed there all his life. His children had grown up

there; his wife had died there and now he lived there all alone.

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3.THE PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE AND PAST PERFECT

PROGRESSIVE TENSES

3.1. FORM OF THE PRESENT/PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES

The present perfect progressive is formed of the present perfect of the

auxiliary be and the present participle of the lexical verb to be conjugated.

e.g. Ihave been waitinghere for an hour.

The present perfect progressive establishes a link between a past moment

and the present moment, underlining the idea of progress, of continuity; at the

same time it indicates that the duration of the action is limited.

The past perfect progressive is made up of the past perfect of the auxiliary

be and the present participle of the lexical verb to be conjugated.

e.g. They had been doingnothing before I arrived.

3.2. USES OF THE PRESENT/PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES

3.2.1. Actions in progress throughout a period

We use the present perfect when we wish to emphasise that an activity has

been in progress throughout a period, often with consequences now. Depending

on the context, this activity may or may not still be in progress at the present

time. This use often occurs with all+ time references:

e.g. She is very tired. Shes been typing letters all day. (Depending

on the context, she was still typing or had recently stopped.)

The past perfect progressive is used, in the same way, for activities in

progress during an earlier past, often with consequences then:

e.g. She was very tired. She had been typing letters all day.

(Depending on context, she was still typing or had recently stopped.)

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Some verbs like learn, lie, live, rain, sit, sleep, stand, study, wait, work

naturally suggest continuity and often occur with perfect progressives with since

orforand also in questions beginning with How long? :

e.g. Ive been working for Exxon for 15 years. (Depending on

context, I am still now, or I may have recently changed jobs or

retired.)

When I first met Ann, she had been working for Exxon for 15

years. (Depending on context, Ann was still working for Exxon then

or she had recently changed jobs or retired.)

With continuity verbs, simple and progressive forms are often

interchangeable, so in the above examples Ive worked and she had worked

could be used. The only difference is that the progressive puts more emphasis on

continuity.

3.2.2. The present/past perfect progressive for repeated actions

The perfect progressive forms are often used to show that an action is (orwas) frequently repeated:

e.g. Jim has been phoningJenny every night for the past week.

Jenny was annoyed. Jim had been phoningher every night for a

whole week.

3.2.3.The present/past perfect progressive for drawing conclusions

We use the progressive (seldom the simple) forms to show that we have

come to a conclusion based on direct or indirect evidence:

e.g. Your eyes are red. Youve been crying.

Here eyes were red. It was obvious she has been crying.

The present perfect progressive often occurs in complaints:

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e.g. This room stinks. Someones been smokingin here.

3.3. The present/past perfect simple and progressive compared

The difference between an activity still in progress and one that has

definitely been completed is marked by context and by the verbs we use. The

simple and progressive forms are notinterchangeable here:

e.g. Ive been painting this room

Ive painted this room.

In the first example, the activity is uncompleted. In the second example, the

job is definitely finished:

e.g. When I got home, I found thatJill had been painting her room .

When I got home, I found thatJill had painted her room .

In the first example, the activity was uncompleted then. In the second

example, the job was definitely finished then.

4.THE FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE AND FUTURE PERFECT

PROGRESSIVE TENSES

4.1 FORM OF THE FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE AND PROGRESSIVE

TENSES

The future non-progressive tense is formed of the future of the auxiliary

have and the past participle of the lexical verb to be conjugated:

e.g. John will have arrivedby the time you finish your meal.

The future perfect progressive is formed by the future perfect of the

auxiliary be and the present participle of the lexical verb to be conjugated:

e.g When you get your degree, you will have been studying at the

University for four years.

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4.2 USES OF THE FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE AND PROGRESSIVE

TENSES

4.2.1. The past as seen from the future

We often use the future perfect to show that an action will already be

completed by a certain time in the future:

e.g.: Iwill have retiredby the year 2020.

(That is, before or in the year 2020, my retirement will already be in

the past).

This tense is often used with by and not till / until+time and with verbs

which point to completion: build, complete, finish etc. We also often use the

future perfect after verbs like believe, expect, hope, suppose:

e.g. I expect you will have changedyour mind by tomorrow .

4.2.2. The continuation of the state up to the time mentioned

What is in progress now can be considered from a point in the future:e.g. By this time next week, I will have been workingfor this

company for 24 years.

We will have been marrieda year on June 25th.

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CHAPTER 3

TEACHING GRAMMAR

1. WHAT IS GRAMMAR?

Grammar is sometimes defined as the way words are put together to make

correct sentences. This is an over-simplification, but it is a good starting point

(and an easy way to explain the term to young learners). Thus in English I am a

teacheris grammatical, *I a teacher, and *I are a teacherare not.

We can, however, apply the term grammatical to units smaller than

sentences. A brief phrase said or written on its own can be grammatically

acceptable or unacceptable in its own right: e.g. a tall woman sounds right, *a

woman talldoes not.

A specific instance of grammar is usually called a structure. Examples of

structures would be the past tense, noun plurals, the comparison of adjectives,

and so on. Not all languages, of course, have the same structures: the English

verb has aspects (such as progressive: he is studying for example) which many

other languages do not; Romanian ascribes masculine, feminine or neuter gender

to its nouns, which English does not. It is largely such discrepancies which cause

problems to the students.

Grammar does not only affect how units of language are combined in order

to look right; it also affects their meaning. The teaching of grammatical

meaning tends, unfortunately, to be neglected in many textbooks in favour of an

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emphasis on accuracy of form; but it is no good knowing how to perceive or

construct a new tense of a verb if you do not know exactly what difference it

makes to meaning when it is used. It is very often the meanings of the structures

which create the difficulties for students.

The meaning of a grammatical structure may be quite difficult to teach. It is

fairly simple to explain that the addition of a plural s to the noun in English

indicates that we are talking about more than one item. But how would we

explain to the students when to use the present perfect (I have gone, for example)

in English, and when the past simple (I went)?

2.THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR TEACHING

The place of grammar in the teaching of foreign languages is controversial.

Most people agree that knowledge of a language means, among other things,

knowing its grammar; but this knowledge may be intuitive (as it is in our native

language), and it is not necessarily true that grammatical structures need to be

taught as such, or that formal rules need to be learned.One learns ones mother

tongue without studying grammar. But it is, perhaps, a little misleading, andmisses the point.The important question is not whether teaching and learning

grammar is necessary and/or sufficient for language learning, but whether it helps

or not. My own opinion is that yes , it does help, provided it is taught consistently

as a means to improving mastery of the language.

Some say it is better for the learner to study grammar individually and

independently than as a part of the classroom lesson, but this opinion is utopic,

there are only very few students who would learn English grammar alone,

without any professional help. It is hard work and not many students are so

conscious about the ways of learning some grammatical structures. Therefore,

they need help and advice.

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It is true that teaching learners how to construct grammatical sentences

does not enable them to produce real-life discourse. The implication is that the

learners need to learn how to make meanings within real contexts, and how to

create longer units of language than single sentences. This is fair enough, but we

should not conclude that grammar teaching is useless: the point is that

grammatical accuracy on its own is a dead end, unless used to receive and

produce interesting and purposeful meanings within the context of real-life

language use.

Grammar can be interesting in itself, it can be a voyage of discovery.

3. PRESENTING AND EXPLAINING GRAMMAR

It is surprisingly difficult to present and explain a foreign-language

grammatical structure to a class of learners. The problem is first to understand

myself what is involved in knowing the structure (its written and spoken forms,

its nuances of meaning), and in particular what is likely to cause difficulties to

the learners; and second, how to present examples and formulate explanations

that will clearly convey the necessary information. This is a place where clearthinking and speaking are of a paramount importance: although we may elicit

suggestions from the learners and encourage their participation in the

presentation, it is essential for us to know how to present the structures form and

meaning in a way that is clear, simple, accurate and helpful. There is often a

conflict between simple and accurate; if we give a completely accurate

account of a structure, it may be far from simple; if we simplify, we may not be

accurate. One of the problems of grammar presentations is to find the appropriate

balance between the two.

Presentation should be recorded in some way; if it is not possible to tape-

record it or ask a colleague to observe and take notes, then I will write down a

very accurate account immediately after the lesson.

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It would be advisable to ask for someone's opinion after the presentation,

but if the colleague did not attend my class then I could ask a student to see

whether my explanations were accurate enough.

In order to present a new grammatical structure, the following terms must

be fulfilled:

The structure itself. Was the structure presented in both speech and writing,

both form and meaning?

In general, a good presentation should include both oral and written forms, and

both form and meaning.

Examples. Were enough examples provided of the structure in a meaningful

context? Am I sure the students understood their meanings?

It is important for learners to have plenty of contextualized examples of the

structure and to understand them. Visual materials can also contribute to

understanding.

Terminology. Did I call the structure by its name? If so, was this helpful? If

not, would it have helped if I had? What other grammatical terminology was

(would have been) useful?

On the whole, older or more analytically-minded learners will benefit more from

the use of terminology.

Language. Was the structure explained in the students mother tongue, or in

the target language, or in a combination of the two? Was it effective?

Explanation. Was the information given about the structure at the right level:

reasonably accurate but not too detailed? Did I use comparison with the

students mother tongue? Was this/would this have been useful?

Striking the right balance between accuracy and simplicity is important. My

explanation should cover the great majority of instances learners are likely to

encounter; obvious exceptions should be noted, but too much detail may only

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confuse. As a rule, a simple generalization, even if not entirely accurate, is more

helpful to learners than a detailed grammar-book definition.

Delivery. Were I speaking (and writing) clearly and at an appropriate speed?

Rules. Was an explicit rule given? Why/why not? If so, did I explain it myself

or did I elicit it from the students? Was this the best way to do it?

I have to decide whether a rule would be helpful or not; then, whether to elicit it

from the students on the basis of examples (sometimes called the inductive

method), or give it myself, and invite them to produce examples (deductive).

Like grammatical terminology, explicit rules are helpful to older or more

analytically-minded learners. As regards inductive or deductive methods: I have

to ask myself which is more effective in this situation. If the learners can

perceive and define the rule themselves quickly and easily, then there is a lot to

be said for letting them do so: what they discover themselves they are more likely

to remember. But if they find this difficult, I may waste a lot of valuable class

time on sterile and frustrating guessing, or on misleading suggestions; in such

cases it is better to provide the information myself.

4.GRAMMAR PRACTICE ACTIVITIES

The aim of grammar practice is to get students to learn the structures so

thoroughly that they will be able to produce them correctly on their own. But it is

unsatisfactory for students to be able to produce correct samples of a structure

only when they are being specifically tested on it: many of us are familiar with

the phenomenon of learners who get full marks on all the grammar exercises and

tests, but then make mistakes in the same structures when they are composing

their own free speech or writing. The problem in such a case is that the structures

have not been thoroughly mastered; the learner still depends on a measure of

conscious monitoring in order to produce them correctly.

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One of our jobs as teachers is to help our students make the leap from

form-focussed accuracy work to fluent, but acceptable, production, by providing

a bridge: a variety of practice activities that familiarize them with the structures

in context, giving practice both in form and communicative meaning.

Below I present a list which consists of descriptions of a number of practice

activities for various English structures. They are laid out in sequence: from a

very controlled and accuracy-oriented exercise at the beginning to a fluency

activity giving opportunities for the free use of the grammar in context at the end.

Type 1: Awareness

After the learners have been introduced to the structure, they are given

opportunities to encounter it within some kind of discourse, and do a task that

focuses their attention on its form and/or meaning.

Example: Learners are given extracts from newspaper articles and asked to

find and underline all the examples of the past tense that they can find.

Type 2: Controlled drills

Learners produce examples of the structure: these examples are, however,

predetermined by the teacher or textbook, and have to conform to very clear,closed-ended cues.

Example: Write or say statements about John, modelled on the following

example:

John has been to Italy once but he has never been to Spain.

a) see: gorilla/lion b) eat: Chinese meal/Indian meal

c) play: football/chess

Type 3: Meaningful drills

Again the responses are very controlled, but learners can make a limited

choice of vocabulary.

Example: Again in order to practise forms of the present perfect tense:

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Choose someone you know very well, and write down their name. Now

compose true statements about them according to the following model:

He/she has been in hospital; or He/she has never been in hospital.

a) visit: Disneyland b) win: competition

c) climb: mountain d) fly: plane

Type 4: Guided, meaningful practice

Learners form sentences of their own according to a set pattern, but exactly

what vocabulary they use is up to them.

Example: Practising conditional clauses, learners are given the cue If I had

a million dollars, and suggest, in speech or writing, what they woulddo.

Type 5: (Structure-based) free sentence composition

Learners are provided with a visual or situational cue, and invited to

compose their own responses; they are directed to use the structure.

Example: A picture showing a number of people doing different things is

shown to the class; they describe it using the appropriate tense.

Type 6: (Structure-based) discourse composition

Learners hold a discussion or write a passage according to a given task;they are directed to use at least some examples of the structure within the

discourse.

Example: The class is given a dilemma situation (You have seen a good

friend cheating in an important test) and asked to recommend a solution. They

are directed to include modals (might, should, must, can, could, etc.) in their

speech/writing.

Type 7: Free discourse

As in Type 6, but the learners are given no specific direction to use the

structure; however, the task situation is such that instances of it are likely to

appear.

Example: As in Type 6, but without the final direction.

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5.GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES

Applied linguistics theory commonly distinguishes between errors (which

are consistent and based on a mis-learned generalization) and mistakes

(occasional, inconsistent slips). However, when a teacher comes across particular

instances during a lesson it is usually difficult to tell the difference with any

degree of certainty.

Usually, language teachers perceive a mistake intuitively: something

sounds or looks wrong. It may actually interfere with successful

communication, or simply jar-produce a slight feeling of discomfort in the

reader or hearer. We have to be careful, however, not to define as mistakes

slightly deviant forms which may not accord with some grammar-book

prescriptions, but are quite acceptable to competent or native speakers of the

language.

If we present new structures carefully and give plenty of varied practice in

using them, we may hope that our students will make relatively few mistakes. But

some will inevitably appear.Mistakes may be seen as an integral and natural part of learning: a

symptom of the learners progress through an interlanguage towards a closer

and closer approximation to the target language. Some would say that it is not

necessary to correct at all: as the learner advances mistakes will disappear on

their own.

Even if we think that grammar mistakes need to be corrected, it is

important to relate to them not as a sign of inadequacy, but rather as a means to

advance teaching and learning.

Learner errors

Together with colleagues, I should make a list of the most common

mistakes, in rough order of frequency.

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There are, of course, all sorts of other factors, besides frequency, which

may affect the level of importance we attach to an error. It may be for example,

less urgent to correct one which is very common but which does not actually

affect comprehensibility than one that does. In English, learners commonly omit

the third-person s suffix in the present simple, and slightly less commonly

substitute a present verb form when they mean the past; on the whole, the second

mistake is more likely to lead to misunderstanding than the first and therefore is

more important to correct. Another error may be considered less important

because a lot of very proficient, or native, speakers often make it. And so on.

The information I have gained may be used for three main purposes:

a) As a guide for the presentation and practice of new structures

If I know that a certain structure is particularly difficult to produce

without mistakes, I will try to invest more time and effort next time I present it.

Learners who like to think analytically may appreciate my sharing the problem

with them frankly even at the earliest stages: This is the mistake a lot of people

make: look out for it!. Conversely, if I know that my learners use of another

structure is usually mistake-free, maybe I can afford to teach it more briefly, andskip lengthy explanations.

b) As a guide for correction

It is possible to correct every single mistake in learners oral or written

work; but then they may be unable to cope with the sheer quantity of information,

let alone learn it with any degree of thoroughness. It is probably better to be

selective: to concentrate on the important errors, and direct the learners

attention towards them only.

c) As a guide for remedial work

Having diagnosed that a certain structure is particularly problematic for

my students, it is a good idea to give a review and extra practice of the structure,

detached from the mistake-making event itself. I may start by telling them

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frankly what the frequent error is that I am trying to correct; or I may feel it

better (particularly with more intuitive, or younger learners) to go straight into

practice of correct forms.

6.PRONUNCIATION

Probably the deliberate teaching of pronunciation is less essential than the

teaching of grammar or vocabulary, but this does not mean it should not be done

at all.

The pronunciation must be improved on the whole length of the lesson

everytime it is necessary but not being exceedingly pretentious.

Ideas for improving learners pronunciation:

Imitation of teacher or recorded model of sounds, words and sentences

Systematic explanation and instruction (including details of the

structure and movement of the parts of the mouth)

Imitation drills: repetition of sounds, words and sentences

Choral repetition of drills

Learning and performing dialogues (as with drills, using choral work,

and varied speed, volume, mood).

Below I present two lesson plans containing my ideas of teaching

grammar.

Story: AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE

Have you wondered what it would be like to go to Australia? Vicky and

Tom were lucky enough to go, and here is Vickys diary.

Day 1

Arrived in Sydney at 4.30 pm. Exhausted! Met Gavin, our Australian

guide, who told us what we would be doing each day. Hes nice, but we think he

speaks funny English!

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Too excited to go to sleep. Visited the Rocks, Sydneys first settlement.

Had a delicious milk shake while looking at the Opera House and the harbour.

Day 2

Took the Sydney Explorer Bus and visited most of Sydneys attractions.

Climbed up Sydney Tower. What a view! Spent the afternoon at Bondi Beach.

Tom tried surfing a disaster! Have been in Australia for two days only, but have

already learnt a lot of funny new words Gday for hello!

Day 3

Flew to Alice Springs, or The Alice, as it is called here. Visited the School

of the Air and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Amazing how outback kids can

participate in radio school lessons! I wonder if the Transponder could be useful to

people living in such remote areas! Must talk to Molly about that she might

invent something useful!

Day 4

Went to Ayers Rock by minibus. We were on the road by 6.30 am and had

an incredible journey through the bush. The Rock is an incredible sight, you can

spend the day looking at it, and its colour is always different. Walked the ninekilometres all around its base. You cant go everywhere because its a sacred

place for the Aborigines. Went to bed early. Heard lots of dingoes in the night.

Wasnt scared!

Day 5

Got up at 5.00 am today again! Went back to the Alice and then flew to

Cairns. Had a quick look around the town. Tom hired diving equipment.

Tomorrow were going on a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Cant wait! How

long have we been in Australia for? It seems like weve been here for a month.

Day 6

Got up late at 7.00 am! Boat trip to Green Island. What a place! The

Great Barrier Reef is wonderful, I couldnt imagine such a magical world. Tom

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got angry and didnt want to get out of the water. Watched all kinds of fish from

an underwater observatory much easier! Even saw a shark! But it wasnt very

scary, it was only a baby.

Day 7

Got up at 6.30 am. Travelled to Kuranda, a popular and interesting village

in the rain forest. Took a scenic train and went up very high through fifteen

tunnels, and finally got to Kuranda with its tropical flowers, ferns and butterflies.

Visited the small Aboriginal museum and bought a boomerang for Mark. Went on

a short jungle walk.

Day 8

Went to Cooktown the place where Captain Cook beached the

Endeavour in 1770. Tom and I decided to go on a four-wheel drive adventure tour

to Cape York Peninsula. Were leaving tomorrow. We have to cross rivers (full of

crocodiles!) and then the rain forest to reach Cape Tribulation. It was named by

Captain Cook, because his troubles and tribulations started there. Hope to come

back safely!

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Story: THE ROVER RETURNS

Vince Well, well, well, look who it is. Great to see you Terry. When did you gat

back?

Terry Last night. I saw your dad outside. He was mending the car. He said you

were out.

Vince Yes, that's right.

Terry Has he been mending the car all the time I've been away? He was doing it

the day I left, too.

Vince It sometimes seems like it. He didn't say he'd seen you though. But come

to think of it, I haven't seen him since yesterday evening. Anyway, tell us all

about it. What was it like?

Rosy Ahem!

Vince Oh, sorry! Terry, this is Rosy.

Rosy Hello, Terry. You've been on a trip round the world or something, haven't

you?Terry Yes that's right. On, you know, an old sailing ship.

Rosy How long have you been away?

Terry Just under a year.

Rosy Where did you go?

Terry Oh, loads of places. The ship followed Captain Cook's route. We went to

South America, round Cape Horn, across the Pacific to Tahiti. Then on to New

Zealand and Australia and...

Rosy Mmmm, Tahiti. That sounds wonderful! Victoria Road must seem a bit dull

after that, I suppose.

Terry Well, yes. Tahiti was pretty good. But we weren't visiting places all the

time. We were on the ship most of the time, you see.

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the perfective aspect in english

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