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 most difficult 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.

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 called regular verbs , while those which do not end in ed in the past tense and past participle are called irregular verbs .

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 pull, pulled, pulled e.g. ask, asked, asked look, looked, looked miss, missed, missed e.g. want, wanted, wanted fade, faded, faded, ['s t e i d] [p u l d] [ s k t] [l u k t] [m i s t] ['w n t i d] ['f e i d i d] move, moved, moved [m u: v d] [t], after voiceless sounds, other than [t]: stop, stopped, stopped [s t p t]

[id], after the alveolar plosives [t], [d]: admit, admitted, admitted [ d 'm i t 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

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 swelled from 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 in their metaphorical sense: e.g. knit, knit/knitted; light, lit/lighted; She knitted a pair of socks. She knit her brows. The verb weave, wove/weaved, woven/weaved is different: e.g. She wove a wreath. (literal sense) He weaved his 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 truck sped/speeded along . Only the regular form is used in the sense increase the speed of:
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e.g. They speeded up the building of the school . Hang : the regular form is used only for execution: e.g. They hanged him 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 dreamed Id have such a chance . Work : the irregular past and past participle wrought is only used in certain connections: e.g. Her nerves are wrought up. This is a wrought iron 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). 3.2. CLASSIFICATION OF THE VERBS ACCORDING TO BEHAVIOUR IN THE SENTENCE According to their behaviour in various grammatical environments, we distinguish between:
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THEIR

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 read that novel. Do not smoke ! Where does he go ? auxiliaries of tense : to be, have, shall, should, will, would e.g. I am reading now. She has not arrived yet. They will come next week. Mary said she would talk to you later. auxiliaries of voice : to be e.g. The letter was written by her . auxiliaries of aspect : to be, have e.g. I was reading a book when you called. They have just arrived. She has never said that. auxiliaries of mood : should, would, will, may, might, let e.g. He would write to you if he knew your address.
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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 book should be in my bag. He may be at home now. You must phone him this evening. Would you mind opening 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 the presence 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. I cant do it. 3) They build their interrogative and negative forms without do: e.g. May I leave 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 teacher can see you now.
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It must be 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 asked to 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 forms of the past (e.g. could, would, might etc.). Both types can be used in present tense sequence: e.g. I think John may/might arrive 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/must do 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 could swim 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 call a doctor. She said you must call a doctor . When followed by a perfect infinitive, modal auxiliaries refer to the past: e.g. He may/might have told the 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 auxiliary of 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. ii. Yes and No answers to general questions: e.g. Does she speak French? -Yes, she does . Answers to special questions (introduced by an interrogative word 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 negative statement. 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 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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which is the subject of the sentence or part of the subject):

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

v. subject:

Addition to affirmative or negative sentences: - Introduced by so (=also); inversion takes place between auxiliary and 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. 3.3. CLASSIFICATION OF THE VERBS ACCORDING TO THEIR 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 hurting me . 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 struck the rail. He was striking the 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. I imagine he can do it. They distrust him. 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. I like oranges. He didnt mind doing that . c)Verbs of perception: e.g. see, hear, smell, taste, feel, notice, observe, recognise, watch etc. The roses smell good. He noticed the 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 found the 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. I m tasting the soup . (dynamic use) It tastes salty . (stative use) I m feeling the radiator . (dynamic use) It feels hot . (stative use) 3.4. CLASSIFICATION OF THE VERBS ACCORDING TO THEIR 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 opened the 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 stood against the wall. They stood Joe 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 flower is 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 still holds good. The book lay open on the table. - resulting copulas (verbs of becoming): become, come, get, go, grow, fall, run, turn etc.: e.g. The river is running dry . 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 affected his 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 actually the 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 is possible 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 She wiped the table. He laughed at me. Intransitive verbs may behave similarly: e.g. She shouted angrily. She shouted herself hoarse . Complex transitive She wiped it clean. He laughed himself breathless.

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, possibly emphatic) 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 , and If 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 leave soon

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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. I have studied English for 7 years. By next year I will have taught it 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. I have been reading for an hour. I had been reading for 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. I ve been digging the 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 the present 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. I ve planted fourteen rose-bushes so far this morning. She s never eaten a mango before. Have you ever eaten a mango? Its the most interesting book I ve ever read . Olga hasnt appeared on TV before 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 I havent seen her since - a preposition: e.g. I ve lived here 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. I ve lived here for five years. (and I still live here) I lived here for five years. (I dont live here now) I am 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 passed your driving test? (depending on context, this can mean at any time up to now or after the test youve just taken) Yes, I passed when 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 alerted the 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 arrived from New York. - already in questions and affirmative statements: e.g. Have you typed my letter already ? Yes, Ive already typed it. - yet, in questions, for events we are expecting to hear about: e.g. Have you passed your driving test yet ? or in negatives, for things we havent done, but expect to do: I havent passed my driving test yet. - still, at last, finally: e.g. I still havent passed my driving test. (despite my efforts) I have passed my driving test at 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 TV several times (i.e. and I expect to again) Ive often wondered why I get such a poor reception on my radio. Shes attended classes regulary. Shes always worked hard. 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 THE PAST 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 past The main use of the past perfect is to show which of two events happened first. Here are two past events: e.g. The patient died . The doctor arrived . We can combine these two sentences in different ways to show their relationship in the past: e.g. The patient died when the doctor arrived . (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 doctor arrived quickly, but the patient had 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 causeand-effect relationship: e.g. We cleared up as soon as our guests had 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 loved the 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 collected more than 2000. Yet can be used with the past perfect, but we often prefer expressions like until then or by 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 I finished , I went home. The sequence is often clear in relative clauses as well: e.g. I wore the necklace (which) my grandmother (had) left me. We normally use the simple past for events that occur in sequence: e.g. I got out of the taxi, paid the fare, tipped the driver and dashed into the station. I came , I saw , I conquered , 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 I arrived , Anne left . (i.e. at that moment) When I arrived , 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 soonerthan or hardly/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 sell for 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. I have been waiting here 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 doing nothing 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. She s 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 or for and 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 (or was) frequently repeated: e.g . Jim has been phoning Jenny every night for the past week. Jenny was annoyed. Jim had been phoning her 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. You ve 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. Someone s been smoking in 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 not interchangeable here: e.g. I ve been painting this room I ve 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 that Jill had been painting her room . When I got home, I found that Jill 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 arrived by 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.: I will have retired by 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 changed your 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 working for this company for 24 years. We will have been married a 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 teacher is grammatical, * I a teacher, and *I are a teacher are 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 tall does 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, and misses 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 clear thinking 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 taperecord 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 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: b) eat: Chinese meal/Indian meal

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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 c) climb: mountain b) win: competition 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 would do. 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 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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grammar-book

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

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, and skip 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 nine kilometres 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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Rosy Didn't you get seasick? Terry No! I've got an iron stomach. Anyway, there was a lot to do on the ship. And there were some really interesting people on board. There was a guy who'd worked in films and that sort of stuff, and a girl who was writing a book about Captain Cook's voyages or something like that. And there was a lot of musical talent among the crew, I mean, one of the girls Shirley her name was taught me how to play the guitar. Rosy Oh, that's lucky. We've got a band, you know, and we've been looking for an extra guitarist. Are you any good? Terry Well, Shirley had played with a lot of sort of famous bands, before she went on the trip, and she said I wasn't bad. Rosy That's good, eh Vince? Vince Well ... look, we'd better be off, Rosy. I ... Rosy Why don't you come to one of our practice sessions next week? Terry Thanks, I will. Anyway, Vince, what's been happening here, while I've been away? Vince Oh, I'll tell you all about that later, Terry. We've, er, got to go. We're on our lunch break, you see.

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Selected bibliography

Alexander, L.G., Longman English Grammar, Longman Group U.K. Limited, London, 1988. Bdescu, Alice, Gramatica limbii engleze , Editura tiinific i Enciclopedic, Bucureti, 1984. Cumino, Margherita, Excursions-student's book 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997 Curme, G.O., A Grammar of the English Language. Parts of Speech and Accidence, Boston, 1935. Hutchinson, Tom, Hotline- student's book intermediate , Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993. Levichi, Leon et al., Gramatica limbii engleze , I, II, Editura Didactic i Pedagogic, Bucureti, 1971. Palmer, F.R., A Linguistic Study of the English Verb , Longmans, Green and Co Ltd., London, 1965. Prlog, Hortensia, The English Verb , Tipografia Universitii, Timioara, 1982 Quirk, R., The Use of English , Longman, London, 1960. Ur, Penny, A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

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CONTENTS Argument................................................................................................2 1.Verbs..3 1.1.Introductory. Definition3 1.2.Verbs forms3 1.2.1.The finite forms3 1.2.2.The non-finite forms4 1.3.Classification of the verbs4 1.3.1.Classification of the verbs according to their basic forms....4 1.3.2.Classification of the verbs according to their behaviour in the sentence..9 1.3.3.Classification of the verbs according to their ability to occur in the progressive aspect.16 1.3.4.Classification of the verbs according to their complementation18 1.4. Grammatical categories of the verb..23 1.4.1.The category of voice24 1.4.2.The category of aspect..26 1.4.3.The category of tense27 1.4.4.The category of mood...28 2.The Perfective Aspect30 2.1.The simple present perfect tense31 2.1.1.Form of the simple present perfect tense.31 2.1.2.Present time and past time32 2.1.3.Uses of the simple present perfect tense.33 2.2.The simple past perfect tense37 2.2.1.Form of the simple past perfect tense.37
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2.2.2.Uses of the simple past perfect tense37 2.2.3.Obligatory and non-obligatory uses of the past perfect...39 2.2.4.Simple past and simple past perfect in typical context40 2.3.The present perfect progressive and past perfect progressive tenses41 2.3.1.Form of the present/past perfect progressive tense..41 2.3.2.Uses of the present/past perfect progressive tense...41 2.3.3.The present/past simple and progressive compared.43 2.4.The future perfect simple and future perfect progressive tenses43 2.4.1.Form of the future perfect simple and progressive tenses...43 2.4.2.Uses of the future perfect simple and progressive tenses43 2.Teaching Grammar 45 3.1.What is grammar?45 3.2.The place of Grammar Teaching46 3.3.Presenting and explaining grammar...47 3.4.Grammar practice activities49 3.5.Grammatical mistakes.52 3.6.Pronunciation...54 3.7.Lesson plans.54 Selected bibliography59

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