Tense and Aspect

VERBS
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TENSE refers to the absolute location of an event or action in time,
either the present or the past. It is marked by an inflection of the
verb:
David walks to school (present tense)
David walked to school (past tense)
Reference to other times -- the future, for instance -- can be made in
a number of ways, by using the modal auxiliary will, or the semi-
auxiliary be going to:
David will walk to school tomorrow
David is going to walk to school tomorrow.
Since the expression of future time does not involve any inflecton of
the verb, we do not refer to a "future tense". Strictly speaking, there
are only two tenses in English: present and past.
ASPECT refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect
to time, rather than to its actual location in time. We can illustrate this
using the following examples:
[1] David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday
[2] David has fallen in love
[3] David is falling in love
In [1], the verb fell tells us that David fell in love in the past, and
specifically on his eighteenth birthday. This is a simple past tense
verb.
In [2] also, the action took place in the past, but it is implied that it
took place quite recently. Furthermore, it is implied that is still relevant
at the time of speaking -- David has fallen in love, and that's why he's
behaving strangely. It is worth noting that we cannot say *David has
fallen in love on his eighteenth birthday. The auxiliary has here
encodes what is known as PERFECTIVE ASPECT, and the auxiliary
itself is known as the PERFECTIVE AUXILIARY.
In [3], the action of falling in love is still in progress -- David is falling in
love at the time of speaking. For this reason, we call it
PROGRESSIVE ASPECT, and the auxiliary is called the
PROGRESSIVE AUXILIARY.
Aspect always includes tense. In [2] and [3] above, the aspectual
auxiliaries are in the present tense, but they could also be in the past
tense:
David had fallen in love -- Perfective Aspect, Past Tense
David was falling in love -- Progressive Aspect, Past Tense
The perfective auxiliary is always followed by a main verb in the -ed
form, while the progressive auxiliary is followed by a main verb in the
-ing form. We exemplify these points in the table below:


Perfective Aspect Progressive Aspect
Present Tense has fallen is falling
Past Tense had fallen was falling

While aspect always includes tense, tense can occur without aspect
(David falls in love, David fell in love).



Each of the following sentences exhibits aspect. Is it perfective aspect
or progressive aspect?
1. David has bought a new house
Perfective
Progressive
2. I think we have seen this film
already
Perfective
Progressive
3. The whole class is going to the
theatre tonight
Perfective
Progressive
4. John's left his coat in the car
Perfective
Progressive
5. Susan's leaving today
Perfective
Progressive


http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/tense.htm
CalifJim:
Strictly speaking there are only two tenses, but the idea of tense is usually extended to
include aspect and voice.

Tenses: Present, Past.
Aspects: Simple, Perfect, Progressive, Perfect Progressive
Voices: Active, Passive

Each tense can be expressed in all four aspect possibilities, so there are 8 tenses, not
considering voice. Each of these 8 can be expressed in two voices, so the total number of
tenses (so far) is 16.

If we add combinations with the modals (will, would, can, could, ...), the number of tenses
increases considerably! Each modal can be used with the 4 aspects and 2 voices. Typically
only the modal will is included in the count (I don't know why! would seems equally useful,
for example, in indicating time relationships.), so this adds 8 more tenses for a total of 24
tenses. If we extend the count by including the 8 tenses which can be formed with would,
we have 32 tenses in all.






Basic Tenses
For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs).
To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs
will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are
available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.
24 Tenses past present future*
ACTIVE
simple
tenses
past present future
complex
tenses
formed with
auxiliary
verbs
past perfect present perfect future perfect
past continuous present continuous future continuous
past perfect
continuous
present perfect
continuous
future perfect
continuous
PASSIVE
past present future
past perfect present perfect future perfect
past continuous present continuous future continuous
past perfect
continuous
present perfect
continuous
future perfect
continuous

Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly
the same.
The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses
is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the
auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.)
The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the active voice.




structure
past present future*
auxiliary main verb
simple
normal I worked I work I will work
intensive do base I did work I do work
perfect have
past
participle
I had
worked
I have
worked
I will have
worked
continuous be
present
participle -
ing
I was
working
I am
working
I will be
working
continuous
perfect
have
been
present
participle -
ing
I had been
working
I have been
working
I will have
been working
* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb
and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for
convenience and comparison.


Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known,
however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know,
however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example
shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g.
You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is
dropped)
Examples of Passive
Tense Subject Verb Object
Simple Present
Active: Rita writes a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by Rita.
Simple Past
Active: Rita wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.
Present Perfect
Active: Rita has written a letter.
Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.
Future I
Active: Rita will write a letter.
Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.
Hilfsverben
Active: Rita can write a letter.
Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.
Examples of Passive
Tense Subject Verb Object
Present
Progressive
Active: Rita is writing a letter.
Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.
Past Progressive
Active: Rita was writing a letter.
Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.
Past Perfect
Active: Rita had written a letter.
Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.
Future II
Active: Rita will have written a letter.
Passive: A letter will have been written by Rita.
Conditional I
Active: Rita would write a letter.
Passive: A letter would be written by Rita.
Conditional II
Active: Rita would have written a letter.
Passive: A letter would have been written by Rita.
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two
objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform
into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. Thats why it
is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject
of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a
personal passive.
Example: They build houses. Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive
sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you
want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction
therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German,
Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say,
think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. It is said that women live longer
than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. Women are said to live longer than
men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the
verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an
infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an
active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

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