Tense, Aspect and Mood in English

Tense
Tense refers to the relationship between the time of some event and the time of another event (the
tense locus-either the event of speaking or some other event). We have only two genuine tenses in
English (present and past), although the future is also frequently referred to as a tense.
Tense

Manifestation

Present

-s for third person singular, base form for other

persons and numbers

Past

-ed for weak verbs, vowel change or base form for

strong verbs

Future

Use of modal auxiliary will

Mood refers to grammatical manifestations of the way the speaker views the reality of the
sentence: is it an expression of fact, an expression of desire, of doubt, etc.? The grammatical
category of mood must be kept separate from the semantic category of modality. Modality may be
expressed by auxiliary verbs called modals rather than by mood.
English has two moods, indicative and imperative, used by all speakers, and a third rather marginal
mood used by some speakers, the subjunctive (a present subjunctive can be distinguished from a
past subjunctive on the basis of form). Examples of these moods:
He was there on time (indicative mood)
Be there on time! (imperative mood)
We insist that he be there on time (present) subjunctive mood, c.f. He must be there on time,
where a modal verb and indicative mood is used instead.
Remember that mood refers to form, not meaning. The past subjunctive is identical the past
indicative in English with all verbs except BE: compare I had a million dollars (indicative), if I
had a million dollars (subjunctive) with I was a rich woman (indicative), if I were a rich woman
(subjunctive). If you say if I was a rich woman, you have no distinction between the past indicative
and the past subjunctive in your grammar, therefore the past subjunctive is not a grammatical
category for you. The present subjunctive is identical to the base form (bare infinitive) of the
verb. So only the third person singular form of ordinary verbs distinguishes the present
subjunctive from the present indicative, but with BE, all present tense persons and numbers are the
distinctive be. (Note: Forms like had you eaten thatcan be treated as past subjunctive, because the
form unambiguously signals irrealis modality).
Aspect
Aspect refers to the perceived temporal structure of the event itself, rather than to the temporal
relationship between one event and another.
We can distinguish between inherent and grammatical aspect. Grammatical aspect is encoded in
the morphology of the verb. Inherent aspect is inherent to the verb or to the combination of the
verb and some other parts of the sentence. Some understanding of inherent aspect is essential to
understanding some of the restrictions on grammatical aspect.

Tense and Aspect in English

Four major classes of verbs can be distinguished on the basis of their inherent aspect:
Type of verb

Aspectual Meaning

Activity

Activity extends over time, run, push a cart, pay attention to,
with no definite boundaries scan, look, watch, think about, pull.
specified
Focus ones eyes on, follow with
ones eyes, consider

Accomplishment

Activity extends over time, run a mile, draw a circle, read a

but necessarily has a
book, play a game of chess, grow up,
definite end point
watch the passage of Venus across
the sun, paint a picture, die

Achievement

Action does not extend

over time, but occurs at a
moment in time

Examples

die, reach the summit, win a race,

know, understand, see, get married,
lose, realise, recognise, kick the
bucket

States of affairs that do not be X, believe, know, have, see, want,

change over time, but
possess, love, dominate
extend over time
The difference between the stative type and the other three types is particularly important in the
grammar of English. Non-stative verbs are often referred to as dynamic.
State

A particular verb can have more than one possible inherent aspect:
Jim ran (activity)
Jim ran to the shops (accomplishment)
Mary amuses me (state)
Mary amused the guests while John cooked dinner (activity)
Tests for inherent aspect:
Activity verbs
Consist of successive phases
Are consistent with the question for how long? (The cat killed mice for two hours)
If one stops Xing, then one did X
Call for periods of time that are not definite or unique
Go on in time in a homogeneous way
Cannot be finished
Often volitional (but not always)
Accomplishment Verbs
Are consistent with the question how long did it take?
Have a logically necessary terminal point or climax
Do not go on in a homogeneous way
If one stops Xing, then one did not X
If one Xs in an hour, then at any time during the hour, one is Xing
Achievement Verbs

Tense and Aspect in English

Are predicated for a single moment

Are consistent with the question at what time?
Do not occur in the continuous form (without an interative interpretation)
If one takes an hour to X, then at any time during the hour, one is not Xing
As soon as one Xs, one has Xed
Stative Verbs
Do not normally occur in the continuous grammatical aspect
Are consistent with the question for how long?
Not consistent with the question at what time, because they must extend over time
Often name abilities, qualities, and habits
Not usually under the subjects control, so they cannot be used in the imperative
Many pseudo-auxiliary verbs also have inherent aspect, such as begin (inceptive aspect), cease
(terminative), keep (durative), etc.
In English, grammatical aspect is encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs or by the lack of any
auxiliary. The same aspect may be encoded in different ways in different tenses, and a given form
may encode more than one aspect.
The aspects encoded in English grammatically are progressive and perfect.
Aspect

Basic Meaning

Manifestation

Progressive

Action is in progress within Be plus present participle (-ing form)

a particular time frame with of verb
some sort of boundaries

Perfect

The time frame of the

action includes both some
time in the past and the
present. The action started
in the past and may be
completed, but relevant to
the present

Have plus the past participle (usually

ed or en) of the verb

In English, the simple present tense often has a habitual meaning to it. However, what is really
being marked grammatically is whether the event is progressive or non-progressive. If it is not
marked as progressive, then it is non-progressive, which in the case of a dynamic (i.e. non-stative)
verb gives it a habitual reading (if something dynamic is seen as belonging to the present but nonprogressive, that must mean it is a habit which belongs to the present). Note that the habitual
reading disappears when the present tense has future time reference, as in my ship sails at dawn
tomorrow. Note also that the simple past tense, unlike the simple present tense, carries no
implication of habitual activity-John ate dinner at 7:00 could be a habit or a one-off event. The
asymmetry with the present tense is due to the fact that that the only way an action can belong to the
present but not be in progress is if it is a habit of the present-but it is perfectly possible for a one-off
event to belong to the past. But it is sometimes useful to focus on the habitual nature of an action in
the past, and if we wish to do so, we can use used to to do this. Used to can be seen as the
grammaticalization of an aspectual verb. We do not use it in the present tense because the simple
present tense already has a habitual reading by virtue of being non-progressive.

Tense and Aspect in English

Progressive
The baby is eating breakfast (right now).
The baby was eating breakfast (when the smoke alarm went off).
Perfect
The baby has already eaten breakfast this morning.
The baby had already eaten breakfast by the time the high chair collapsed.
Some restrictions on the use of aspects
Inherent and grammatical aspect interact in important ways. Certain combinations of inherent and
grammatical aspects results in ungrammaticality. Aspect and tense also interact. Note particularly:
Progressive aspect is normally incompatible with stative verbs, because the progressive indicates
change, while stativity denotes lack of change:
*John is loving Mary
*I am knowing the answer
However, I am loving every minute of this wonderful course is possible because the course is not
going to last forever (fortunately!). Here, love is being presented as an activity rather than a state.
Many people learning English as a second language make the mistake of using an inherently stative
verb in the progressive aspect. This is because their first language uses a different aspectual system
in which progress through time is not an important parameter.
Perfect aspect is incompatible in the present tense with any indication that the time frame of the
action is completely in the past:
*Have you brushed your teeth last night? But:
Have you brushed your teeth this morning? (said in the morning)
Progressive aspect is incompatible with habitual aspect, unless the habit is presented as some sort
of change:
*I am jogging at 6:00 a.m. each day.
This is bad unless this indicates a change or temporary state of affairs as in:
I am jogging at 6:00 a.m. each morning during this heat wave.