B.

The Indicative Mood

In the exercises and texts above, while presenting characters and introducing people, we used the
tenses of the Indicative Mood. We practised present and past, tenses which we have in the
Romanian language, too, but also present perfect, which we cannot find in Romanian.
B1. Lets compare the Romanian axis of tenses (which is only one) with the English axes (two of
them) and discuss their different logic.
How is the Romanian manner? We have a unique axis of tenses, with a main point (prezent) with two derivations,
one going up (viitor) and one going down (trecut). Of course, we know there are various kinds of past tense
perfect simplu, perfect compus and imperfect and they differ from the point of view of usage (the first is
informal, colloquial; the second is the most present in written communication; the third involves, in a way,
continuity), but they cover the same position in the scheme. There is an intermediate tense which functions between
present and future (called viitor anterior or viitor apropiat), expressing an action in the future taking place
before another fact of the future. And there is another relational tense, named mai mult ca perfect, which
represents an action in the past happening before something else in the past. The Romanian golden rule is that there
is no rule: we are allowed to use any two tenses on the axis together, without restrictions. Let us have some
examples:
- prezent in combination with trecut
: A spus c vine.
- trecut in combination with viitor
: A spus c va veni.
- mai mult ca perfect in combination with viitor : Spusese c va veni.

So, the Romanian structure seems to be very permissive, the indicative mood being perceived
as a succession of tenses situated in a certain order on a continuous axis.
How is the English manner? In English there are two axes, each one with a main tense: the first
axis with present tense and the second axis with past tense as the central points. The most
important thing is not to pass from one axis to another, because they are parallel, and we know
that parallels never meet.
So, on the first axis we have a complete structure of future present the past of the present
tense (present perfect). We also have, like in Romanian, an intermediary tense between present
and future, future perfect.
- future: subject + shall/will + infinitive (shall is used for the 1st person, singular and plural);
- future perfect: subject + shall/will + have + 3rd form of the verb (-ed for regular verbs);
- present: subject + infinitive (-s/-es for the 3rd person singular);
- present perfect: subject + have/has + 3rd form of the verb.
Present perfect represents, as we mentioned above, the past of the present, used because in
English it is not permitted to use present linked with the proper past. There are three situations in
which present perfect occurs:
1. an action in the past which continues in the present
specific adverbs: always, ever, never, often, rarely, seldom, since, for
examples: I have never met a person like you. I havent seen him for five years.
2. an action in the past which is very close to the present
specific adverbs: just, yet, recently, lately
examples: I have just arrived. I have had a lot of work to do recently.
3. an action in the past whose results can be perceived in the present

specific difference from past example: I lost my pencil yesterday. I have lost my pencil
yesterday and I am looking for it now.
On the second axis, we also have a complete structure, symmetrical to that of the first one,
composed by future in the past (an action taking place before a past one) past tense past
perfect (an action in the past taking place after a past one). There is also the intermediary tense
between past tense and future in the past, future perfect in the past, rarely used.
- future in the past: subject + should/would + infinitive (should is used for the 1 st person,
singular and plural);
- future perfect in the past: subject + should/would + have + 3rd form of the verb;
- past: subject + 2nd form of the verb (-ed for regular verbs);
- past perfect: subject + had + 3rd form of the verb.
Future in the past is a technical tense, it is mechanically used whenever we try to express a
future action in a past context. In a translation, whereas in Romanian we need a single axis, in
English we need both axes.
Example: Spune c va veni. He says he will come.
A spus c va veni. He said he would come.
Past perfect represents in a way the Romanian mai mult ca perfect. But the difference is that in
Romanian we can use either trecut or mai mult ca perfect, while in English past perfect has a
stronger meaning of anteriority.
Examples: A spus c plouase is the same with A spus c a plouat and is translated into
English as He said it had rained. He said it rained represents two actions taking place in the
same time and is translated into Romanian as A spus c plou.
The Romanian tenses
The English tenses
=====================================================
T5. Viitor

Future

Future in the Past

T4. Viitor anterior

Future Perfect

Future Perfect in the Past

T3.

Present

Past

Prezent

T2. Trecut
T1.

Mai mult ca perfect Present Perfect

Past Perfect