Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THE PAST
SIMPLE
THE PAST
CONTINUOUS
SITUATION UNFOLDING AT A
CERTAIN POINT IN THE PAST
Sam was drinking gin at the pub
yesterday.
Sam bea gin la crcium ieri.
NARRATIVE VALUE
A guy went to the pub and drank
a glass of gin. He then started to
sing loud.
Un tip s-a dus la o crcium i a but
un pahar de gin. Apoi a nceput s
cnte tare.
HABITUAL VALUE
Sam drank a bottle of gin every
day.
Sam bea o o sticl de gin zilnic.
HABITUAL versus
NARRATIVE
State versus Dynamic
Stories might start with passages in which a description is made
(about the setting, about the characters, about the habits of the
characters). You would expect to see a lot of Past
Simple forms that would be either forms of state verbs (be,
love, feel, stand, stay, etc.) or forms of dynamic verbs (run,
write, jump, work, etc.) used with a habitual value. Such
descriptions are
followed by passages where a series of events are presented:
sequences of events that create a story line. In these narrative,
dynamic passages, the frame is set by one or two Past
Continuous
forms and then strings of Past Simple verbs forms are employed
to build the narrative. So, in a way, a story is often made up of a
paragraph where a generalization is made and then more
paragraphs follow in which events take place: this means that at
least two values of the Simple Past are joined in the story: the
VALUES OF THE
PRESENT PERFECT
RESULTATIVE
CONTINUATIVE
EXPERIENTIAL
HOT NEWS
RESULTATIVE
1)Oops, youve spilt the wine on your new dress!
[Your dress is stained.]
(2)(Irritable Mother): Now youve done it! Youve
woken him up! [The baby is crying.]
(3)The elevator has broken down. [It doesnt
work any more.]
(4)Whats happened to Jim? [Jim looks ill.]
(5)Congratulations, youve done a great job. [We
can use your work.]
(6)Look at him, hes been drinking! [His speech
is slurred, he is staggering.]
(7)Ive been sleeping badly. [I look awful, I am
tired.]
RESULTATIVE
The result is implied and can
be easily inferred about the
events expressed.
Types of situations:
achievements and
accomplishments
CONTINUATIVE
CONTINUATIVE
All these sentences express the
continuation of a state or activity
up to the present moment. It is
important to notice that the
continuative interpretation is
provided by the presence of the
durative time adverbials (for a
week, since 1985, all this time,
etc.).
CONTINUATIVE
The patient hasnt left the bed. (=
hes been behaving himself, hes
been good, he is here, ready for
treatment, etc.)
Lets generalize!
It is the combination between a
Present Perfect form and a durative
adverbial that provides the
continuative interpretation.
EXPERIENTIAL
EXPERIENTIAL
These sentences have some important
points in common:
a) They refer to past events.
b) These past events are presented as past
experience that has some influence over the
present moment.
c) Frequency is implied (how many times the
subject has had the experience, how often,
if at all, etc.) or overtly stated (by means of
time adverbials of frequency such as
never, ever, always, often, rarely, etc.)
EXPERIENTIAL
SITUATION TYPES:
Dynamic situations: activities,
accomplishments, achievements
GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
CONTEXT IS CRUCIAL WHEN
INTERPRETING PRESENT
PERFECT FORMS!
TO USE PRESENT PERFECT
CORRECTLY YOU NEED TO
IDENTIFY THE CLUES IN THE
CONTEXT.
Present Perfect
Continuous sentences
are often continuative in
meaning.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
RESULTATIVE
The sentences above may be
interpreted as resultative with
an emphasis on the results.
The effects are still very
visibile/have a major impact
on the speaker.
GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
IS MAINLY INTERPRETED AS
CONTINUATIVE. HOWEVER, CONTEXT
IS CRUCIAL IN INTERPRETING THE
TENSE FORM CORRECTLY!
SOMETIMES THE VALUE IS
RESULTATIVE
A CLUSTER OF VALUES
PRESENT PERFECT
PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
Resultative
They have cut off the electricity in Resultative (rare)
the
Theyve been drinking.
building!
Continuative
They have been here all day/ for
three hours.
Experiential
They have visited London many
times.
Hot News (in the media)
A bomb has been dropped over a
village and
has killed thirty people. The
authorities have
sent soldiers to surround the
area.
Continuative (frequent)
They have been rehearsing all
day/ for three
hours.
Lets generalize!
The Past Adverb
Constraint
Present Perfect is not to be
combined with a [+THEN]
adverbial.
ADVERBIALS
GENERALIZATION
NOTA BENE!
IN ENGLISH, PRESENT
PERFECT CANNOT OCCUR
WITH [+ THEN]
ADVERBIALS OF TIME AND
CANNOT BE USED TO NARRATE
PAST EVENTS.