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Ileana Baciu 2010-2011 Verbal Categories in English

THE CATEGORY OF TENSE 1.Time vs. Tense 1.1. The generally accepted definition of the category of Tense, as a category delimiting the part of speech verb, explains Tense as representing the chronological order of events in time as perceived by the speaker at the moment of speaking . The notions to be accounted for in this definition are: chronological order, Time and moment of speaking. These notions will be clarified in what follows. 1.1.1. Such notions as change or motion the latter understood as change in location , which, as we have seen, are important notions in the conceptual semantic delimitation of situation eventuality types, are possible only through and in the representation of Time. !oreover, as already mentioned, the conceptual properties of a situation" are visible only as the situation unfolds in Time. To exemplify, the presence of a thing in one place and its non# presence at the same place can be perceived by a human sub$ect if and only if these two contradictory properties are placed sequentially, one after another, that is in Time" %Stefanescu 1&'':(1)*. +hat this actually means is that Time % $ust li,e Space* is the form of our experience of the world. This means that %for human beings* Time is an epistemic notion not an ontological notion1. -f Time can be viewed as being not a determination of outward phenomena, then it has to do with neither shape or form. .urrently, this want is supplied by analogies and the course of Time is represented by a line progressing to infinity. This linear representation of Time preserves the sequential character %i.e. chronological order* of our perception of the world. +e perceive Time in the same way we perceive Space, i.e. we cannot live in two times simultaneously as we cannot, at the same time, occupy two spatial locations. -t means that when Time is measured by lived#through eventualities the measurement is unidirectional, i.e. forwards. Time is a single unbounded dimension, conceptually analogous to Space. /ust as an orientation point is needed to locate positions in space, so an orientation point is needed to locate situations in time. 0s already suggested in the previous chapter, in natural languages the basic orientation point is the time of utterance %1T#T* %i.e. the moment of spea,ing*, which is always the Present, that is to say that linguistic communication centers at the speaker. 0ll linguistic expressions %such as: adverbs : here, there, tomorrow etc.2 pronouns: -, you, this, that* that are related to the time of speech are ,nown as deictic %i.e. pointing* expressions. The speakers centrality enables the identification of time and place. -t also implies an organi3ing consciousness which provides a temporal standpoint from which the spea,er invites his audience to consider the event" %Smith 1&&1:14'*.
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Ontological: relating to the study of existence. ituation ty!es are "ie#ed as ontological categories. E!iste$ic: %fro$ &ree' episteme 'no#ledge( %a!!rox( so$ething disco"ered through sense)ex!erience.

2 5very sentence has a temporal standpoint %identified as 0S#T*, in simple cases the same as the temporal location of the situation %56#T*. 7enerally sentences about the Present have a present standpoint, and sentences about the Past and Future have past and future standpoints, respectively. 0s already mentioned, Time is conventionally represented as a straight line stretching in both directions from 1tterance Time. Such a representation is given in %1* below: %1* Time line: 8ast ###################1T#T##################### 8resent 9uture

:n the Time line, times and situations are located at moments or intervals relative to the Time of utterance. The situations may occur in order %i.e. se;uentially* or they may overlap, wholly or in part. 0ll sentences give us temporal information which helps us locate in Time the situation tal,ed about. This temporal information is given by Tense morphemes and time adverbials. 1.1.( Tense is a functional category, expressed by a set of verbal inflections or other verbal forms, that expresses a temporal relation to an orientation point"% Smith, 1&&1*. Tenses have consistent relational values: anteriority, posteriority or simultaneity. Tenses may have a fixed or flexible orientation. Tenses with fixed orientation are always related to 1T#T. +henever tenses, or rather, Tense systems are oriented to the moment of speech %i.e. the spea,er* we say that they are used deictically %i.e. they are interpreted as pointing expressions, $ust li,e adverbs %tomorrow, now, here, there* or pronouns %this, that, -, you**. The traditional term for tenses that relate to 1T#T is absolute tenses. Tenses that relate to an orientation time other than 1T#T are ,nown as relative tenses . <ot all temporal reference is made by Tense. -n 5nglish, the 9uture is indicated by another type of morpheme, the modal auxiliary shall/ ill. -t is also common to have a combination of present tense %or present tense progressive in 5nglish* and future time adverbial that indicates the future, sometimes called Futurate. Some languages have tenses that indicate 8resent, 8ast and 9uture. Some others have a tense distinction between past and non#past, still others have a distinction between present and non#present. Some languages %e.g. !andarin .hinese, !alay, .lassical =ebrew* do not have the functional category of Tense. 9or these languages temporal location is expressed directly by adverbials and indirectly by %viewpoint* aspect. There are also languages where tenses contribute temporal location as well as aspectual value, i.e. aspectual viewpoint may also be conveyed by Tense. The 9rench -mpairfait" and the >omanian -mperfect", for instance, may also convey a general imperfective viewpoint. -n 5nglish, as we have seen, the expression of aspectual viewpoint is independent of Tense. 1.2. Temporal Adverbials

0longside Tense, temporal adverbials help us locate in time the situations tal,ed about. 0s we have seen in our discussion of 0spect, temporal adverbials also contribute to the aspectual interpretation of sentences. The classification we adopt has been standardly recogni3ed since ?ennett and =all#8artee %1&@(,1&@'* and Smith %1&@'*, and the list below has been borrowed from .rainiceanu %1&&@*. Temporal adverbials fall into the following classes: %a* locating adverbials %Smith 1&@' *1&&1* or frame adverbials %?ennett A=all 8artee, 1&@(*2 %b* duration adverbials2 %c* completive adverbials %Smith, 1&&1* or containers2 %d* frequency adverbials. :ur discussion of temporal adverbials will consider first those under %b* and %c* above, i.e. duration adverbials and completive adverbials, respectively, because these types of adverbials also have an aspectual value, re;uiring compatibility with the situation type. 0. Duration adverbials include the following expressions: for three eeks/a month/a day! for a hile! since the ar/"hristmas! at night! all the afternoon! half the afternoon! for hours! all the time! over the eekend! through #ugust! a fe days! during the ar! al ays! permanently! all day long! throughout! from $une to/till %ctober! all day/night long! etc. Buration adverbials have been defined as: # indicating the duration of the described event by specifying the length of time that is asserted to ta,e %?ennett A =all# 8artee, 1&@'*2 # expressing measures of time that are not specifically confined to future or past %Cuir,, 1&'D* # contributing to the location of a situation in time %Smith, 1&&1* The definitions above suggest that duration adverbials have aspectual value: they are compatible with atelic sentences and odd with telics, that is to say that duration adverbials are sensitive to the aspectual character of the eventuality description they combine with. They are restricted to homogeneous eventualities situations %processes and states* as the examples below indicate: %(* %i* %iii* Susan was asleep for two hours %atelic* %ii* 0ndrew swam for three hours %atelic* %E*/ohn wrote a the report for two hours %telic* %iv* FThe train arrived late for ( hours

Be Swart %1&&'* adopting current views %6et, 1&&G, !oens,1&'@ and others* points out that duration adverbials bring in a notion of boundedness. 0ccording to Smith %1&&1* the role of a single durational with atelic situation types is to locate an eventuality within the stated interval,. The interpretation of the sentences above is that the situation denoted by the predicate %the verb phrase H68* lasts at least as long as the denotation of the durative adverbial. &henever the situation type features and the adverbial features are compatible! the standard interpretation of the adverbial is to locate the situation ithin the stated interval.

+ +henever telic events occur in the context of duration adverbials there is a clash between the aspectual properties of the situation type and the aspectual properties of the adverbials. Such clashes are resolved by a shift in the value of the verb constellation which receive a mar,ed interpretation. Be Swart %1&&'* building on ideas developed by !oens %1&'@* assumes that the contextual reinterpretation is made possible by the process called coercion.( -nstantaneous atelic eventualities %semelfactives*4 in the scope of durative adverbials and durative telic verb constellations %accomplishments* are reinterpreted as atelic durative in the context of durationals: %4* %i* %ii* %iii* - read a boo, for a few minutes. /erry wrote a report for two hours. /ohn ,noc,ed on the door for two hours.

The event of boo, #reading and report#writing is coerced into a process2 so is the semelfactive, which gives the sentence an iterative reading %i.e. the ,noc,ing is that of a process of the multiple# event type2 actually an instantaneous atelic eventuality is interpreted as durative"*. The two telic events %4a,b* are not interpreted as involving natural endpoints. -t is to be noticed that the direct ob$ect <8s are indefinite. -n the case of accomplishments with definite 'Ps in ob$ect position the sentence is interpreted as a process of the multiple#event type %i.e. an iterative reading* or as a state %i.e. iterative habitual reading*2 the same interpretation is valid for achievement predicates. -t is true that in the examples below the form of the adverbial crucially contributes to the habitual reading: %G* %i* %ii* %iii* /ohn played the sonata for ( hours. For years, !ary went to school in the morning. For months, the train arrived late.

+e thin, that a distinction should be made between the example in %Gc* above and the example borrowed from Bowty %1&@&* and given in %G"* below. -n this latter case, %as already mentioned* the entire situation is interpreted as a process %habitual of the multiple#event type* due to the uncountable <8 in direct ob$ect position, i.e. the adverbial ta,es in its scope a process predication not an achievement predication: %G"* #ll that summer, /ohn found crabgrass in his yard

Coercion is "ie#ed as an o!erator that #ould yield an e"entuality of the a!!ro!riate ty!e #hich, then, can co$bine #ith the durati"e ad"erbial to result in a bounded !rocess. -he "alue of the o!erator is de!endent on linguistic context and #orld 'no#ledge * -he inco$!atibility of atelic instantaneous e"entualities of the .'noc'/ ty!e suggests that actually the feature that characteri0es durationals is as their na$e suggest 12durati"e3. One of the reasons to include such !redicates #ithin the class of achie"e$ents $ust ha"e been the inco$!atibility of these !redicates #ith this class of ad"erbials.

4 +e have to stress the fact, ac,nowledged by linguists, that the felicity of an aspectual reinterpretation is strongly dependent on linguistic context and ,nowledge of the world as the example below indicates. -n this case there is no possible shifted interpretation and the sentence is odd: %D* %EE*!ary reached the top for an hour

?. Completive adverbials are also ,nown as containers %or adverbials of the interval %Smith, 1&&1** and include expressions li,e in ( hours! ithin t o months! and their role is to locate a situation eventuality at an interval during which the event is completed culminates. 0spectually, completive adverbials are telic. The assumption, then, is that they are compatible with telic eventualities and odd with atelics. The examples below %borrowed from Smith 1&&1:1D@* confirm this assumption: %)* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* /ohn drew a circle in five seconds !ary wrote a sonnet in ten minutes E?ill swam laps in an hour E!ary believed in ghosts in an hour

Since completives denote an interval ithin hich the situation occurred too, place, the atelic situations in %)iii,iv* are difficult to interpret. -f they can be understood at all, they impose an ingressive interpretation to the entire sentence, in the sense that the adverbials refer to an interval elapsed before the beginning of the situation and not to an interval during hich the situation occurs. Bepending on linguistic context and ,nowledge of the world the sentence in %)iii* above may also be reinterpreted as telic in the context of completive adverbials, i.e. the reinterpretation may ascribe a natural endpoint to the eventuality. The possible readings for %)iii* would be as in %@i,ii* below and %@iii* for %)iv*: %@* ghosts. 0s far as %)iv* is concerned, the eventuality is ta,en as inchoative, as the paraphrase in %@iii* shows. The inchoative is an 0chievement and has the ingressive interpretation that standardly occurs for achievements %and semelfactives, for that matter* with completive adverbials as in the following examples: %'* %i* %ii* %iii* They reached the top in ten minutes. =e won the race in ten minutes. She ,noc,ed at the door in ten minutes. %i* %ii* %iii* ?ill swam his planned number of laps ) ith*in an hour. -n 0fter an hour, ?ill swam his laps. 0t the end of after an hour she began to believe in

0nother clash is to be noticed with the imperfective viewpoint. Telic adverbials are incompatible with the progressive aspect. 0ccording to

5 Smith %1&&1:1D&*, in general, all imperfectives in combination with completive adverbials have an ingressive reading, i.e. the eventualities occurs at the end of the time interval referred to by the adverbial. The example below has such a reading: %&* +n an hour, ?ill was wal,ing to wor,.

C. Frequency adverbials also give information that contributes to the temporal location of a situation %Smith 1&&1*. Specifically they indicate the recurrent pattern of situations within the reference interval. The adverbial expression of fre;uency reinforces the notion of repetition, iteration: %1I* %i* %ii* Samuel cycles to wor, most days! every day. +e al ays/often went to the mountains in wintertime

0s already mentioned such sentences express a series of individual events which, as a whole, ma,e a state of the habitual type. 5xamples of fre;uency adverbials are: frequently! on Sundays! never! sometimes! often! henever! monthly! daily! once a eek! every eek/month/year! usually! seldom! etc. D. Locating Adverbials (or Frame Adverbials). This type of adverbials contribute to the specification of Situation Time or #ssertion Time. 7enerally, sentences with one time adverbial specify #ssertion Time. 0s the name frame" adverbial indicates, they refer to an interval of time within which the described action is asserted to have ta,en place" %?ennettA =all 8artee, 1&@'*. The situation tal,ed about in the sentence fills all or part of the time specified by the adverbial %Smith, 1&&1*. /ust li,e Tense, frame adverbials re;uire an orientation point, and $ust li,e Tense they mirror the three possible temporal relations: simultaneity, anteriority and posteriority. 9rame adverbials have the role to locate situations in time by relating them to other times or to other situations %Smith, 1&&1*. 0ccording to the time of orientation they indicate we can distinguish three classes: %i* ,eictic adverbials: which are oriented to the time of utterance. Such adverbials are represented by the following expressions: no ! today! last Sunday! last eek! this eek/year! tomorro ! next eek! the day after tomorro ! tonight! a eek ago, etc. 0s can be noticed, all adverbials in this class refer to some specific time span which is related to some other specific time span which is 1T#T, but most of them give only the maximal boundaries" of the time span%s* in ;uestion %Jlein, 1&&(* #naphoric adverbials include time expressions that relate to a previously established time" %Smith, 1&@'* such as - until! till! in the evening! on Sunday! at night! early! before! in three days! on "hristmas! at lunchtime! t o years later! in .arch! already! etc. -n this case too, we have only the maximal boundary" of the time span in ;uestion.

%ii*

6 %iii* /eferential adverbials which refer to a time established by cloc, or calendar %Smith, 1&@'*, such as: at six, #ugust 01, in 0123, etc

The time adverbials that are explicitly related to the time of utterance are ,nown as anchored" adverbials. Beictic adverbs are anchored" adverbials. The last two classes are ,nown as being unanchored", i.e. they are not anchored to the utterance time, their interpretation is made possible by an orientation point other than the time of utterance. 0ccording to their form, frame adverbials can be %i* simple or %ii* complex. %i*Simple adverbials include expressions li,e :now, yesterday, tomorrow %ii* .omplex adverbials exhibit two types of complexity: %a* the complex adverbial consists of two or several concatenated adverbs: yesterday afternoon! tomorro morning at 4. .omplex time adverbials, in these cases, are ta,en as single units in temporal interpretation establishing the interval of time within which the described action is asserted to have ta,en place . 9or examples li,e the one below the complex adverbial, in con$unction with the tense morpheme, specifies 0S#T: %11* ?ill visited us last Sunday afternoon. b* the complex adverbial may consist of a preposition and a nominal, the entire group forming one constituent syntactically: %1(* 8hyllis decorated the ca,e before last night. -n simple tense sentences %i.e. without morphological aspect* the relation between the 56#T and 0S#T is ta,en to be simultaneous, or rather 56#T is included within 0S#T. -n such cases, we may consider the adverbial, in con$unction to the Tense morpheme to specify 56#T. To conclude, with simple tense forms in root clauses the 5vent Situation time is non5distinct from 0ssertion Time regarding their relative order to 1tterance Time, hence we can assume that with simple tenses adverbials actually specify 56#T. (.I. T e s!nta" and interpretation o# tenses in root senten$es 0s we have already mentioned there are three times that are re;uired for the temporal#aspectual interpretation of sentences. The three times involved are 1tterance Time %1T#T* , 0ssertion Time %0S#T* and Situation Time%Sit#T*, also ,nown in the literature as 5vent Time %56#T* 0dopting current approaches we define 6tterance Time as the time at which the event of uttering the sentence ta,es place and it may function as an anchoring" event for another event or time interval defined as #ssertion Time. 0S#T has a dual role: it is part of the system of temporal location for complex sentences, and it gives the temporal

7 standpoint of a sentence i.e. the locus from hich the situation talked about is presented. The 0ssertion Time is explicitly given by the finite component of an utterance, i.e. by the tense morpheme on the verb or auxiliary and represents the anchoring" time for the interval when the situation denoted by the predicate occurs. Kocating adverbials li,e yesterday, on Sunday etc. generally specify 0ssertion Time. 5vent Time is the time interval at which the situation occurs" or holds". -t is related to whatever is expressed by the nonfinite component of the utterance %the lexical %semantic* content" of the utterance*. Tense is defined as a relation between 0S#T and 1T#T, while 0spect relates 56#T to 0S#T. +e have also mentioned the fact that in the simple tense forms 56#T and 0S#T time are non#distinct regarding their relative order to 1T#T and in such cases 1T#T can be ta,en to be the orientation reference point for the time of the situation event. -n the simple tenses, therefore, Tense relates the time of utterance, which functions as reference anchoring point, and the time at which the situation denoted by the 68 occurs or holds %56#T 0S#T*. 0S#T, as we have seen is important for the progressive forms and, as we shall see, for the 8erfect forms and the 9uturate. The standard assumption is that in the simple tenses 1T#T may precede %?59:>5*, follow %09T5>* or be included %+-T=-<* in the 56#T 0S# T: 1T#T ?59:>5 56#T 0S#T H 80ST L#5BM 1T#T 09T5> 56#T 0S#T H 91T1>5 L+-KKM 1T#T +-T=-< 56#T 0S#T H 8>5S5<T L#SM

The discussion so far has tried to highlight the fact that both Tense and 0spect relate two times. This parallelism can be captured syntactically %Stowell 1&&4, BemirdacheA1ribe#5txebarria, (III* by proposing that 0spect %0sp* and Tense %T* are in fact dyadic predicates of spatio# temporal ordering that ta,e as arguments time#denoting phrases. G T ta,es as external argument 1T#T %in root sentences* and 0S#T as an internal argument 2 0sp ta,es 0S#T as external argument and 56#T as internal argument. The phrase structure for temporal relations loo,s li,e:

%14*
&T'T

T% T( T Asp%

-he re!resentation in %1*( is the syntactic !hrase structure of the linear te$!oral re!resentation gi"en in the cha!ter on 8s!ect.

9
AS'T Asp(

Asp E)'T

)% )%

T is a spatio#temporal predicate with the meaning of 09T5> %past*, ?59:>5 %future* or +-T=-< %present*. AS%, in its turn is also a spatio# temporal predicate with the meaning of 09T5> %perfect aspect*, ?59:>5 %prospective aspect* or +-T=-< %progressive aspect*. +henever AS% %or T* lac, morphological content, the external argument and the internal argument are co#indexed2 this co#indexation indicates that the two times events overlap or coincide. :ne such particular case occurs in sentences with morphological tense but without morphological aspect that is the simple tenses. -n such cases, as already mentioned 56#T H 0S#T %i.e. 56#T is +-T=-< or included in 0S#T*. -n such cases they are considered as non#distinct regarding their relative order to 1T#T. +henever Asp has no morphological content the event is portrayed in its entirety as including both its initial and its final bounds %perfective viewpoint aspect, in Smith"s %1&&1* classification* Time adverbs, $ust li,e tenses and aspects, are ta,en to be phrases headed by a two#place spatio#temporal predicate representing the temporal structure in the syntax and establishing a relation of inclusion %+-T=-<**, precedence %?59:>5* and subse;uence %09T5>*. The proposal put forth by BemirdacheA1ribe#5txebarria, %(IIG* holds for all types of time adverbials locational or durational adverbs expressed syntactically as bare <8s %"hristmas! yesterday* , 88s %after/at/ before last eek/"hristmas*, temporal clauses %.8s* % hile + as reading the book/ hen he came/since/after she left*. >ecall that these adverbs have been ta,en to be able to restrict the reference of 0S#T or that of 56#T. =ere is an example of the way time adverbs can be integrated within the model proposed by BemirdacheA1ribe#5txebarria, %(IIG*: %1G* %i*
T% &t'T T a#ter Ass'Ti Ass'Ti %% T( Asp% Asp( Asp )%

Susan left at after before midnight.

% *% at+a#ter+be#ore midni, t

Ev'Ti

)%

The example above illustrates the grammar of 8ast Tense simple. 8ast Tense orders the 1T#T a#ter the 0S#T. The 0S#T is co#indexed %i.e.

10 temporally coincides* with 56#T since 0sp has no morphological content. .o#indexation entails that the event described is portrayed in its entirety as including both its initial and final bounds. The 1T#T, is thus ordered after the 0ST#T 56#T , yielding the past %and perfective* interpretation. The 88 in %1G*, as already argued , serves to restrict the reference of the event described by the sentence Susan left #. Syntactically, it functions as a restrictive modifier of a time#denoting expression the 0S#T or 56#T. -n our particular case %i.e example 1G* 0S#T is co#temporal with 56#T, hence we get a non#distinct interpretation. The temporal representation above describes a past event, since the 1T#T in %1Gb* is located after the 0S#T itself co#temporal with 56#T %perfective aspect*. The preposition has as external argument the 0S#T and as internal argument the adverbial <8 midnight. So, what the preposition does is to restrict the reference of the time span denoted by 0S#T %past* to the time designated by the internal argument of the preposition, i.e. midnight. Since the 0S#T is co#temporal with 56#T the 88 indirectly provide a location time for the 56#T of the situation described by %1Ga*. .onsider next the past perfect sentence illustrated in 1D%a* below, which is assigned the temporal structures in %1Db,c*: 1D* a* Susan had left Kondon at noon a"* 0t noon, Susan had left Kondon

b*
1T#T

T8 T" T after 0S#T 0S#T 8 at 88 B8 0sp8 0sp" 0sp after 68

56#T

68

c* 1T#T

T8 T" T after 0S#T 0sp after 0sp8 0sp" 68

56#T

68

11
56#T at 88 B8

The past perfect sentence in %1Da* %without the time adverbial* presents Susan"s departure as having culminated before a reference time, the 0S#T, which is itself ordered by Tense prior to 1T#T. -n this case the 0S#T and the 56#T are dis-oint in reference. -t can be naturally predicted that the addition of a temporal adverbial will yield two interpretations for %1Da* , but not for %1Da"*, depending on whether the adverbial modifies the 5vent Time or the 0ssertion Time, as illustrated in %1Db,c*. -n %1Db* the time adverb modifies the 0S#T. Susan"s departure is presented as having occurred prior to 0S#T, which is set at @ p.m. %i.e. Susans leaving occurs prior to 3 p.m.* -n %1Dc* the time adverb is predicated of the 56#T, the preposition 0T restricting the time of the event to the interval designated by @ p.m. %i.e. Susans leaving occurred at 3 p.m.* -t is a well#,nown fact that time adverbs may occur at the end or at the beginning of the sentence. -t is generally assumed that whenever the time adverb occurs in sentence initial position the time adverb is generally ta,en to specify 0S# T. =ence such a sentence will have the temporal representation in %1Db* above, where the time adverb modifies 0S#T. 2.1 .nde#inite %resent Tense Senten$es. -t is generally assumed that the Simple 8resent Tense is, par excellence, a deictic tense. Situations reported in the 8resent en$oy both psychological being at the present moment %Keech, 1&@1* and actual being at no . The interpretive" constraint %to be accounted for below* that affects present tense sentences, is that present tense sentences may not include the endpoints of situations". Sentences in the Simple Present refer to open situations except for marked uses. 0s a conse;uence, in the 8resent tense and the perfective viewpoint stative senten$es have their normal %open* interpretation %recall that the perfective does not span the endpoints of States* while non'stative verb constellations have a derived habitual generic interpretation. 0s such, from an aspectual point of view all non#stative predicates in the simple present tense recategori3e as stative %Smith, 1&&1*. This generali3ation accounts for two of the uses of the indefinite present tense, i.e. the generic and the habitual use. Kinguists and grammarians have distinguished among several uses of the indefinite simple present tense %Keech, 1&@1, ?innic, 1&&1, etc*. These include: the the the the the generic value2 habitual value2 instantaneous reportive value 2 past time %historical* value2 future value or futurate.

12 This wide distribution of the Simple 8resent is not to be regarded as indicative of the polysemy of this temporal form2 the Simple 8resent has a core meaning irrespective of context, i.e. the Simple Present places the 6T5T ithin the #S5T/785T. The past and future values ascribed to the Simple 8resent should be regarded as a composite of tense information, lexical aspect and the contribution of adverbs. (.1.1 T e Simple %resent Tense and %er#e$tivit! -n the previous chapter we argued that, generally, sentences in the simple tense form have a closed, perfective interpretation. The simple present tense, nevertheless, is an exception to this generali3ation, in the sense that the simple present tense is incompatible with perfective %closed* readings. This constraint is valid for all 7ermanic and >omance languages but the conse;uences are different. 0 conse;uence of the above#mentioned constraint for 5nglish is that the simple present tense of d/rative events %activities and accomplishments* $annot be /sed to refer to one particular instance/ occurrence of the situation denoted by the predicate and have the continuous imperfective interpretation, i.e. in 5nglish the simple present tense cannot be used to describe a non5stative! dynamic event unfolding at 1T#T, unli,e in other 7ermanic languages and >omance languages. .ompare the sentences below: %1)* a* !ary smo,es. b* !aria fumea3a. !aria raucht. c* !ary eats an apple. d* !aria mananca un mar. !aria isst ein 0pfel. e* !ary loves /ohn. f* !aria il iubeste pe -on. =annah liebt /ohann.

:f all the examples in %1)* it is only the last two %i.e. 1) e,f* where there are no interpretive differences between 5nglish and >omanian 7erman. The sentences in %1) e, f* mean that a certain state olds of the sub$ect at the 1tterance Time. The examples in %1)a#d* include predicates belonging to the class of accomplishments and activities and, as can be noticed, the 5nglish sentences $annot have the imperfective continuous reading, that is they cannot mean that .ary is presently involved in an event of smoking or eating an apple, respectively. The >omanian 7erman sentences allow these readings, i.e. they may describe one particular occurrence of an ongoing, continuous event. -n order to get the ongoing reading in 5nglish, the present progressive must be used with such predicates. The neutral interpretation one would assign to the 5nglish sentences in %1) a,c* above would be habituality4. 0ctually, this reading is also available for the other 7ermanic and >omance languages. =abitual
4

:ecall that the difference bet#een stati"es and non-stati"es in the ;resent tense has been used as a test for stati"ity. If a constellation has only a habitual action reading #ith si$!le %i.e. !erfecti"e( as!ect and ;resent -ense, it is non-stati"e.

1* sentences are defined as characteri3ing" sentences that describe a generali9ation over patterns of events. -nterestingly, 5nglish is not different from the other languages as far as the other possible interpretations of the sentences in %1)* above are concerned. The sentences admit the so#called reportive/instantaneouse reading, where an event is described as perfective but its time is not directly related to the utterance time . 1nder the instantaneous reading, the interval of time normally associated with the event is telescoped to a point. The sentences are assumed to have a dramatic interpretation having nothing to do with real time, i.e. the event is not directly anchored to the utterance time. Such sentences are grammatical as commentary on a picture, movie or boo, or when uttered by a radio commentator. .onsider the following examples borrowed from 7eorgiA8ianesi %1&&@:1D4* and 8almer %1&@'*: %1@* %i* -n 7one with the wind" Scarlet writes a letter. %ii* <apier ta,es the ball and runs down the wing. =e passes the ball to 0ttwater. 0ttwater beats two men, he shoots. -t"s a goalN !ore will be said about the availability of this interpretation of the simple present tense in due time. 0s far as present tense achievement/semelfactive predicates are concerned, the continuous imperfective reading is unavailable in all 7ermanic and >omance languages: %1'* %i* %ii* %iii* Susan finds a boo,. !aria gaseste o carte. =ans findet ein ?uch.

#chievements/semelfactives have the lexical property that they are single stage situations, that is they lac, a processual stage. Therefore, achievements semelfactives always denote closed events. This property holds cross#linguistically. -n none of the languages above can the sentences be interpreted as ongoing at 1tterance Time. To summari3e, the problems related to the present tense sentences that are to be accounted for are as follows: %a* -n 5nglish, unli,e in other 7ermanic languages and >omance languages, present tense sentences with an accomplishment or activity predicate can never describe one particular ongoing continuous event2 The imperfective reading with present tense achievement/semelfactive predicates is unavailable in all 7ermanic and >omance languages2 The impossibility of the simple present tense with the perfective interpretation as a default.

%b* %c*

1+ (.1.(. -n the chapter on 0spect" we argued, following current research, that non#stative predicates %i.e. dynamic* in the simple indefinite present are neutrally interpreted as habitual generic. The assumption underlying the conclusion above is that a sentence with the perfective viewpoint" presents a sentence with the endpoint %i.e. temporal* properties of its situation type schema". !oreover, non#stative predicates obey the following truth#condition postulate %Taylor, 1&@@*: %1&* -f 6 is an activity verb or an accomplishment achievement verb, then 6%x* is only true at an interval larger than one moment. Bowty %1&@&:1)@*, commenting on Taylor"s %1&@@* postulate, observes that if the 1tterance Time is conceptuali3ed as a moment then the postulate above predicts that it is impossible to have a deictic present tense with durative, eventive predicates. 0ccording to this analysis the impossibility of an ongoing/continuous reading of a sentence such as Susan sleeps is due to the intrinsic temporal properties of dynamic predicates and to the fact that the utterance time is a point. To account for the cross#linguistic differences exemplified in %1)* above, %in particular the problem concerning the impossibility of 5nglish present tense non#stative predicates to have a continuous one#occurrence interpretation* we will adopt a suggestion put forth by 7eorgiA8ianisi %1&&@* already hinted at in the previous chapter. 0ccording to 7iorgiA8ianesi %1&&@* the constraint on the simultaneous continuous reading of non#stative verbs is aspectual in nature and can be stated in the form of what they call the 8unctuality .onstraint". 0ctually, they offer a principled account of the assumptions given above. The important assumptions 7iorgi and 8ianesi ma,e are : %i* the temporal interpretation of an utterance involves the anchoring of the event denoted by the predicate to the 1tterance time, i.e. to the time of the event which consists of the utterance itself2 %ii* the speech event, as an anchoring event, is conceptuali3ed as punctual: %iii* all eventive predicates in 5nglish are lexically characteri3ed as perfective: -n what follows we shall enlarge upon the last two assumptions put forth by 7iorgiA8ianesi. %i* 7eorgiA8ianisi %1&&@* propose that, in 5nglish, all eventive %i.e. non#stative* predicates are associated with the feature %Operf*. This is necessary in 5nglish , but not in other languages, due to the morphological properties of the 5nglish verbs.) The LOperfM feature on the
5

&iorgi < ;ianesi argue that the as!ectual feature 12!erf3 is a =exicon feature that #ould .co$!ensate/ for the lac' of ex!licit inflectional "erbal $or!hology . -he argu$ent goes that a #ord li'e eat can be categorially a$biguous: it is a .na'ed/ for$ and can ex!ress any of se"eral "erbal "alues, such as the infiniti"e %#ithout to(,

14 verb stems of 5nglish non#stative predicates means that such predicates always denote closed situations". 0s already argued, closed perfective events have all the temporal properties of the situation type, the endpoint properties included. 0dditional evidence in favour of the assumption that verb stems in 5nglish always denote closed events comes from the 0ccusative O-nfinite 8articiple construction in 5nglish. .onsider the following examples: %(I* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* %vi* %vii* %viii* Susan saw !ary write the essay. Susan saw !ary writing the essay. Susan saw !ary run. Susan saw !ary running. Susan saw !ary leave. Susan saw !ary leaving. FSusan saw !ary ,now the answer. FSusan saw !ary ,nowing the answer.

-n 5nglish, perception verbs can ta,e two types of complements : either the 0ccObare na,ed" infinitive %i.e. infinitives without to* or 0ccO 8resent 8articiple constructions. -n the first six sentences above, %where the complement is an accomplishment, activity and achievement predicate, respectively* the bare" infinitive form allows only a perfective closed reading. -n %(Ii,ii* the complement is an accomplishment predicate.%(Ii* entails that Susan witnessed the entire act of writing, i.e. the sentence in %(Ii* means that Susan saw an event e! which is an event of riting, the agent is !ary, and the theme is an essay! and e has reached the telos". The complement event expressed as a bare na,ed" infinitive is interpreted as closed/bounded/perfective. -n the example in %(Iii*, on the other hand, the verb is in the ;ing form 2 it refers to a non#closed non#bounded imperfective event. .onse;uently, it is not possible to infer that the essay was eventually written. 0ctivities and achievements may also occur in such constructions with the same interpretation, as the examples in %(Iiii#vi* show. State predications, on the other hand are excluded in such constructions as the examples in %(Ivii,viii* indicate. %ii* The second assumption put forth by 7iorgiA 8ianesi is that anchoring" events are punctual". The difference between a closed/perfective event and a punctual event is that, while conceptually, a closed event denotes an entity that can be decomposed into a processual part" %stages* and a boundary", i.e. e" has temporal structure, a punctual event cannot be decomposed"
the first and second !erson singular and the first, second and third !erson !lural, as #ell as, an .ob>ect/ %?( or .action/ %V(. @ence, the only #ay to discern nouns fro$ "erbs is to identify the characteristic feature that #ould define the lexical category. In the case of "erbs this feature is aspectual.. :o$ance languages, on the other hand, need not associate the "erb #ith an as!ectual feature because of the rich "erbal inflectional $or!hology characteri0ing this grou! of languages. -he lexical entry of "erbs in :o$ance languages #ill al#ays ha"e a $uch richer feature bundle that #ould include inflectional features such as person and number.

15 into other elementary events, hence they are not conceptuali3ed as having temporal structure. Punctuality amounts to neglecting temporal structure. The 1T#T, as already mentioned, temporally anchors the time of the situation, hence it can be viewed as an anchoring event" and conse;uently as a punctual event". +e give below the interpretive principle" necessary to understand the 8unctuality .onstraint": %(1* The anchoring event %1tterance Time or some other reference time in the matrix clause* is punctual %((* 8unctuality .onstraint 0 closed event cannot be simultaneous with a punctual event The +nterpretive Principle %(1* and the Punctuality "onstraint %((* very nicely accommodate the habitual generic reading of non#stative predicates in the simple present tense. The impossibility of a particular continuous simultaneous reading for simple present tense eventive sentences follows as a conse;uence of %a* the +nterpretive Principle %(1* which re;uires the speech event to always be punctual and %b* the Punctuality "onstraint %((* which expresses the general impossibility of punctual events to be simultaneous with closed %Operf* events. To put it differently, li,e any anchoring event, 1T#T is punctual2 the LOperfM simple 8resent tense form cannot be simultaneous with 1T#T, since the event denoted by the verb has internal temporal properties which are incompatible with the punctuality of the anchoring event2 as a conse;uence the progressive form must be used whenever we want the sentence to denote a particular ongoing/continuous event, i.e. in 5nglish, dei$ti$ present is legitimate with state predi$ates alone2 with dynamic, non#stative eventualities the pro,ressive #orm is necessary. The acceptability of habituals generics %generali3ations over events properties* is due to the fact that, in these sentences, the conflict between the punctuality of the 1tterance time %viewed as a speech event* and the closure of the event denoted by the predicate does not arise, habituals being understood as asserting the occurrence of a series of events of the same kind which include the 1tterance Time. 0ccording to 7iorgi and 8ianesi a habitual sentence only re;uires that 1T#T be a temporal part of the interval here the habit holds. 0s far as inherent statives are concerned they are not conceptuali3ed as closed %i.e. as processual or bounded*, %recall the truth#condition and the temporal schema associated with States* hence they can be simultaneous with the punctual anchoring event, describing one particular occurrence" of the situation denoted by the predicate. -n >omance languages, and some 7ermanic languages as well, the event expressed by the present is not viewed as closed perfective and, hence, can be simultaneous with punctual anchoring events, with an imperfective reading, naturally. The temporal aspectual interpretation of present tense sentences li,e, for instance, .ary smokes .ary is clever is provided below:

16 %(4* %i* %ii* !ary smo,es. !ary is clever. 1T#T now 0S#T present %tense morpheme* 56#T co#temporal with 0S#T 1T#T within 0S#T 56#T
1T#T

PLPP PLPAPMPPPMPPP.Q
56#T 0S#T

(.1.4.)al/es o# t e Simple %resent Tense. A.The generic/habitual value :ur next step is to try and give a logical account of the uses values of the simple present tense identified by grammarians and linguists in the course of time. 0ll grammars of 5nglish ac,nowledge that the basic uses values of the simple present tense are the habitual value and the generic value. The ;uestion that arises is whether we need to distinguish between the two, since in both cases the sentences in the present tense are dubbed by linguists as categorical" sentences, or characteri3ing" sentences, consisting in the ascription of a property to a sub<ect . -n both cases no reference is made to a particular occurrence of a situation or a uni;ue, definite moment of time. The sentences below exemplify the two uses: %(G* a* )i* )ii* )iii* %iv* b* )ii* )iii* c* )ii* )iii* %(D* %i* )ii* "ats are idespread The cat is idespread =# cat is idespread .ilk is good for the bones %i* Tigers eat meat The tiger eats meat # tiger eats meat )i* # lion has a bushy tail >ions have a bushy tail The lion has a bushy tail .y brother/.ichael drinks ine ith his dinner The milkman calls every .onday/on .ondays

+e have argued so far that non#stative predicates in the simple present tense in 5nglish will %always* result in a habitual reading of the simple present tense %cf. examples in %(D*. The assumption is presumptuous, to say the least, since the examples in %(G b i#iii* do not have a habitual reading" but rather a generic" reading, although the predicates ;ualify aspectually as non#stative predicates. So what is the difference, if there is any, between generic and habitual sentencesE

17 !oreover, the examples in %(Ga* and %(Gc* are basic stative predicates and they are also characteri3ed as generic. These are the ;uestions that we would li,e to answer in the next subchapter. (.4.1. +e are already familiar with the distinction between stage5level and individual5level predicates due to .arlson %1&@@*. =e shows that the distinction between the two types of predicates has ramifications in the grammar of 5nglish. Kately, it has been shown that this distinction appears widely in language constituting covert grammatical categories in some languages %e.g. .hinese* %Smith 1&&1*. +ndividual level predicates denote relatively stable+permanent properties. Stage5level predicates spea, of events and occurrences that have a distinctly temporal tenor %i.e. they describe situations that are restricted in time and space*. -n general, verbs that may ta,e the progressive form refer to stage#level interpretations of their sub$ect nominals, describing transitor!+non'permanent properties or situations. The predicates so differentiated are selective as far as the type of referents to which they apply is concerned. +ndividual5level predicates select ob$ect#level and ,ind#level individuals %i.e. individuals*. Stage level predicates apply to stages of individuals. 9rom an aspectual point of view, as we can see, generic sentences %see (Ga#c* are based on either basic eventive verbs or basic lexical states describing relatively stable properties of their sub$ect nominals 2 the habitual sentences %(D* are mostly based on eventive predicates. They are described as characteri3ing" sentences. <evertheless, a few more subtle distinctions are to be ta,en into consideration. 7enerally spea,ing, habitual sentences , also ,nown as derived statives, are based on predicates that are basically characteri3ed as stage# level predicates, in particular eventive predicates, 2 they express dispositions, indicating a potential for an individual %ob$ect#level* to have stage properties, since they denote generali9ations over events of the same type over a period of time. -n most sentences there is a fre;uency adverb %e.g. every day! sometimes! usually! never! on .ondays, etc* that would support the habitual reading, or, sometimes, fre;uency may be expressed by a plural or mass noun in ob$ect position, as in %(D* or %()* below: %()* %i* The mil,man calls every !onday on !ondays %ii* - buy my dresses at =arrods %iii* +e eat very little bread. %iv*!y wife always comes to watch me when - play for 5ngland. %v*!y sister smo,es.

0s Bowty %1&@&* observes: 5ven when we predicate them of an individual at a particular time, it is really not a property that individual"s current stage has at that moment that ma,es them true, but our total experience" with previous stages of that individual. +e can truthfully assert that $ohn is in the habit of smoking if we have identified a Rsuitable

19 numberS of past occasions on which /ohn"s stage#smo,ing was true. Such a broad and pragmatically vague interval presumably also includes a number of future instances of /ohn"s stage property of smo,ing" %Bowty 1&@&:(@&*. =abitual sentences are semantically stative, they apply to an ob<ect level individual, who participates in the pattern of events. The predicates underlying habitual sentences are dynamic predicates at the basic level of classification but their temporal schemata are stative: they consist of an undifferentiated period rather than successive stages. :n the other hand, as Smith %1&&1:G(* remar,s, habitual sentences do not have all the syntactic characteristics of basic#level states. Thus, habitual sentences are good with agent#oriented adverbials, embedding under verbs li,e persuade, appearance in pseudo#cleft do sentences and imperatives. The examples illustrate some of these features: %(@* %i* +hat !ary does is play tennis every 9riday. %ii* - persuaded !ary to play tennis every 9riday.

?eneric sentences are commonly viewed as analytical sentences, i.e. sentences that are true by virtue of the meaning of the terms. That means %roughly* that generic sentences state that a particular property or relation expressed by the predicate holds true of the entity denoted by the sub$ect noun phrase. The sub$ect noun phrase denotes kind5level )(@a* or ob<ect5level individuals %(Gb* -t is already a well#,nown fact that traditional grammars labeled generic sentences as universal eternal truths", timeless truths" or omnipresent" sentences. +hat is actually meant by these labels" is the fact that they are a5temporal", i.e. from the point of view of their time specification they do not specify a particular moment or interval of time. 9or a long time, an important aspect of generic sentences has been related to the use of the generic present. The contribution of the Simple 8resent in generic sentences amounts to specifying that the state is valid holds now", which means that the 1T#T is placed ithin the 0S# T 56#T. -n certain contexts %see examples in (Ga*, there seems to be a very strong interrelation between the generic interpretation of the noun phrases and the generic reading of the verb phrase )ultimately the clause/the sentence*, interrelation that will be apparent in the presentation that follows. Kinguists %e.g. Jrif,a, et al. 1&&D:(* claim that generic sentences are true of some particular entities, namely kinds. =ence, genericity can be identified with reference to kind and the <8s used are kind5referring 'Ps or sometimes called generic !s3. The sentences in %(4a* above are instances of this type of genericity. Aind referring <8s are <8s that may co#occur with kind5level predicates such as: die out, be idespread! be extinct! be in short supply ,
6

Be are already fa$iliar #ith the distinction $ade by Carlson %1966( bet#een indi"iduals %that $ay be objects or kinds( and stages of indi"iduals %s!atio-te$!oral slices of indi"iduals(. Cind-level individuals ha"e certain !eculiarities as co$!ared to $ore nor$al indi"iduals, i.e. 'inds can be here and there % they are continuous in s!ace, according to De$ach %1964(, they are non-sortals(, #hereas nor$al indi"iduals %object-level individuals( are generally confined to one location at a gi"en ti$e % they are bound in s!ace, according to De$ach %1964(, they are sortals. Eor a co$!lete characteri0ation see also Ileana Baciu, Eunctional Categories in English, 200+.

20 be common! be indigenous to/in short supply/every here! come in all si9es! etc. These 'Ps refer rigidly to a kind5level individual and the predicate attributes a property to it that $annot be distributed to the members of the ,ind, i.e. they ma,e singular statements about a particular kind.2 Such statements have been called particular/proper kind predications %8J8* %Ter !eulen, 1&&D: 4GD, Kin,, 1&&D:4D'** or definite %or specific* generics %B#generics* %Jrif,a 1&'@*. They are characteri3ed as being descriptive" generali3ations. :ne important characteristic of this type of generic statements is that the predicate %68* may be progressive, attributing a gradual change in a property to a ,ind %e.g. 7lephants are dying out %Ter !eulen 1&&D:4G)**. Jind referring expressions are bare plurals, definite singular 'Ps and mass nouns, but as the example in %(Ga iii* above indicates, not indefinite 'Ps, i.e. indefinite 'Ps are not considered kind5referring expressions %i.e. they cannot function as names for ,inds*. <evertheless, all traditional grammars mention indefinite 'Ps as one of the expressions that may occur in generic sentences" as the examples in %(Gb,c*, repeated under %('* for convenience, show: %('* )i* )ii* )iii* %iv* )v* )vi* >ions have a bushy tail The lion has a bushy tail # lion has a bushy tail Tigers eat meat The tiger eats meat # tiger eats meat

-t is not difficult to notice that the predicates ;ualify as basic stage level predicates re#categori3ed as individual level predicates. -n point of eventuality type, the predicates in the examples in %('i#iii* are basic state predicates, while those in %('iv#vi* are dynamic predicates, basically. The examples in %('* report a ,ind of general property of individuals that constitute members %ob<ect5level individuals* of the ,ind, and represents the second type of genericity, namely characteri9ing sentences or simply generic sentences, as they express generali9ations. Such statements are ,nown in the literature as the characteristic kind of predication %.J8* %Ter !eulen 1&&D* or i5generics %i.e. indefinite non# specific* %Jrif,a 1&'@*. :ther common terms for characteri9ing sentences are gnomic", dispositional" general" or habitual". Aind5denoting )generic* 'Ps may also occur in characteri9ing sentences %see ('* and the sentences describe a general/essential or default property which holds for the specimens %i.e. ob<ect level individuals* of the kind. :ften this is expressed explicitly by an adverbial such as: usually, al ays, generally, etc.
'

-n the sentences in %(4a* we have the intuition that the truth or falsity of the statements has nothing whatsoever to do with predicating idespread or every here! for instance, to any particular cats at all. That is to say, intuitively, we could not paraphrase %(4a %i** as Puffy is idespread, ,uffy is idespread! BB.therefore cats are idespread. +ith the examples in %(4 b,c*, on the other hand, where the predicate have a bushy tail eat meat" occurs, we have the intuition that the truth or falsity of the statement somehow involves the predication of having a bushy tail/eating meat to particular lions. 0gain, in intuitive terms we might thin, that: Puffy has a bushy tail/eats meat!! ,uffy has a bushy tail/eats meat , etcPPPtherefore lions have a bushy tail/eat meat.

21 0n important property of characteri9ing sentences is that they may be true even when there are members of the ,ind which fail to have the property expressed by the predicate. "haracteri9ing generic sentences are stative sentences %they may be related to inherently stative predicates or derived stative predicates %i.e. inherently dynamic/stage level predicates coerced into statives*. =abitual sentences will be ta,en to be included within the class of characteri9ing generic sentences. ?oth habitual/generic sentences", %see examples in %(&** which are related to dynamic verbal predicates %drink, smoke, read, laugh, etc* and the so#called le"ical" characteri9ing sentences which are related to inherently state predicates %have a bushy tail, kno ! cost! eigh! love! fear! possess! have! o n! etc* generali9e over patterns of events/properties 2 the difference between the two is that while the former have an episodic counterpart, the latter lac, an episodic reading and while the former generali3e over events, the latter generali3e over properties. .haracteri3ing sentences were assumed not to express accidental properties %e.g.Bahl 1&@D among others*2 they state properties that are essential, necessary, inherent or analytic %<unberg and 8an 1&@D*. :n the other hand, unli,e d#generics, they are not descriptive" generali3ations but normative ones. %Bahl 1&@D*. .haracteri3ing sentences put no limitation on what types of <8s may occur in them. +e can find proper names, definite 'Ps, indefinite 'Ps, quantified 'Ps, bare plural 'Ps. 7iven the variety of <8s in characteri3ing sentences, the suggestion is that this type of genericity should be analy3ed as a sui generis type of sentence. %Jrif,a, 8elletier, .arlson, Kin,, .hierchia 1&&D:)* %(&* %i* .y brother/.ichael drinks ine ith his dinner %ii* +talians drink ine ith their dinner %iii* 7very +talian drinks ine ith his dinner %iv* #n +talian drinks ine ith his dinner

0s already mentioned, there are certain elements that may enforce a characteri9ing, generic reading such as adverbs li,e generally", usually", "typically", often", sometimes" that lead to la 5like characteri3ing sentences. The above discussion has attempted to stress the fact that the locus of genericity can be found both at the level of the 'P and at the level of the clause. +ith bare plural 'Ps and definite 'Ps related to kind5level predicates, the locus of genericity is at the level of the respective <8s, since they are kind5referring expressions, as well as, in the predicate, as the examples in %(4 a* show2 ,ind#referring expressions refer to a specific type of individual, namely 0inds, hence, generic bare plural 'Ps and definite 'Ps will be interprepreted as having a specific reading. +ith indefinite 'Ps! proper names! quantified 'Ps the locus of genericity is not in the <8 but rather in the sentence itself, i.e. these <8s cannot be considered ,ind#referring" or generic" in and of themselves. They get a generic" interpretation only when occurring in characteri9ing

22 %generic habitual* sentences. This type of genericity is independent of verbal predicates, i.e. the predicates may be both states and non#states and the contribution of the Simple Present is essential. The term generic" sentence will be ta,en to refer to both types of generic phenomena, although as we have seen there are differences between the two types.. The contexts that favor a characteri9ing generic reading are as follows: definitions, proverbs, geographical statements, la 5like, prescriptive statements, habituals: %4I* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* %vi* %vii* %viii* %ix* %x* %xi* %xii* %xiii* %xiv* 0n apple a day ,eeps the doctor away. =e who laughs last, laughs best. 0 new broom sweeps clean. Smooth waters run deep. =ydrogen is the lightest element :il floats on water. +ater boils at 1II degrees .elsius -n chess, bishops move diagonally. Kondon stands on the Thames. The Severn flows into the 0tlantic. 0 symphony has four movements 0n -talian loves opera music. !y dog chases cars. !ist and cloud usually render it impossible to see the sun rise from the sea.

1.The #nstantaneous/$eportive %imple !resent Tense , is another value use of the Simple 8resent Tense. The general assumption is that this value is a mar0ed /se of the perfective viewpoint in 8resent sentences %Smith 1&&1:(G1*. This use of the Simple 8resent Tense contrasts with the habitual generic use in that it describes a particular occurrence of an event. 6nder the instantaneous reading there is a telescoping of the interval of time normally associated ith the event to a point2 what this actually amounts to is that the situation denoted by the predicate is interpreted as simultaneous with 1T#T. Such sentences include perception and mental #chievements, performatives! and, according to some grammarians, reportives of the dramatic, sportscaster"s type %Smith 1&&1*. The instantaneous present is found in asseverations that use what are ,nown as performative verbs, namely verbs that themselves form part of the activity they report, i.e. the event announced and the act of announcement are one. -t would be more correct to spea, of performative sentences, since these verbs behave performatively only under some restrictive conditions that will be apparent in the sentences below: %41* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* hereby christen this ship Cueen !ary". promise to help you resign. pronounce you man and wife.

2* %v* %vi* %vii* - declare the meeting open ad$ourned closed +e accept your offer. - deny the charge.

To utter these sentences is to perform the acts reported by the predicate. Syntactically, it is characteristic of performative statements to occur in the first person singular/plural and to permit the insertion of hereby in front of the verb. The temporal characteristic of performative sentences is straightforward: the utterance time and the event time are simultaneous, this being part of the conditions on the use of such statements. 0nother condition for the felicitous use of these sentences is that the particular persons and circumstances in a given case must be appropriate for the invocation of the particular procedure involved" %0ustin 1&)1:4G*. Sentences including perception predicates are also used in the Simple 8resent. -n such cases these predicates are interpreted, aspectually, as achievements. Such sentences constitute reports of instantaneous events, reflecting the special immediacy of perception. >eports of mental #chievements are also of the same type. .onsider the examples below, borrowed from .. Smith %1&&1:1D4*: %4(* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* - see the moon. - feel the current of the river :h, - seeN - understand. Tes, now - rememberN

>unning commentaries and demonstrations, such as the eye itness broadcasts of sportscasters, radio commentators, or reports of con<urors and demonstrators, informal commentaries ith preposed locatives are other instances of the instantaneous use of the Simple 8resent: %44* %i* <apier ta,es the ball and runs down the wing. =e passes the ball to 0ttwater. 0ttwater beats two men, he shoots. -t"s a goalN %ii* Phe gets it in to =ewlett and he"s fouled immediately by !alnati andP the rebound goes to /oe !ay. %iii* Koo,, - ta,e this card from the pac, and place it under the hand,erchief so. %iv* - place a bell $ar over the candle, and after a few moments the water gradually rises. %v* There goes the bus 1p she goes Bown she falls.

-n these cases, the co#extensiveness between the time of utterance and the time of the situation is sub$ective rather than ob$ective: the events are presented as simultaneous with the utterance time even if strictly spea,ing they are not. The commentaries are restricted to a limited range of contexts where the spea,er is specifically assigned the role of commentator.

2+ The dramatic use of Simple 8resent sentences %also labelled as the timeless" use or imaginary" use2 grammarians often include this use under the past time value of the Simple 8resent* refers to specific completed or terminated events. Such sentences are also grammatical with an 0ccomplishment or 0ctivity predicate and have a dramatic flavor. These dramatic, reportive sentences telescope time. +e understand them punctually, as though the events ta,e only an instant, regardless of their normal duration. The event denoted by the predicate is described as perfective, but its time is not %directly* related to the speech event. & This a#temporal status of such sentences re;uire the dramatic interpretation. Smith %1&@):D@4** argues that Pthe reason that a dramatic interpretation is plausible is that dramatic readings, by definition, have nothing to do with real time. The dramatic framewor, gives one license to telescope duration so that completion can ta,e place in a single point in time". 0s Smith %1&&1* and =uddleston A 8ullum %(II(* remar,, such statements are found in certain definable contexts such as a commentary )synopses* on a picture! book! movie!T8 programmes %in sentences introduced by in B8" where B8 refers to a boo,, a movie*, as well as in the stage directions of play scripts! focus on present existence of orks created in the past! captions in ne spapers and to illustrations in books! chronicles of history! recipes. ?elow are some examples %borrowed from different sources: Smith 1&&1:1DG, Stefanescu 1&'':(D4, 7iorgi and 8ianesi, 1&&':1D4, =uddleston A 8ullum (II(: 14I* that instantiate the contexts of use $ust mentioned: %4G* %i* Seth and !innie come forward as far as the lilac clumpP She nudges !innie with his elbow.. %5ugene :"<eill, .ourning Cecomes 7lectra* %ii*-n 7one with the wind" Scarlet writes a letter. %iii* -n the ?rothers Jarama3ov Bostoevs,y draws his characters from the sources deep in the >ussian soil. %iv* Ki,e >ubens, +atteau is able to convey an impression of warm, living flesh by the merest whiff of colour. %v* 0boriginal protesters occupy part of the old 8arliament =ouse in .amberra yesterday .%photographic caption* %vi* >oman soldiers nail /esus onto the .ross %description of a painting* %vi* 1G4G .osimo de !edici begins his family"s control of 9lorence 1G4D .ongress 0rras: ?urgundians withdraw support from 5ngland, in favour of 9rance. +hen discussing an artist and his surviving wor,, we can tal, about it from the perspective of their present and potentially permanent existence rather than that of their past creation. ?y contrast, when we are
9

In the !re"ious subcha!ters #e ha"e extensi"ely argued that the !erfecti"e inter!retation is excluded for !resent tense sentences

24 concerned with the act of creation itself, then the past tense is re;uired. Ki,ewise, photographs, newspaper captions, drawings can give a permanence to what would otherwise be a transient historical occurrence. 0 very important remar, is in order here. 0s many linguists and grammarians have noticed before, sentences without a fre;uency adverb may receive a specific existential or generic interpretation depending on context and world ,nowledge. There are some elements of the linguistic context that may help us distinguish between the two readings: habituality genericity may be indicated by a bare plural ob<ect/sub<ect, while an instantaneous reading can be rendered by means of an indefinite or definite ob<ect/sub<ect or by an instantaneous perception verb li,e >ook". .ompare the sentences below: %4D* a* Swallows fly higher than doves %generic* a* Koo,, the swallows fly higher than the doves. a* .arter"s dog chases cars. %habitual* b* There"s a red car whi33ing down the road and .arter"s dog chases it. a* =e scores goals. b* =e scores a goal. C. %imple !resent re&erring to !ast ('istorical present) The 8resent Tense can also be used in reference to the past. +hat is past is the time of the described situation2 the Simple 8resent performs its usual function, namely it places the 1T#T within the 0S#T, while 56#T precedes 0S#T 1T#T. 0ccording to a wide number of grammarians %=uddleston and 8ullum, (II(, Keech, 1&@), /espersen, 1&44 etc*, the historical present" is best treated as a story#teller"s licence, whereby past happenings are portrayed or imagined as if they were going on at the present time. The 8resent Tense is used for past time situations in informal conversational narration or in fiction. 6ery often the present tense is accompanied, with apparent incongruity, by an adverbial indicating past time or it may alternate with a 8ast Tense form. .onsider the examples below, borrowed from Keech %1&@)* and =uddleston A 8ullum, %(II(*: %4)* %i* #t that moment in comes a messenger from the =ead :ffice, telling me the boss ants to see me in an hurry. %ii* There as - playing so well even - couldnt believe it and along comes this ,id and keeps me off the table for three frames.

This use of the simple present tense can be viewed as a metaphorical use, a device conventionally used %in a wide number of languages, actually* to ma,e the narrative appear more vivid by assimilating it to the here and no of the speech event.

25 -t is customary for novelists and story#writers to use the 8ast Tense to describe imaginary/fictional events. Some writers 1I deviate from normal practice and use the 8resent in imitation of the popular historical present of spo,en narrative. -n such cases, transposition into the fictional present is a device of dramatic heightening2 it puts the reader in the place of someone actually witnessing the events as they are described. .onsider the following excerpt from ?lea, =ouse by Bic,ens: %4@* !r Tul,inghorn glances over his spectacles and begins again lower down. !y Kady carelessly and scornfully abstracts her attention. Sir Keicester in a great chair looks at the fire and appears to have a stately li,ing for the legal repetitions and prolixities as ranging among national bulwar,s. -t happens that the fire is hot where my Kady sits and that the handscreen is more beautiful than useful, being priceless but small.

There are cases when the use of the present tense alternates with the simple past tense. 8outsma %1&()* remar,s that shifting from the past to present is often practiced in picturing a series of incidents and circumstances which is to serve as a bac,ground for the representation of subse;uent events. 0n example would be the following excerpt from Thac,eray"s The 8irginians: %4'* =is lordship had no sooner disappeared behind the trees of the forest, but Kady >andolph begins to her confidante the circumstances of her early life. The first as she had made a private marriageP..

Beclerc, %1&&1:)&* notes that, in narratives, the shift of temporal perspective may not only be from the past to the present but also from the post#present %i.e. future* to the present, as in the example below: %4&* - can well imagine what ill happen. - can see it happen before me: /ohn sets out his plans, !ary disagrees, they start shouting at each other and in no time there is a terrible row. -"ve seen it happen often enough to ,now that it is going to end li,e this.

Some grammarians %e.g. =uddlestonA8ullum (II(:141* include here another context in which the present tense extends into past time territory, namely ne s headlines, spo,en or written, as in the examples in %4@* below. The texts beneath the headlines use past tenses but in headlines the Simple 8resent is shorter and more vivid. -t is considered that this might also be regarded as a metaphorical extension of the reportive use of the present tense: %GI*
10

%i* 1< aid reaches the stric,en ?osnian town of Srebrenica

Exa$!les of #riters e$!loying the !resent tense in fiction #riting #ould be Ca$us, Fic'ens, -hac'erey , &eorge Elliot, Goyce Cary, -ho$as Hann, to $ention >ust a fe#.

26 %ii* Trade 1nions see, assurances 0 different ,ind of historical present is found with verbs of communication as in the examples below %borrowed from Keech, 1&@):@, and =uddleston A8ullum, (II(:141*: %G1* thatP. %iv*- gather from 0ngela that you"re short of money again. 0ccording to =uddleston A 8ullum %(II(* the use of the 8resent Tense to report past time occurrences serves to background the communication occurrences themselves and to foreground their content, expressed in the subordinate clause. The main clause is assumed to provide the evidence for believing or entertaining this content. The primary purpose is therefore to impart this content or to see, confirmation of it. The verbs most commonly used are: say! tell! inform! hear! gather! understand i.e. verbs referring to the productive or receptive end of the process of communication 7iven that the main clause is backgrounded, it does not contain ad$uncts or temporal specification. *.!resent Tense ith Future value ) the Futurate* . The Simple 8resent may be used to describe future situations . The fact that the Simple 8resent still means present" is rendered clear by the possibility of having different time specifications within he same clause, as the examples below %G(* indicate %=A8 (II(:144*: %G(* my letter. The match no starts next .onday, not Tuesday, as - said in %i*The ten o"cloc, news says that it"s going to be cold. %ii*- hear we are getting some new neighbours. %iii*Tour correspondent 0.B. writes in the issue of 9ebruary 1 st

The two ad$uncts specify different time intervals: no specifies 1T# T 0S#T while next .onday specifies the time of the future situation, i.e. 56#T. The presence of the present tense morpheme has immediate conse;uences on the interpretation of the future situation assigning it a high degree of certainty, i.e. it attributes to the future the same degree of certainty that we normally accord to present or past events %Keech 1&@1: )I*. This entails that the futurate construction is sub>ect to se"ere constraints a$ong #hich #e $ention the follo#ing: %i( %ii( %iii( the !resence of future ti$e ad"erbials, the as!ectual ty!e of the situation %state !redicates are excluded in such sentences ( and, last but not least the future situation is determinable fro$ the state of the #orld now, that is to say that the clause $ust in"ol"e so$ething that can be assu$ed to be 'no#n already in the !resent.

27 In the exa$!le abo"e the present tense morpheme and the ad"erb now gi"e the ti$e of the arrangement or schedule. It is generally assu$ed that #ith the i$!le ;resent the arrange$ent is felt to be an impersonal or collective one, $ade, for exa$!le, by a committee, a court of law or so$e un-named authority. -he $ost #idely used !redicates belong to the class of non-durati"e e"ent "erbs in !articular "erbs of directed $otion such as go, leave, come, meet, as!ectual "erbs such as begin, start, end, etc. 0ccording to grammarians, the most common uses involve : %i* statements about the calendar or cyclic events, %ii* scheduled events %regarded as unalterable* and %iii* subordinate clauses introduced by conditional and adverbial con<unctions. .onsider the examples below borrowed from different sources %Keech 1&@1, =uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(*: %G4* %i* Tomorrow is Sunday. <ext .hristmas falls on a Thursday The next high tide is around G this afternoon +hen is the next full moonE %ii* The next Jevin .ostner film opens at the 5ldorado on Saturday. +hen do the lectures end this yearE She is president until next !ay =er case comes before the magistrate next wee,. The .hancellor makes his budget speech tomorrow afternoon +e start for -stanbul tonight. %iii* +hen the spring comes , the swallows will return. /eeves will announce the guests as they arrive. -f you dont do better next time you are fired 5ither he plays according to the rules or he doesnt play at all -"ll tell you if it hurts. The set of examples in %G4i* reflect the use of the Simple 8resent for recurrent events whose time of occurrence can be scientifically calculated, hence it can be included under what is currently kno n. ?y contrast, the simple present is not used for future eather since such events are not conceived of as being within the domain of what is ,nown %=uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(:14(*. +eather forecasts are rendered by means of going to or shall/ ill -n %G4ii* we have examples that describe situations that have already been arranged, scheduled. The element of current schedule or arrangement is seen in the contrast in %GG* below %=uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(:14(*: %GG* %i* %ii* 0ustralia meets Sweden in the Bavis .up final in Becember EEE0ustralia beats Sweden in the Bavis .up final in Becember

The sentence in %GGi* is ;uite natural in a context where 0ustralia and Sweden have already ;ualified for the final. The use of the 8resent in %GGii* is unnatural, since the sentence conveys that the result itself has already been arranged. -t is to be noted that sub<ective certainty is not enough2 ,nowing the s,ill, experience and past performances of the team, one

29 might feel certain about the result of the match but this does not sanction the Simple 8resent. The use of the Simple 8resent in %G4iii* is not $ust a re;uirement of the syntactic pattern, but has its base in a contrast of meaning. -n the dependent clauses mentioned, the happening referred to is not a prediction, but a fact that is given. 0 conditional sentence, for instance, has the structure -f U is a fact, then - predict T". %Keech 1&@1:)I*. =ence, the use of the Simple 8resent with 9uture value is appropriate to indicate that the conse;uence of the condition being fulfilled it is inevitable or already decided, as in %G4iii*. To sum up, the ,ey to the Simple 8resent with 9uture value is that it represents 91T1>5 0S 90.T, that it attributes to the future the same degree of certainty that we normally accord to present or past events. % Keech 1&@1:)I*. 2.2. Simple %ast Tense Senten$es The Simple 8ast Tense %or 8reterite, as it is sometimes called*, formally represented by the morpheme ed , is primarily used to express that a situation is located at a past interval of time, i.e. a time which precedes the Time of 1tterance %i.e. 1T#T 09T5> 0S#T 56#T*. 0spectually, the simple past tense sentence is interpreted as perfective %i.e. 0S#TH56# T* Bynamic events in the simple past are not as severely constrained as events in the Simple 8resent. -n the Simple 8ast the situations described may refer to one particular occurrence of that situation an existential reading, or to a series of events of the same type a habitual reading . .ompare the examples below % =uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(* : %GD* %i* - do The TimesS crossword. %ii* - did The Times" crossword. reading 8resent: habitual reading 8ast: existential or habitual

The interpretation in %GDi* as a dynamic existential situation is ruled out, but such an interpretation is natural for %GDii* which can refer to a doing of the crossword as readily as to habitual doing of the crossword. +ith the 8ast Tense, therefore, greater importance attaches to ad<uncts and context in selecting between the two readings. The addition of a locating/deictic adverb li,e yesterday induces a dynamic/existential interpretation, while the addition of a frequency adverbial li,e regularly or henever + have the time yields a habitual interpretation. Sentences including a state predication in the Simple 8ast Tense %perfective aspectually* are flexible in interpretation %depending on context*: such sentences may convey an open interpretation or a closed interpretation. +hat this means is that the time of the event situation need not wholly coincide with 0S#T. .onsider the example below: %G)* - lived in Kondon. -f we add an expression li,e in those days the interpretation would be that - no longer live in Kondon, but if we expand it to + already lived

*0 here in >ondon at that time we get an interpretation where - still live in Kondon. This also confirms the importance of adverbs and context in selecting the intended reading. Traditional grammars have identified different values or uses of the Simple 8ast tense, which are given below. A. The Deictic/e"istential value 0s already mentioned, the Simple 8ast Tense , is primarily used to express that a situation! vie ed as closed! is located at a past interval of time, i.e. a time which precedes the Time of 1tterance. The temporal aspectual representation is 1T#T after 0S#T 56#T. !ore often than not this past time interval is explicitly stated by locating or frame time adverbials %deictic, referential and anaphoric* li,e: yesterday! last eek! t o minutes/days/months ago! at 4 oclock! at noon! once! hen! ! which are deictically interpreted. %i.e. relative to the moment of utterance no *. =ence, at the time of utterance, the content of the event or state located on the past time axis is recollected. Together with the tense of the predication, these adverbs contribute to the specification of the 0S#T 56#T. -n this case the 8ast Tense is used as an absolute tense, and the value or use is ,nown as the deictic/existential value use. 9rom an aspectual point of view, the events are viewed as perfective %i.e. with the endpoint properties of the situation types*. -n these contexts the 8ast Tense is interpreted as a specific tense with existential value. .urme %1&41:4D@* remar,ed that RPPif this Ltense formM is employed, the time of the act must be stated accurately or indicated clearly by the context, so that the idea of indefiniteness or generality is entirely excluded". Keech %1&@):&* remar,s that There are two elements of meaning involved in the commonest use of the 8ast Tense. :ne basic element of meaning is: the happening ta,es place before the present moment. This means that the present moment is excluded.LPPP.M. 0nother element of meaning is:" the spea,er has a definite time in mind. This specific time in the past is characteristically named by an adverbial expression accompanying the 8ast Tense verb." 0s already mentioned time adverbs, locating or otherwise, come in different forms: 88 %at five, in September 1&'), on 5aster !onday, after before brea,fast*, <8 B8 % once, this !onday wee, month, tomorrow, yesterday, last wee,*, .8 %after before /ohn arrived, when she left*. .onsider the examples below: %G@* them. %iv* century The aspectual#temporal representation of deictic 8ast Tense sentences is given in %G'* below. The representation shows that the past tense morpheme orders the 1T#.T after 0S#T. Since 0spect has no The glacier moved only about DI meters during the last %i* %ii* %iii* =aydn as born in 1@4(. - thought once he would marry. - misplaced my glasses a moment ago and can"t find

*1 morphological content, 56#T temporally coincides with 0S#T %i.e. 56#TH0S# T* which means that the entire situation is viewed in its entirety from its initial to its final boundary2 as a conse;uence, the 5T#T precedes 1T#T. The adverbial restricts the reference of the past time event, in our particular case 0S#T 56#T since 0S#T and 56#T are co#temporal: %G'* %a* =aydn was born in 1@4( %i*
1T#T

1T#T after 0S#T 0ST H 56#T LPPMPV 1T#T after 0S#T 56#T

56#T 0S#T

%ii*

PLPPPPP 2PPPPP3PPMP
in 1@4(

%b* - met Susan yesterday before .hristmas

56#T 0S#T

1T#T

%iii* 0S#T H 56#T LPPMPP..Q %iv* 1T#T after 0S#T 56#T %v* T8W 1T#T T after 0S#Ti 0S#Ti 88 0sp T" 0sp8 0sp" 68

P..LPP2PPPP3PPMPP
yesterday

0S#TH56#T ?59:>5 .=>-ST!0S

0S#T 56#T 1T#T

PL.PPPMPLPPPPMPPLPPMP..Q
.=>-ST!0S

8 B8 in 1@4( 56#Ti before U#mas X yesterday

68

The syntactic temporal#aspectul representation of the sentences shows that the situation occurred ithin an interval located in the past, since the 1T#T is ordered after the 0S#T# itself co#temporal with 56#T %expressed by co#indexation*. The 88 further restricts the reference of the 0S#T %H56#T* by locating the time span within the time designated by the expression 1@4( before.hristmas yesterday. The role of the preposition is to order the two time denoting arguments, i.e 0S#T 56#T and the time adverb %.hristmas, 1&4(, yesterday*.

*2 -n the case of the preposition +' %or at, on* the ordering relation is one of central coincidence. The event designated by the 68 occurred ithin the time span indicated by the time adverb . 8repositions li,e C7F%/7/#FT7/ also restrict the reference of 0S#T. -n this case the relation established between 0S#T and the time designated by the time adverb is a relation of non5central coincidence as illustrated above. <otice that bare <8 adverbs li,e yesterday! $une 0D! last eek! this .onday/year/ eek! are locating adverbs as well, but they are not introduced by an overt preposition. They are integrated in the model by assuming that they are concealed 88s headed by a silent preposition %X* expressing central coincidence, i.e. the event described is contained ithin the time designated by the time adverb . -n sum, the 88 ultimately serves to provide the location time for the event described by Eaydn be born/ + meet Susan. <otice that this analysis explains why in a Simple 8ast Tense sentence, the event is portrayed in its entirety as including its initial and final bounds %perfective aspect*. The described event is viewed in its entirety, because the 0S#T coincides with the 56#T, from its initial to its final boundary. Simple 8ast Tense predication types also occur with duration adverbials, such as: for t o eeks! for a moment! in t o hours! from t o to four! six eeks! until (DD0! from 01(@.. These adverbs do not as such locate the situation but rather specify the duration the temporal si3e or the boundaries of the 0S#T 56#T. -n %G&* below the adverb in three eeks specifies the duration of the event described by the 68 Eo ard read the book. The preposition +' specifies the duration of the event described by the 68 Eo ard read the book by establishing a relation of central coincidence between the 0S#T 56#T and the time span denoted by three eeks. The 1T#T is ordered by the 8ast Tense morpheme after 0S#T 56#T: %G&* %i* %ii* =oward read the boo, in three wee,s
56#T 0S#T 1T#T

PLPPPPPPPMPLPPMP..Q
4 wee,s

Time adverbial specification may be missing in a 8ast Tense sentence in those cases in which the adverbial can be inferred from the larger linguistic context: %DI* Susan: This time last year - was in Kondon. =oward: =ow curiousN - was there too. =oward"s"s answer is correct without a 8ast Tense adverbial because the missing adverb can be e;uated with the adverb mentioned in the preceding sentence %i.e., this time last year*. 0nother case in which a Simple 8ast Tense sentence can occur without a temporal adverb includes sentences li,e the following:

** %D1* /oan has received a proposal of marriage. -t took us completely surprise. - have seen him already. =e came to borrow a hammer. -"ve seen him today. - met him in the par,. - have tasted lobster once, but - didnt like it. - have been ma,ing in;uiries. -t as not difficult. The whole community is in an uproar.

by

-n such contexts, the 8resent 8erfect is used to introduce an event that too, place sometime before the moment of speech2 once an anterior frame of reference is established it is natural to resume reference to the already introduced event by the Simple 8ast Tense, which is thus uni;uely identified. %Keech 1&@1, Stefanescu 1&'', etc* The examples above are similar to the ones below in the sense that it is context again # extra#linguistic this time # that allows for the use of the 8ast Tense. Cuestions about particulars of a situation e.g. hen, here ho ! hy it occurred or ho was involved in the situation, or sentences that provide further details concerning a previously mentioned situation re;uire the use of the 8ast Tense. 9enn %1&'@: 1)'* calls this occurrence focus". %D(* - can"t remember where - bought that vase. /ust tell me how you did it. =e"s not with us any more. Tou mean he resignedE <o, he as thro n down an elevator shaft in 7oodge Street. %9enn 1&'@:1@D* =ow did you brea, your armE +hen did your father leave for 5nglandE -n some cases the situation described by the sentence is uni;uely identifiable for the simple reason that it is unique. 9or a full interpretation of such sentences the hearer is supposed to be familiar with the referents of the relevant <8s: %D4* %i* %ii* %iii* -. 9inally, the Simple 8ast Tense can be used without a definite specification when a comparison is drawn between present and past conditions %paraphrasable by used to*: %DG* be* %iii* Kife is not so pleasant as it as %as it used to be* %iv* =e is not so active as he as. %used to be* %i* %ii* 5ngland is not what it as %what it used to be* 5ven dogs are not what they ere %what they used to ?yron died in 7reece. .hristopher .olumbus discovered the <ew +orld. =indenburg directed 7erman strategy during +orld +ar

*+ -n all these contexts the 8ast Tense is characteri3ed as being indefinite or rather non5specific and its value is existential. 1. arrative value. ?eside its deictic/existential usage, the Simple 8ast Tense is used non5deictically and ithout a temporal adverb in the narrative mode. The situations narrated happened before the moment of speech but this moment is not given and has to be identified as part of the information associated with the way narratives function. =ere are three examples of which the first constitute the opening paragraphs of /. /oyce"s R5velineS and +. 7olding"s RKord of the 9liesS: %DD* She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. =er head was leaning against the window curtains, and in her nostrils was the color of dusty cretonne. She was tired. %D)* The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of the roc, and began to pic, his way toward the lagoon. %D@* :ne morning the three sisters were together in the drawing room. !ary was sewing, Kucy was playing on the piano and /ane was doing nothing2 then suddenly the door opened and /ohn burst into the room, exclaimingP. %/espersen 1&)&:()G* <otice the way the progressive is used in these examples: the progressive forms of the predicate form a temporal frame" around an action denoted by the non#progressive form. -n a connected narrative, therefore, the progressive often occurs in a description of the general situation, which serves as setting or background to what is expressed by means of the simple tenses. Kinguists and grammarians have also identified other uses of the simple past tense: the habitual use2 the past perfect use2 the present time use also ,nown as attitudinal past %i.e. past reference in combination with politeness diffidence* C. 'abitual !ast +henever 8ast Tense combines with frequency adverbials, the reading of that sentence is habitual. The examples below illustrate full habitual sentences of several basic#level situation types %Smith 1&&1:'@*: %D'* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* Sam rode his bicycle on 9ridays. +ill wrote a report every wee,. /im was often unemployed. =e always arrived on time. =e never ,noc,ed on the door.

*4 =owever the habitual interpretation often arises without a fre;uency adverbial, especially if context and orld kno ledge ma,es it reasonable %Smith 1&&1:'@*. .onsider the examples below: %D&* %i* %ii* %iii* Susan rode a bicycle last summer. !arcia fed the cat that year. Kynn moved last year.

<one of the situations described above would generally ta,e an entire year, yet the sentences would probably receive different interpretations. +hile riding a bicycle and feeding the cat are ordinary and li,ely to be ta,en as abit/al, moving is the sort of event that doesn"t ta,e place often and cannot be thought of as ta,ing up one year. =ence the sentence in %D&iii* would receive a speci&ic/deictic interpretation. -n a habitual sentence such as the one in %)I* the adverb at noon is part of the fre;uency adverbial phrase at noon every day %which specifies the repeated 56#T of the predication* while the adverbial during his childhood specifies the past interval during which the recurring event too, place %and indicates, in con$unction with the 8ast Tense, the 0S#T 56#T of the predication*: %)I* /ohn got up at noon every day during his childhood 0s is the case with the present tense habituals, the determiner of the fre;uency adverbial in the past tense habituals must be indefinite: %)1* %i* %ii* They went to the movies three times a wee, FThey went to the movies three times the wee,

The habitual reading of a sentence may also be conveyed by the plural form of the direct ob$ect, as indicated in %)(*: %)(* %i* %ii* reading* 9ido chased cars %habitual reading* 9ido chased a car 9ido chased the car %non#habitual

The progressive form may also occur in sentences interpreted as habitual iterative due to the presence of a fre;uency adverb. .onsider the following examples borrowed from /espersen %1&)&:()D*: %)4* %i* 5very morning, when he was having his brea,fast his wife as,ed him for money. %ii* 5very morning, when he was having his brea,fast his dog was staring at him. %iii* =e loo,ed at her repeatedly when she was not loo,ing. %iv* +henever - loo,ed up he was loo,ing. -n all these cases the progressive serves as bac,ground time frame for the situation denoted by the simple tense form.

*5 ** The %imple !ast Tense (ith !ast !er&ect )alue .onsider the sentences below %Stefanescu, 1&''* %)G* %i* %ii* %iii* =e en$oyed and admired the sonnets of Sha,espeare =e ,noc,ed and entered =e shaved and listened to the radio

-n %)Gi* we have a description of two state situations2 states are characteri3ed as being unbounded and durative, hence the sentence is understood to describe two simultaneous states. :n the other hand, the sentence in %)Gii* describes two eventualities %a semelfactive and an achievement both characteri3ed as non#durative* that can be performed only se;uentially %as a rule, one first ,noc,s and then enters*. <ow, in this case, the eventuality that is interpreted as ta,ing place before another eventuality in the past has a past perfect value we have to do with a shifted reading of the Simple 8ast Tense in the case of events. The example in %)Giii* is ambiguous between a sequential reading and a simultaneous reading. This is due to the 0,tionsart type of the predicates: activities. The two readings can be identified by means of inserting disambiguating elements such as an adverbial or a con$unction: %)D* %i* %ii* reading* Temporal relations between two consecutive events can be explicitly mar,ed either by: %i* an adverbial or con$unction or by %ii* the anteriority indicating auxiliary have or %iii* both. .onsider the following examples: %))* %i* =ome Secretary /.>. .lynes, a Scot, greeted the little princess ?59:>5 <urse ?eevans took her bac, to her mother"s bedside. %ii* -t occurred to me 09T5> - ground the coffee that what really wanted was ice tea. %iii* =e dropped the letter ?59:>5 he went away. %iv* - tucked the newspapers under my arm. T=5< - fished my ,eys out of the recesses of my poc,et and leaned forward. %v* /ohn had left when - arrived. %vi* The police arrived after the bomb had exploded. -n the sentences in %))* above the temporal ad$unct clauses modify the 0ST#T of the main clause. That is, the spatiotemporal predicates ?59:>5 09T5> establish an ordering relation between the 0ST#T %itself co# temporal with the 56#T* of the main clause and the 0ST#T %itself co# temporal with 56#T* of the ad$unct clause. The schema below illustrates the ordering relation between the two events in example %))iii* above relative to each other and relative to the 1T#T: =e shaved while he listened was listening to the radio. %simultaneous reading* =e shaved and then he listened to the radio. %se;uential

*6

0S#T1

56#T1

0S#T( 56#T (

1T#T

%)@*

PLPPPPPMPLPPPPMPPPPLPPMPP.Q

The schema indicates that the past event described by the matrix %his dropping the letter* is ordered before the past event described by the subordinate clause %his going a ay*. The 0ssertion Times of the two events are each co#indexed with the respective 5vent Times, the events described being viewed in their entirety as including both the initial and final boundary %perfective *. 7enerally, after# and before5clauses semantically re;uire closed main clauses. >elative to 1T#T, the matrix event is past, given the tense mar,er ; ed which orders the 1T#T 09T5> 0S#T1. 0S#T1 of the matrix clause is also assumed to be the external argument of the spatiotemporal predicate ?59:>5, ordering it before 0S#T( of the ad$unct clause. The syntactic representation below illustrates the temporal schema: %)'* 1T#T T after 0S#Ti 0S#Ti 8 ?59:>5 88 Yeit8 56#Ti 68 drop the letter 0sp T8 T" 0sp8 0sp" 68

The above representation confirms the observations of a large number of grammarians and linguists11 according to whom all temporal con$unctions %after! before! until! since* can be paraphrased by means of a prepositional phrase with the word time %at which*" . >oughly the paraphrase for the ad$unct clause in %))iii* is before the time at hich he ent a ay. The approach put forth by BemirdacheA1ribe#5txebarria %(IIG* adopts this point of view, incorporating temporal ad$unct clauses within their model assuming that they are 88s. The head of the 88 %a spatiotemporal predicate* ta,es as internal argument a temporal B8 Yeit 8hrase, modified
11

-hese obser"ations are su!!orted by diachronic e"idence. In old English, after, before #ere not used as con>unctions. Instead a !re!ositional !hrase of the for$ .after then that/ #as used. %see Visser 1960:757(8!art fro$ the diachronic e"idence, the !re!ositional origin of te$!oral con>unctions a!!ears fro$ the fact that, li'e !re!ositional !hrases, te$!oral clauses can be !ost$odifiers: e.g. %i( He felt very nervous during the days before the examinationI %ii( He felt very nervous during the days before the examination took place.

*7 by a restrictive relative clause roughly L88 before after LYeit8 the time L.8 Xi L.8 he went away tiMMMM. The .8 acts as a relative clause restricting the reference of the time span. %expressed as the implicit Yeit8* 0 notable exception to the above observation is hen5clauses". -n old 5nglish, hen was used as a ;uestion word or indefinite adverb and only later developed its use as a con$unction %!itchell 1&'@:GI(*. +hat is meant is that hen, unli,e after or before do not have the overt syntax of 88. %.ompare: Sue left before/ hen Eo ard arrived vs Sue left before noon/ = hen noon*. -t is to be noted, nevertheless that hen clauses! as well, express a temporal relation in the domain established by the matrix clause. .onsider the examples below %Beclerc, 1&&1:&&*: %)&* %i* -t happened when the police were there

-n the example above, hen is e;uivalent to at a time when", so that %)&"* is a good paraphrase of %)&* %Beclerc, 1&&1:&&*:: %)&"* %i* there -t happened L88at LYeit8the time L.8 heni LT8the police were tiMMMM

This paraphrases ma,es clear that the hen clause locates the situation it describes at the implicit time, that is simultaneous with the situation described by the matrix clause. BemirdacheA1ribe#5txebarria %(IIG* integrate hen#clauses into the model by assuming that these time ad$uncts are concealed 88s that is phrases that are headed by a silent %X* preposition indicating central coincidence % ithin relation*. -t has long been argued that the interpretation of hen#clauses depends on vie point, situation type and pragmatic factors %cf. Bowty 1&@&, Smith, 1&'G,1&&1, to mention $ust a few*. +hat we mean is that hen#clauses are flexible, allowing several interpretations. &hen seems not to impose any particular relation on situations. %unli,e after which always re;uires that the main clause have a closed interpretation*. The situations presented may be ta,en as simultaneous, overlapping or successive, depending on vie point and situation types. .onsider the examples below: %)I* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* %vi* +hen the bell rang !ary was swimming. +hen the bell rang !ary swam. +hen he was a student he wrote poetry . +hen he got the letter he burned it. F+hen he read the letter he burned it. +hen he had read the letter he burned it.

%)Ii* has the reading that !ary"s swimming was already in progress at the time of the event of bell ringing, and does not have another interpretation. The two situations are ta,en as overlapping for a short interval. -n contrast, %)Iii* has the reading that the swimming began at the time of the other event2 the situations presented are ta,en as %somewhat* successive %actually this is ,nown as sloppy simultaneity*, since the

*9 perfective clause is ta,en as inceptive: given our world ,nowledge, the durative activity of s imming is conceptuali3ed as lasting longer than the event of bell ringing. %)Iiii* allows for a simultaneous interpretation since both situations ;ualify as %homogeneous* states. 0s far as %)I iv* is concerned the reading we obtain is that the two situations follow one another, the situation described in the hen#clause precedes the situation described by the main clause. This interpretation is valid since getting a letter is viewed as falling under the ontological type achievement. The example in %)Iv* does not allow for the same ,ind of interpretation, though, given world ,nowledge this is the interpretation we favour. This is due again, to the type of situation in the hen#clause: reading a letter is a durative event %accomplishment*. To render the sentence semantically clear we would have to use a mar,er of anteriority, in this particular case the auxiliary have" %)Ivi*. E. The %imple !ast Tense $e&erring to !resent Time (Attitudinal !ast) The Past tense with no adverbial specification may be used in preference to the Present in everyday conversation, being considered somewhat more polite. The politeness/diffidence feature is also found with the past progressive. 0ll the examples below are interpretable as a more polite, more diffident version of the present tense versions of the sentences: %)1* %i* painting. %ii* %iii* evening. %v* !y daughter was hoping to spea, to the !anager. Keech %1&@1:11* ma,es the following comments on the exchange in %)1i*: RThe sub$ect of this exchange would probably be the present wishes of spea,er ?, despite the use of the past tense. The 8resent and the 8ast are, in fact, broadly interchangeable in this context2 but there is ;uite an important difference in tone. The effect of the past tense is to ma,e the request indirect, and therefore more politeP.The present tense %+ hopeP* in this situation would seem rather brus;ue and demanding it would ma,e the re;uest difficult to refuse without impoliteness. The past tense, on the other hand, avoids the confrontation of wills. 8oliteness also extends to the original ;uestion ,id you ant to see meE The logically expected tense %,o you ant meF* might have peremptory overtones, and would seem to say %h! its you! is itF Gou al ays ant somethingN". 0long the same lines, =uddlestone A 8ullum %(II(* state that: The added politeness associated with the preterite comes from avoiding explicit reference to the immediate present: - distance myself slightly and thus avoid the ris, of appearing too direct, possibly brus;ue.S - wanted to as, your advice. - wondered whether you could help me out. %iv* - thought - might come and see you later this 0: Bid you want to see meE ?: Tes, - hoped you would give me a hand with the

+0 0ccording to =uddlestone A 8ullum %(II(:4'* this conventional use of the preterite is ;uite consistent with its basic past time meaning". -n the absence of any contextual indication that reference is made to some definite time in the non#immediate past, the time referred to will be interpreted, in such sentences, as immediate past. 0s can be noticed, all the situations described in the sentences are state situations! not eventive/dynamic situations and the use of the past tense does not entail that the state no longer holds. Since there is nothing to suggest that the state has ended, the interpretation will be that the state also obtains at utterance time, so that all the sentences convey the present tense versions of the sentences. The prototypical case %for either aspect* is a declarative with first person sub$ect, but 4rd person sub$ects can be used when spea,ing on behalf of somebody else, as in %)Iv* above. The same usage carries over into interrogatives, with a switch to (nd person sub$ect, as in %)Ii*. 4. T e %er#e$t in En,lis 4.I. The aim of this subchapter is to introduce and discuss important matters concerning the characteristics of perfect sentences in 5nglish. 8erfect constructions have a characteristic set of temporal location and aspectual values, and appear in many languages. Traditionally, the term referred to a tense of ancient 7ree,1(. <owadays it is used for constructions that have a certain temporal and aspectual meaning, whether or not they involve tense. %Smith 1&&1:1G)*. .omrie %1&'1a apud >.Beclerc, 1&&1:41&* discards the present perfect from his treatment of the tenses because, in his opinion , the present perfect does not differ from the past tense in terms of time location2 both tenses locate a situation as prior to he time of utterance. The difference is claimed to be one of aspect only.: the present perfect implies current relevance", the past tense does not. This position is roughly the same as that defended by tradititional grammarians li,e /espersen %1&(G:()&* and 8outsma %1&():(I&* or, in recent times, !c.oard %1&@':1&*. -n 5nglish the perfect is signalled by the auxiliary have! which obligatorily selects the past participle form of the main verb. 8erfect sentences appear with 8resent, 8ast and 9uture reference time and with both a perfective and progressive viewpoints. :ne of the roles of have is
-n point of terminology there is a clear difference between the perfect" and perfective". The former refers to a construction with particular temporal and aspectual characteristics, while the latter refers to a closed grammatical viewpoint. ?oth come from the Katin word perfectus" the past participle of perficere" %to carry, end, finish, accomplish*. 0ccording to the :xford 5nglish Bictionary, the term perfect" was first applied to the Katin tense which denoted a completed action or event viewed in relation to the present and then with ;ualifications to any tense expressing completed action2 the first such use cited in :5B is 1D4I. %Smith 1&&1:1)G*. -n 5nglish the aspectual relations identified as 85>95.T-65 and 85>95.T are encoded as follows: 85>95.T-65 is encoded by the simple form,and the event is portrayed in its entirety, as including its endpoints, while the perfect encodes the 85>95.T which describes an event as completed prior to a reference time.
12

+1 to carry the tense morpheme %present, past*. The examples below illustrate 8resent, 8ast and 9uture 8erfects: %)(* %i* %ii* %iii* <ow /ohn has arrived. Kast Saturday /ohn had %already* arrived. <ext Saturday /ohn will have already arrived.

-n all these cases the adverbials in con$unction with the tense morphemes %8resent, 8ast, 9uture* specify 0S#T and the sentences describe a situation, namely L/ohn arriveM as occurring at a time before the specified /eference time %i.e. 0S#T* This is the second role of the aspectual auxiliary =065. So, one of the hallmarks of the Perfect is that it presents the prior situation as related to a reference time. -n %)(i* the adverb in combination with the present tense morpheme 5s specify the 0S#T : 0S#T overlaps the time of utterance %i.e. 1T#T +-T=-< 0S#T * and the event as such is located within the interval prior to 0S#T %i.e 0S#T 09T5> 56#T*, yet also part of a general period of the present which extends bac,ward, not being limited to 1T#T2 hence the situation is viewed as completed and within an interval that extends bac, from the moment of speech the extended now" interval %!c.oard 1&'G*. The reference times of the next two examples %)(ii, iii* are similarly extended in some way to include the time of /ohn"s arrival. ?oth sentences have unspecified 8ast and 9uture reference times %i.e. 1T#T precedes or follows 0S#T*2 they also convey that the event precedes the reference time % i.e. 0S#T 09T5> 56#T *. To conclude, the situation described in a perfect sentence is viewed as completed in relation to a reference time % our 0S#T* which itself can be located in the present, past or future. 0s already mentioned, the contribution of the perfect to the meaning of the sentence is that it ma,es available an 0S#T distinct from the 56#T. The situation described by the 68 occurs prior to 0S#T %due to the auxiliary ave* while the tense morpheme , shows that 0S#T is concomitant before after the time of 1tterance i.e.1T within after before 0S#T , 0S#T 09T5> 56#T. -n this case the time sphere is present+past+#/t/re2 in all the cases t e $laim is made abo/t a time span t at does not in$l/de t e event at sta0e i.e the aspect component says that 0S#T is in the posttime of 56#T %i.e. 0S#T 09T5> 56# T* . Since the perfect encodes the temporal relations between 0S#T and 56#T placing the former after the latter, we assume with Bemirdache A 1ribe#5txebarria %(IIG* that the perfect can be analy3ed as a mar,er of aspe$t represented as the spatio#temporal predicate 09T5>. The aspectual meaning of the perfect is thus closely related to its temporal meaning. This interpretation perfectly accomodates the presence of perfect constructions in contexts where the inflectional past tense cannot occur: %)4* %i* %ii* Sheila may have left last wee, Susan"s having left early surprised everyone

+2 8erfect sentences have a stative value They present a state of affairs %a situation* that results from and is due to the prior situation, as illustrated by the previous examples and the present perfect examples below. -t is assumed %7iorgi A8ianesi 1&&':&@* that this is the contribution of the perfect morphology. %)G* %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* 0nabelle has gone to 8aris. They have built a cabin in the mountains. =elen has danced with Tom %twice*. The ball has rolled down the hill. Susan has been sic,.

-n all these sentences the focus is on the %conse;uent * state that obtains in the present, a state which is due to the occurrence of the situation described by the 68. To accommodate this state of fact Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria %(II(* decompose split the 68, ta,ing advantage of the fact that 68s can be recursive, as in %)D*: %)D* 681 5v#T1 6I 5v#T( 681 8rocess ZeQ 68( 68( >esultant State Ze"Q

5ach 68 in %)D* stands for a phase in the internal temporal structure of the event described by the 68. 68 1 represents the processual subpart of the event while 68( stands for the resultant state %or conse;uent state* after the culmination termination of the process. The third characteristic of 8resent 8erfect sentences in 5nglish is that they ascribe to their sub$ects a property that results from their participation in the situation %Smith 1&&1:1G'*. Ket"s consider the examples in )G%i,iii* above. The sentences assert that their sub$ects have participated in the events described. +e understand not only that an event of going to 8aris has ta,en place or that an event of dancing has occurred, the sentences attribute to their respective sub$ects the property %experience* of having gone to Kondon and the property %experience* of having danced, that is to say in order for the sub$ects to receive the participant property , to experience the events described they must be sentient beings %roughly, they must be alive at reference time*. -t is assumed that this pragmatic felicity re;uirement on the use of the perfect accounts for the oddity of a sentence li,e the following: %))* 5instein has lived in 8rinceton

The sentence is grammatical but pragmatically infelicitous when uttered after the death of 5instein %/espersen 1&41:)I*. This failure is accounted for in terms of the participant property. The felicity re;uirement is that the person referred to by the sub$ect <8 must be able to bear the property ascribed to them by a perfect sentence. The notion of .urrent

+* >elevance is sometimes invo,ed to explain the infelicity of such sentences %/espersen 1&41, !c.oard 1&@'*. 0ccording to 7iorgi and 8ianesi %1&&':&D*: only perfect tenses, which separate the reference time from the event time, permit assertions about the involvement of the sub$ect to be separated from those of the event itselfP.. +ith the simple tenses > %i.e 0S#T* coincides with %or contains * the time of the event, so that the participation of the sub$ect in the event is viewed together with the event itself". To conclude this short introduction, we will assume with .. Smith %1&&1:1G)* that 8erfect constructions generally convey the following related meanings: %a* the situation described precedes >eference time %i.e. 0s#T after 56#T* %i.e. perfect tenses ma,e available a reference time distinct from the event time* 2 %b* the construction has a resultant stative value2 in 7iorgi and 8ianesi"s %1&&'* terms, the perfect tenses provide individual level predicates". %c* a special property is ascribed to the sub$ect, which holds at a given reference time by virtue of the participation in the situation. There are some differences across languages %e.g. 9rench, >omanian, 7erman vs 5nglish* but these are the primary identifying characteristics. 4.1.%resent %er#e$t senten$es 4.1.1. This subchapter loo,s into the main problems identified with respect to the 8resent 8erfect, such as: %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* the difference between the present perfect and the past tense. the various readings of the 8resent 8erfect2 the ambiguity phenomena arising with present perfect sentences. the relationship of the present perfect with time adverbs and the 8resent 8erfect 8u33le

4.1.( 0 commonplace manner of analysing the present perfect has been to place it in opposition to the Simple 8ast tense. The three main points around which the distinction between the ( tenses revolves are the following: %i* they both express temporal anteriority but in different ways: 8ast Tense expresses temporal precedence between 1T#T and 0S#T while the 8erfect expresses temporal precedence between 56#T and 0S#T %ii* compatibility with adverbial phrases.2the present perfect is incompatible with specific past time adverbs %dubbed as the present perfect pu33le"* %ii* 8erfect sentences are stative %irrespective of the underlying eventuality type* while 8ast tense sentences inherit the aspectual properties of the underlying eventuality

++ The main characteristic shared with the 8ast Tense is that they both express a relation of anteriority of an eventuality to a reference time %i.e. in terms of the theory put forth by Bemirdache A 1ribe#5txebarria %(IIG* the perfect %have* $ust li,e the past tense %ed* are temporal predicates with the meaning 09T5> *. The ;uestion that grammarians had to solve was whether the type of anteriority induced by the 8ast tense is indeed different from that expressed by the 8resent 8erfect . .onsider the examples below: %)@* %i* %ii* !iriam ate an apple. !iriam has eaten an apple .

?oth sentences describe a situation located in the 8ast and are true under the same circumstances. The essential insight about these constructions is due to >eichenbach 1&G@, as already mentioned. :f the three temporal entities we have employed in our analysis of the tenses, namely 1T#T, 0S#T, 56#T, the relevant one in the understanding of the differences between the two tenses under consideration is 0S#T. 9ollowing current research, we have argued that 0S#T acts as a perspective time, that is, it acts as a time from which the event is considered, or in Jlein"s %1&&(* terms, a time about which a parti$/lar $laim is made. The difference between the sentences in %))* above is a matter of temporal point of vie or perspective. 0s we have seen in our discussion of the 8resent Tense and 8ast Tense, Tense relates 1T#T and 0S#T, while Aspe$t relates 0S#T and 56# T. +ith simple tense forms 0S#T coincides with %or contains* 56#T, since 0spect has no morphological content. +ith the 8ast tense the 56#T and 0S#T are co#temporal, which means that the event occurs at+5it in the stated 0S#T2 the relation of anteriority %expressed by the past tense morpheme ed* exists therefore between 0ssertion time 5vent Time and 1tterance time: i.e. 1T#T after 0S#T 56#T since 0S#TH 56#T. The time#sphere is %ast6 t e $laim is made abo/t a past time span t at in$l/des t e entire event. The contribution of the per#e$t to the meaning of the sentence is that it ma,es available an 0S#T distinct from the 56#T. -n the case of the 8resent 8erfect the situation described by the 68 occurs prior to 0S#T %due to the auxiliary ave* while the present tense morpheme s, shows that 0S#T is concomitant with the time of 1tterance, i.e. 1T#T within 0S#T , 0S# T after 56#T. -n this case the time sphere is present.2 t e $laim is made abo/t a present time span t at does not in$l/de t e event at sta0e. =ere are the two representations: 80ST T5<S5
0S#T 56#T 1T#T

%a* 1T#T

T8W T" T 0sp8

%b*

#####L##########M###########L######M####

+4 09T5> 0S#Ti 0sp 0sp" 68

56#Ti 8>5S5<T 85>95.T

68
1T#T

56#T

%a* T8W L#######M########

0S#T

%b*

###L################M####

1T#T

T" T +-T=-< 0S#T 0sp8 0sp" 0sp 09T5> 56#T 68

68

-n the case of the 8ast Tense the 0S#T is past and the event occurs at 0S#T which is prior to the time of 1tterance. So, in 8ast sentences the point of vie is s;uarely in the past. -n 7eorgi A8ianesi"s account, when 0S#T and 56#T %> and 5 in their system* coincide, the participation of the sub<ect in the event is vie ed together ith the event as such! since they suggest that %at least part of* the claim made about 0S#T refers to assertions about the sub$ect at 0S#T14 . +hat this means is that the assertion about the event as such necessarily includes assertions about the involvement of the sub$ect. -n contrast, the 8erfect auxiliary ave locates the situation as a whole %56#T* at a time prior to 0S#T, which, in its turn, is viewed as including the utterance time %due to the present tense morpheme.*. The %Present* Perfect ma,es available a tense component and an aspect component, i.e it separates the 0S#T from the 56#T. The tense

1*

8ctually they say that : .J.the clai$ $ade about : is that the rele"ant K-relation holds %or is said to hold( of the sub>ect at :.

+5 component says that 0S#T includes 1T#T while the aspect component says that 0S#T is in the post#time of 56#T %i.e. 0S#T after 56#T* . =ence, the analysis nicely accounts for the strong feeling connected with the present perfect: it ma0es a $laim about a time span %0S#T* that includes 1T#T and it relates this time span explicitly to some event in the past.1G . 0ccording to this view, the meaning of %)@i* is that there is a past event of eating an apple and as far as the event is concerned its agent is !iriam. :n the other hand %)@ii* means that there is a past event of eating an apple and as far as the present situation is concerned its agent is !iriam. Since all accounts of the present perfect stress the present time relevance of the present perfect, or the stative nature of the predication as well as the participant property that it assigns to the sub$ect, we will assume, as already stated, that present perfect predicates %68s* have a structure that resembles that of transitive accomplishment verbs %e, e"* ,i.e. e %event 1* stands for the process, while e" %event (* stands for the result of that event %=ale and Jeyser, 1&&4*. %)'* 5v#T1 6I 681 681 8rocess ZeQ 68( 5v#T( 68( >esultant State Ze"Q

5ach 68 in %)'* stands for a phase in the internal temporal structure of the event described by the 68. 68 1 represents the processual subpart of the event while 68( stands for the resultant state %or conse;uent state* after the culmination termination of the process. 5ach of the sub#events in %)'* has an external temporal argument: the external argument of 68 1, 5v#T1, denotes the period of time during which the process unfolds in time, from its beginning up to its culmination termination. The external argument of 68(, 5v#T(, designates the resultant state after the culmination termination of the process. This %68 decomposition* analysis of the present perfect proposed by Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria %(II(* will nicely account for the values attached to the present perfect. 4.2 )al/es o# t e %resent %er#e$t 4.(.10spect does not say how K:<7 0S#T is after 56#T2 56#T may immediately precede 0S#T, but it may also be in the distant past. <or does the perfect say anything about the 9>5C15<.T of the situation described . The perfect doesn"t set any boundary on the B1>0T-:< of 56# T, either2 Jlein %1&&(:D4&* argues that the duration of 56#T is ignored due to the fact that the perfect is not b'de#inite %i.e. boundary definite* with respect to 56#T. 9or a present perfect sentence to be true, all that is re;uired is that S:!5 time span, one at which the situation was true, precedes the time when the utterance is made. The fact that distance and fre;uency of 56#T are left open gives rise to the different readings of the perfect %existential, resultative , continuative,
This applies analogously to the future perfect and past perfect, except that the relevance is not current or present2 but it is ongoing. %Jlein 1&&(:D4*
1+

+6 etc*. These readings are not due to an inherent ambiguity of the perfect, but stem from $onte"t/al in#ormation and the particular t!pe o# sit/ation. .onsider the following examples: %)&* %i* Tabitha has lived in =amburg ever since she married. %ii* Tabitha has lived in =amburg . %iii* /ane has bro,en her leg They have gone away. %iv* She has recently $ust been to 8aris !alcolm /ones has $ust been assassinatedN -n both%)&i* and %)&ii* , in point of situation type, the predicate LTabitha live in =amburgM ;ualifies as state. 9or %)&i* the natural reading is an open! continuative reading, the situation continues from the time specified %ever since she married* into the time of utterance %and in the absence of contrary indications will presumably continue into the future*. This value of the present perfect is ,nown as the continuative or inclusive value. -n %)&ii* the absence of the duration ad$unct forces the closed, non# continuative reading, Tabitha"s living in =amburg is said to have ta,en place at some indefinite time in the past. This value of the perfect is ,nown as the experiential value. The focus is not on the occurrence at some particular time in the past, but on the relevance of the situation within the time#span up to now . The connection with <:+ is the sub<ect which must have the participant property as a present attribute. The sentence implicates that the sub$ect is alive and can be interpreted as the carrier of the enduring property %experience* of having participated in the event. The sentences in %)&iii* are the clearest cases of the resultative perfect, where the situation inherently involves a specific change of state %the predicates are telic*: the occurrence of these situations result in a state that still obtains at now. The example in %)&iv* is assumed to be a case of the Perfect of /ecent Past! or with other grammarians, the Eot 'e s Present Perfect! ).c"a ley 013H*! the +ndefinite Past )>eech 0130 *. 0ccording to, among others, 0nagnostopoulou, -atridou A-3vors,i %1&&':1@* the 5xperiential 8erfect and the 8erfect of >ecent 8ast may be considered to fall under the cover term 5xistential" 8erfect, or it can be included in the domain of >esultative perfect. These identified ma$or uses can be thought of as different ways in which a past situation may have current relevance". 0s already mentioned the different uses of the 8resent 8erfect depend on the situation types denoted by the 68 as well as context. 4.(.(.+e turn now to the description of the various meanings of the present perfect: %i* %ii* the 5xperiential 8resent 8erfect %%first identified by Yandvoort, 1&)D*, renamed in current studies as the 5xistential 6alue2 the 8erfect of >ecent 8ast %also ,nown as the =ot <ews 8resent 8erfect"*2

+7 %iii * the .ontinuative 8resent 8erfect2 %iv* the >esultative 8resent 8erfect2 A. *"periential !er&ect (*"istential )alue) 0s already mentioned several times so far, the values or meanings of the present perfect crucially depend on the aspectual properties of the underlying eventuality and the context %cf. .omrie, 1&@), Smith, 1&&1, Jamp and >eyle, 1&&4, /ulien, (II1, Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria, (II(, (IIG among many others*. The Perfect of experience expresses what has happened once or more than once within the spea,er"s or writer"s experience" %Yandvoort, 1&)@*. This meaning is often reinforced adverbially by ever! never! or before )no * %Keech 1&@1:4(*2 the number of events can also be mentioned adverbially: R+ve been to #merica three times. 0s can be noticed, state predicates are recategori3ed as events in the context of fre;uency adverbs %e.g. + have hated liars three times in my life* The 5xperiential value of the 8erfect may occur with any 0,tionsart: %@I* %i* Sam has bro,en my computer %twice* %0ccomplishment* %ii* 0ll my family have had measles =ave you been to 0mericaE %State* %iii* She has danced with /ohn five times %0ctivity* %iv* -"ve discovered how to mend the fuse. %0chievement* %v* =ave you visited the 7augain exhibitionE %vi* - have sat for hours on the river ban, on a fine summer"s day, waiting for a fish to bite. %Yaandvoort 1&)@:)(* %vii* !en"s hairs have grown grey in a single night. %viii* !r 8hilips has sung in this choir. %ix* !en have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for loveS. %Stefanescu, 1&''* %x* -t"s the first third time you"ve as,ed me this ;uestion today. 0s can be easily noticed, in the present perfect sentences in %@I* the eventualities are presented as bounded", since some of them can be repeated, i.e they show the existence of one or several eventualities %states, processes or events* that are presented as completed prior to the moment of speech %Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria, (II(*. The focus, however, is not on their occurrence at some particular time in the past but on the existence of the situation within the time span. This is the reason why this value is also ,nwn as the +ndefinite Past value of the 8resent 8erfect %Keech 1&@1*. The connection with now is the potential occurrence or recurrence of the situation at any time within the time span up to now and this potentiality is made possible by the status of the sub$ect %the participation property*. +hat is interesting about the experiential perfect is that, under restrictive conditions, it allows for the presence of a past time ad<unct %.omrie 1&'D2 7eorgiA8ianesi 1&&'2 Jlein 1&&(2 =uddlestone and 8ullum (II(:1GG*:

+9 %@1* %i* yesterday. %ii* o"cloc,. +e"ve already discussed it yesterday. vs +e discussed it =e has often got up at five o"cloc,. vs =e got up at five

<otice that the presence of the adverbs already" and often" cancel the effect of the past time adverbs, i.e. there is no reference to any specific occasion, as there is in the simple preterite. B. The Perfect of Recent Past !ost grammarians agree that the 8erfect of >ecent 8ast is used to report an eventuality that $ust happened. 0ccording to Keech %1&@1* this use of the 8resent 8erfect is a subcategory of the 8resent 8erfect of 5xperience, which he calls -ndefinite 8ast." Some other linguist and grammarians consider this value as a subcategory of the >esultative 8erfect but for the component of recency. %9enn 1&'@*. =uddlestone A8ullum (II(:1GD* suggest that it is arguable that the existential and resultative categories are broad enough to cover all non#continuative uses....". +e go along with the suggestion that this use can be included in the 8resent 8erfect of 5xperience group. -n this reading of the 8erfect $ust li,e in the 8resent 8erfect of 5xperience category the underlying eventuality can be of any 0,tionsart. The most widely used adverbs with this value of the perfect are recently and <ust, used deictically, as well as already and yet. These adverbs do not refer to definite times in the past but indicate an indefinite time within a short interval stretching bac, from 1T#T. This use of the present perfect is ;uite fre;uent with ne s announcements as in the radio bulletin examples in %@(ii,iii* %wherefrom the name =ot <ews 8resent 8erfect" !c.awley %1&@1** %@(* %i* She has recently $ust been to 8aris -t has $ust struc, twelve. %ii* !alcolm /ones has $ust been assassinatedN %Keech 1&@1* %iii* -t has been a bad start to the year, with two fatal road accidents overnight %=A8 (II(:1GD* %iv* =as the dustman called yetE %v* =e has $ust graduated from college. 0n interesting fact about this use of the present perfect is the one mentioned by Keech %1&@1:G), as well as !ittwoch 1&''* according to whom, under certain circumstances, the perfect progressive may describe recently finished" eventualities the effects of which are still apparent". .onsider the examples below: %@4* %i* blac, eye* %iii* -"ve $ust been listening to a program on 6ietnam. %iv* -"ve $ust been coo,ing. %v* =e has been eating your porridge2 it"s all gone. %!ittwoch 1&''* +hy are you cryingE -"ve been chopping onion. %ii* Tou"ve been fighting again %- can tell from your

40 %vi* finished. - have been writing a difficult letter2 than, goodness it"s %!ittwoch 1&''*

C. $esultative !er&ect The 8resent 8erfect can also be used with reference to a past event the result of which is still valid at the present time %at now*. The 8erfect of result is possible only with telic predicates since they denote a transition from one state to another and only for as long as the effect result of the underlying eventuality holds. The connection with the present is that the resultant state still holds at now". The resultant state begins at the time of occurrence of the underlying eventuality and continues through into the present. =uddlestone and 8ullum %(II(* call this use the Perfect of "ontinuing /esult. .onsider the following examples: %@G* %i* The taxi has arrived. %ii* - have lost my glasses. %iii* =e has been given a camera. %iv* They"ve gone away. %v* :hN !y 7odN Sam has bro,en my computer. %vi* -"ve recovered from my illness. %vii* =e has gone to 0merica. %viii* -"ve bought a new car. %ix* Twenty years have passed since we first met. %Yandvoort 1&)@:)(* %x* =e has collected much evidence against her. %/espersen 1&)&:())* -t is generally assumed that the resultative reading does not need any support from adverbials. Sometimes it is indistinguishable %or at least difficult to distinguish* from the 8erfect of >ecent 8ast. *. Continuative or #nclusive !er&ect The .ontinuative 8erfect conveys the meaning that the situation described holds throughout some interval stretching from a certain point in the past up to the present moment %Yanvoort 1&)@,Keech 1&@1,!c.oard 1&@', Bowty N&@&, ,etc*. /espersen %1&41* calls this use of the 8resent 8erfect the inclusive present perfect which spea,s of a state that is continued from the past into the present time. -t is currently assumed that the .ontinuative 8erfect is not one of the core meanings of the 8erfect since many languages do not have it. %/espersen 1&44, .omrie 1&@)*. Bifferent linguists and grammarians have identified different constraints that are operative on this use of the perfect. -t is generally assumed that the .ontinuative reading of the 8erfect can be formed from stative predicates, that is the underlying eventuality must be stative. The continuative reading is manifest with atelic situation types %or rather unbounded*, i.e. homogeneous eventualities.

41 0 second condition for the instantiation of this use has been assumed to be the presence of certain adverbials. .onsider the following examples borrowed from different sources %Yandvoort1&)@, /espersen 1&44, Keech1&@1, =uddlestone A 8ullum (II(, Stefanescu 1&'', a.o.*: %@D* %i* =e hath beene dead foure days. %/espersen 1&)&:(G1* %ii* +e"ve ,nown each other for years. %iii* =ow long has he been unconsciousE %Yandvoort,,1&)@:D&* %iv* +e"ve lived here all our lives. vs +e"ve lived here %Keech,1&@1:41* %v* =ave you ,nown the 9aul,ners for longE Keech %1&@1:4(* mentions that the adverbial need not be re;uired in the following exchange: %@)* 0: +hy haven"t you been writing to meE ?: -"ve been too angry -"ve been ill. =uddlestone and 8ullum %(II(* state that the continuative perfect in the non#progressive form only allows atelic situations, i.e. ones without a terminal point. +hat this actually amounts to is to say that basically it is only states that may occur with this value in the simple tense forms. #ll the other situation types require the use of the progressive. This suggestion is supported by 0nagnostopoulou, -atridouA-3vors,i %1&&'2((*, who assume that actually what counts for a proper use of the .ontinuative 8erfect is unboundedness! %open reading*1D i.e. the .ontinuative 8erfect will not be possible with the 8erfect of telics and activities ali,e, unless they are used in the progressive or they have an iterated %generic habitual, hence stative* interpretation. .ompare: %@@* %i* he came %ii* %iii* %iv* %v* %vi* %vii* %viii* going out %ix* as - can %x* %xi*
14

F=e has written another poem found his ,eys ever since home. F=e has danced ever since this morning. =e"s been writing this poem ever since he came home =e"s been dancing ever since this morning =e has written about religion all his life !r 8hillips has sung in this choir for fifty years. -"ve always wal,ed to wor,. -"ve en$oyed my meals all the better since you started The news has been broadcast at ten o"cloc, for as long remember. =e has wor,ed here ever since he was a child. She"s been rehearsing for five hours now.

@uddlestone and ;ullu$ %2002:1+2( consider the continuati"e reading of the ;erfect to be i$!erfecti"e as!ectually

42 %xii* She has been wor,ing here longer than the others.

The assumption is not unreasonable, since we argued that all situation types with the exception of states are interpreted in the perfective viewpoint as containing boundedness %i.e. endpoints*. States are ambiguous between an open %unbounded* and a closed %bounded* reading. This ambiguity of the states is visible with the 8resent 8erfect as well. .ompare the following sentences: %@'* %i* %ii* +e have lived in Kondon. +e have lived in Kondon ever since 1&&@ all our lives

The first example without the adverbial does not favour the continuative reading but rather a closed, bounded reading, namely the Perfect of experience %Keech, 1&@1, 9enn 1&'@, =uddlestone and 8ullum (II(, etc*. The presence of the adverbial in the second sentence ma,es possible the "ontinuative reading of the 8erfect. 0ctually, the same ambiguity may arise with activity predicates. .onsider the following examples: %@&* %i* !ary has rehearsed since noon %a* <ow she is resting %b* She is still rehearsing !ary has been rehearsing since noon

%ii*

The second sentence is not ambiguous at all: the only available reading of the sentence is the .ontinuative reading. To sum up, the most important characteristics of the .ontinuative 8erfect outlined in the literature are the following: the .ontinuative 8erfect presents a state as holding from a moment in the past up to and including the moment of speech. the .ontinuative 8erfect re;uires unbounded % homogeneous* eventualities2 the .ontinuative reading of the 8erfect necessarily re;uires adverbial modification The role o& adverbial modi&ication 0ccording to 0nagnostopoulou, -atridou and -3vors,y %1&&'* the .ontinuative reading of the 8resent 8erfect asserts that the underlying eventuality holds throughout the interval specified by the adverb and at its endpoints. This means that the 1T#T is included by assertion. 0ccording to them, this use of the perfect is possible only when the perfect is modified by adverbs that denote time spans .

4* The adverbials assumed to trigger the .ontinuative reading fall into two groups, namely, some with which the .ontinuative reading is possible and some with which the .ontinuative reading is obligatory: %'I* %i* .ontinuative reading possible: since, for five days, so far, up to now %ii* .ontinuative reading obligatory: at least since, ever since, for five days now -t has long been ac,nowledged %Bowty 1&@&, 6lach 1&&4* that there are at least two levels of adverbials, namely, perfect level and eventuality level adverbials. :ne diagnostic for whether an adverb is perfect level is whether perfect morphology is obligatory2 since is a case in point: %'1* %i* %ii* - have been away since yesterday F- am was away since yesterday

For#adverbials,on the other hand, seem to be optional with perfect morphology2 actually such adverbials are ambiguous between a perfect5 level and eventuality level reading. The adverbs mentioned above relate to intervals2 in this capacity they can be interpreted as durative" or inclusive" %Bowty 1&@&2 !ittwoch 1&''*. -f a 8erfect#level adverb is durative the situation denoted by the predicate must hold of every subinterval of the time span, i.e. the time span must be filled up" with a homogeneous predicate. -n such cases we obtain a .ontinuative reading of the perfect. -f the perfect level adverbial is inclusive the perfect sentence asserts that a particular eventuality situation is properly included in the perfect time span. The eventuality is interpreted as closed , i.e. the situation is located at some time within the time span indicated, and the 8erfect of 5xperience is obtained. =uddlestone A8ullum %(II(: @I&* define this use of the ad$unct as temporal location". %ince5adverbials are largely restricted to the perfect in ?r5 being used to mar, the starting point %the left boundary %K?* of the perfect time span denoted by the perfect.1) These adverbials are ambiguous between the inclusive and durative reading as the examples below %borrowed from =A8 (II(:@I&* indicate: %'(* %i* 5xperience %ii* .ontinuative %iii* %iv* %v*
15

-"ve moved house since you left %inclusive reading*# -"ve been here since four o"cloc, %durative reading*# -"ve been ill again since then .%ambiguous* Sam has been in ?oston since Tuesday. %ambiguous* Since Tuesday, Sam has been in ?oston

Since can, ho#e"er, occur #ith other tenses : %i( -his is the first cu! since -uesdayI %ii( Bill Clinton #ill be the youngest !resident since Cennedy. 8$E allo#s !reterits $ore #idely: ince you #ent ho$e #e redecorated our bedroo$ %@<;:596(

4+ The ambiguity of the last two sentence can be resolved if the adverbial is preposed as in %'(v* above. -t is to be noticed that telic predicates %accomplishments and achievements* in the context of since" only allow the inclusive reading of this adverbial, hence what is ,nown as the experience reading of the perfect. Burational reading since allows ever which forces the .ontinuative reading %e.g. +ve been lonely ever since you left* and it provides answers to ho long ;uestions %e.g. 0: =ow long have you been hereE ?: Since four o"cloc,* %=A8 (II(:@I&*. The adverbial at least also forces the .ontinuative reading . 0s already mentioned, the .ontinuative reading obeys two constraints: %i* the presence of durative adverbs and %ii* the existence of homogeneous predicates: i.e. basic states, generics and dynamic predicates in the progressive aspect. .ompare: %'4* %i* 8eggy has been in 0sia ever since /anuary. %.ontinuative, state* %ii* EEE8eggy has rehearsed ever since noon. %process predicate* %iii* 8eggy has been rehearsing ever since noon. %.ontinuative* %iv* - have wor,ed here ever since 1&&'. %habitual, continuative* %v* EEE- have read this boo, ever since 1&&'. %vi* -"ve been reading this boo, ever since 1&&'. +henever since#adverbs occur with events %accomplishments and achievements*, the stress lies on the result ensuing from the termination of the event: %'G* %i* %ii* =e has written two boo,s since 1&&( =e has reached the top since ) o"cloc,

For5adverbials have been characteri3ed as being both perfect level and eventuality level adverbials 2 for#phrases do not obligatorily re;uire the perfect. 0s a perfect level adverbial the for#phrase indicates the length of the reference interval. 0s an eventualitylevel adverbial, the for#phrase indicates the length of the situation. .onsider the examples below, where in %'(i* the for#adverbial indicates the length of the situation, we have an eventuality level reading2 in the second example the sentence is ambiguous between an eventuality#level and a perfect level reading, which is suspended once the adverb is in sentence initial position %we only have the perfect#level reading, i.e. the adverb indicates the length of the reference interval*: %'D* %i* - was a teacher for (I years.

44 %ii* -"ve been been a teacher for thirty years. 9or (Iyears, have been a teacher %iii* F!ary wrote the letters for half an hour. vs. She wrote letters for half an hour %iv* F=e spotted a haw, for half an hour. vs. - spotted a haw, every wee, for a month. 9or#adverbials are durational which means that the predicate they modify must be homogeneous have the subinterval property %Bowty 1&@&*. =ence telic predicates and punctual verbs are excluded. The examples in '(%iii, iv* are valid since the bare plural letters" and the fre;uency adverb every wee," turn the predicates into a process of the multiple event type. 7iven that for#adverbials can be eventuality#level and perfect level adverbials, the perfect sentences may be ambiguous between two readings, the perfect of experience and the continuative perfect, whenever we deal with sentence# final for# adverbials. +henever the for# adverbial is in sentence #initial position the only available reading is the continuative perfect. -n such cases the for#adverb is interpreted as a perfect# level adverb. .ompare the following: %')* %i* reading* - have lived in Thessaloni,i for ten years %5#reading .#

%a*5# reading: since - was born till now there was a time span of ten years that - lived in T. %b* .#reading : +ithin the time span of 1I years - lived in T. %ii* reading * For#adverbs may occur in perfect sentences in the context of a perfect# level adverbial li,e since5adverbs. -n such cases the for#adverbs is interpreted as eventuality level: %'@* %i* Since 1&@I, - have been sic, for five days. 9or ten years, - have lived in Thessaloni,i. %only .#

8rocess predicates in the perfect in the context of for5adverbs also exhibit an ambiguity between 5#reading and .#reading . The ambiguity disappears once we use the progressive form of the perfect: %''* %i* reading* %ii* Tom has pushed the cart for two hours .%5#reading .# Tom has been pushing the cart for two hours.

The perfect level eventuality level ambiguity of for#phrases is suspended once the adverb no is added, irrespective of the final position of the for#phrase: %'&* %i* !ary has been sic, for two wee,s now.

45

Al5a!s. 0lways is interpreted as being either perfect#level or eventuality# level. -ndividual#level predicates can combine with al ays only in the perfect: %&I* %i* %ii* 5mma has always been tall. - have always ,nown he was a rascal.

-n such contexts the adverb is characteri3ed as perfect#level and cannot co#occur with other perfect#level adverbs: %&1* %i* F Since 1&&I, 5mma has always been tall. +henever al ays co#occurs with stage#level states or dynamic predicates it may occur in non#perfect sentences or in perfect sentences with perfect adverbials in which case it has an eventuality level reading: %&(* %i* money. %ii* %iii* - always give gave him a dime when he as,s as,ed for =e has always smo,ed in the morning as far as - ,now. Since 1&&I, she has always been sic, when - visited her.

G. T e s!nta" o# %er#e$t senten$es %&4* %i** %ii* %iii* %iv* =e has visited the museum twice !ary has lived in .airo for three years %now* :hN Sam has bro,en my computer !alcolm /ones has $ust been assassinatedN

The sentences above are examples of the four identified values of the present perfect: %i* the perfect of experience %&4i* also ,nown in the literature as the existential value shows the existence of one or several eventualities %states, processes or events* that are presented as completed prior to the moment of speech %Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria, (II(*. %ii* the continuative perfect %&4ii*2 the present perfect in %&4ii* indicates that !ary still lives in .airo at the moment of speech. The adverb of duration shows that the state in ;uestion began three years before the moment of speech and this state still continues at the moment of utterance. %iii* the perfect of result %&4iii* 2 the resultative reading obtains with a 68 that describes an accomplishment or an achievement2 the result state which derives from the event described by the sentence % Sam break my computer* is presented as persistent at the moment of utterance. %iv* the perfect of recent past %or hot ne s present perfect* in %&4iv* will, in our opinion be identified with the existential value of the present perfect2 the reasons are twofold: %i* this value accepts all 0,tionarts2 %ii* there are some differences between ?r5 and 0m5 with respect to the choice between the 8resent 8erfect and the 8ast Tense Simple cases where 0m5 may prefer a Simple preterite and ?r5 prefers or re;uires a

46 8resent 8erfect. The cases concern situations in the recent past2 0m5 would prefer : + <ust sa them Ee already left yesterday, whereas ?r5 prefers : +ve <ust seen them/Ees already left. 9ollowing current suggestions %Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria , (II(* we collapse the continuative present perfect , and the resultative present perfect but collapse the present perfect of recent result into the experiential value of the present perfect, as their semantics is very similar %see below*. -n what follows, we present the syntax and semantics of the existential and resultative continuative values of the present perfect following the analysis proposed by Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria %(II(, (IIG*. The two readings of the perfect will be uniformly derived from the proposal that the perfect is a spatio#temporal predicate with the meaning 09T5> ?59:>5. Since all accounts of the present perfect stress the present time relevance of the present perfect, or the stative nature of the predication as well as the participant property that it assigns to the sub$ect, we will assume, as already stated, that present perfect predicates %68s* have a structure that resembles that of transitive accomplishment verbs %e, e"* ,i.e. e %event 1* stands for the process, while e" %event (* stands for the result of that event %=ale and Jeyser, 1&&4*.

%&G*
5v#T1

681 681 6I 5v#T( 8rocess ZeQ 68( 68( >esultant State Ze"Q

5ach 68 in %&G* stands for a phase in the internal temporal structure of the event described by the 68. 68 1 represents the processual subpart of the event while 68( stands for the resultant state %or conse;uent state* after the culmination termination of the process. 5ach of the sub#events in %&G* has an external temporal argument: the external argument of 681, 5v#T1, denotes the period of time during which the process unfolds in time, from its beginning up to its culmination termination. The external argument of 68(, 5v#T(, designates the resultant state after the culmination termination of the process. E"istential )al/e .onsider now the grammar of the existential present perfect as illustrated in sentence%&4i*:
1T#T

%&D*

PLPPPPM..LPPPPMPPPLPPAPMPP.Q
56#T1 56#T( 0S#T

The 5nglish present perfect %have 85en* is a predicate with the meaning 09T5>. 1nder this analysis the 8erfect 0S85.T acts li,e a 8ast T5<S5: both are predicates with the meaning 09T5>. -n the existential reading the

47 situation is viewed as closed! perfective, bounded. The relevance at the present time is given by the sub$ect property which is based on participation in the prior situation. The existential value of the present perfect is induced by the fact that 0S#T $ust designates a time interval after 5v#T1 but this interval does not coincide with the interval that characteri3es the resultant state of the process. Thus, the eventuality is presented as completed with respect to the interval designated by 0s#T, which is concomitant with 1t#T. T e res/ltative + $ontin/ative val/e o# t e present per#e$t +e follow Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria %(II(* and hypothesi3e that the present perfect induces a resultative or continuative reading when it #o$/ses on the result state of a process1T#T 0S#T

%&)*

PLPPPMLPPPMPP..Q
56#T1 56#T(

-n this case the perfect focuses one of the internal phases of the temporal structure of the situation denoted by the 68 2 it orders 0s#T after 5v#T1. -n this way, the perfect focuses 5v#T(, that is, the interval that designates the resultant state of the event after the culmination of its processual subpart, as shown in %&I*. -n its turn, the present orders 1t#T +-T=-< 0s#T2 in this way, 0s#T ma,es visible the resultant state of the process, as illustrated in the schema in %&)*. -t follows that the result state is presented as still persisting at 1T#T, as continuing from a past interval up to the moment of speech. The derivation of the continuative reading of the present perfect, illustrated in %&4ii* %.ary has lived in "airo for three years )no **, is very similar to the one provided for the resultative reading, with a small difference though. The 68 in %&4ii* will also be decomposed into two subintervals of time 681 and 68(, as shown in %&G*. 9ollowing Jamp and >eyle %1&&4* we hypothesi3e that in the case of a state eventuality such as live in "airo the resultant state begins $ust after the onset the starting point of the process itself %and not after its culmination, as there is none*2 the presence of the duration adverb for three years is obligatory and it measures the whole reference interval. -n sum, the 5nglish present perfect has two properties: its 68 structure can be complex and it orders its external argument 0s#T after its internal argument 5v#T1. The peculiarity of the present perfect is that its 0s#T can pic, up any time interval after 5v#T 1 as already shown and repeated below for convenience: E"istential )al/e
1T#T

%&@* PLPPPPM..LPPPPMPPPLPPAMPPP.Q
56#T1 56#T( 0S#T

49

Res/ltative+Contin/ative )al/e
1T#T

%&'* PLPPPPMLPPAPPMPPPP.Q
56#T1 0S#T 56#T(

-n %&@*, the present perfect $ust designates a time interval after 5v#T1 but this interval does not coincide with the interval that characteri3es the resultant state of the process: in this case the present perfect ac;uires an existential value. Thus, the eventuality is presented as completed with respect to the interval designated by 0s#T, which is concomitant with 1t#T. -n contrast, in %&'* the present perfect focuses an internal phase of the 68 complex structure: it pic,s up an interval after 5v#T 1, which designates the resultant state of the process %5v#T(*. The reading induced by the present perfect is resultative/continuative because the moment of utterance is concomitant with the focali3ed state. The %68 decomposition* analysis of the present perfect proposed by Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria %(II(* also accounts for the semantics of the 5nglish present perfect progressive in a neat way. 0 sentence such as .ary has been opening the door means that !ary was in the process of opening the door it does not mean that !ary was in the resultant state after the culmination of the process. This means that the progressive orders its external argument %0s#T 1* within its internal argument %5v#T 1*2 in this way, the progressive focuses a subinterval that designates the processual component of the 68, i.e., 5v#T1, and not the subinterval that defines the resultant state of the process %5v#T (*. 0S#T( expressed by the perfect coincides with the 1T#T either within the interval characteri3ing the event %&&* or after the endpoint of the situation %1II*. -n the first case we may say that we have the continuative reading of dynamic predicates while in the second we may identify the recent result reading of the progressive. 0S#T1 %#ing* 0S#T( %have* %&&* PLPPLPPPPPMPPPLP PPMPPMP.. 56#T1 56#T( 1T#T 0S#T1 0S#T( %1II* PLPPP%PPP*PPMPPP%PPP*PP.. 56[T 1T#T Ot er Temporal &ses o# t e %resent %er#e$t %i* -n adverbial clauses of time the present perfect is used with a future value to express the idea of completion. .onsider the sentence below: %)4* Tou can go when you have finished your wor,

50 The con$unctions commonly used to introduce the adverbial clauses of time are: hen! as soon as! before! after! until! once! by the time )that*! the moment )that*. -n some contexts, the use of the present perfect is in free variation with the present tense. This variation depends on the situation type : %&D* - shall leave as soon as the meeting ends has ended -n other contexts, the choice between the two tenses is not free: %a* when the events in the main clause and the subordinate clause temporally coincide, the use of the present tense in the subordinate clause is favored, as in %&)a* below2 when the event in the subordinate clause occurs before the one in the main clause, the use of the present perfect in the subordinate clause gives well formed sentences, as in %&)b* below: %&)* a* .ome over and see us when our guests leave. b* .ome over and see us when our guests have left. %b* when a causal relation between the event in the main clause and that of the subordinate clause is established, the use of the present perfect is favored in the subordinate adverbial clause of time. -n the second sentence it is the situation type that re;uires the use of the perfect %durative accomplishment*. %&@* Tou"ll feel a lot better after when you have ta,en this medicine. +e can go out as soon as we have had dinner F+e can go out as soon as we have dinner. %ii* Ki,e the Simple 8resent the 8resent 8erfect can be used with a narrative fictional" value %Keech 1&@1:4'*..onsider the example below borrowed from Keech %1&@1:4'*: %&'* /ohn and /oy /ennings, who have been fighting a gang led by >ed >eagan, have followed the sinister goatherd Jhari to a mountain hide#out, where they stumble upon a coded message from >ed"s lieutenant =ercule /udd..... The example above is a case of serial story instalment, on the radio, T6, or popular maga3ine. -t is used to give a retrospective account of previous episodes which are in the past" from the point of view of the stage of the story now reached. C. Temporal Adverbs 5it t e %resent %er#e$t and t e %ast Tense 7 T e %resent %er#e$t %/88le -n the literature on the perfect forms of predicates %cf. among others Keech %1&@1*, .omrie %1&'D*, !c.oard %1&@'* Jlein %1&&(*, =A8 %(II(*, etc* it is shown that locating, punctual adverbials such as on Thursday! yesterday! in 013H! before the edding , are considered

51 ungrammatical when occurring with the present perfect in all analyses and by all spea,ers. This phenomenon is ,nown as the Present Perfect Pu99le %Jlein 1&&(*. 0dverbs li,e recently! <ust or today are considered to be compatible with the present perfect, while deictic adverbs li,e today, this morning! this .arch! this year have an intermediate status. -t is important to notice that the phenomenon under consideration is not found with other perfect forms %7iorgiA 8ianesi %1&&': 'D*: %&'* past perfect: Sam had finished his paper yesterday %=eny:1&'(* modals: ?ill may have been in ?erlin before the war %.omrie 1&@)* infinitives: The security officer believes ?ill to have been in ?erlin before the war %.omrie 1&@)* gerunds: =aving been in ?erlin before the war, ?ill is surprised at the many changes %.omrie 1&@)* 0 ma$or contribution of !c.oard"s study %1&@'* is the detailed analysis of the way in which temporal adverbs relate to the present perfect and or past tense. 0dverbs bring in their temporal meaning and they bear on tense selection and even on tense interpretation. !c.oard identifies three classes of adverbs: those that occur with the simple past tense but not with the perfect, those that occur with either the simple past or with the perfect and those that occur with the perfect but not with the simple past. :ccur with the simple past perfect but not not with perfect simple past long ago present five years ago now once %H formerly* the other day those days these five years last night in 1&II at 4:II war after before the war now no longer :ccur with either simple past or with perfect long since in the past once %H one time* today in my life for three years recently $ust now often yet always ever at up till so far as yet during herewith lately since the before :ccur with with

52 never already before this morning The adverbs in the first column refer to points or stretches of time that precede the moment of speech, either by their semantics or by context %e.g., at I-DD*. The adverbs in the third column coincide with or are oriented to the moment of speech. -n context, these adverbs can be thought of as beginning before the moment of speech and extending beyond it. They only occur with the present perfect and exclude the past tense. 9or the adverbs in column two, it is the context and in particular the tense used, which decide which time#sphere %past or present* is actually being referred to. They are ,nown as neutral" time#span adverbs %9enn, 1&'@*. 0s far as the adverbs in column two are concerned, the following comments are in order. The comments here leave out for#phrases, since# phrases and al ays which we have already discussed. 7ver and never are used when the life experience of the sub$ect is predicated about. ?oth suggest the meaning ithin a period of time. +hen they occur with the present perfect it is the present perfect that relates their time#span to the moment of speech %e.g., # saner and more practical man +ve never met *. The period is viewed as open including the time of utterance. :n the other hand, their ithin a period of time meaning also ma,es them compatible with the past tense %e.g., + never sa the St. Patricks ,ay Parade hile + as in 'e Gork *. The period is viewed as closed excluding the time of utterance. 0dverbs such as often! sometimes, which refer to fre;uency can, depending on the context, occur with either the present perfect or with the past tense %e.g., + have al ays suspected your honesty / Ee al ays made a lot of fuss about nothing hen they ere married*. >ately and recently are commonly regarded as synonyms but they show different compatibility as to their occurrence with the past tense and the present perfect. >ately is a perfect level adverbial , i.e. it accepts only the present perfect %e.g., + have spent/=+ spent a great deal of money lately* while recently goes with both the past tense and the present perfect %e.g., + have been ill recently / + as ill recently*. 0dverbs such as today! this eek! this year can occur with both the present perfect and the past tense %e.g., + have seen $ohn this morning / + sa $ohn this morning*. ?oth sentences convey the meaning that Rthe act occurred ithin the time span this morning. The difference lies in whether the event is viewed simply as a factor of experience obtaining at the moment of speech Lwith the present perfectM %i.e., the morning time#span is not over* or whether it is viewed within the context of the time at which it occurred Lwith the past tenseM %i.e., the morning time#span is over*R %9enn, 1&'@*. The difference in uses between adverbs such as <ust and <ust no is the following. $ust can ta,e either the present perfect or the past tense %e.g., + have <ust seen your sister / + <ust sa your sister * while <ust no ,

5* which is interpreted as a moment/second/minute ago, can only occur with the past tense %e.g., + sa your sister <ust no *. 9inally, there are adverbs that combine with either the present perfect or the past tense but with a clear difference in meaning. 'o is mainly associated with present tenses: 'o my ambition is/has been fulfilled. +ith past tense, it is a narrative substitute for then %H at this point in the story"*: 'o my ambition as fulfilled. %nce, with the meaning on a certain occasion, at one time" occurs with the past tense, despite its indefinite meaning: Ee as once an honest man. +ith the present perfect, it is a numerical adverb contrasting with t ice! three times, etc: + have visited the Eighlands only once %Keech, 1&@1*. #lready! still! yet and before occur with the present perfect in the sense as early as now", as late as now": + have seen him already / + )still* havent seen him )yet*. +ith the past tense they must have a meaning involving a past point of orientation: + as already %H as early as then* very hungry %Keech, 1&@1*. +e now turn to the phenomenon ,nown as the present perfect pu99le. +hy is it that in 5nglish %unli,e other languages, 7ermanic or >omance* punctual adverbs cannot co#occur with the present perfect.E 0n interesting fact about the 5nglish present perfect is that this ban against punctual adverbs is not absolute. -n fact, as has often been noted in the literature %.omrie 1&'D*, =eny %1&'(*, Kewis 1&@D, Jlein %1&&(** the ban disappears if the temporal adverbs occur in the context of a fre;uency adverb such as often! never! al ays. .onsider the examples below borrowed from 7iorgi and 8ianesi %1&&':111*: %&&* %i* /ohn has never always often left at four vs. %ii* F/ohn has left at four

.onsider also the example below %Jlein 1&&(*: %1II* +hy is .hris in $ailE =e has wor,ed on Sunday and wor,ing on Sunday is strictly forbidden in this country. The sentence Ee has orked on Sunday is fine because the expression on Sunday does not relate to a specific time in the past % as the context ma,es clear*. -t seems, therefore, that in 5nglish there is a ban against specific temporal adverbs, as 7iorgi and 8ianesi %1&&'* suggest :n the basis of such evidence, Jlein %1&&(* suggests that the facts relating to the present perfect pu33le can be explained by a pragmatic principle called the P5,efiniteness "onstraint. Jlein"s system is similar to the one we have adopted, being based on three temporal entities. %1I1* !+De&initeness Constraint:: -n an utterance the expression of 0S#T and the expression of 56#T cannot both be independently 8#definite. 0ccording to Jlein %1&&(* temporal expressions can refer either to precise specific temporal positions on the time axis or not.

5+ The first ,ind of expressions are called P)osition*5definite and the second ,ind P)osition*5indefinite. 0ccording to him, the 5nglish present tense is P5definite in that it constrains every temporal entity to include the time of utterance. The simple past tense, on the other hand, is non p5definite, since it only re;uires that the time of the event should precede the utterance time. The difference between the 8resent Tense and the Simple 8ast in 5nglish is analogous to that of the deictic adverbs here and there: R if we ignore boundaries , there is only one here in a given utterance situation but there can be many theres Eere is thus p#definite and there is not. P. P The same is true of the tense forms is and as: if we ignore duration there are many ases but only one isS %Jlein 1&&(:D4@*. 0 similar distinction holds with respect to the boundaries of temporal entities. Some expressions do not specify the boundaries of the entities they denote. =e calls these ?%oundary*#indefinite expressions. :ther expressions fix such boundaries , and are thus called ?%oundary*#definite. ?oth the Present tense and the Past tense are characteri3ed as being C5 indefinite. 0ccording to Jlein, the P5definiteness constraint rules out %@Iii*. 0s# T is 8#definite because of the present tense morpheme on the auxiliary and so is the 56#T of the eventuality Z/ohn leave at fourQ because of the adverbial . The adverbial can only fix the 56#T because in a present perfect sentence the 0S#T includes 1T#T. The same pragmatic principle accounts for the well#formedness of %1II*, Jlein assuming that adverbs li,e at "hristmas, in spring! on Sunday and even at ten, do not necessarily relate to or fix a specific time span. -n other words, such expressions need not be p#definite and under the non# p#definite reading %usually made clear in the context* they are compatible with the present perfect. To summari3e, the 8#definiteness .onstraint allows either 0s#T or 56# T to be expressed by a p#definite expression, but not both. 0 very important comment is in order here. +e have argued that adverbial phrases may specify either 0S#T or 56#T. Ket"s have a loo, at cases where no time#interval is lexically specified. .onsider the examples below %borrowed from Jlein 1&&(:DG)* : %1I(* %i* %ii* %iii* .hris has been in 8ontefract. .hris was in 8ontefract. .hris will be in 8ontefract.

-n %1I(i* the expression of 0S#T on the auxiliary %i.e. present* is p5definite whereas the expression of 56#T is not2 the event %.hris be in 8ontefract* occurred before 0S#T, given the perfect auxiliary, hence in the past. %i.e. in the indefinite past" according to !c#.oard 1&@', Keech 1&@1*. -n the simple past variant in %1I(ii*, neither the 0s#T nor the 56#T is specifically given i.e. neither is p#definite. Therefore such an utterance is felt li,e hanging in the air" unless we get the information from context, or some explicit adverbial. The same is true for %1I(iii*2 again, either context or some definite adverbial must provide the necessary specification.

54 %ast %er#e$t Senten$es %de completat* The 8ast 8erfect parallels the functions of the 8resent 8erfect as the following examples borrowed from Keech %1&@):G(* show: %i* %ii* %iii* %iv* The house had been empty for ages %.ontinuative# state predicate* =ad they been to 0merica beforeE %5xperience* !r 8hipps had preached in that church for DI years %.ontinuative#habitual* The goal,eeper had in$ured his leg, and couldn"t play %resultative*

.onsider the following sentence in the past perfect where the event of !ary"s leaving the school is viewed as completed before a past reference time, expressed by the adverbial clause: %1I4* %i* +hen - arrived there, !ary had left school

0s was the case with the present perfect, the past perfect is analy3ed as a spatio#temporal predicate with the meaning 09T5>. %1IG* illustrates the phrase structure of the past perfect sentence in %1I4* %Bemirdache and 1ribe#5txebarria, (II(, (IIG*: %1IG* 1t#T T after
I

T8 T" 0sp8 0s#T 0sp after

I

0sp" 68 5v#T 68

8roceeding from bottom to top, the perfect aspect orders the 0s#T after the 5v#T. -t thus pic,s out a time after the interval defined by the 5v#T. The past tense on the auxiliary is also a spatio#temporal predicate with the meaning of 09T5>. -t orders the 1t#T after the 0s#T. The overall temporal aspectual representation of the past perfect is illustrated below and in the accompanying schema:
56#T 0S#T 1T#T

%i* 0s#T after 5v#T %ii* 1t#T after 0s#T

PLPPP MPLPPP.MPLPPPMP..Q

Since the 1t#T follows the 0s#T, which itself follows the 5v#T, the event of !ary"s leaving the school is viewed as completed before a past reference time %0s#T*. <otice that since 0s#T and 5v#T denote two dis$oint intervals, if we add a temporal adverb such as at 4 to the sentence in %1I4*, as in %1ID*,

55 the sentence will have t o distinct readings depending on whether the time adverb modifies the 5v#T or the 0s#T: %1ID* !ary had left school at D 9irst, the time adverb at 4 in %1ID* can modify the 5v#T: we understand that !ary"s leaving the school occurred at D o"cloc,. This reading of the sentence is illustrated by the schema below and it yields the so called event time reading of the sentence:
56#T 0S#T 1T#T

PLPPP MPLPPP.MPLPPPMP..Q
D 8!

Second, the time adverb in %1ID* can modify the 0s#T: in this case we understand that !ary"s leaving the school occurred prior to the 0s#T, which itself coincides with the time denoted by D p.m. This reading of the sentence is illustrated by the schema below and it yields the so called reference time reading of the sentence:
56#T 0S#T 1T#T

PLPPP MPLPPP.MPLPPPMP..Q
D 8!

-n complex sentences, the matrix sentence establishes the past 0s#T of the subordinate past perfect clause, as in the example below: %1I)* a* They told us yesterday that Tom had arrived 4 days earlier. b* FTom had arrived 4 days earlier <otice first that sentence %1I)b* is ungrammatical as an independent sentence because it contains an adverbial and a tense mar,er that together cannot establish the 0s#T. Sentence %1I)a* is well formed because the adverb yesterday in the main clause also establishes the 0s#T of the embedded clause: we understand that Tom"s arrival occurred 4 days prior to yesterday. The adverb in the embedded clause specifies a time other than 0s#T, namely 5v#T(. Thus, while the adverb in the main clause specifies 0s#T for both clauses, the adverb in the embedded clause specifies only its 5v#T %and its 0s#T is shared with that of the matrix clause*. The past perfect can be used in main clauses %as in 1ID* and in subordinate clauses. 0s we have seen, it may occur in complement clauses to describe an event that occurred previous to a past reference time as well as in subordinate adverbial clauses introduced by the con$unctions: hen! after! before! till! as soon as. .onsider some examples:

56 - realised that we had met before. - thought - had sent the che;ue a wee, before - wondered who had left the door open. %1I@* =e would not allow anyone to leave the inn till he had drun, himself asleep 0s two and a half years had elapsed since he had made any money, Spencer returned to Kondon +hen his mind had been wea,er his heart led him to spea, out +ithin the minutes after he had received the assurance that the thing was impossible, he was conducted into the outer office. =e went out before 0s stated by different linguists and grammarians, under certain conditions the perfect may be omitted with little or no effect on the temporal interpretation -n subordinate adverbial clauses of time introduced by an explicit con$unction, such as as soon as, before and after the perfect may be omitted with little or no effect2 the past perfect can be substituted by the simple past tense, if the predicate denotes a non#durative eventuality : %@(* 0fter +hen he came bac, from -ndia, he was made a member of 8arliament 0s soon as he discovered them, he ran away - ate my lunch after my wife came bac,. She left after as soon as before he spo,e to her. 0fter he finished his exams he went to 8aris for a month. 0s soon as - put the phone down it rang again. She left the country as soon as she completed her thesis. =owever, there are cases when the past perfect is not substitutable by the past tense, as a mar,er of anteriority of the event in the subordinate clause is necessary for the correct interpretation of the whole sentence. -t is the durative feature of the situation type that re;uires the use of the perfect %durative accomplishment activity*: %@4* +hen he had read the letter, he burned it F +hen he read the letter, he burned it 0fter he had listened to the radio, he turned it off F 0fter he listened to the radio, he turned it off. She left the country as soon as she had written her thesis. The durative feature of the situation is indeed relevant in using the past perfect in subordinate clauses of time. .ompare the following sentences: %i* her thesis. %ii* thesis. %iii* %iv* She left the country as soon as she had completed completed She left the country as soon as she had written Fwrote her She left the country before she had written her thesis She left the country before she wrote her thesis

There is a distinct difference in interpretation between %iii* and %iv*: %iii* suggests that she had started writing when she left while %iv* indicates that the leaving preceded the whole of the thesis writing. %=A8 (II(:1G@*

57 0s already mentioned, hen#clauses are flexible, allowing several interpretations. &hen seems not to impose any particular relation on situations %unli,e after which always re;uires that the main clause have a closed interpretation*. The situations presented may be ta,en as simultaneous, overlapping or successive, depending on vie point and situation types. 7iven these characteristics of hen, the contrast between perfect and non#perfect ta,es on more significance. .ompare the following: %i* %ii* %iii* tea. %iv* +hen - opened the window the cat $umped out. 0s we can notice, following Swan %1&&D:G(1*, the past perfect in %i,iii* mar,s the first action as separate, independent of the second, completed before the second started. -n contrast the simple past %ii, iv* can suggest that the first event leads" into the other, or that there is a cause#effect lin, between them. 9eans o# e"pressin, F/t/re Time -t is a well#ac,nowledged fact that one cannot be as certain of future situations as one is of events past and present, and for this reason %Keech 1&@1* there are a number of ways of expressing future time in 5nglish, the most important of which are: Simple 8resent : The parcel arrives tomorrow 8resent progressive: The parcel is arriving tomorrow ?e going to O -nfinitive: The parcel is going to arrive tomorrow +ill shall O -nfinitive: The parcel will arrive tomorrow +ill shall O 8rogressive -nfinitive: The parcel will be arriving tomorrow +hen - had written the letters - did some gardening. +hen - wrote to her she came at once. +hen - had opened the windows - sat down and had a cup of

0ll these linguistic means that express future time belong to either the modal system %will, shall* or to the aspectual paradigm %the progressive*. 0s ,nown, modal verbs such as ill and shall express predictions about what might happen in the future. 0ll epistemic senses of modal verbs %i.e., possibility probability* involve future time: they represent predictions of present attitudes with respect to a future time sphere %e.g., it may/shall/ ill take place tomorro *. -n what follows we describe the above#mentioned five means of expressing futurity in 5nglish for us to be able to grasp some differences and nuances of usage that distinguish among them. 2.:.1. %resent Tense with F/t/re val/e ; the 9uturate* . The Simple 8resent may be used to describe future situations . The fact that the Simple 8resent still means present" is rendered clear by the possibility

59 of having different time specifications within he same clause, as the examples below %4&* indicate: %4&* my letter The match no starts next .onday, not Tuesday, as - said in %=uddlestoneA8ullum:144* The two ad$uncts specify different time intervals: no %as well as the present tense morpheme* specifies 1T#T 0S#T while next .onday specifies the time of the future situation, i.e. 56#T. %1T#T 0S#T ?59:>5 56# T* The presence of the present tense morpheme has immediate conse;uences on the interpretation of the future situation assigning it a high degree of certainty, i.e. it attributes to the future the same degree of certainty that we normally accord to present or past events %Keech: )I*. This entails that the futurate construction is sub$ect to severe constraints among which is: the presence of future time adverbials, the aspectual type of the situation %state predicates are excluded in such sentences * and, last but not least the future situation is determinable from the state of the world no , that is to say that the clause must involve something that can be assumed to be ,nown already in the present. -n the example above the present tense morpheme and the adverb no give the time of the arrangement or schedule. -t is generally assumed that with the Simple 8resent the arrangement is felt to be an i mpersonal or collective one, made, for example, by a committee, a court of law or some un#named authority. The most widely used predicates belong to the class of non#durative event verbs in particular verbs of directed motion such as go! leave! come! meet, aspectual verbs such as begin! start! end, etc. 0ccording to grammarians, the most common uses involve: %i*statements about the calendar or cyclic events, %ii* scheduled events %regarded as unalterable* and %iii* subordinate clauses introduced by conditional and adverbial con<unctions. .onsider the examples below borrowed from different sources %Keech 1&@1, =uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(*: %GI* %i* Tomorrow is Sunday. <ext .hristmas falls on a Thursday The next high tide is around G this afternoon +hen is the next full moonE The next Jevin .ostner film opens at the 5ldorado on Saturday. +hen do the lectures end this yearE She is president until next !ay. =er case comes before the magistrate next

%ii*

60 wee,. The .hancellor makes his budget speech tomorrow afternoon +e start for -stanbul tonight. +hen the spring comes , the swallows will return. /eeves will announce the guests as they arrive. -f you dont do better next time you are fired 5ither he plays according to the rules or he doesnt play at all -"ll tell you if it hurts.

%iii*

The set of examples in %G4i* reflect the use of the Simple 8resent for recurrent events whose time of occurrence can be scientifically calculated, hence it can be included under what is currently kno n. ?y contrast, the simple present is not used for future eather since such events are not conceived of as being within the domain of what is ,nown %=uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(:14(*. &eather forecasts are rendered by means of going to or shall/ ill -n %G4ii* we have examples that describe situations that have already been arranged, scheduled.The element of current schedule or arrangement is seen in the contrast in %GG* below %=uddlestone and 8ullum, (II(:14(*: %G1* %i* 0ustralia meets Sweden in the Bavis .up final in Becember %ii* EEE0ustralia beats Sweden in the Bavis .up final in Becember The sentence in %GGi* is ;uite natural in a context where 0ustralia and Sweden have already ;ualified for the final. The use of the 8resent in %GGii* is unnatural, since the sentence conveys that the result itself has already been arranged. -t is to be noted that sub<ective certainty is not enough2 ,nowing the s,ill, experience and past performances of the team, one might feel certain about the result of the match but this does not sanction the Simple 8resent. The use of the Simple 8resent in %G4iii* is not $ust a re;uirement of the syntactic pattern, but has its base in a contrast of meaning. -n the dependent clauses mentioned, the happening referred to is not a prediction, but a fact that is given. 0 conditional sentence, for instance, has the structure -f U is a fact, then - predict T". %Keech 1&@1:)I*. =ence, the use of the Simple 8resent with 9uture value is appropriate to indicate that the conse;uence of the condition being fulfilled it is inevitable or already decided, as in %G4iii*. To sum up, the ,ey to the Simple 8resent with 9uture value is that it represents 91T1>5 0S 90.T, that it attributes to the future the same degree of certainty that we normally accord to present or past events. % Keech 1&@1:)I*. (.G.(. The 8resent 8rogressive %8rogressive 9uturate* .onsider the following examples borrowed from Keech: %GD* -"m starting wor, tomorrow She"s getting married this spring <ext they are playing the Schubert :ctet

61 -n each of the sentences there is the implication of an arrangement already made. -mportant to mention is the fact that the progressive viewpoint of the predicate does not have its usual value %Smith 1&&1:(G@*, in the sense that the sentences above do not present an open situation. 0s in the case of the Simple 8resent, the 8resent 8rogressive with future time value is used to predict a future situation by virtue of a present plan! programme or arrangement. 0ccording to Smith, the plan, arrangement are to be ta,en as preliminary stages of the future event %$ust li,e in the case of the Simple 8resent*2hence the reference time %i.e. 0s#T* of the 8rogressive 9uturate is the present and the future time adverbial specifies the 56#T of the sentence. The general assumption is that the factor of plan or arrangement restricts the 8rogressive 9uturate to dynamic doing" verbs cases where human agency is involved, hence the anomaly of examples li,e %G) b,c* below: %G)* a* /ohn is rising at D tomorrow b* FThe sun is rising at D tomorrow F-t is raining tomorrow c* F+ho is being captain of the team next SaturdayE -n %G)c* the progressive occurs with an individual level state of being and having %be, contain! consist! cost! have etc* that generally do not occur in the progressive. 8resent progressive sentences with future time adverbs tend to be used for the relatively near future rather than distant future whereas there is no such difference in the case of the Simple 9uturate. The 8rogressive 9uturate may also convey a sense of imminence that is absent from the use of the simple present tense with future time adverbs: %G@* The Smiths are leaving tomorrow this .hristmas. !y aunt is coming to stay with us

=uddlestone and 8ullum %(II(* contrast the use of the simple present tense form with the present progressive form with future time adverbs along similar terms. .onsider first the sentences %(1 in =A8*: %G'* %a* - phone her tonight %b* -"m phoning her tonight %c* She has her operation tomorrow d* She"s having her operation tomorrow %e* -t expires tomorrow in five years %f* -t"s expiring tomorrow Ein five years The difference between progressive and non#progressive is fairly clear in pairs li,e %G'a,b*. The non#progressive %G'a* suggests a schedule or plan: perhaps - regularly call her on Sunday or perhaps the call is part of a larger plan or arrangement# it"s hardly possible if -"d simply said casually, +ll phone you tonight. The progressive could be used in these schedule plan scenarios, but it is not limited to them: it could be that - have formed the intention to call her %without consulting her or anyone else about the

62 matter* and am waiting till - thin, she"ll be in. -n %c * and %d* there is little difference between the two forms2 operations normally involve formal scheduling, the only possible difference is that the progressive tends to be used for the relatively near future

(.G.4. ?e 7oing To .onsider the following example: %G&* %i* -"m going to call him %ii* -t"s going to rain.

Ce going to is a fro3en form that cannot be analy3ed into two separate verb forms: it is listed as such in the lexicon. /espersen %1&41* remar,s that the structure be going to derives from the progressive form of the verb to go: Rgoing loses its meaning as a verb of movement and becomes an empty grammatical wordS. The same process occurred in 9rench with the form <e vais faire. -n contemporary 5nglish, be going to is mainly used in collo;uial speech. The basic meaning of be going to is that of Rfuture fulfillment of the presentS %Keech, 1&@1*. Keech %1&@1* identifies two extensions of this general meaning of to be going to: the first one is Rthe future fulfillment of present intention S that is chiefly found with human sub<ects who consciously exercise their will and with doing or agentive verbs. Thus a sentence li,e F+ onder hether she is going to kno you is odd because one cannot will oneself into ,nowing somebody. %DI* +hat are you going to do todayE - am going to stay at home and write letters They"re going to get married in a registry office :n this reading a sentence such as - am going to punish you" is felt as stronger than - intend to punish you"2 it implies the spea,er"s confidence in his power to put the threat into effect. The intention communicated by to be going to is usually ascribable to the sub<ect of the sentence. -n passive sentences, to be going to refers to the intention of the implied agent: This all is going to be painted green %i.e. we or somebody else intend to paint the wall green"* %Keech 1&@):DD* the second extension of the general sense of be going to can be stated as Rfuture fulfillment of present causeS %Keech, 1&@1*. This sense is common with both animate and inanimate sub<ects and agentive and non5agentive verbs, covering thus a wider range of contexts than the intentional meaning of to be going to %Keech 1&@)*: %D1* She is going to have another baby %i.e., she is already pregnant* thin, -"m going to faint %i.e., - already feel ill* There"s going to be a

6* storm in a minute %i.e., - can see the blac, clouds gathering* +atch outN The pile of boxes is going to fall -n all the sentences above the feeling is that the events/causes leading to the future event are under ay. <otice that be going to can also be used when spea,ing about periods remote from 1T#T, that is to say in neither of the two uses is imminence a necessary semantic accompaniment of be going to: %D(* %i* -"m going to be a policeman when - grow up %present intention* %ii* -f +interbottom"s calculations are correct, this planet is going to burn itself out (II,III,III years from now %present cause* 7enerally! Ce going to is inappropriate in subclauses .ompare: main clauses of +F5

%D4* -f you accept that $ob, you"ll never regret it vs. F-f you accept that $ob, you are never going to regret it The difference is accounted for by the fact that be going focuses on the present circumstances %0S#T Hpresent*, while in the case of ill it focuses on future rather than present contingencies %0S#T Hfuture*. -f the circumstances are present rather than future be going to is suitable in the main clause of if#clauses %see ex.D(ii and DGi,ii*. :n the other hand, many corpus studies mention that, unli,e shall/ ill! be going to is well#represented in if#clauses: %DG* -f we carry on li,e this we are going to find ourselves in difficulty. -f you"re going to lose your temper, - am not going to won"t play. 0nd if he"s going to wal, to Tenby they could be starting when he is in Tenby. -f we are going to get there on time we must leave immediately %=A8: (I1* (.G.G. +ill and Shall !ost traditional grammars have interpreted the modal auxiliaries ill and shall as means of expressing future time. -n fact, the contribution of these modal verbs in sentences such as %DD* below is modal: the examples in %DDi* the interpretation is that of ma,ing predictions, i.e. something involving the spea,er"s $udgement, while those in %DDii* express volitional futurity: %DD* %i* 0llan will be in ?ucharest now !ary will be in Sibiu tomorrow Tomorrow"s weather will be cold and cloudy Tou will feel better after you ta,e this medicine %ii* -f he should decide to instruct us further in the matter, we"ll let you ,now.

6+ The only relative - ,now of, Boctor, is a daughter in 0merica. -"ll cable her, naturally. The mixture of %modal and temporal* values of these modal verbs is due to the diachronic development of 5nglish: at the beginning ill/shall had only modal values and in time they also developed a future reading when they occur with future time adverbs. Keech %1&@1* ma,es the following comments with respect to their usage: Rfre;uently a sentence with ill/shall is incomplete without an adverbial of definite time: F-t will rain FThe room will be cleaned. These sentences are relatively unacceptable on their own, presumably because of their factual emptiness: we all feel certain that it will rain" at some time in the future, so there is no point in saying it will rain" unless an actual time can be forecastS. 0lthough the ill/shall construction is generally assumed to provide 5nglish with the nearest approximation to a colourless", neutral future", one should not describe it as a future tense" on a par with the 8resent and 8ast Tenses. 0ccording to Keech, we cannot be as certain of future happenings as we are of events past and present, and for this reason, even the most confident prognostication must indicate something of the spea,er"s attitude and so be tinged with modality. &ill and shall are no exceptions" %Keech 1&@):D(*. Several contemporary large#si3e grammars, such as The .ambridge 7rammar of the 5nglish Kanguage" %(II(*,assume that while there are numerous ways of indicating future time, there is no grammatical category that can properly be analysed as a future tense ;=A8:(I&* The ill/shall future is favoured in contexts in which it is appropriate to ma,e predictions: %i* forecast %weather, harvest, etc*: Tomorrow"s weather will be cold and cloudy. <ext year we shall have a good harvest. -t"ll be winter soon. Tou"ll come of age next year. The next budget will be a severe one. %ii* cause#effect relationship: Tou will feel better after medicine 8erhaps -"ll change my mind after -"ve spo,en to my wife this

%iii*prophetic statements: -n twenty years" time the average employee will wor, a twenty#five hour wee,. %iv* main clause of conditional sentences: %i* -f you pull the lever,the roof will slide bac,. -f you wor, hard, you will succeed. %v*-nstantaneous intention: The ,ettle is boiling. -"ll ma,e some tea. The only relative - ,now of, Boctor, is a daughter in 0merica. -"ll cable her, naturally. The telephone is ringing"."0ll right, -"ll answer it". Bifferences between shall/ ill future and going to future 0 very interesting and intuitively clear suggestion, put forth by >.0 .lose %1&@I:(4I*, is that the ma$or difference between shall/ ill and be

64 going to as mar,ers of futurity lies in the distinction between future# oriented" and present#oriented" expressions of futurity. 0ccording to .lose, expressions that predict" an event or state are future#oriented", whereas present oriented" expressions are those that may contain present indications of what the future may bring" %.lose 1&@I:(4I*. 0ccordingly, be going to is described as present#oriented" since the essential point of this construction is a focus on some present factor %e.g. intention, preparation, obvious signs* which is felt to be leading to a future event. &ill/shall are described as future#oriented", since they are preferred when emphasis on present signs, intention, etc. is absent or irrelevant. Keech %1&@1:DG* considers the meaning of the going to construction to be future fulfillment of the present". =udlestone and 8ullum %(II(:(11* also lay emphasis on the fact that be going to has greater focus on the matrix time which depends on the matrix tense: present with is going to and past with as going to. The 0S#T of be going to" is ,hence, Present, the adverb, if any, specifying 56#T. -n the case of shall will" 0S#T is 9uture and 56#T is co#temporal with it. The above#stated difference accounts for the following: %i* the inappropriateness of going to in future conditional sentences except when the condition is a present one rather than a future one %Keech 1&@1* %see examples above* %ii* imminence is not a necessary semantic accompaniment of going to constructions %see examples above* %iii* going to expressions in the past do not entail that the situation described by the verb was actualised, while the ould version %restricted to narrative past* entails actuali3ation: %D)* %i* =e was going to marry his tutor at the end of the year %ii* =e would marry his tutor at the end of the year %iii* =e was going to Fwould challenge me to a duel but on mature consideration he changed his mind %iv* - was going to Fwould fail the exam, but the examiner turned out to be short#sighted. The as going to version in %D)i* implicates non#actualisation of the situation, which is accounted for by the current focus mentioned above: as going to focuses on the intention arrangement obtaining in the past rather than on the future event as such. &ould, on the other hand, is semantically strong and the ould version entails actualisation of the event of marrying. -n case the sentence has a past time sphere, all the future time expressions are modified to indicate a future O past situation % future in the past*: %D'* =e was leaving town the day after we arrived policeman later in his life. =e was going to be a

65 8almer %1&@&:14I* remar,s that Rfor future in the past, be going to is regularly usedS, while in literary style would is li,ely to occur %Keech, 1&@1*: %D&* - was going to say that it loo,ed a bit li,e a pheasant in flight Pand the <orth $ust wasn"t going to have it at any price Twenty years later, Bic, +hittington would be the richest man in Kondon

(.G.D. +ill Shall O 8rogressive -nfinitive Traditional grammars list the structure ill/shall be 85ing among the means of expressing future time events. =uddlestone and 8ullum %(II(:1@1* ta,e the same point of view as far as the willOprogressive is concerned. 0s in the case of the 9uturate, the progressive form of the verb is not interpreted in terms of imperfective" aspectuality but rather in terms of future time reference. .onsider the examples below: .onsider the following examples: %)I* %i* This time next wee, - shall be sailing across the 0tlantic %aspectual meaning* %ii* Bon"t call me at & -"ll be eating my supper. %aspectual meaning* %iii*+hen we get there, they"ll probably still be having lunch %aspectual meaning* %iv* +ill you be going to the shops this afternoonE %future time reading* %v* +ill you go to the shopsE %re;uest* %vi* +hen the meeting ends we"ll be flying to ?onn %ambiguous* -n the sentences in %)Ii,ii,iii* the verb is in the progressive form and the modal shall contributes its %modal* predictive sense. Therefore, the sentence predicts that this time next eek/1 oclock/ hen e get here the activity denoted by the predicate is in progress. -n all these sentences we can identify the aspectual meaning of the progressive. -n %iv* the interpretation of the sentence is different. The difference in interpretation can best be seen by comparing %)Iiv* to %)Iv* the non#progressive counterpart of %)Iiv*. 0ccording to grammarians, the salient interpretation of the non#progressive %)Iv* is as a request to the sub$ect of the sentence to go to the shops. The role of the progressive in %)Iiv* is to avoid such an interpretation2 the progressive indicates that the matter has already been settled rather than being sub$ect to decision now %=A8 (II(:1@(*. The difference between the two meanings of the progressive progressive aspectuality and future time reference# is conspicuous in the ambiguity of %)Ivi*. :n the progressive aspectuality %imperfective* reading we will already be flying to ?onn when the meeting ends i.e. 0S#T within 56#T2 1T#T before 0S#T2 on the already decided future" interpretation the hen ad$unct says when we will leave: 1T#T before 0S#T 56#T,$ust as in the

66 non#progressive ell fly , which, however, suggests, more or less, instantaneous decision. -n what follows we ;uote Keech"s %1&@1:)'* comments on the different usages of will shall vs will shall and the progressive, comments which confirm the statements above. +ith human sub$ects and activity verbs the modals will shallO short infinitive fre;uently combine prediction with overtones of volition. .onsider first the following set of sentences: %D@* a* -"ll drive into Kondon next wee, %-"ve made my mind"* b* -"ll be driving into Kondon next wee, %as a matter of fact"* c* +ill you put on another play soon %8leaseN"* d* +ill you be putting on another play soonE %-s this going to happenE"* R-n principle, it is possible to use %D@a* in the neutral predictive sense of shall die one day", but in practice, it is difficult to avoid suggesting at the same time that one wants and intends to drive to Kondon. The possibility of volitional coloring is avoided in sentence %D@b*, which is understood simply as a statement that such and such is going to happen". Sentence %D@b* could easily precede the offer .an - give you a lift"E, for it would forestall any aw,ward feeling of indebtedness on the listener"s part: - shall be ma,ing the $ourney anyway, so don"t feel you would be causing me any trouble. The same thing applies to the second pair. 0s a ;uestion, sentence %D@c* implicates the intentions of the listener, and therefore comes to sound almost li,e a ca$oling imperative2 but sentence %D@d* simply as,s whether a future production will come to passS. 0long with Keech %1&@1* we will call this form of future as future as a matter of course" -n case the sentence has a past time sphere, all the future time expressions are modified to indicate a future O past situation % future in the past*: %D'* =e was leaving town the day after we arrived policeman later in his life =e was going to be a

To the above#mentioned expressions of futurity in 5nglish we can also add the following: to be about to %used to express imminent future situations2 it is less collo;uial than to be going to*, to be ready to, to be near to, to be on the point of on the verge of on the brin, of: %&I* =e was about to retrace his steps when he was suddenly transfixed to the spot by a sudden appearance =is finger was upon the trigger and he was on the point of fire =e has been on the brin, of marrying her =e was $ust on the point of proposing to her The miserable foreigner loo,ed ready to drop with fatigue - was very nearly offering a large reward

67