Constantin MANEA

English Morphology
– Verba –

Editura Universităţii din Piteşti

2017
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MANEA, CONSTANTIN

English Morphology. Verba / Constantin Manea

Editura Universităţii din Piteşti, 2017
Bibliogr.
Index
ISBN 973-xxx

2
CONTENTS
MAIN CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH VERB / 5
Link(ing) Verbs / x
Auxiliary Verbs / x
MAIN CLASSES OF VERBS – A SYNOPSIS / x
Modal Defective Verbs / x
The verb “to be” as an auxiliary / x
Modal Verbs – Main uses / x
Further remarks on modals, modality, and grammatical moods, as well as “moods” / x
Other auxiliaries related to the modals / x
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF THE ENGLISH VERB / x
TENSE / 31
CLASSIFICATION OF TENSES / 34
THE PRESENT TENSE / x
FUTURITY – PRINCIPAL MEANS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME IN
ENGLISH / x
TENSES OF THE PAST / x
THE GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF ASPECT / x
THE CATEGORY OF VOICE / x
SEQUENCE OF TENSES / x
MODALITY AND MOODS / x
THE CATEGORY OF MOOD / x
THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD / x
THE CONDITIONAL MOOD / x
THE IMPERATIVE MOOD / x
THE NON-FINITE MOODS / x
THE INFINITIVE / x
THE GERUND / x
THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE / x
THE PAST PARTICIPLE / x
THE ADVERB / x
THE PREPOSITION / x
THE CONJUNCTION / x
THE INTERJECTION / x
REMEMBER, AND PRACTICE WITH, YOUR GRAMMAR. EXERCISES / x
APPENDICES / x
FURTHER TENSE PRACTICE / x
VOICE – EXERCISES / x
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY / x

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4
 MAIN CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE ENGLISH VERB

In traditional grammar, the verb is defined as any of a large class of words in a language
that serve to indicate the occurrence or performance of an action, the existence of a state or
condition, etc. In English, such words as (to) run, (to) make, (to) do, (to) understand, (to)
realize are verbs. As a main part of speech, the verb designates: actions (e.g. to go, to make, to
walk); processes in the form of actions (e.g. to stand, to lie, to sleep); states, i.e. the appearance
or modification of a characteristic or attitude (to harden, to weaken, to like), etc.
The definition that The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar gives the term is the
follows: “verb 1. A member of a major WORD CLASS that is normally essential to clause
structure and which inflects and can show contrasts of aspect, number, person, mood, tense,
and voice. In traditional grammar, the verb is sometimes defined notionally as a ‘doing’ word,
but modern grammar prefers a more syntactic definition”.
On the other hand, in modern descriptive linguistic analysis, the verb is defined as a word
or group of words that functions as the predicate of a sentence, or introduces the predicate; in
other words, it is “A major, and usually essential, element of clause structure” ( The Oxford
Dictionary of English Grammar).
Along the lines defined by the first acceptation of the term, “verbs are usually subdivided
first into: (i) FULL (or lexical) verbs; (II) AUXILIARY verbs. Full verbs are further classified
syntactically, depending on what accompanying elements are obligatory or permissible. The
major types include TRANSITIVE, INTRANSITIVE, and LINKING (or COPULAR) verbs. Auxiliary
verbs are sometimes divided into PRIMARY and MODAL”. (The Oxford Dictionary of English
Grammar).
From a more comprehensive angle, English verbs are usually classified in keeping with
their composition, derivation, basic form, content, and function.
According to their composition, there are four main categories of English verbs, namely:
simple verbs; compound verbs; complex verbs, and verbal phrases. Simple verbs are those
verbs which can not be decomposed in further morphological elements, of the type: to like, to
construct etc. Compound verbs – like any compounds (i.e. words formed from two existing
words or combining forms), as well as complex verbs, are formed of one or more
morphological elements / parts of speech, which are written together. Consequently, we may
call them compound verbs proper, which may be of the type: noun+verb (to waylay);
adverb+verb (to broadcast); adjective+verb (to whitewash) – all combinations in which the
semantic and morphological fusion is so strong that they behave like words in their own right
(i.e. of full rank or status). As a result, in the course of their conjugation they are inflected at
the end: e.g. “The Rwandan guerrillas successfully combatted the stronger regular forces,
basically by waylaying their convoys”; “Sam whitewashes his cottage every spring.”
On the other hand, we recognize the disconnected verb+adverbial particle compounds,
which are called complex verbs.1 Such loose structures are especially obvious when it comes to
postposing the adverbial particle in transitive verbs, e.g. “She put everything she heard down.”
(“Nota tot ce auzea”). When in similar verbs-with-adverb combinations there is no semantic
fusion between the two verbs, questions can be asked relative to the respective adverbs (e.g. to
come in, to go out, to look up) – with the possible questions (where?; where to?; in what
direction?); by contrast, in the previous example (which is, however, an example of a complex
verb) no question can be asked in connection with the particle down. A special category of
complex verbs is represented by the so-called verbs with obligatory prepositions (to look after,
1
Though, not in the (syntactical) sense glossed by the same Oxford Dictionary of Grammar:
“complex verb phrase: any verb phrase (except a one-word one), including perfect and
progressive tenses (e.g. have forgotten, is hoping) and phrases contanining modals (e.g. should
apologize, must remember)”

5
to look for, to look up to, to look down on, etc). In addition, there are such verbal phrases as to
have a look, to have a drink, to have a try, to make haste, to make way, etc., which are made up
of a verb + a nominal element, where the respective verb has a diminished lexical value, and
the nominal part becomes predominant
In accordance with their derivation, there are three main categories of verbs: verbs formed
by affixation; verbs formed by suffixation; verbs formed by conversion. The verbs formed by
prefixation are verbs in which a prefix is appended in initial position (in grammar, a prefix is an
affix that precedes the stem to which it is attached, as for example re- in redo). Here are some
examples of prefixed verbal structures: en-+noun/adjective: to encircle, to enjoy, to endanger,
to enslave, to enlarge, to ensure; in-+ noun/adjective: (in sense (1) “in; into; towards; within;
on”, e.g. infiltrate; immigrate, insure; in sense (2) “having an intensive or causative 2 function”,
e.g. inflame; imperil.
There are four categories of verbs formed by suffixation:
● noun/adjective+ “-en”: to strengthen, to broaden, to whiten, to lighten, to shorten
● noun/adjective: creation → to create; to calibrate
● adjective (only)+ “-ify”: solid → to solidify
● adjective + “-ize”/ “-ise”, e.g. to localize / localise; to dramatise / dramatize
Certain nouns, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns are frequently converted into verbs. This
is the category of the verbs formed by conversion: paper → to paper; iron → to iron; blue →
to blue; down → to down (the ninepins); to thee and thou somebody; to butter a slice of bread,
etc.
There are two main categories of verbs in point of content:
-principal/notional verbs – i.e. verbs which have a full lexical value/mean (to work, to
sleep, etc.);
-non-principal/non-notional verbs – verbs which have a diminished or no lexical value.
There are two more criteria of classifying verbs: in point of their lexical aspect, which
is some kind of implied duration expressed by the respective verbs, they are, - durative verbs,
denoting actions and states that last in time (to exist, to live);
-time-point verbs, denoting actions and states which occure in a fraction of time (to
stop; to start etc.);
-verbs of double aspect, wich may be used either as durative or time-point verbs in
different contexts (“She hears well. She heard a noise”.)
In point of predication (their capacity to make sense by themselves) or to make sense
with the help of other lexical-grammatical unis, they are: -verbs of complete predication
(intransitive or reflexive verbs)3;
-verbs of incomplete predication (auxiliary verbs, link verbs, modal verbs, with or
without prepositions, some verbs used in special constructions);
-verbs with a double predication (a special category of verbs).
OBSERVATION: Very few verbs belong to one these groups. It is very difficult to say
which rule the following verbs belong to: e. g.” I smoke cigars. – I like to smoke. “;” You’ll get
no reward. –You’ll get cold. – You’ll get caught.” etc.
The most common verbs are in one of these usages, which one’s linguistic feeling tends
to regard as the true function of the verb in question. Thus, such verbs as “to smile”, “to walk”,
“to live” are generally used intransitively, while “to excite”, “to kill”, “to teach” are used
transitively.
At the same time, the opposite usage is by no means rare:
2
In grammar, causative means “relating to a form or class of verbs, such as persuade, that
express causation”.
3
In this context, the term reflexive denotes: the verbs used transitively with the reflexive
pronoun as its direct object, as the French se lever “to get up” (literally “to raise oneself”), or
English to dress oneself. The adjective reflexive can also denote a class of pronouns that refer
back to the subject of a sentence or clause. Thus, in the sentence That man thinks a great deal
of himself, the pronoun himself is reflexive.

6
 e.g. “She smiled her approval.”; “He walked the horse up the hill.”; “He lived a life of
ease.”; “It is easy to kill but impossible to destroy life.”; “I believe she teachers.” Thus, the
truth is that the formal distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs – which was
formerly a proeminent feature of English, producing such pairs of verbs (as set – sit; lay – lie,
etc.) – has now disappeared, and most verbs can display both functions.

OBSERVATION: A verb used transitively expresses a two-sided action, as can be seen in

the next sentences:
e.g. “The girl loves her doll.”; “I hear a car.” In such sentences, the content could be
symbolized by a left to right active influence, that is subject to verb and subject to object. Each
sentence may be said to contain two more or less important elements: the activity of the subject
(the girl “loves”); the fact that activity is directed towards the respective object (doll, car).
Sentences of this type, containing the most common transitive usage, can be most easily
converted into the passive.
On the other hand, in the case of transitive verbs, which also have perfective
associations signifying change, the following point should be noted: The passive form may
signify either condition or change – “The shop will be closed on Sunday.” – which may mean
that the shop will not be open on Sunday, or the actual closing of the shop will take place then.
Similarly, in the sentence “He was buried there”, one has two meanings: “He lay buried there.”
or “The burial took place there.”
There are quite a number of transitive verbs to which the above mention “active
symbols from left to right” does not quite apply, as in the case of verbs with an object of result:
“He struck a light.” As compared “He dug the ground.”; “He painted a window.” (He made a
painting of it) – a case in whith the passive from of these verbal combinations signifies change
only, not condition – “The window was painted.” A special type of object of result is the object
related in content to the verb:
e.g. “She smiled a curious smile.”; “She laughed a sad laugh.”; “She sighed a little sigh.”;
“Die a glorious death.”; “Sleep the sleep of the just.”
These “cognate object” expressions 4 are of special stylistic importance in that they can
replace the respective adverbial expressions: He died a glorious death = He died gloriously. As
to the verbs in the intransitive usage, they may have the same associations as the same
verb+object combinations and the impled object varries according to context and situations:
“How dirty you are! Don’t you ever wash?” or “We wash every Monday”. ↔ “We wash the
linen every Monday.” – implies the respective reflexive object.
Special attention should be paid to such verbs which, in addition to being used
intransitively, often occur with a reflexive pronoun as object. The difference between the two
forms of expression may be great, or rather small. Thus, between the expressions “he dresses”
and “he dressed himself” there is a certain difference of connotation where the second usage of
the reflexive pronoun indicates a more intentional action. Similarly, in the sentence “He is not
old enough to dress himself.” – the respective reflexion points to the respective ability. In the
example “They married.” – we will have a reciprocal association if the pronoun “they”
represents a couple, but not if it represents the idea of brother and sister. On the other hand,
many verbs used intransitively may have such a reciprocal implication: “They parted in anger.”
/They kiss/ quarrel / fight whenever they meet.”

Link(ing) Verbs
A link verb is a syntactic category by means of which the subject is connected with the
predicative in the sentence, in order to form a nominal predicate (e. g. “John is my brother.”).
(In some grammars, the linking verbs were the only representatives of the class of the verbs of
incomplete predication). There are cases, however, where the verb can have a noun attached
4
See also the Collins Dictionary definition of a cognate object: “cognate object. Grammar. a
noun functioning as the object of a verb to which it is etymologically related, as in think a
thought or sing a song”.

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both as an object and as a predicative, and the difference between the two usages of the same
verb as a transitive or link is marked by putting it into the passive voice, in the idea that verbs
used as copulas5 do not allow this. Thus, in the sentence “He made a good soldier”, the verb
“made” can be replaced by the verb “was” and no passive transformation is possible in such a
case. Since most link verbs preserve some of their original lexical meaning, they are classified
as follows:
Link verbs of being: “Man is supposedly the only intelligent being on the earth.”
Link verbs of becoming: “He became tired after a while.”
Link verbs of remaining: “He remained silent.”
Link verbs of seeing and appearing: “You seem tired.”: “He looks well”; “She appeared
exhausted after the meeting.”

Auxiliary verbs. An auxiliary verb is a verb devoid of any semantic value, by means of
which different verbal forms – such as tenses and moods – are formed. A special category of
auxiliary verbs is formed by modal verbs, which are in fact semi-auxiliary verbs, expressing
such ideas as command, promise, etc. on the part of the subject with which they form in the
sentence a so-called compound modal verbal predicate. The auxiliary “to have” helps to form
the Present Perfect and Past Tense of the Indicative Mood, and also to form The Perfect
Infinitive and the Perfect Gerund or Participle.
The auxiliary “to be” helps to form the continuous aspect conjugation and the passive
voice; “shall” and “will” help to form the future tenses proper (Future Perfect and Future
Tense), whilst “should” and “would” help to form the Future in the Past and Future Perfect in
the Past, and also the Conditional (Present and Past). The verb “to let” helps to form some
imperative forms in the first and third person, singular and plural (e.g. “Let me / her ask!”); i tis
also used as an auxiliary to express a request, proposal, or command, or to convey a warning or
threat, e.g. let’s get on; just let me catch you here again! The auxiliary “to do / did” is used for
negative, interrogative and interrogative-negative forms in the Simple Present Tense and the
Simple Tense, in the Indicative Mood.
Observation: “Do” is not used in sentences whose subject is “who”, “what”, “which”,
such as in: “What happened?”; “Which boy / What comes next?”

MAIN CLASSES OF VERBS – A SYNOPSIS

I. Auxiliary Verbs:
- they help the main verbs to form their tense: the three forms (affirmative, negative,
interrogative);
- they are not translated / they have not a sense of their own when they form the tense of a main
verb; they only show the tense and the form of the main verb (E.g.: I was writing the lesson; I
have finished the book);
- they may have a sense of their own when they are used alone - as notional verbs (E.g.: I have
a book);
- they work on distinct domains of tenses:
• TO BE
- all the continuous tenses-active voice (general formula: TO BE + Vb. 1 + -ing);
- all the passive voice: gen. formula: TO BE + Vb. 3.
• TO HAVE - perfect tenses + gen. formula: TO HAVE + Vb. 3.
• TO DO
5
See also the Collins Dictionary definition of copula: “a verb, such as be, seem, or taste, that is
used merely to identify or link the subject with the complement of a sentence. Copulas may
serve to link nouns (or pronouns), as in he became king, nouns (or pronouns) and adjectival
complements, as in sugar tastes sweet, or nouns (or pronouns) and adverbial complements, as
in John is in jail”.

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- simple tenses: negative and interrogative forms:
- present simple: DO + NOT + VB. 1 (neg.) or DO + Subject + VB 1 (interr.)
- past simple: DID + NOT + VB. 1 (neg.) or DID + Subject + VB. 1 (interr.)
• SHALL / WILL
- Future tense simple: I / we + SHALL + VB. 1 you
he / she / it + WILL
they

II. Modal verbs:

In grammar, a verb form or an auxiliary verb is modal if it expresses a distinction of
mood, such as that between possibility and actuality. The modal auxiliaries in English include
can, do, may, must, need, ought, shall, should, will, and would.
- Modal verbs show the speaker’s attitude. They are a special type of auxiliaries which express
the modality (the “nuance”) of the action or the state. They are generally followed by the forms
of the infinitive, e.g. I must do it soon.
- They form the negative and interrogative forms by themselves (like the auxiliaries): can + not
= cannot / can’t / Can I…?; must + not = mustn’t / Must you…? / may + not / May I…? So,
they are called the “Friends of NOT” (There are 24 friends of NOT).
- they have not all the tenses (cf. the auxiliaries), but their (approximate) equivalents do have all
the verbal forms, e.g. I had to go there.
Present Past Modal equivalents
Can Could to be able to
Must … (Must) to have to
May Might to be allowed /
to be permitted to
- they are always used after verbs in the short infinitive form:
E.g.: I can to write. _____ I can write. I must have done it.
The main modal attitudes / “nuances” the modals indicate are:
-Possibility: e.g. Don’t go there. It could be a setup.
The players’ legs may be broken on certain matches.
This may not be very impressive, and yet…
You could have done it easier with his help.
Saying no would have been useless.
-Probability: He will be tired for the time being… who knows?
You must be the owner of this house, then.
-Wishes: He’d rather be left alone.
I wish he wouldn’t drive so fast.
-Determination (“hotărîre”): I will help him! I wont’t put up with it!
He won’t listen to her.
This baby shall be well looked after.
-Capability (“capacitate, putinţă”): He can dance / write / play football.
I could taste different kinds of wine when I was younger; could you?
-Necessity and obligation: You must do as you are told.
I have (got) to do all the regular practice.
Must I write all that?
They should do as is appropriate.
Am I to read all this stuff at the conference?
-Permission: You can take that notebook if you want to.
You may begin, sir.
May / Can I come in?
-Request: Daddy, will you help me?
Can I have a can of Coke?
Could I ask you a question?

9
III. Main / Notional Verbs:
- They have complete / full sense in a sentence (=they are notional verbs): I write my lessons
every day.
- For the past tenses and the past participle form, we must remember the classification:
- regular verbs: which receive the ending –ED for the past tense and the perfect participle form
(e.g.: ask - asked “am întrebat, întrebai, întrebam” - asked “întrebat”)
- irregular verbs: which have different forms for the past tense and perfect participle forms
(e.g.: write “a scrie” – wrote “am scris, scrisei, scriam” – written “scris / scrisă”).
AUXILIARIES

TO BE
Present Tense Affirmative Negative
Long form Short form Long form Short form
Singular
I. I am I’m I am not I’m not
II. You are You’re You are not You aren’t
III.
- masc. He is He’s He is not He isn’t
- fem. She is She’s She is not She isn’t
- n. It is It’s It is not It isn’t
Plural
I. We are We’re We are not We aren’t
II. You are You’re You are not You aren’t
III.
- masc. – – – –
- fem. They They’re They are not They aren’t
- n.

Interrogative form
Affirmative Long negative Short negative
Am I …? Am I not…? Am I not …?
Are you …? Are you not…? Aren’t you …?
Is he / she / it …? Is he / she / it not… ? Isn’t he …?
Are we / you / they …? Are we / you / they not …? Aren’t we … ?

Past Tense
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I / he / she / it was I / … was not / wasn’t Was I / … / wasn’t I …?
You / we / they were You / … were not / weren’t Were you/… Weren’t
you/…?

TO HAVE

Present tense
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I / you / we / they have I / … have not (haven’t) Have I / … ?
(Haven’t I)
He / she / it has He / … has not (hasn’t) Has he / … ? (Hasn’t
he)

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Past Tense Simple
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I … they had I / … they had not (hadn’t) Had I / … ? (Hadn’t
I … ?)

Modal Defective verbs (also called semi-auxiliary verbs). Any linguistic utterance,
besides transmitting an information proper, also expresses the attitude of the speaker
towards the respective communication or lack of conviction, curiosity or lack of
curiosity; volitive attitude, that is determination or lack of de termination, authority or lack
of authority and – above all – an emotional attitude, that is one of sympathy or hatred, approval
or disapproval, pleasure or disgust. The role of all of the above in transmitting the message is
trying not only to inform somebody, but also to impress him/her in a sense desired by the
speaker.
“For practical purposes, the meanings of the modals are often differentiated into EPISTEMIC6
(expressing probability and deduction) and DEONTIC (expressing duty and obligation). But it is
possible to view both types of meaning as on a single scale, with possibility (e.g. can) at one
end and necessity (e.g. must) at the other” (The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, s.v.
modal verb)
Thus, when someone from the weather bureau broadcasts quite neutrally “We’re in for a
very severe winter this year”, the truth of the communication is based on scientific data, as well
as all sorts of possible connotations (such as: people should take measures of precautions, or
they are going to suffer from cold in winter), warning people in advance being the very ration
of any weather institution. In linguistics, such an implied or sometimes manifest attitude on the
part of the transmitter towards his/her communication, that is towards the content of the whole
sentences or to other occurrences of the sentence, is called modality. In English, modality is
rendered by various linguistic means: phonetic, lexical, grammatical and stylistic.
● Of all the phonetic means of expressing modality, intonation (the raising or the
lowering of one’s voice) is the most important, A very simple word as “ah!” or “oh!” can be
sounded to express excitement, anger, surprise, reproach, dissapointement, irony, protest,
tiredness, entready, emphasis, perplexity etc. Or you can say ironically, “Can you?”, in
response to someone else’s remark “I can speak Japanese fluently”.
● Among the main means of expressing modality (or merely mood, as some
grammarians call it), mention can be made of:
- Certain principal / finite verbs 7 expressing modal forms (like, dislike, order, decide,
love, command, hate);
- Other specific parts of speech with modal force, such as: the noun (intention); the
adjective (sure); the adverbs (firmly, sadly);
- The so-called parenthetical 8 words, that is words and expressions such as adverbs and
adverbial phrases, which lend a colouring of modality to the whole sentences (likely, probably,
possibly, naturally, surely, definitely, positively / to be sure, there is no doubt about it, perhaps,
maybe).

6
In logic, epistemic [epi’sti:mik] means “denoting the branch of modal logic that deals with the
formalization of certain epistemological concepts, such as knowledge, certainty, and
ignorance”.
7
The adjective finite denotes any form or occurrence of a verb inflected for grammatical
features such as person, number, and tense.
8
A parenthesis [pə’renθisis] – pl. parentheses – is a phrase, often explanatory or qualifying,
inserted into a passage with which it is not grammatically connected, and marked off by
brackets, dashes, etc

11
 ● Grammaticaly, modality is rendered by various moods (Imperative, Subjunctive,
Conditional);
● Among all the above mentioned means, the modal-defective verbs are perhaps the
most important. Modal verbs are verbs of incomplete conjugation and predication which
connote a large variety of attitudes on the part of the speaker. In the course of the development
of the English language they had an extensive homonymy. When speaking about Modal Verbs,
one should carefully discriminate between the different modal-defective functions of the same
verb: the modal verb “may” in “He may come any minute.” – may express possibility, but in
“We shan’t start until eight so that he may find us at home.”- “may” is used without any
semantic value, only displaying auxiliary function.
Characteristics of the Modal–Auxiliary Verbs
(shall / should; will / would; can / could; may / might; must; dare; need; ought to).

● In point of morphology, they are verbs of incomplete predications, and they are
always followed by a short meaningful of infinitive with a few exceptions.
● They have a weakened lexical value, expressing nevertheless how the speaker or the
transmitter considers the action, state expressed by the notional verb in the infinitive.
● They are defective verbs, in the sense that they do not have all the basic forms, and
thus cannot be conjugated in certain tenses or moods. Consequently, some of their missing
tenses are supplied by the so-called modal equivalents (“to be able to”, “to have to”, “to be able
to”), or by such verbs as “to be allowed to”, “to be permitted to”, etc.
● Their present tense forms which represented either a subjunctive present or
subjunctive past are grammaticaly polyfunctional. Thus, the following modals “may”, “shall”,
“will”, “can”, “need”, “dare” display a present indicative function, as in “I can’t remember
what he said.” (at this very moment); or if an adverb or modifier of future time is used in the
sentence, the action expressed by the respective infinitive together with the respective
connotative “may”, “can” are directed towards the future as well: “He may change his mind
until next week, who knows?” Similarly, their so-called past tense forms display different
grammatical functions as well. Thus, “could” and “would” are past tense or preterite 9 of “will”
and “can respectively, but they are also conditional present or past tense subjunctive forms,
such as in “We couldn’t bring him round to accept our proposals”; “You could (present
conditional) help him if you would.” (subjunctive past tense). It is to be noted that in
contemporary English “should” does no longer display the preterite function of “shall”, but
only the conditional one: “We should pay more attention in the future.” Similarly, “may”,
“might”, “ought to” have only a present conditional function: “He ought to help a former
classmate more.” (Compare with the next example): “He would go there every other week:” –
the Perfect Past Tense; the equivalent of “He will go there.”
● They do not take the “-s” ending in the third person singular of the Present Tense of
the Indicative Mood.
● They add the negation “not”, and change places with the subject in the inerrogative.
● They are followed by the short form of the infinitive of the principal verbs, with the
exception of “ought to”, followed by the short infinitive of the notional verbs whose actions are
directed towards the past.

THE VERB “TO BE” AS AN AUXILIARY

As an auxiliary, the verb “to be” has four uses: as a principal verb; as an auxiliary of aspect
and tense; as a link verb; as a modal equivalent.
● As a principal verb, it has the forms “am”, “is”, “are” (for present); “was”; “were” (past
tense); “been” (past participle);”being” (indefinite present participle); the subjunctive present-
“be”; subjunctive past tense – “were”; past perfect – “been”. It has a negative form in the
present and past tense, etc. Those negative forms are made by the addition of the negation
9
Preterite or U.S. preterit [‘pretərit], in grammar, means “1. a tense of verbs used to relate past
action, formed in English by inflection of the verb, as jumped, swam; 2. a verb in this tense.”

12
“not”; the interrogative and negative-interrogative forms are made by the inversion of position
of the verb with the subject: “I am not.”; “Am I not?” / “Aren’t I?”
The negative form of the Imperative Mood, in the second person singular and plural, is
made with the auxiliary “do”, “Don’t be afraid!” For emphasis, the auxiliary “do” is also used
in the affirmative of the second person of the Imperative Mood: “Do be patient, I implore you!”
The weak forms, which are actually used in speech, are the following: “am”[əm, m]; “are” [ a:,
ə]; “was” [w(ɔ)z] / [wəz; “were” [wə; “be” [bi:; “been” [bi:n. Its contracted forms are: “I’m;
he’s; we’re; you’re; they’re; he/she/it isn’t/wasn’t [‘wɔznt; we/you/they aren’t/weren’t [wə:nt.
● As an auxiliary verb+the present participle of the notional verbs, “to be” is used to
make up the continuous aspect forms of the verb, e.g. “They are going home now.” In
combination with the past part of the notional verbs, “to be” as an auxiliary is used as a form of
the Passive Voice.
● As a link verb, “to be” may be followed by any part of speech which can be
predicative in the sentence: “He is changed.”; “He is said”; “He is blessed” [‘blesid / blest]. Its
present and past forms are sometimes used instead of the auxiliary “had” to express the past
perfect and present perfect of the verbs: “to come”, “to go”, “to set”.
e.g. “The milkman is/has come”; “The Russians were/have all gone:”; “The sun is set”;
“The sun has set.”
“To be” as a link verb may be found inserted with a number of verbs, used in their turn
as copulas: “He turned out (to be) an excellent organizer.”; “It proved (to be) a big mistake to
have gone there”; “They seemed (to be) a happy couple. “As a rule, the expressions without the
verb “to be” connote a change, or what applies at that particular moment, expressing another
beginning: “It was hoped that the new queen would prove to be an English without her
tyranny.” ; “He proved to be innocent.”
● As a modal equivalent, in the sense of “to have to”, “to be going to”, the verb “to be”
is used in the present and past tense + long infinitive of notional verbs to express/to denote:
- What was/is destined to happen in the future: “I feel confident this is not to be.”; “He
was to die young”;
- A future arrangement:” I am to meet him tomorrow.”; “They were to get married (the)
next week.” (cf. Romanian: “Vreau să…”);
- A command by a third party, that is the expression of the will of someone, other than
the speaker: “<Fellow-clerk> This one is to be finished by the end of the week!”;
- A duty/obligation/possibility: “At what time am I to come?”; “The report is to be
found in the morning paper.” (“Acest raport poate fi găsit în ziarul de dimineaţă.”);
- A direct command from the first person to the second person, singular or plural: “You
are not to let anybody in, while I’m talking on the private line.” (“Să nu laşi/lăsaţi pe nimeni
înăuntru, în timp ce vorbesc pe firul personal.”);
- Followed by a perfect infinitive it refers to something which did not happend in the
past/is not goimg to happen in the future: “I was to have seen him yesterday/tomorrow.” (Urma
să-l fi văzut ieri/mîine:”)

● The verb “to have” is used as a principal verb; an auxiliary verb or an equivalent. In all
cases, it has the following basic forms: to have – had – had - having”. As a rule, the negative,
interrogative and negative-interrogative are formed following the rules of auxiliary verbs.
There are cases, however, when as a principal verb expressing temporary (not permanent)
possession, or when it expresses the ideas of “receiving”, “taking”, as well as when it is used as
a modal equivalent, “to have” takes the auxiliary forms do – does – did in the interrogative and
negative:
e.g. “Did you have breakfast this morning?”; “He didn’t have any records from her between
1995 and 1999.”; “Do you realy have to go there so often?” It has the following weak forms:
have [həv; əv;]; has [həz; əz; z; s]; had [həd; əd; d] and these contracted forms: I’ve; you’ve;
he’s; I’d; you’d; he’d; haven’t.
● As a principal verb, “to have” may be followed by:

13
 - direct object and predicative adjunct: “We shall have the house painted next week.”
- direct object: “He has many shortcomings.”
- complex direct object: “I wouldn’t have him to do that.”
It may express:
● possession, or the relationship of belonging: “The garden has a locked gate.”; “They have
a good business relatioship.”
Observation: In standard English, the combination “have got” is always substitued for
“have” as a full verb with object:
“I have a house of my own.”/ “I have got a house of my own.”
In the second example, a resultative association has been added to the meaning of the
verb “to have”: “He has a black eye.” (“Are un ochi negru) “He has got a black eye.” (“S-a ales
cu o vânătaie. / Are o vânătaie la ochi / un ochi învineţit.”)
In colloquial speech, however, “have got” is often substituted for “have” without this
association: “She has got to work hard for a living.”/ “She has to work hard for a living.”; “She
has got/has blue eyes.”; “I have got to go there today.”/ “I have to go there today.”
● It is used in expressions connected with meals, food; medications, entertainment,
difficulty, being in this case synonymous with the respective verbs: to eat, to take, to give, to
encounter, etc.: “Have you had breakfast yet?”; “You ought to have had your medicine two
hours ago.”; “I hope you’ll have a good holiday.”; “They are having a party tomorrow.”; “Did
you have trouble with the Customs?”; but “Do you take sugar with your coffee?” (=a matter of
habit, Rom “obişnuinţă”).
● The verb “to have” may be followed by certain nouns from which they have derived
in order to express a synonymous meaning: “to have a bath”; “to have a chat”; “to have a ride /
drink / fall / laugh / smoke / swim / look”, etc. (cf. the verb counterparts: to bath / bathe, to
chat, to ride, to drink, to fall, to laugh, to smoke, to swim, to look)
● The verb “to have” as an auxiliary forms the perfect infinitive “to have called”;
“having called”; “had called”, etc. When it is followed by a direct object+ past participle or an
infinitive, it has a causative function, expressing the idea that another person or agent will
perform the respective action, not the subject: “to have one’s shoes repaired / cleaned /
greased”; “to have one’s house painted / decorated”. So, to have means here “to cause, to
compel, or to require to (be, do, or be done)”, e.g. “I’ll have my shoes mended”, “What will
you have her do now?”, “Janet had her bracelet stolen” (= causative-passive meaning).
Observation: One should be careful when dealing with such combinations of the verb
“to have” + direct object, because sometimes the sense of the sentence may be ambiguous, e.g.
“She had her bracelet stolen.” – the second meaning may infer the (otherwise absurd) idea that
the subject willingly asked somebody to do the respective stealing (Romanian: “A furat / A pus
să i se fure”).
● The verb “to have” as a modal equivalent, followed by an infinitive with the particle
“to” (i.e. “have to”), expresses an obligation, and is the equivalent of “must”, providing an
alternative form for the past, present and future tenses.
Observation: The past participle form “got” of the verb”to get” is often added to “have
to” in the affirmative and also in the negative and interrogative forms, when these forms are not
made up with the auxiliary “to do”, which makes no difference in meaning altogether. When
used with “got”, “have” is usually used as an auxiliary to express compulsion felt to be
imposed by or upon the speaker, e.g. I’ve got to get a new coat.
● Differences and meaning between the “must” and “have to” forms in the affirmative. In
the affirmative, both express obligation, but “must” expresses an obligation imposed by the
speaker, either on himself and on the other persons, while “have to” expresses an external
obligation, imposed by an external authority or circumstunces: “I must really go now” (the
speaker imposes this obligation of going on himself); “You must leave it here at once.”
(obligation imposed by the speaker, an order on the second person singular and plural); “I have
to reach my working place before 7 o’clock each morning.” (expressing the idea an external
obligation represented by work regulations).

14
 Observation: When the speaker adds his/her support / approval to some already existing
circumstances / obligations / external authority, you may feel inclined to use “must” instead of
“have to”: “Children must obey their elders.” – (the children approve): “Children have to obey
their elders.” (= the speaker nearly states a fact). As a general observation, one can say that
difference is less important in the first person, where either form is possible, although “have to”
is usually used for habits and “must” for an urgent and important obligation as viewed by the
speaker: “We have to clean our teeth daily.”(habit+external obligation). “I really must go now.”
(it is my strong opinion that I should go).
● Differences between the interrogative forms of “must” and “have to”. It is always safe to
use a “have to” structure for external obligation in the future, in the first person: “Shall I have
to read all these books when I grow up?”; “I expect you will, if you want to go to University.”
The external obligations in the third person present tense should also be expressed with “have
to”: “Does she really have to give up smoking?” In all cases either form may be used: “Must
you really go now?” / “Do you really have to go now?” or even “Have you got to go now?”
In the interrogative, “have to” has alternative forms:
-in the present, we can say: “Have I got to…?” / “Do I have to…?” – with no different
meaning, with the observation that the form “do…have to…?” refers to habits: “Do you have to
wind up your watch daily?”;
-in the past one may have: “Had I to…/ Had I got to…/ Did I have to…”
-with no different meaning, but the form “Did I have to…” is more usual: “Did you
have to pay customs duty for that?”.
Final remarks: Negative obligation is alaways expressed with “must not”: (Mother to
child) “Yiu must not go out today!” [I forbid you to, (Zoo notice) “Visitors must not feed the
animals.” So, it is the (logical) negative counterpart of may.
On the other hand, lack of obligation or lack of necessary is expressed with “don’t /
doesn’t have to”; while possibility is expressed with “haven’t / hasn’t got to”.

THE VERB “TO DO”

The verb “to do” is used as a principal verb or as an auxiliary.

● As a principal verb, “to do” forms its negative, negative-interogative or interrogative
forms as any other principal verb. For example, a medium-sized dictionary records about 35
meanings of it. Here are some of them:
-to perform / complete a deal / action: “to do a portrait”;
-to be suitable for / to suffice: “Will it do?, said the gardener.”; “There isn’t much food,
but it’ll do for the two of us”;
-to prepare / provide: “This restaurant doesn’t do lunch on Sunday.”;
-to make elegant / ready / tidy: “to do one’s hair”; “to do one’s room”; “You should do
the garden now”;
-to translate / to adapt: “The book was done into a play.”;
-to travel at certain speed: “This car does 160 km/hour”;
-to finish a certain thing: “Be done now! It is getting late”; “I have done with you
forever.”;
-to render/to give: “Will you do me a favour?”;
-to conduct oneself: “Do as you please”;
- to fare or manage: “How are you doing these days?;
- to cause or produce: “Complaints do nothing to help.
● As an auxiliary, it is used to form the negative, interrogative-negative and
interrogative forms of the present simple tenses of the ordinary verbs in the Indicative mood.
“Do-does-did”, strongly stressed in speech are used in the affirmative for special emphasis, e.g.
“Do help me!”; “He promised to come, and he did come.”; “You didn’t see him!”; “But I did
see him.”; “You’ll excuse me/my passing this onto you, but it does seem you ought to.”

15
 ● “Do” is also used to avoid repetition of the previous verb in short (dis)agreements,
additions, short answers, question tags: “Peter works a lot. Yes, he does”; “You drink too
much. No, I don’t.”; “He likes it here and so do we.”; “He doesn’t like wine and neither do I.”;
“He works here, doesn’t he?”; “Do you smoke? Yes, I do.”
● Do can be used in the form of an answer to approve or encourage someone asking for
approval or permission to do some action: “Shall I write to him? - Yes, do. “A paraphrase with
“do” is often found in rhetorical English: “Well did I know him, bitterly did I repent my
decision. “This particulary applies when a negative form or adverbial form begins the sentence,
for the sake of emphasis: “Never (in my life) had I seen such an awful sight.”; “I don’t know,
nor do I care.”; “Not till then did I realize what had happend.”

THE VERB “SHALL”

This verb is used as an auxiliary of tense, of modal tense, of mood, as well as (with his past
form “should”) an anomalous modal verb. It has only two forms, “shall” (Indicative Mood;
Present Subjunctive Function) and “should” (Indicative Mood; Conditional Present and Past;
Past Subjunctive Function).
● As an auxiliary of tense, “shall/should” help to build the first persons of the Future
and Future Perfect tense in the indicative: “I shall go/I shall have gone. “In its turn “should” is
used in the first person in the Future in the Past and in the Future Perfect in the Past: “We
should finish by the end of the week.”; “We promised we should already have finished digging
our garden by the end of the week.”
● As an auxiliary of the modal tense, it is used in the building of modal future,
indicative mood in the interrogative: “Shall I come for it tomorrow?”
● As a mood auxiliary, it is used in forming the analytical Subjunctive: “I don’t see
why you shouldn’t apply for the job.”; “He always hurries, so that he shall be in time for
work.”; “He gave strict orders that everybody should be present.”
● “Shall” as a modal auxiliary: In the first person “shall I/shall we” express:
-asking for advice: “Were shall I put it?”;
-an offer: “Shall I help you?”;
-a suggestion: “Shall we try another method?”. In the second and third persons, “Shall” is
used to express:
-the speaker’s promise: “It you pass your exams, you shall have the bicycle you want.”;
“You shall have it, Mr. Hoggs, you shall have it!”;
-an interdiction imposed by the speaker with its negative form: “He shan’t come here.” (I
won’t let him come); “They shall not pass” (I won’t let them pass);
-a direct command/order, especially in regulations/legal documents (in less formal English,
“must I need to” is utterly used instead of “shall”), club regulations: “Members shall enter the
names of their guests in the book provided.”; “Yachts shall go round the course, passing the
marks in the correct order.”
When sentences of this type are rendered into indirect speech, “shall” is usualy
replaced by “must”; “have to”; “to be to”: “Each competitor shall wear a number”; “The
regulations say that each competitor must/has to/is to wear a number.”
● “Should” as a modal auxiliary, is used unstressed in all persons to express duty and to
indicate a correct sensible action/ advice as viewed by the speaker/grammatical subject: “You
should pay your debts to the bank.”(duty) “You should do more exercise if you want to lose
weight.” (advice); “You’ve spelled the word wring. There should be another “s” in the middle.”
(correct sensible action); “They shouldn’t allow teenagers to smoke. It is bad for their health.
“(sensible action). These meanings of “should” are the same as those of “ought to”, and do not
necessarily imply the speaker’s opinion as well. In all cases, “should” is less strong than
“must”/ “have to”, because no authority is implied, either internal or external.
● “Should” + Present Infinitive as a Present or Future (indirect or direct speech). While
“should” + Perfect Infinitive expresses a past duty or sensible action which was/was not
performed, much to the dissatisfaction of the speaker: “You should have stopped seeing him

16
when you’ve found out he was a dishonest person.”; “You shouldn’t have told her we were
going to visit her. I had meant it as a surprise for her.”
Other uses of “should”: It may be used to express:
-present wish, inclination or desire in the combination “should like to” (in the first
person)/”would like to “(second and third person): “I would like to leave no later than six
o’clock.” In modern English, the form “would like to” has almost totally replaced the form
“should like to” in the first persons. When these refer to something in the past, the perfect
infinitive is used after “should/would like to”: “I should like him to have had even a quarter of
the opportunities you have had in life.”;
-a past wish, indication, desire can be expressed by “should have liked” + present
infinitive (long form): “I should have liked to go to a concert last night, but I had a terrible
headache and I watched TV instead.”;
-a future change in a conditional subordinate clause 10 is expresed with “should” +
present infinitive (without “to”); the speaker expresses his/her doubt: “If anyone should call
while I am away, tell them to wait.” An alternative construction is that with “if” omitted, and
“should” and the subject inverted;
-an unstressed “should” is used in the third person in official style (regulations,
stipulations), as a less categorical and less offensive replacement for “must”: “Application
should be made by filling in this form.”;
-surprise, shock: “that + should” is only used after certain words, as an analytical
subjunctive, as an alternative to a gerund or infinitive construction, such as: “to suggest”; “to
propose”; “to insist (on)”; “to recommend”; “to advise” etc.: “Peter suggested selling the car.”;
“John advised (us) to sell the car.”; “Jim insisted on my/your his/our selling the car.”; “Jack
suggested that I/you/he/we should sell the car.”; “He said/had said he had finished that.”; “He
promised he would finish in time.”; “He said/had said he never finished in time/he would have
finished by the end of the week (if he could).”
“I shall finish if I have time.” → “He said he would finish if he had time.”; “I should
go.”; “I think I would finish in time if I had time.”; “He said he would finish if he could/if he
had time.”
(Indicative) Future in Past Tense: “He said he would come/go if he could.” (in
Indirect / Reported Speech, there is only one variant). “He insists (that) he (should) get the
prize.”
When in the subordinate clause there is a past tense of the Indicative, or when the
subordinate clause comprises the present conditional, pst tense, or present subjunctive, the
direct object clause must necessarily include four tenses: Past perfect, Past, Future in the Past,
Future Perfect in the Past: “If I knew what had happend…”; “If I knew what was happening in
this house I should have taken measures.”; “If I knew what would happen tomorrow, I would
sleep better tonight.” (Later on, we are going to demonstrate that the ‘hypothetical’ forms of the
past are actually mood-related forms, or remains of old subjunctive forms);
-verbs expressing order, command, urge normally take an object + infinitive construction,
but the phrase “that + should” is used especially in the passive, e.g. “He urged that the estate
should be bought.” (He urged them to buy the estate.); “He commanded the soldiers to shoot on
/ at sight.” (Romanian: “A ordonat soldaţilor să tragă fără somaţie”).

● “Should” used after “don’t know why”; “see no reason why”; “can’t think why”; “can’t
imagine why” as part of the past analytical subjunctive. In a similar way, with the perfect
infinitive as part of a perfect analytical subjunctive: “I can’t imagine why he should
behave/why he should have behaved so nasty/nastily to/towards Jane.”; “Should” is used
idiomatically with “who”, “what”, “where” in grammatical expressions of surprise: “Then,
what should I come across in the middle of the path, but this enormous tortoise!”; “And, at that
moment of secret happiness who should come in at the back door but his wite/her husband
10
A subordinate clause is a clause with an adjectival, adverbial, or nominal function, rather
than one that functions as a separate sentence in its own right.

17
coming home a day earlier!” After “lest” or past/present short infinitive, it has the meaning “for
fear that, in case”, e.g. “He hurried, lest he should miss the train.”; “She was afraid, lest she
should be attacked by burglars at night.”; “She began to worry, lest she should have heard an
accident.” (In fact, lest has two meanings: (1) “so as to prevent any possibility that”, e.g. Keep
down lest anyone see us; (2) after verbs or phrases expressing fear, worry, anxiety, etc.: “for
fear that; in case”, e.g. He was alarmed lest she should find out).

“WILL/WOULD” AS AUXILIARY/MODAL VERBS

This verb is used as an auxiliary of tense, modal tense, of aspect and mood, as well as a
modal verb. It has two forms: “will” (present indicative and “would” [wud] (past tense
indicative mood, conditional present and past, subjunctive past tense). Its weak forms are [wəd,
əd, d], and its contracted forms are, respectively, “‘ll; ‘d”. Uses of “will/would”:
● As an auxiliary of tense, “will” is used to express a will, in the second and third persons
of the future/future perfect tense of the indicative mod, while “would” is used with the second
and third persons of future/future perfect in the past: “He would have left by the time they
arrived.”
Observation: “Will/would” is also part of a present/past analytical subjunctive after “so
that”: “He always hurries so that he will/would catch his early train home.”
● As an auxiliary of modal tense, “will” is used to form the modal future, or the so-called
“future of promise and determination”, especially in the first person singular, in affirmative and
negative constructions, expressing either the speaker’s willingness or refusal/unwillingness to
perform the action of the notional verb in the infinitive: “I will help you (to) do it.”; “In the
second and third persons, “will” may by used as an auxiliary of modal tense to suggest
willingness on the part of the grammatical subject: “You will make no objection, I am sure.”
● As an aspect auxiliary, a stressed/unstressed “will/would” + a short infinitive of a
notional verb is used to express the idea of frequency/repetition of the action expressed by the
respective infinitive (so, to describe a past action as being accustomed or habitual). “Will” +
present short infinitive refers to the present tense of the indicative mood and “would” + present
infinitive refers to the past tense indicative mood. This character of the respective action, given
by “will/would” is often double-stressed by an adverb of frequency, such as “often”, “always”,
“normally”, “frequently”, or “every day”,: “He will always do things which later on he
regrets.”; “He would often spend weeks alone in the jungle”; “Every day we would go for
walks”.

● “Will as a modal auxiliary:

-Determination of the present and future and habitual persistence into forming a
negative action in the present can be expresed by an emphasized will”; “I will do it.”; “I refuse
to be defeated by it.”; “It you will smoke so much, you mustn’t be surprised that you have a
nasty cough.” Note here the correctness of “will” after the conjunction “if” in a subordinate
conditional clause in which it was a present and not a future reference;
-Refusal in both the present and the future can be expressed by an emphasized
“will”+not+present short infinitive, or by “will”+emphasized not+infinitive, or by emphasized
“won’t”+infinitive:”I have a child who will not/won’t do as he is told.”;
-Willigness (or positive volition): In both the present and the future of the indicative
mood, but more commonly in the present, can be expressed by an unemphasized “will” in a all
persons: “He says he will agree to sign the proposal now.”;
-Offer or invitation in the present or the future, with an emphasized “will” in the second
and third persons: “Will you have a ring?”; “Will you come to tea, tomorrow?”
Observation: When speaking informally, “will you” is often omitted: “Have some
coffe?”; “Have a drink?”;
-A polite request, concerning the present and the future, can be expressed by an
unstressed “will” in the second person: “Will you please close the window for me”;

18
 -”Will you/would you” without infinitive are sometimes used after imperatives: “Come
here, will you?”, but this form of address is not considered to be very polite, because it may
also imply the idea of imposition;
-A habitual action in the present can be expressed in all persons by “will”+adverbs of
present time: “Every Sunday they will go for a long walk.”
Observation: If the adverb of present time is replaced by one of the varieties of future
time, then the respective construction expresses mere futurity:”Next Sunday they will go for a
long walk.” It is to be noted though that this use is becoming somewhat rare, and the more
usual expression will be in the present non-continuous/simple: “Every Sunday they go for a
long walk.”;
-Present induction, supposition expressed in the second and third person by
“will”+present/perfect infinitive: “He took the sleeping pills an hour ago. He will be asleep
now.”; “He’ll be there by now.”; “You’ll have heard about this.”; “It is after three: they will
have gone to bed” (cf. Romanian prezumtiv, e.g. Ce o fi făcând, Ce va fi făcut, etc.);
-A command expresses by “will” in the Present Tense affirmative: “You will stay here till
you are relieved (Rom. “până vei fi înlocuit), said the Colonel.”; “All boys will attend a roll-
call at ten o’clock.”
Observation: This is formal impersonal type of command, similar to “must” or “is/are to”,
but more peremptory. It implies the speaker’s confidence that the order will be obeyed.
● “Would” as a modal auxiliary:
-Determination or persistence in the Past Tense can be expressed by an emphasized
“would” in all persons: “He would smoke heavily in spite of the doctor’s advice.”; “I told him
not to go there alone, but he would” (persistence – Rom. “s-a încăpăţînat s-o facă);
-Past refusal with a negative form of “would”, with the emphais placed either on “would”,
or on the relation “not”: “I tried several times but the door would not (would’t) open.” (“n-a
vrut deloc / nicicum să se deschidă”);
-A habitual action in the Past is expressed by an non-emphatic/unemphasized “would” in
all persons: “When we were younger we would get out a lot.”;
-A polite request in the second persons interrogative Present Tense: “Would you wait a
second?”. So, with you, he, she, it, they, or a noun as subject, it is used to indicate willingness
or desire in a polite manner, e.g. Would you help me, please?
-An offer or invitation, a present wish, desire in the first, second, third persons expressed
by “would” followed by its subject and the short present infinitive of “to like” to replace a less
polite form with the verb “want”.
Thus, instead of saying something like: “I want to see Mr. Smith”, one can use a more
polite form : “I’d like to see Mr. Smith.”
Observation:
1. When the present wish refers to something in the past, a perfect infinitive is used after
“would like”: “Now that he has told her that it was such a good party, he would like to have
kept quiet.”
2. In the negative, however, one must use “do not want”, as “would not like” means “would
dislike”. Such a question as “Would you like to see Mr. Smith?” gets the answer “I don’t want
to see him, thank you”;
Past wish, indication or desire can be expressed in all persons by “would have liked to”:
“He would have liked to go the concert last night, but he didn’t, because he had a headache.”

● “Would” is also used after “wish” and “if only” to express:

-a not very hopeful wish, concerning near future (that is, persistence in performing a
negative action, either by a human being, a natural phenomenon or even a thing: “I wish it
would stop raining.” (Rom. “…Dar nu mai vrea să stea odată”);
-that another person is unwilling to do something that the speaker approves of, or, on the
other hand, persists in doing something that the speaker disapproves of: “I wish he would not

19
be such a bore.”; “I wish she wouldn’t keep talking about herself.”; “If only you would listen to
me.”
Observation: There are cases, in literary style, when “would” replaces “wish” in “wish”
+Past Subjunctive constructions: “I would I were with you right now” (instead of “I wish I
were…”); “I would that he were here”, etc.

● The verb “may” is used both as a mood auxiliary and as a modal auxiliary and as a modal
auxiliary. It has two forms “may” (used for present tense in all persons to express the present
and the future), and “might” (used in the past, for all persons, to express future in the past). As
a mood auxiliary, “may/might” is used to express analytical subjunctive, conveying the ideas of
hope, desire, fear, purpose: “May you be happy.” (may+be); “He hurried that he might arrive in
time.” (Subjunctive).
Observation: With very few exceptions, the analytical subjunctive of “may” is used in
official style mostly.
As a modal auxiliary, “may” is used to express:
-the existence of permission in the first person: “I/we may go now.”;
-the granting of permission for all persons: “You may go now.”;
-a polite request, denial or refusal, or even official interdiction or approval: “May I use
your phone?” with the polite answer “Oh, you can”, or “Sorry, you cannot / mustn’t / (rarely)
may not, I’m expecting another call.”; “The castle may not be visited by the public.”; “Dogs
may be taken into the park only on leash”
Observation: “If I may say so/if I may” or polite forms (set phrases): “I’ll let you know
my answer in 24 hours, if I may,”; “If I may say so, you were completely wrong.” Possibility or
probability in the affirmative or negative only: “Why don’t you interrupt, she may not know
you are here.”; A supposition about Past action – “may” + perfect infinitive: “You should stop
reading up, he may have gone away.”
“Might”, as a conditional modal auxiliary, may be expressed with a greater degree of
probability: “Don’t worry, he might come by the night train.” The supposition about Past action
is expressed by “may”+Perfect infinitive: “He may have gone to sleep already.”;
-the speaker’s reproach for, disapproval of, or irritation at; the non-performance or non-
occurrence of an action in the past is expressed by “might”+perfect infinitive: “You might have
worried us that the dog bites.”;
-a very emphatic intention in the first person, in combination with “as well”+short
infinitive: “You might as well try again.”; “I might as well start at once.”
-a recommended action in the second person:
-”might” can also be used for persuasive requests, or reqests that indicate that the speaker is
annoyed that the action in question had not already been performed: “You might tell me what
he said.” (I am annoyed you should have told me); “He might pay us more money.” (We are
annoyed he hasn’t paid us).

THE VERB “CAN/COULD”

The verb “can” has only two forms “can/could” for past indicative, conditional present and
past, as well as for analytical subjunctive past tense. Its weak forms are respectively [kən, kəd];
while its contracted forms are “can’t/couldn’t”. As a modal auxiliary, “can/could” expresses:
-Physical ability or intellectual capacity, followed either by a present/perfect short
infinitive: “He can speak two foreign languages.”; “Well, he could have taken the 5 o’clock
(a.m.) train.”When employed in the above-mentioned sentence, “can/could” is replaced in its
missing tenses of the indicative mood, and sometimes even in the present tense and past tense
respectively, by the verbal phrase “to be able to”, or by the verb “to manage”.
Observation:
1. Although either “can” or “to be able to” may be used in the present, “can” is the more
usual form: “Although the drunkard will not leave me alone, I was able to refrain myself, and
thus avoid a row.”

20
 2. In front of the verbs expressing senses or mental activities, such as “to say”, “to think”,
“to imagine”, “to understand”; one usualy uses an unstressed “can/could” to emphasize the
meaning of the respective verb;
-Permission, expressed by “can” in the present and future, and “could” in the past tense,
indicative mood, as well as in the conditionals: “You can go now.”
-”You may go now.” ; “Can I/May I take the chair?” (cases in wich “can” is a more
colloquial form);
-Possibility in the present, or lack of possibility in the present, expressed by “can” or
“can’t”: “Cars can be very expresive nowadays.”; “You couldn’t find anywere a better place
than this.”
Observation: In order to express the same idea of possibility in the future, “to be able to/to
be possible to” phrases are to be used: “When everbody comes will be able/it will be possible
for us to begin the meeting.”;
-Logical impossibility or negative deduction about a present event can be expressed by
“can’t/couldn’t” followed by the present infinitive of the verb “to be”: “Can I have some
sweets, I am terribly hungry?” – “You can’t/couldn’t be hungry, you’ve just had dinner.”;
“There comes Peter!” – “It can’t be Peter, I’ve just talked to him over the phone.” A negative
deduction about a past event, expressed by “can’t /couldn’t” + perfect infinitive form: “We are
looking for your husband, madam. We suspeect he broke into the corner shop last night.”
(policeman); “But he can’t/couldn’t have done that, he phoned me from Paris last night.” (the
lady);
-A polite request, expressed with “could you”, which is a more polite form of request than
the alternative form “would you”: “Could you lend me your pen?”; “Could you show me
around the town?”;
-A past ability, expressed with “could” or “was able to”; “When I was in my teens, I
could/was able to do one hundred push-ups at one time.”
Observation: When the respective ability presupposes a particular action which only
occured once, only “was/were able to” are to be used: “Although there was a strong frontal
wind blowing, they were unfortunately unable to/couldn’t sail to the shore.”; “He read the
message so slowly that we couldn’t/weren’t able to hear him.”;
-”couldn’t”+ perfect infinitive is used to express a past ability when:
-the respective action was not performed: “He could have caught the train if he had
hurried.”;
-in cases when we do not know whether this action was performed or not: “The money has
dissappeared. Who could have taken it? Tom could have done it. He was the last to leave the
office, yesterday.”; “He was able to swim to the shore (he actually did it)”; “He could have
swum to the shore (he did it, or didn’t do it)”.

The verb “must”, as a modal auxiliary has only this form for the indicative present in direct
speech and the indicative past and also in indirect speech. Its weak forms are [məst, məs, mst,
ms], while the contracted form is “mustn’t”. This modal verb may express:
-Necessity or obligation as viewed by the speaker or by the grammatical subject: “I must
work more if I want to make any visible progress”. In this case, the speaker (the grammatical
subject) sees it as a necessity. Just compare “must” with its equivalent form “have to” in the
same linguistic situation, where “must” implies the idea of self-imposed obligation, while
“have to” implies the idea of an external obligation. If the respective speaker uses “must”, he
lets his/her interlocutor know that he/she himself/herself imposes it on him/her to perform the
respective action of the verb, while by using “have to” he/she only lets his/her intelocutor know
that somebody else or some external circumstance imposes the respective action on him/her.
There are cases when “must”, usually accompanied by adverb expresses the idea of obligation
to persuade somebody else to perform a beneficial action by giving him/her an emphatic advice
with “must”: “You must really read this book, it’s a best-seller already.”;

21
 -Order or command in the second or third persons in the affirmative: “You must leave it
here at once.”;
-Interdiction/prohibition with the negative “must” in the present, a case in which the
construction can also have a future reference: “You mustn’t ever do that again.”; “You must not
move.”; “You mustn’t talk to me like that.” (Zoo notice) “Visitors must not feed the animals.”;
-Strong probability/supposition, a case in which the speaker has some circumstantial
information in support of his/her assumpions: “He must have been very surprised to see you
after so many years.”; “The thief must have entered the house by this open window.”
“Must” is not necessarily replaced by “have to” in indirect speech, especially when the idea
of command/order/supposition is implied in direct speech: “You mustn’t come here again.”;
“He mustn’t go there again”. Similary, we can say “I saw that I must do something to calm the
people down.”

The verb “ought+to” as a modal auxiliary has only one form for the present conditional and
the past subjunctive, when it is followed by a short infinitive, of for the modal past conditional,
when followed by a perfect infinitive. There are grammars which only admit the form “ought”,
and then the idea is that this form is always followed by a long infinitive, either present or
perfect. In current speech, its negative form is contracted to “oughtn’t”. In conversation, either
“ought” or “ought to” can be used alone, the respective infinitive being understood, but not
mentioned, in a similar way with all the other modal verbs: “You ought to buy yourself a new
car”; “Yes I know I ought to.”
Uses of “ought to” – Essentialy, “ought to” expresses:
.A moral obligation, that is something that should by done as a duty or moral obligation
with no implied authority on the part of the speaken. When followed by a present infinitive –
the past: “You ought to go there more often, you know they were expecting you to do that!”;
“We ought to be going, it’s already too late.”In indirect speech “ought” remaines unchanged,
whether it is followed by a present or a perfect infinitive.;
-Dissapproval of / Reproach for a duty which was/wasn’t performed in the past, in
combination with the present infinitive: “You ought to have told him that the paint on the gate
was fresh.”
Observation: In this usage, “ought” is used alternatively with “should”;
-A supposition or strong possibility may be expressed by “ought” + present/perfect
infinitive: “Judging by his latest performances, he ought to win.”

● “Ought to” compared with “should”, “have to”, “must”.

When “ought to “ expresses moral obligation/duty, “should” can be used exactly the same
way. In questions/remarks with “ought to” can be answered with “should”: “You ought
to/should have an explanation with Joe.”; “I know I should to.”; “You oughtn’t spoil your
children. It’ll make them disobedient.”; “I know I shouldn’t, but you see, I only meet them on
Sundays.”
Observation: There is an idea, however, that “should” implies the speaker’s idea, while
using “ought”, the speaker only reminds the interlocutor of his/her duty or he/she only gives
him/her a piece of advice or indicates him/her a correct sensible action to take, without
implying his/her personal opinion.
“Ought to” vs. “have to” and “must”:
“Tom, you ought to attend the funeral.” (no authority is implied; Tom is to attend it
because of his former relations with the deceased person).
“Father to child: ‘You have to obey your teachers, son’” (the father lets his son know that
school regulations impose on him as an external obligation, having nothing to do with parental
authority).
“Son, you must obey your teachers.” (the father expresses his direct authority in connection
with a situation he totally approves of).

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NEED and DARE

The verbs NEED and DARE can be used both as notional and modal-defective verbs;
sometimes, they are even called “semi-modal verbs”.

The verb “TO NEED” as a principal verb and as a modal auxiliary

The verb “to need” used as a transitive principal verb, has all the characteristic of regular
verbs, such as: “-es, -s” end for the third person singular of the present indicative; “-ed” sufix in
past indicative mood; conjunctive with the auxiliary “to do “ in its negativeinterrogative forms.
It may also be followed by a noun, equivalent or pronoun, a gerund or by an infinitive:
e.g. “I need further information.”; “I don’t need him here anymore.”; “She needs to
study more.”; “The house needs repainting.”
As a modal verb, “need” is often synonymous with “to have to”, and it is mostly used
in interrogativenegative sentences. It has only one form (“need”) both for the present tense and
future tenses:
e.g. “You need not to be afraid of the operation.”; “You need not to go there.”
(future reference); “Need I come again tomorrow?”(future reference).
When used as above, “need” does not change in indirect speech: “I told her need not to
go there.”. In answers to a questions with “need”, one uses “needn’tneed not” if the answer is
in the negative, but “must” for the answers in the positiveaffirmative: “Need I go there
tonight?” – “No, you needn’t.”; “Yes, you must.”.
When employed as an anomalousdefective modal verb (proper), “need” is conjugated
accordingly, that is “need not / - needn’t – need I – need you” etc. The same verb “need” is
also used as a regular modal verb, a case in which it has the same meanings, and it has all the
characteristics of principal verbs (i.e. “-es, -s” endthird person singular present tense; “dodid”
– past tense interrogative and negative): “He needs to be punished.”; “Do you need to do all
that?”.
Observation: There is a slight difference between the anomalous and regular forms of
“need” as a modal auxiliary. Thus, “need notneedn’t” is used when the speaker himself gives
authority for the non-performance of some future actions: “You needn’t come here tomorrow.”
– where “needn’t” is followed by a present short infinitive, the speaker only informs his/her
interlocutor or indirectly the third person that an unnecessary action has been performed with
no idea of irritation, disagreement or any kind of criticism attached to it:
e.g. “You needn’t have come today!” vs. “You shouldn’t have come today!”
(disagreement, even reproach).
On other hand, the form “don’t need to “ is used when an external authority or an
external circumstance does not require the performance of the infinitive verb, a case in which it
has the same meaning as “don’t/doesn’t have to”.
“Need not” vs. “must not”. While “need not” merely indicates that it is not necessary
for one to perform a certain action under the speaker’s authority, such as in “You need not light
the match.”; “must not”, in a similar context, implies that would be wrong or even stupid of
one to perform a certain action, the idea being that “must not”, in such a case does not express
an interdiction, but rather an emphatic advice: “You must not light a match. The room is full of
gas.”
“Needn’t” vs. “don’t need to”, “haven’t to”, “haven’t got to”, “don’t have to”:
-“Needn’t is used when the speaker gives authority for the non-performance of the action:
“You needn’t come tomorrow.”;
-“Needn’t”, “haven’t to”, “haven’t got to” can be used alternately, when an external
authority is involved, that is when that external authority does not require the performance of
the action expressed by the infinitive verb: “I don’t need to go to the office tomorrow.”;

23
 -“Don’t have to” is also used when an external authority is involved, while “won’t need
to/Won’t have to” are used when an external authority/circumstance are involved: (Doctor
speaking) “You won’t have to/you won’t need to undertake another medical examination if you
pass your driving test in three months time.”
past tense forms: There is no difference in meaning, with the observation that “didn’t have
to” is, perhaps, the more usual form.
e.g. “When I visited Paris for the first time, I hadn’t to ask anybody for directions. I
practically knew the map of the map of the town by heart.”

The verb “TO DARE”

This verb is used as a principal verb in the sense of “to challenge (a person to do
something) as proof of courage” (Romanian “a sfida”, “a provoca la”), and as a modal
auxiliary, meaning “to be courageous enough to try (to do something)” (Romanian “a
îndrăzni”, “a cuteza”). In the latter case, dare can take an infinitive with or without to, e.g. “She
dares to dress differently from the others”; “You wouldn’t dare!”. Like the verb “(to) need”,
“(to) dare” as a modal auxiliary is both anomalous and regular. In the affirmative, it is
conjugated like an ordinary verb: “dares/dare/dared”, in the negative and interrogative it can be
conjugated both as an ordinary verb and like a modal auxiliary, such as “do/does not dare/dare
not/did not dare/dared not” respectively. Interrogative present: “do you/does he dare? – dare
you?/dare he?”; “did you dare?/dared you – dared you?/dared he?”
E.g. “They dare not come here again.”; “How dare you?”
Infinitives after “dare”:
OBSERVATION 1: Negative and interrogative forms with “do/did” are in theory
followed by the infinitive with “to”, but in practice the respective infinitive with “to” is often
omitted.
OBSERVATION 2: In the affirmative “he, she, it dares” is followed by an infinitive with
“to”; with other persons, either form of the infinitive can be used.
OBSERVATION 3: Negative and interrogative form without “do/did” are always
followed by infinitive without “to”: “They dared not go there after all that had happened.”
OBSERVATION 4: “dare”, however, is not very much used in the affirmative except in
the expression “I dare say” (or daresay), which has two idiomatic meanings in the first person
only (“I suppose”): “I dare say there’ll be someone waiting for us at the station.” (I accept what
it is said, but it doesn’t really matter):
Foreign visitor: “I must say, policemen in my country are more polite!”
Romanian policeman: “I daresay they are, but this is Romania, you know”.

It goes without saying that, when used negatively or interrogatively and not followed
by an infinitive with to, dare does not add -s: He dare not; Dare she come?

A synoptic survey of the modals:

MODAL VERBS – MAIN USES

The following verbs are considered to be modal verbs: can / could; shall / should; may /
might; will, would; ought to; must; need (n’t); (to be able to; to have to; to be allowed to)

FUNCTIONS

 CAN :
1. making deductions (about the present);
e.g: Phil can’t be very clever.
2. describing ability
e.g: Jill can play the piano.

24
 3. making requests
e.g: Can you open the window please?
4. giving permission
e.g: Officer to soldier: “You can go home now.”
5. making offers
e.g: Can I get you something to drink?
6. making deductions (about the past)
e.g: She can’t have got your letter.
 COULD:
1. asking for permission
e.g: Could I come and see you this evening?
2. making polite requests
e.g: Could you get me a glass of water?
3. describing possibility (in the future)
e.g: Black Beauty could win the race tomorrow.
4. describing ability (in the past)
e.g: Simon could ride a horse when he was five years old.
5. describing possibility (in the past)
e.g: They could have gone away.
 MUST
1. expressing obligation
e.g: I must be there by nine o’clock.
2. giving advice
e.g: You really must see that film.
3. making deductions (about the present)
e.g: They must be very tired.
4. making deductions (about the past)
e.g: He must have gone out.
 SHALL
1. making suggestions
e.g: Shall we go to a Chinese restaurant?
2. making offers
e.g: Shall I get you some fruit?

 SHOULD / OUGHT TO
1. giving advice
e.g: You should take it easy.
2. making predictions
e.g: Carla ought to pass the exam.
3. making deductions
e.g: They should have arrived by now.
4. making criticism
e.g: Philip ought to have worked harder.
 WOULD
1. expressing wishes
e.g: I’d like some mustard, please.
2. making requests
e.g: Would you close the door, please?
3. making offers
e.g: Would you like a drink?
4. expressing characteristic behaviour in the past (used to)
e.g: I would often get up before dawn when I was a child.
 WILL

25
 1. to express a decision made at the time of speaking
e.g: What shall I do? I know: I’ll phone Sue and ask her to come over.
2. to express thoughts, hopes, beliefs, and expectations about the future
e.g: I hope things will improve soon.
3. to express certainty or uncertainty ( + maybe, perhaps, I’m sure, ….)
e.g: I’m not sure that I’ll be there by 8 o’clock.
4. to make a promise
e.g: We’ll come and help you tomorrow.
 MAY
1. describing possibility
e.g: You may be right.
2. asking for permission
e.g: May I have one of these leaflets?
3. giving permission
e.g: Relatives and friends may visit patients between 7.00 and 9.00
p.m.
4. making polite offers
e.g: May I take you coat, Sir ?
 MIGHT
1. making suggestions
e.g: You might try getting new batteries.
2. describing possibility (in the future)
e.g: It might rain later this afternoon.
3. describing possibility (in the past)
e.g: She might have got lost.
4. expressing annoyance
e.g: He might have told me he wouldn’t be coming.

NEED:
I. When a modal-defective verb:
You needn’t write all the paragraph. (= lack of obligation);
Need we take the luggage upstairs? (= possible obligation, or request; compare with
MUST); [possible answer: “No - no, you needn’t, that’s OK with me.”]
Do you think they need arrive early?
● One should normally use NEED as a modal-defective when it is placed in negative
and interrogative sentences, in the Present Tense.

II. When a notional verb (= when it means “a avea nevoie de”, “a fi nevoie de”):
You don’t need to write all the paragraph. (= lack of obligation; compare with NEED I.
- above);
Do they really need to take all that luggage upstairs? (compare with NEED I. - above);
Does he need to arrive early? (compare with NEED I. - above).
● One has to use NEED as a notional verb when it is placed in affirmative sentences:
They need to buy a bigger lorry.

DARE:
DARE means “a îndrăzni”, “a avea curajul”, “a cuteza”, but also (only when a notional
verb) “a desfide”, “a provoca (la duel)”.
I. When a modal-defective verb, DARE is used very much like NEED:
How dare you speak like that?
(= How do you dare to speak like that?);
Dare you swim across the canal? No, I daren’t do it.

26
 (Past Tense form: I dared not complain; compare with: I didn’t dare (to) do it; see
below).

II. When a notional verb, DARE has all the moods and tenses of a regular verb, e.g.
How do you dare to speak like that? I don’t dare to do it.
DARE can be followed either by a “long” Infinitive (a TO Infinitive), or a “short”
Infinitive, e.g.
Do you dare (to) jump from the top of the shed? No, I don’t dare (to) do it.
Dare you swim across the canal? No, I daren’t do it.
(Past Tense form: I didn’t dare to do it).

Further remarks on modals, modality, and grammatical moods 11, as well as “moods”12

Modals may seem confusing to non-English speakers. Studying the synoptic chart
below, one can see that several different modals can express a single mood; and several
different moods can be expressed by a single modal. (Note that some of the modal, or logical-
grammatical shades below can also be expressed by means of verbs that are not defective
modal).

Inference / conclusion:
must He must know about the second World War because he was born in Germany.
must not They must not have got(ten) my message because they haven’t called.
have to If she is English she has to have drunk tea at least once.
got to With those brightly coloured shorts and sunglasses, the’ve got to be tourists.
would A tall steel tower in the centre of Paris? Ah, that would be the Eiffel Tower.
will Behind every successful man, you will find a woman.
will When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
can’t If she’s tall and thin, it can’t be Mary.

Obligation:
must All the soldiers must report back to their commanding officer at least once a
day.
must If two ride on a horse, one must ride behind.
must not If you are feeling ill / Amer. Engl. sick, you must not go out in the rain.
have to To become a doctor you have to study for many years.
don’t have to In America, all citizens should vote, but don’t have to [as in Switzerland, for
instance].
got to You’ve got to change the oil in your car every once in a while, or the engine
will blow up.
need To get your passport, you need to go to the government office.
will You will do exactly as I tell you to do!
shall “Thou shalt not steal” (quoted from the Old Testament)13
is to Jeff and Jerry are to buy all the drinks for the party.

Recommendation / advice:
need If you want to go hiking in the Carpathians, you need to get a good raincoat.
should To learn English really well, you should travel in Britain, Ireland or North
America.
11
In the sense of “a category of the verb or verbal inflections that expresses semantic and
grammatical differences, including such forms as the indicative, subjunctive, and imperative”.
12
In the sense of “a temporary state of mind or temper”.
13
The form shalt [ľlt] is archaic or dialectal, and is used with the pronoun thou or its relative
equivalent; it is a singular form of the present tense (indicative mood) of shall.

27
ought to You ought to call Myrna if you are thinking of not going.

Suggestion:
shall Shall I come back later?
might If you can’t find the phone number in the yellow pages you might try directory
assistance.
could You could try a different shampoo if your hair is too dry.
can They can ask Uncle Joe for help if they don’t understand.
let Let nature take her course.

Expectation:
should Suzanne should be getting home any minute now.
ought The movie ought to start at about eight o’clock.

Probability:
may Bring a picnic lunch because there may not be a restaurant at the beach.
might If you explain your problem to Betty, she might have some suggestions.

Permission / concession:
may The guard said we may not / must not take pictures in the museum.
may You may be a college graduate, but you’re a lousy poker player.
may A man may work from sun to sun but a woman’s work is never done.
might The World Cup might be the biggest sports event in the world, but I think it’s
rather boring.
could Mum said we could play outside after dinner.
can I’m sorry, only employees can use the office telephone.

Request:
would Would you please be quiet?
will Will you open that door for me please?
might Might I have a try at your computer game?
could Could I see the rest of your house?
can Can Carla use the bathroom?

Offer:
will I’ll take care of the flight reservations.
might We might help out with the cooking if you like.
could Marmy can explain the details to everyone here.
can Campbell can take the car, and then go and get Rory at the swimming pool.

Possibility:
could At his hour, the library could be closed.
can You can take a boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the
boy.
can Women: you can’t live with’em and can’t live without’em.
can You can’t lose what you never had.
can You can’t buy happiness.
be able to We went to the concert, but we weren’t able to meet the musicians.

Ability / capacity:
would When this car was new, it would go 180 kilometres per /an hour.
will All of these clothes will not fit in your suitcase.
could When I first came to Italy, I couldn’t understand a thing.

28
can Lorna cannot swim and she cannot drive a car, but she can cook really well!
can Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
be able to I won’t be able to speak Japanese well until I’ve had many more lessons.
does Takashi is very strong: he runs 10 kilometres every day. (Does he?)
did When I knew Richard in China, he spoke Chinese very well. (Did he?)

Prediction:
will What will people think?
will Time will heal all wounds.
shall We shall meet him at the train station.
shall “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (New Testament)
shall As you sow, so shall you reap.
does The train gets in at eight thirty.
is Tomorrow is Christmas.

Other auxiliaries related to the modals:

The verb “USED TO”

This is a past tense form of a defective verb with no present tense; it has the same form
for all persons in the affirmative; its negative form is “used not to/usedn’t to” and in the
interrogative it has the form “used I/ used he?” etc. and in the interrogative-negative its form is
“usedn’t/usedn’t he?” etc. In conversation, the forms “didn’t use to”/ “did use to”/ “didn’t you
use to” are also common:
e.g. “Usedn’t she to be a ballet dancer?”
“Yes, she did/Yes, she used to, but she gave up.”
This verb may be used:
- (taking an infinitive or implied infinitive): used as an auxiliary to express a
discontinued habit/state of things, i.e. habitual or accustomed actions, states, etc., taking place
in the past but not continuing into the present: “I don’t smoke these days, but I used to”; “I used
to fish here every day”; “I used to like Tom a lot when we went to university together, but I no
longer like him now; he is to self-important, you know”;
-to express a past routine/a past habit, not necessarily discontinued/interrupted: “We
used to go out a lot when we were younger.”
In such a case, “used to” is replaceable by a modal verb “would+short infinitive”, which is
perhaps the most common form: “We would go…” At the same time, “would” cannot replace
“used to” when it expresses a discontinuous habit, like in example one. “Used to” cannot be
used also to express present habit/routine, which is, as a rule, expressed by the simple present
tense: “I get up at 06:30 every morning.”
“Used to” used as an adjective; when it is employed in this way, “used to” means
“accustomed to, made familiar with”, and it is preceded by “be/get/see/become/ grow”
followed by a noun/pronoun/gerund, in which case the accent is laid not on the action itself, but
on the effect it has on the subject: “I’m used to children/I’m accustomed to children, I don’t
mind them”; “I am used to hitchhiking”.
e.g. “Don’t worry, you’ll soon get used to him, he is not as bad as he seems”; “How do
you find your next job?”; “Well, it’s all right in general, but I still have to get used to getting up
at 05:30 each morning”.
Note: When used means “accustomed, inured/enured”, and is followed by the preposition
to, the pronunciation is [ju:zd tə], as in I am used to the air in Scotland; I was used to drinking
that sort of French wine. When it is an aspect auxiliary of past habit, the pronunciation of used
to (+ verb) is [‘ju:stə], e.g. There used to be a castle up that hill.

THE VERB “TO LET”

29
 The verb “to let” can be used as a principal verb, and also as a mood auxiliary. In this
later sense, it helps to form the first and third persons of the subjunctive mood equivalent,
which in the sentence acts as an imperative mood. Used as an auxiliary, it expresses a request,
proposal, or command, or conveys a warning or threat, e.g. “Let me do it alone!”; “Let him
think about it.” The negative, in such a case, is formed by putting “not” before the infinitive:
“Let’s not hurry!”; “Let’s get on”; “Just let me catch you here again!”; “Don’t let’s sing now!”
(which is not a very common form).
Also used as an auxiliary, it can express resigned acceptance of the inevitable, e.g. “Let the
worst happen”.
As a principal verb, “let” has the meaning “to permit/to allow”: “Live and let live!”; “Let
me know when you are finished”; “He let the doors loose”, “I’ll let air out of the tyre”; “Let the
poor cat alone!” (= Leave it alone!). Its second principal meaning is “to allow the occupation of
(accommodation) in return for rent”, “to rent”: “He was looking for a house to let”.
OBSERVATION: In the construction “accusative with the infinitive”, the verb “let” is
followed by a short infinitive, e.g. I’ll let her do whatever she pleases.

□ BASIC VERB FORMS. Except for the modal defective verbs, English verbs have three
basic forms: infinitive, past tense indicative, past participle. There is, however, a forth form –
the present participle – which may be included among the basic forms of the English verbs,
since it helps to build the continuous aspect of them in all personal moods. According to the
way they form their past tense/participle forms, the English verbs fall into: regular, irregular
and mixed type verbs. English regular verbs form their past tense and past participle forms by
adding the suffix “-ed” to their infinitive form, without “to”: “looked”, “asked”. Function of the
preceding sound, the “-ed” ending is pronounced “t” or “d” as follows:
-it is pronounced [t] after the following voiceless consonants: [p], [tƒ], [s]: looked [lukt];
asked [a:skt]; laughed [la:ft].

Note: There are some orthographic transformations when adding “-ed” to form the past
tense indicative and the past participle of the regular verbs (for a review upon these rules see
above).

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF THE ENGLISH VERB

The grammatical categories of the English verb are four: voice, aspect, mood, tense. It
also has two grammatical categories, which are also common to other parts of speech: person
and number. Sometimes voice is added to the list of these categories.
“Category: A general term used in LINGUISTICS at varying levels of abstraction. At its most
general level, categorisation refers to the whole process of organising human experience into
general concepts with their associated linguistic labels; the linguistic study of this process (in
SEMANTICS) overlaps with that of philosophers and psychologists. In the field of GRAMMAR,
categorisation refers to the establishment of a set of classificatory units or properties used in the
description of language, which have the same basic distribution, and which occur as a structural
unit throughout the language. The term category in some approaches refers to the classes
themselves, e.g. NOUN, VERB, SUBJECT, PREDICATE, noun PHRASE, verb phrase (…) More
specifically, it refers to the defining properties of these general units: the categories of the
noun, for example, include NUMBER, GENDER, CASE and COUNTABILITY; of the VERB, TENSE,
ASPECT, VOICE, etc. A distinction is often made between grammatical categories, in this

30
second sense, and grammatical functions (or functional categories), such as SUBJECT, OBJECT,
COMPLEMENT” (D. Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, p. 49)

TENSE

Out of the grammatical categories of the English verb (i.e. voice, aspect, mood and
tense), to which are added forms that are governed by grammatical categories that are also
common to other parts of speech (i.e. number and person), tense seems to be the most widely
and intensively studied, at least by beginners.
Tense is a method that we make use of, in English or any other natural language, to
refer to time – past, present and future. It is the category of verbs which refers to the way the
grammar marks the time at which the action denoted by the verb takes place. Tense and Aspect
are obligatory grammatical categories that help the speaker locate events in time and indicate
the duration (permanent vs. temporary validity) and the type of action (completed vs. in
progression). Progressiveness and non-progressiveness mean to produce such effects as the
‘stretching’ of the event, gradual character, transition, incompletion, temporariness, repetition
of the event, punctual and sudden character, completion and permanent state. All these effects
are exploited in discourse.
When we make a statement, we usually need to indicate whether the situation exists
now, existed in the past, or is likely to exist in the future. Usually, two elements indicate this:
the Verbal Group (the tenses = verb forms that indicate a particular point in time or period in
time) and the Adjuncts of time (adverbs = tomorrow; noun groups = last week; prepositional
phrases = on Saturday), whenever we want to draw attention to the time of the action.
So, grammatical tense is a way languages express the time at which an event described
by a sentence occurs. It seems superfluous to add that tense is a category associated with a
verb. In English, this is a property of a verb form, and expresses only time-related information;
the notion of tense indicates primarily the verb forms of the indicative.
The tense distinctions and structures typical of each natural language can be highly
different, and also rather disconcerting. Thus, we have sixteen tenses in English (if we consider
the continuous forms as well), and only seven in Romanian. Tense is – quite naturally one
should add – connected to the (conceptual, philosophical) notion of time, though the
relationship holding between the two is by no means similar in different languages. 14
Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Some (i.e. very few) languages have no
tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods. So, we talk about
time in English with tenses. But, we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example,
“going to” is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense); similarly, one
tense does not always talk about one time.
However, tense forms can be used to signal meanings other than one-to-one
relationship between tense and time, for example the English present tense may refer to a future
time, e.g. The exhibition opens on Sunday.
Note that tense is sometimes folded together with aspect and treated as a single
category. By this standard, simple present (I go) and continuous present (I am going) are
different tenses, as are simple past or preterite (I went), past continuous or imperfect (I was
going), and past perfect or pluperfect (I had gone). Others prefer to use tense to refer only to
time of the action, and treat aspect as a separate category.
Time, Tenses and the “Axis of Orientation”: To be able to order perceived events,
one has to set them in relation to another event with respect to which they occur either before or

14
Geoffrey Palmer considers that “There are few, if any, languages in which there is a category
that is totally related to time, though there are some, e.g. Latin, where a division into present,
past and future is justified on formal grounds with some fairly clear relationship to time, e.g.
amo ‘I love’, amabo ‘I shall love’, amabam ‘I loved’ (…)” (Grammar, Penguin Books, 1984,
p. 85).

31
after or simultaneously with it. An event that serves as an orientation criterion for other events
is said to create an axis of orientation. Thus, an axis of orientation has a source event relative to
which a chronological order can be established for the perceived events: they can be either
taking place simultaneously with the source event of the axis, or they can occur sequentially
(i.e. before / after relationships).
The two order patterns perceived in reality – simultaneity and sequentiality – are
converted, at speech time, into a construct with three points: the moment of speaking which
“locates” the speaker in time, and in relation to the speech event, other events are present, past
and future.
In actual speech, the primary axis of orientation is the speech moment, now, when the
speaker starts speaking. All events, either inside or outside human existence, must either be
simultaneous with the present point (now, the moment of speaking), or at a different location in
time: they are either recalled or anticipated. At the present point (PP) man can contemplate time
bi-directionally: he may look back and recollect events, or he may project his thoughts forward
and anticipate events; at PP he can perceive other events as being simultaneous with PP. The
present point now, which is the moment of initiating a discourse, is the source event that
creates an axis of orientation, the axis of the present.
The time sphere after the present point can be conceived in two alternative ways: (i)
either we consider time – to – come from the perspective of the PP, on the axis of the present
point, or (ii) at the PP we anticipate a point, anticipating point, AP, which creates an axis of
orientation, the axis of the future. Unlike the axes of the present and of the past which are
unbounded, the axis of the future is bounded by the point now, it cannot extend further away.
Bull (apud Ioana Ştefănescu, Morphology) shows that it should be obvious that, at this level,
we are dealing with an open system in which the projectional possibilities are theoretically
infinite. From each axis, one can always go on to another and still another axis, he may recall
that he anticipated, that is he would recall anticipating recalling anticipation.
Three notions are of paramount importance when characterizing an event or state from
a temporal point of view: the time of speech, the time of the event, and the time of reference.15
The time of the event is the time an action or state takes place. This can occur now, then,
tomorrow, etc. The moment of reference represents the axis on which the speaker situates
himself when perceiving the event: the axis of the present, the axis of the past and the axis of
the future. The time of reference can be either made explicit (e.g. by an adverbial of time
tomorrow), or can be understood from previous context. Speech time is the time when a
sentence is uttered.
The time of reference is the contribution of the speaker, the ego: it is the time of
reference that sets an event in direct relation with the ego perceiving order, while the time of
speech and the time of the event are objective observable facts, the time of reference is a
psychological fact imposed on the hearer by means of linguistic means, viz. the tenses (Taina
Duţescu-Colibanu, Aspects of English Morphology, p. 165).
Based on the time of speech, the time of the event and the time of reference, the
English tenses of the indicative are: Present Tense, Present Perfect Tense, Future in the Past.
Some grammarians2 consider two parallel axes: that of the present, and that of the past.
Moreover, many linguists consider that, in terms of meaning, the present is the ‘unmarked
tense’, as opposed to the past, which is the ‘marked tense’.
Unlike English, Romanian has a tense system focusing on the present; Romanian has
three past tenses: “imperfect”, “perfect simplu”, “perfectul compus” and a tense prior to these,
“mai mult ca perfectul”. In order to express future time, Romanian uses “viitorul” and a tense
prior to this, “viitorul anterior”. English, on the other hand, has a tense system built along two
15
These grammatical concepts where first referred to by Hans Reichenbach (Elements of
Symbolic Logic, A Free Press Paperback, Macmillan, 1947, chapter 7), quoted by Ioana
Ştefănescu, op. cit., 226.
2
See Alice Bădescu, Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti, 1984, Editura. Ştiinţifică şi
Enciclopedică

32
parallel axes: that of present time, and that of past time. The existence of the future tense in
English is highly disputed, mainly on formal grounds.
Accordingly, the English tenses in relation to the present are: the Present Perfect,
expressing an event prior to another event or period of time, and Future and Future Perfect,
which express actions posterior / subsequent to another event or period of time.
The tenses that are in relation to the past are, in English grammar: the Past Perfect,
expressing an action prior to another event or period of time, the Future-in-the Past, and the
Future Perfect in the Past, both expressing posterior actions.
In contradistinction to traditional grammar (which is in fact our concern here, as
schoolteachers), transformational generative grammar defines tense according to a strict point
of view – i.e. the occurrence or non-occurrence of a past tense morpheme; consequently, it can
be interpreted in two ways only: either past, or present. Similarly, from a structural point of
view, English verbs are inflected for only two tenses: present or past. 16
Tense and time:
Since in Romanian, very much as in other languages (cf. French temps), there is only
one term to designate both time and tense (viz. timp), confusions can easily occur.
Natural languages reflect the order of events in time, in relation to the person who
perceives that order. Accordingly, tense connects the time of event to the time when a
statement is uttered about the respective event. Being dependent on the speaker and the time of
the utterance, tense is a deictic category (i.e. an element serving to point out or specify, very
much like the demonstrative pronouns, the articles, etc.). Deictics or indexicals are terms
whose reference depends on the context of utterance, such as I, you, here, now, or tomorrow.
Unlike tense, which is a human, mental construct serving as an instrumental framework
for verbal patterns, time can be regarded as a philosophical category, a notion of physics or a
semantic notion.
Semantic time (v. Taina Duţescu-Colibanu) can be explained in terms of the notion of
time reference, as long as we can distinguish between time reference (a linguistic notion), and
time (a philosophical notion). Consequently, all verb forms can be analyzed in terms of the
time reference they make – past, present or future. Therefore, time can be divided into three
zones: up to now, now, from now on, when now is the moment of speech.
Other grammarians such as Leech, on the other hand, focus on other semantic
subdivisions of time, covering three distinct problems: “time when”, “duration”, and
“frequency”. Thus, confusions may arise between the conceptual and practical coverage of the
category of tense and that of aspect: we think that, out of the three above issues, at least the last
two should be assigned to aspect.
Time markers make only one of the manifestations of semantic time, the other possible
manifestations being aspectual markers and the various adverbials of time (adverbs, adverbial
phrases, adverbial clauses), making it possible for the two divisions – syntactic and semantic to
interrelate.
Since tense deals with the order of events, the notion of order is crucial for the
understanding of tense. The moment relative to which any event is ordered, either directly or
indirectly, is the moment of speech, now. (e.g. although the Past Perfect expresses a past event
taking place before another past event or period , the past event will always be prior to now).
There are three possibilities of arrangement in time: anteriority, simultaneity and posteriority.
Nevertheless, order and tense are not one and the same thing as if tense implies order,
order does not necessarily imply tense. It is the tense morpheme in the respective sentence that
helps the speaker to ‘anchor’ the event / occurrence in time, setting the event in relation to the
moment of speech (which can be supplemented by the specific time markers represented by
such adverbs and adverbials as yesterday, last month, etc.).
e.g. I have seen him. I saw him.

16
Or, as G. Palmer put it, “Morphologically, English has only two tenses, past and present, as
illustrated by take(s) and took, or love(s) and loved” (op. cit., 86).

33
 In the first sentence, the very presence (and form) of the Present Perfect Tense marks
the non-compulsory time-anchoring of the event: the verb obeys criteria concerning the
category of aspect rather than that of time (viz. ‘perfectiveness’ rather than ‘past reference’),
since the speaker and the his/her interlocutor are not interested in the time of the event, while
the second sentence calls for such adverbial completions marking past reference as last Sunday,
two days ago, when I came to school, etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF TENSES

Tenses can be broadly classified as:

• absolute: The tense indicates time in relationship to the time of the utterance (i.e. “now”). For
example, “I am sitting down”, the tense is indicated in relation to the present moment.
• relative: It is used in relationship to some other time, other than the time of utterance, e.g.
“Strolling through the shops, she saw a nice dress in the window”. Here, the “saw” is relative to
the time of the “strolling”. The relationship between the time of “strolling” and the time of
utterance is not clearly specified.
• absolute-relative: It indicates time in relationship to some other event, whose time in turn is
relative to the time of utterance. (Thus, in absolute-relative tense, the time of the verb is
indirectly related; in relative tense, its relationship to the time of utterance is left unspecified.)
For example, “When I walked through the park, I saw a bird.” Here, “saw” is present relative to
the “walked”, and “walked” is past relative to the time of the utterance, thus “saw” is in
absolute-relative tense.
English has a wide variety of verb tenses, all of which convey the time of an action.
Using the verbs “to be” and “to have”, and the modals “will/would”, “shall/should”, and “to
go”, plus the present and past participles, it is possible to create the various compound tenses.
The twelve major tenses in English result from combining each of three times (past, present,
future) with each of four aspects: simple, continuous (also known as “progressive” or
“imperfect”), perfect, continuous perfect.
Tenses in which the main verb is marked for person
• Simple present: “I listen”, “She sleeps”. For many verbs, this is used to express habit or
ability (“I play the guitar”).
Tenses in which the auxiliary is marked for person
• Present progressive: “I am listening.” This is used to express what most other languages use
the simple present tense for. Note that this form in English can also be used to express future
actions, such as in the phrase “We’re seeing a movie tonight”.
• Present perfect: “I have listened.” This is usually used to express that an event happened at an
unspecified or unknown time in the past. It often has the sense of a past action with an ongoing
present effect, as in sentences like“I have finished the job” or “He has not arrived yet”.
• Present perfect continuous: “I have been listening.” This is used to express that an event
started at some time in the past and continues to the present.
THE V-s FORMS
Spelling rules:
a) -s is the rule, e.g.: to ask – he asks.
-es is added after the following groups of letters: -ss, -x, -zz, -ch, -sh, e.g.:
to pass – he passes,
to coax – he coaxes,
to buzz – it buzzes,
to touch – he touches,
to push – he pushes.
b) -y preceded by a consonant turns into -i- and adds -es, e.g.: to cry – he cries.
c) Exceptions: to do – he does, to go – he goes, to have – he has; (he says is an exception only
in point of pronunciation)

34
Pronunciation rules:
a) -s is pronounced: /z/ after vowels, e.g.: to play – he plays /pleız/ and after voiced
consonants, e.g.: to rob – he robs /rɒbz/;
-s is pronounced: /s/ after voiceless consonants, e.g.: to ask – he asks /ɑ:sks/.
b) -es is pronounced /ız/ after the sibilants /s/, /z/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, e.g.: to crash – it crashes
/΄kræʃız/, to camouflage – she camouflages /΄kæməflɑ:ʒız/.
c) Exceptions: to do – he does /dʌz/, to say – he says /sez/.
THE V-ing FORMS
Spelling rules
a) Final mute “–e” is dropped, e.g.: to move – moving. But not if the verbs end in “–ye” or “–
oe” , e.g.: to dye – dyeing (note the difference between to die-dying and to dye-dyeing), to hoe
– hoeing.
b) The final consonant is doubled when:
- it is preceded by a short vowel spelled in one letter in one syllable verbs, e.g.: to stop –
stopping, to beg – begging. But: to shout – shouting (the final consonant is preceded by the
diphtong /au/); to spread – spreading (the short vowel /e/ is spelled in two letters: -ea-);
- a two-syllable verb ends in “–r” or “–t” and the stress falls on the second syllable, e.g.: to
occur /ə΄kɜ:/ - occurring, to prefer /prı΄fə/ - preferring; to admit / əd΄mıt/ - admitting, to permit
/pɜ:΄mıt/ - permitting. But to offer /΄ɒf ə/ - offering, to limit /΄lımıt/ - limiting, which have the
stress on the first syllable;
- final “l” is doubled in British English no matter where the stress is, while in American English
it is never doubled, e.g.: to travel – travelling / traveling, to cancel – cancelling / canceling;
repelling
- some verbs in final “-p” double the final consonant, e.g.: to worship – worshipping, to kidnap
– kidnapping;
c) some verbs in “-c” add -k- before “–ing”, e.g.: to panic – panicking, to traffic – trafficking.
d) final “-ie” in some verbs turn into “-y” before adding “-ing”, e.g.: to lie – lying, to tie –
tying, to die – dying.
NOTE:
Before “-ing” final “-y” doesn’t change even if preceded by a consonant, e.g.: to occupy –
occupying, to apply – applying.

THE PRESENT TENSE

The present tense specifically refers to the moment of speaking, but it may cover different
time divisions of which the present moment is a part.
The present tense is represented in English by four forms: the present tense indefinite
aspect – active voice, the present tense indefinite aspect – passive voice, the present tense
continuous aspect – active voice, the present tense continuous aspect – passive voice.

THE PRESENT TENSE – INDEFINITE ASPECT

Formation
In point of form, the present tense simple in its active voice coincides with the
short infinitive with the exception of the third person singular, which as a rule, ends in -s.
Spelling: y preceded by a consonant becomes i + es (e.g. he / she tries, he / she
sacrifices); but: when the y is preceded by a vowel, it remains in place, e.g. he / she obeys.
Final sibilants (spelt as -ss, -sh, -x, -ch, -z, -zz) add -es (e.g. he / she guesses, he / she pushes,
he / she boxes, he / she touches, he / she buzzes. The letter -o becomes -oes, e.g. he / she does,
he / she goes, like their derivative forms, e.g. he / she overdoes, he / she undergoes.
The verb to be has the following forms: am (1st person sing.), is (3rd person sing.), and
are in the other persons
The verb to have: has in the 3rd person singular.
The modal verbs do not get the -s ending in the 3rd person singular.

35
 Negative form: the present tense negative of the verb to do, plus the short infinitive
form of the main / notional verb, e.g. I do not work, he / she does not work
Interrogative form: the present tense interrogative of the verb to do, followed by the
subject of the sentence, plus the short infinitive form of the main / notional verb, e.g. do I
work? does he / she work?
Contractions: to do in the negative and negative interrogative: don’t (=do not), doesn’t
(= does not), e.g. Doesn’t he / she work enough?

Illustrations
Affirmative Negative
Active voice Active voice
I ask – eu întreb I don’t ask – eu nu întreb
You ask – tu întrebi You don’t ask – tu nu întrebi
He asks – el întreabă He doesn’t ask – el nu întreabă
She asks – ea întreabă She doesn’t ask – ea nu întreabă
We ask – noi întrebăm It doesn’t ask – el/ea nu întreabă
You ask – voi întrebaţi We don’t ask – noi nu întrebăm
They ask – ei/ele întreabă You don’t ask – voi nu întrebaţi
They don’t ask – ei/ele nu întreabă
Passive voice Passive voice
I am asked – eu sunt întrebat I am not asked – eu nu sunt întrebat
You are asked – tu eşti întrebat
He is asked – el este întrebat You are not asked – tu nu eşti întrebat
She is asked – ea este întrebată He is not asked – el nu este întrebat
It is asked – el/ea este întrebat(ă)
We are asked – noi suntem întrebaţi She is not asked – ea nu este întrebată
You are asked – voi sunteţi întrebaţi
They are asked – ei/ele sunt întrebaţi / întrebate It is not asked – el/ea nu este întrebat(ă)
We are not asked – noi nu suntem întrebaţi
You are not asked – voi nu sunteti întrebaţi
They are not asked – ei/ele nu sunt întrebaţi / -te

Interrogative – Affirmative Interrogative – Negative

Active voice
Do I ask? – întreb eu?
Do you ask? – întrebi tu?
Does he ask? – întreabă el?
Does she ask? – întreabă ea?
Does it ask? – întreabă el/ea?
Do we ask? – întrebăm noi?
Do you ask? – întrebaţi voi?
Do they ask? – întreabă ei/ele?
Passive voice
Am I asked? – sunt eu întrebat?
Are you asked? – eşti tu întrebat?
Is he asked? – este el întrebat?
Is she asked? – este ea întrebată?
Is it asked? – este el/ea întrebat / -ă?
Are we asked? – suntem noi întrebaţi?
Are you asked? – sunteti voi întrebaţi?
Are they asked? – sunt ei/ele întrebaţi / -te?
Active voice
Don’t I ask? – nu întreb eu?
Don’t you ask? – nu întrebi tu?
Doesn’t he ask? – nu întreabă el?
Doesn’t she ask? – nu întreabă ea?
Doesn’t it ask? – nu întreabă el/ea?
Don’t we ask? – nu întrebam noi?
Don’t you ask? – nu întrebaţi voi?
Don’t they ask? – nu întreabă ei/ele?
Passive voice
Am I not asked? – nu sunt eu întrebat?
Aren’t you asked? – nu eşti tu întrebat?
Isn’t he asked? – nu este el întrebat?
Isn’t she asked? – nu este ea întrebata?
Isn’t it asked? – nu este el/ea întrebat /-ă?
Aren’t we asked? – nu suntem noi întrebaţi?
Aren’t you asked? – nu sunteti voi întrebaţi?
Aren’t they asked? – nu sunt ei/ele întrebaţi /
întrebate?

Usage. 1. The simple present is used without reference to specific time, when there is
no limitation concerning the state of things or actions through the present into the past or future
time. It expresses:
a) universal time statements, e.g.: Two and two make four.

36
 The sun rises in the east.
Garlic smells.
b) habitual time statements, particularly with adverbs such as: today, every
day/week/month/year, always, usually, never, seldom, often, on Monday, e.g.:
She goes to work every day except Saturday and Sunday.
Mrs. Murdoch rarely sews.
Mary never watches TV in the morning.
NOTE:
- dynamic verbs imply repetition of an event, so they are used to express repeated
actions in the present, e.g.: Birds fly.
- stative verbs imply continuous state, e.g.: I understand you. The boy knows the
answer.
2. It is used with dynamic verbs and signifies an event simultaneous to the present. It is
sometimes called “The instantaneous present”. It appears in:
a) exclamations introduced by here and there, the difference between the two words being only
that here expresses nearness, while there expresses distance. With both there is variation in
word order which depends on the subject being a noun or a pronoun, i.e.there is normal word
order (subject+verb) if the subject is a pronoun, e.g.: Here he comes! and there is inverted word
order (verb+subject) if the subject is a noun, e.g.: Here comes Albert! There goes our bus!
NOTE: the usual verbs in such constructions are be, come and go.
b) commentaries (on the radio, on TV), e.g.: Horsefield passes the ball to Grainger.
c) demonstrations, e.g.: I now subtract the fraction from the formula.
d) headlines, e.g.: Airplane Crashes in Mountains
e) stage directions, e.g.: Mrs Arbuthnot snatches up glove and strikes Lord Illingworth across
the face with it.

3. It is used with future meaning:

a) in independent sentences, for planned actions with an adverb of future time, particularly
when referring to a journey,e.g.: We leave Otopeni at 11:05 and we reach Heathrow airport in
three hours’ time.
b) in subordinate clauses:
- temporal clauses introduced by when, till, until,after, before, as soon as, as long as,by the
time when there is a future or an imperative in the main clause, e.g.: I’ll tell him everything
when he comes to Bucharest.
- conditional clauses introduced by if, unless, on condition that, in case, providing, provided
that when there is a future or imperative in the main clause, e.g.: Judy won’t tell him unless he
comes to her party.
An enlarged survey:
Uses: 1. Unrestricted:
A. Generic sentences: a state which is valid now (implying genreal truths)
a. in scientific language, e.g. Hydrogen is the lightest element.
b. general laws, e.g. Anything that begins well, ends badly. Anything that begins badly, ends
worse. (from Murphy's laws)
c. definitions, e.g. The noun is the principal part of speech which denotes objects, beings,
actions, qualities
d. proverbs, e.g. Learning makes a good man better and an ill man worse.
e. geographical statements, e.g. The Atlantic Ocean separates the New World from the Old.
f. eternal truths, or 'omnipresent sentences', e.g. Love is blind. Still waters run / are deep. To
be or not to be: that is the question (Shakespeare)
A'. Denoting some permanent state or characteristic / feature of the subject, e.g. She walks in
beauty like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies / And that's best of dark and bright /
Meet in her aspect and her face.
A''. Timelessness, e.g. Beer and cheese go well together.

37
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Cats drink lots of milk.
B. Habitual or recurrent actions (so, the idea of repetition and usual activity) - usually
accompanied by such adverbs as: often, seldom, generally, frequently, usually, regularly,
sometimes, never, always, occasionally, incidentally, once in a while, from time to time, most
days, whenever, twice a year, on Sundays / Saturdays / Mondays, every Sunday / Saturday /
Monday, every year / month / weeks, every two weeks, etc.
I usually take sugar in tea.
C. To show that an action simply occurs, e.g. She learns better now.
2. Restricted:
D. the Instantaneous Present: (usually, with dynamic verbs - see e, and also with 'performative
verbs', e.g. I declare you husband and wife)
a. in radio or television commentaries (especially in sports ones), e.g. MacClelan passes the
ball to Smithy and the latter heads it straight into the net. What a fine performance!
b. in stage directions: John makes for the corner of the room and pours himself a glass of
beer. He is evidently thirsty
c. in demonstrations (the audience can see what is happening), e.g. Look, I take this card from
the pack and place it under the handkerchief…
d. with performative verbs (verbs which themselves forms part of the activity they perform,
e.g. I pronounce you man and wife. We hereby declare war on Australasia. I beg your
pardon
e. e. instead of the Present Continuous of certain verbs, which imply no duration, i.e. time-
point verbs, such as to drop, to fall, to jump, to come across, to start, to stand up, to snap,
etc.
f. instead of the Present Continuous Tense in descriptions - in order to avoid the overloading
of the text (persistence in using the continuous / progressive aspect can be boring for the
reader).
g. when the stress is not so much on the duration as on the quick successive sequence of
actions (meaning that the speaker is not interested in the duration)
3. Other values: (Transposed Values)
E Future time reference:
a. in simple sentences with a future time adverbial, e.g. Tomorrow is Saturday.
On which day does Christmas fall (this year)?
b. in simple sentences of an uanchored adverbial (i.e. anticipated events), e.g. Our next exam
is scheduled the day after tomorrow. Mary says she passes it.
c. to render planned / scheduled activities (arrangements regarded as unalterable - often used
by travel agencies advertisements), e.g. She returns next Sunday. We leave here at six,
arrive in Dublin at midnight and take a plane to Amsterdam.
d. such a sentence as Next week John fails the exam is unthinkable except for an ironical
comment (supposing that John's failure is a sure fact)
e. in subordinate conditionals / if-clauses (also called 'type I' if-clauses), e.g. Will you come
for a walk if it does not rain?
f. in subordinate time / time clauses, e.g. Jane will announce the guests as they arrive. (see
also e. above) If you get there before I do, tell all our friends I’coming, too The more they
are, the merrier they will be
f1. when the future is used in the head sentence, see f. above
f2. when the imperative occurs in the head clause, e.g. Remember me when I am gone
away / Gone far away into the silent land / When you can no more hold me by the hand /
Nor I half turn, yet turning stay..
g. for actions coming into effect in the future, e.g. The lease expires in 2001.
F. Past tense reference

38
a. 'historic / 'dramatic' present, used for the sake of vividness in narration, e.g. Trump! tramp!
along the land they rode / Splash! splash! across the sea; The steed is white, the spur is
bright, / The flashing pebbles flee. (W. Scott)
b. in a highly coloured style of oral narratives (G. Leech), e.g. Last week I am in the sitting
room with my wife when this chap next door straggles past and in a drunken fit throws a
brick through our window.
c. in art criticism (when discussing an artist and his surviving work), e.g. Brahms is the last
great representative of German classicism. In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky
draws his characters in a philosophically symbolic manner.
● There are few variations between the present and the past. When we say, e.g. Brahms
was born in Hamburg, we make reference to Brahms as a person, not as an (immortal /
perennial / eternally world-famous) artist.
d. in newspaper headlines, e.g. Ex-champ dies! (in fact, he died - some time before)
e. instead of the Preterite / Past Tense in indirect statements / Indirect or reported Speech, e.g.
He told me that she sings beautifully. (Also: He told me that she sang beautifully.)
G. Present Perfect Tense reference:
- verbal forms of communication (frequently used in colloquial language), such as to tell, to
forget, to understand, to learn, to hear, to be told, e.g.
I learn from your letter that you are making progress in mathematics
I hear that she has made it. suggesting persistence in the present moment [Also, the style is
simpler, shorter, closer to the ‘act of speech’]
H. The Imaginary Present Tense - when fictional events are narrated with refrence to no real
time (a device writers use to endow their narrative with dramatic heightening / emphasis /
enhancement (see Ch. Dickens' Bleak House)
I. According to Thompson and Martinet, the Simple Present Tense is used chiefly with the
verb to say when we are asking about or quoting from books, notices or very recently
received letters, e.g. 'What does that notice say?' 'It says No Parking', or other verbs of
communication, such as to advise, to warn, etc. Thus, instead of Shakespeare says 'Neither
a borrower nor a lender be', one can say Shakespeare advises us not to borrow or lend.
A notice at the end of the road warns people not to get any farther.
- for dramatic narrative, e.g. When the curtain rises, Juliet is sitting at her desk. The phone
rings. She picks it up and listens quietly. Meanwhile the window opens and a masked man
enters the room. (when describing the action of a play / opera)
with verbs which cannot be used in the continuous form (i.e. verbs of state), such as to see, to
hear, to want, to love, to believe, to be, to have, to consist of, etc. We can say I love you, but
nor (normally) I am loving you.

PRESENT TENSE CONTINUOUS ASPECT

Formation
It is formed with the present of the primary auxiliary verb BE, plus the present /
indefinite participle (i.e. the -ing form) of the main / notional verb, e.g. I am reading.
The negative is formed by putting not before the auxiliary, e.g. I am not working. The
interrogative is formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary, e.g. is he working?
Contractions, or contracted forms: to be → affirmative / negative / negative-
interrogative: I’m working, he isn’t working, aren’t you working? An irregular contracted form
is that of I am not: I’m not, aren’t I? / (esp. colloquially) ain’t I?
Spelling: verbs ending in a single -e drop it before -ing (loving, hating). This does not
happen when the verb ends in -ee (agreeing, seeing).
When a verb of one syllable has one vowel (or rather, a simple and short vowel) and
ends in a single consonant, this consonant is doubled before -ing (hitting, running, stopping).
Verbs of two or more syllables whose last syllable contains only one vowel and end in
a single consonant, double this consonant if the stress falls on the last syllable ( beginning,

39
preferring, admitting, permitting, but: entering, offering, where stress does not fall on the last
syllable).
A final consonant l after a single vowel is, however, always doubled (in British
English), e.g. level - levelling, signal - signalling, travel - travelling, etc.
One should pay attention to the verbs to mimic, to picnic, to kidnap, to worship –
although not under stress.

Illustration

Affirmative Negative
Active voice Active voice

I am asking – eu întreb I am not asking – eu nu întreb

You are asking – tu întrebi
He is asking –el întreabă
She is asking – ea întreabă
It is asking – el/ea întreabă
We are asking – noi întrebam
You are asking – voi întrebaţi
They are asking – ei/ele întreabă
Passive voice
You are not asking – tu nu întrebi
He is not asking – el nu întreabă
She is not asking – ea nu întreabă
It is not asking – el/ea nu întreabă
We are not asking – noi nu întrebam
You are not asking – voi nu întrebaţi
They are not asking – ei/ele nu întreabă
Passive voice

I am being asked – eu sunt întrebat I am not being asked – eu nu sunt întrebat

You are being asked – tu eşti întrebat You are not being asked – tu nu eşti întrebat
He is being asked – el este întrebat
She is being asked – ea este întrebată He is not being asked – el nu este întrebat
It is being asked – el/ea este întrebat(ă)
We are being asked – noi suntem întrebaţi She is not being asked – ea nu este întrebată
You are being asked – voi sunteti întrebaţi
They are being asked – ei/ele sunt întrebaţi It is not being asked – el/ea nu este întrebat(ă)
/întrebate
We are not being asked – noi nu suntem întrebaţi

You are not being asked – voi nu sunteți întrebați

They are not being asked – ei/ele nu sunt
întrebaţi /întrebate

Interrogative – Affirmative Interrogative - Negative

40
Active voice
Am I asking? – întreb eu?
Are you asking? – întrebi tu?
Is he asking? – întreabă el?
Is she asking? – întreabă ea?
Is it asking? – întreabă el/ea?
Are we asking? – întrebam noi?
Are you asking? – întrebaţi voi?
Are they asking? – întreabă ei/ele?
Passive voice
Am I being asked? – sunt eu întrebat?
Are you being asked? – eşti tu întrebat?
Is he being asked? – este el întrebat?
Is she being asked? – este ea întrebată?
Is it being asked? – este el/ea întrebat(a)?
Are we being asked? – suntem noi întrebaţi?
Are you being asked? – sunteți voi întrebaţi?
Are they being asked? – sunt ei/ele întrebaţi /
întrebate?
Active voice
Am I not asking? – nu întreb eu?
Aren’t you asking? – nu întrebi tu?
Isn’t he asking? – nu întreabă el?
Isn’t she asking? – nu întreabă ea?
Isn’t it asking? – nu întreabă el/ea?
Aren’t we asking? – nu întrebam noi?
Aren’t you asking? – nu întrebaţi voi?
Aren’t they asking? – nu întreabă ei/ele?
Passive voice
Am I not being asked? – nu sunt eu întrebat?
Aren’t you being asked? – nu eşti tu întrebat?
Isn’t he being asked? – nu este el întrebat?
Isn’t she being asked? – nu este ea întrebată?
Isn’t it being asked? – nu este el/ea întrebat(ă)?
Aren’t we being asked? – nu suntem noi întrebaţi?
Aren’t you being asked? – nu sunteți voi întrebaţi?
Aren’t they being asked? – nu sunt ei/ele întrebaţi /
întrebate?

Usage
1. It indicates temporariness, so it is used to express an action or an event in progress now, e.g.:
Listen! Molly is playing a sonata by Beethoven.

2. It indicates limited duration showing an action happening about this time but not at the
moment of speaking, e.g.:
I am reading Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Do I look thinner?

3. It shows a characteristic activity with an emotional tone, usually of anger, with adverbs
which normally require the use of the simple present, such as always, continuously,
continually, forever, e.g.:
She is always speaking on the phone when she has guests.

NOTE:
Sometimes the note of irritation may be absent, the speaker only implying that an action seems
never to stop, e.g.: He is always reading a book (=I admire him for that).

4. It is used with future meaning to express future arrangement or planning, with adverbs of
future time. It is the usual verb form to express futurity in familiar style, e.g.:
Jean is coming from Paris tomorrow.

5. The Present Continuous is occasionally used to refer to a future event when used in
conjunction with an adverb or adverbial phrase, as in the following sentences:
The doors are opening in 10 minutes.
The premier is arriving on Monday.
Classes are ending next week.

An enlarged survey:
Uses:
Distinctions between the Simple and the Continuous / Progressive aspect of the Present Tense:
1. The Present Continuous Tense denotes a limited duration whereas the Present Simple
Tense expresses an unlimited duration, e.g.

41
 Water boils (generic, or ‘minimal’ value). vs (The) water is boiling (specific, momentary
reference)
2. The Present Continuous implies duration of an action, whereas the Present Simple, in the
case of instantaneous use, implies no stress on duration, e.g.
I raise my arm (= very sudden / quick action) vs.
I am raising my hands (= a gradual action, having analyzable segments)
3. The Present Continuous implies an incomplete action, whereas the Present Simple refers to
a complete / an entire action, e.g.
The bus stops. vs.
The bus is stopping.
A. an action in progress, which is happening (is about to stop / is on the point to stop); it takes
place at the moment of speech, now - and is accompanied by such adverbials as: (right)
now, (at) this very moment, currently, today, e.g. What are you doing now?
A’. temporary / limited duration of the action - the time markers are not obligatory: Look, I
need an umbrella because it is raining (right) now / at the present moment)
Don’t disturb him; he’s sleeping (now) - where the presence of the adverb(ial) is superfluous /
redundant, because the period of time can be ogically inferred from the statement - or the
context itself.
B. An action in progress, which extends over a longer period of time, including the moment of
speech, but not necessarily right now; usually accompanied by adverb(ial)s such as: this… /
these…, e.g Mary is working very hard this term.
B’. In certain contexts, the indication as to the moment of speaking is not obligatory (the action
/ state is not of a permanent duration; the sentences do not express a general action / state), e.g.
Ann is attending the Polytechnical Faculty. (We know that in 4 years she will graduate) His
brother is living in the countryside (He usually lives with his parents, in Bucharest)
C. An increase or a decrease in an action (plus adverbs of degree: more and more…), e.g. The
weather is getting colder and colder.
D. A stylistically marked use (plus adverbs of frequency: always, all the time, constantly,
continually, forever; as a rule, they require the Simple Present)
You are constantly insisting on it. She is always complaining (subjective connotation: irritation,
annoyance).
With verbs not normally used in the continuous aspect, e.g. He is being a good boy
(implying a temporary characteristic).

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE SIMPLE ASPECT

The Present Perfect (Simple aspect) is the perfective verbal tense form implying actions
and states that fall within the time-sphere of the present (hence the name itself, Present Perfect,
which can sound rather paradoxical for speakers of languages such as Romanian, French,
Italian, etc., where the literal counterparts, e.g. Rom. am pierdut, Fr. j’ai perdu, It. ho perso,
belong to the past). Moreover, the often added specification to the effect that “the action has
taken place in the past” is, we think, useless, since, on the one hand, it goes without saying that
‘perfective’ verbal forms denote actions and states “that have already happened”, and, on the
other hand, it increases the foreign students’ confusion as to the time-appurtenance of this
rather ticklish tense of the English language. E.g. I have seen him this week. Mary’s been to
America. Have you had lunch? Has the shop opened yet? I haven’t heard you. Mary hasn’t
met him. Haven’t I done anything for you? Hasn’t she tasted avocado yet? Has she not tasted
avocado yet? (more formal); I have been asked. She has been seen.

Formation
The present perfect simple is formed of the auxiliary HAVE (have/ has), plus the past
participle of the main verb (the third form of that verb).

42
 The perfect tenses (i.e. the Present Perfect and Past Perfect) of some intransitive verbs
(to become, to come, to do = to finish, to get, to go, to grow, to meet, to melt, to set, to sit, to
rest, to return, to rise, etc.) can sometimes have an alternative form, where the auxiliary to
have is replaced by the verb to be. This phenomenon exists in Romanian, too (e.g. El este
plecat la Sibiu). The older perfect forms realized with the auxiliary to be can help render
subtler nuances of language, e.g. They have gone. (The stress lies on the action itself). They
are gone. (The stress lies on the result of the action – They are no longer here, therefore you
cannot speak to them).

Illustration
Affirmative
Active voice
I have asked – eu am întrebat
You have asked – tu ai întrebat
He has asked – el a întrebat
She has asked – ea a întrebat
It has asked – el/ea a întrebat
We have asked – noi am întrebat
You have asked – voi aţi întrebat
They have asked – ei/ele au întrebat
Negative
Active voice
I haven’t asked – eu nu am întrebat
You haven’t asked – tu nu ai întrebat
He hasn’t asked – el nu a întrebat
She hasn’t asked – ea nu a întrebat
It hasn’t asked – el/ea nu a întrebat
We haven’t asked – noi nu am întrebat
You haven’t asked – voi nu aţi întrebat
They haven’t asked – ei/ele nu au întrebat

Passive voice Passive voice

I have been asked – eu am fost întrebat
You have been asked – tu ai fost întrebat
He has been asked – el a fost întrebat
She has been asked – ea a fost întrebată
It has been asked – el/ea a fost întrebat(ă)
We have been asked – noi am fost întrebaţi
You have been asked – voi ati fost întrebaţi
They have been asked – ei/ele au fost întrebaţi(te)
I haven’t been asked – eu nu am fost întrebat
You haven’t been asked – tu nu ai fost întrebat
He hasn’t been asked – el nu a fost întrebat
She hasn’t been asked – ea nu a fost întrebaţi
It hasn’t been asked – el/ea nu a fost întrebat(a)
We haven’t been asked – noi nu am fost întrebaţi
You haven’t been asked – voi nu ati fost întrebaţi
They haven’t been asked – ei/ele nu au fost
întrebaţi(te)

Interrogative - Affirmative Interrogative – Negative

43
Active voice
Have I asked? – am întrebat eu?
Have you asked? – ai întrebat tu?
Has he asked? – a întrebat el?
Has she asked? – a întrebat ea?
Has it asked? – a întrebat el/ea?
Have we asked? – am întrebat noi?
Have you asked? – ati întrebat voi?
Have they asked? – au întrebat ei/ele?
Active voice
Haven’t I asked? – nu am întrebat eu?
Haven’t you asked? – nu ai întrebat tu?
Hasn’t he asked? – nu a întrebat el?
Hasn’t she asked? – nu a întrebat ea?
Hasn’t it asked? – nu a întrebat el/ea?
Haven’t we asked? – nu am întrebat noi?
Haven’t you asked? – nu ati întrebat voi?
Haven’t they asked? – nu au întrebat ei/ele?

Passive voice Passive voice

Have I been asked? – am fost eu întrebat? Haven’t I been asked? – nu am fost eu întrebat?
Have you been asked? – ai fost tu întrebat? Haven’t you been asked? – nu ai fost tu întrebat?
Has he been asked? – a fost el întrebat? Hasn’t he been asked? – nu a fost el întrebat?
Has she been asked? – a fost ea întrebatî? Hasn’t she been asked? – nu a fost ea întrebată?

Has it been asked? – a fost el/ea întrebat(ă)?
Have we been asked? – am fost noi întrebati?
Have you been asked? – ati fost voi întrebaţi?
Have they been asked? – au fost ei/ele
întrebaţi(te)?
Hasn’t it been asked? – nu a fost el/ea întrebat(ă)?
Haven’t we been asked? – nu am fost noi întrebaţi?
Haven’t you been asked? – nu ati fost voi întrebaţi?
Haven’t they been asked? – nu au fost ei/ele
întrebaţi /întrebate?

Usage
It is usually used to talk about the past in relation to the present. It suggests a
connection between something that happened in the past and a present time, often referring to
an action in the past which has a result now, e.g: Your parents have arrived.
This is the type of present tense which is used in dialogues, in present contexts, but
never in past contexts.
1. It is used when the moment of the action is not mentioned, because it is not important or it is
not known. The speaker is interested in the result of the action, e.g.: Have you seen “The
Titanic?”“Yes, I have seen it.”
Compare with: “Yes, I saw it two years ago.”
2. It occurs with adverbs of indefinite time, which are:
a) always, already, ever, never, often, seldom, rarely, just, sometimes and take a special
position in the sentence:
- they are placed between the subject and the predicate in simple forms, e.g.:
He never sleeps in the afternoon.
- they are placed after to be e.g.:
He is never at home in the afternoon.
- between the auxiliary and the main verb, e.g.:
He has never loved her.
b) lately, recently, of late, so far, up to now, up to the present, up to this very moment etc.,
which are normallly placed at the end of the sentence, e.g.:
He hasn’t replied to her letter so far.
NOTE:
Yet can fill in both position a) and b), e.g.: He hasn’t yet come. He hasn’t come yet.
3. It occurs when an incomplete period is indicated by such adverbs as today, this morning, this
week, this year, e.g.:
I haven’t seen him this morning (= it is still morning, earlier than noon).

44
They have worked a lot this week (= the week is not finished, it is still Wednesday or Friday, at
least).
NOTE:
Compare with the use of the past tense, e.g.: I didn’t see him this morning (= it is after
midday). They worked a lot this week (= the week is almost over).
4. It also occurs for actions further back in the past but which have a connection with the
present, so that the action could be still repeated in the present, e.g.:
Ana Blandiana has written several good novels (= she can still write some).
NOTE:
Compare with the use of the Past Tense, e.g.: William Shakespeare wrote some
famous tragedies. (= He won’t write any others.)
5. It is used in temporal clauses introduced by when, till, until, after, before, as soon as, by the
time when there is a future in the main clause, to express anteriority, e.g.:
I’ll call you as soon as I’ve checked in at the hotel.
6. There is an ‘inclusive’ present perfect required by temporal FOR (+ a period of time) and
SINCE (+ the moment of the beginning of the action), indicating a period of time stretching
backwards into some earlier time, so it is very important to notice that the action or state are
still going on, e.g.:
He has been in his room for half an hour.
He has been in his room since two o’clock.
7. SINCE, never for, can also be used as a conjunction. In a present context it is preceded by a
present perfect when the action extends into the present (like SINCE as a preposition) and it is
followed by a verb in the past tense if the action is over, e.g.: I haven’t seen her since she (got)
married or it is fallowed by a verb in the present perfect if the action still goes on, e.g.: I
haven’t seen her since she has been married.
NOTES:
a) Compare: He has lived here all his life (= he still lives here).
He lived here all his life (= he no longer lives here, he is dead).
So the present perfect denotes a period of time extending into the present, while the
past tense denotes a terminated period of time;
b) Temporal SINCE can be used only with the present perfect which denotes a period of time
extending into the present;
c) Especially after to be, to live, to wait FOR can be omitted, e.g.:
They’ve been here two hours or so;
d) It is is followed by a period of time + either a past tense or a present perfect, but never in the
negative, e.g.: It’s ten years since I last smoked (= I last smoked ten years ago); It’s ten years
since I’ve smoked (= I haven’t smoked for ten years).
8. A conversation about a past action often begins with a verb in the present perfect, but usually
goes on with verbs in the past tense, the past moment being clear in the minds of the speakers,
e.g.: “Where have you been?” “I’ve been to a concert. It was marvellous, I had a great time.”
9. The present perfect is often used in broadcasts or newspapers to introduce an action which
will be later described in the past tense, e.g.: The body of a young woman has been found in
Kensington Gardens. A tramp found it close to the statue of Peter Pan and informed the
nearest police station.

An enlarged survey:
All occurrences of the perfect marker [have + past participle], somehow, suggest the
idea that the time of the event (or most of it) is prior to the time of reference. But, whereas the
Past Tense presents the action without any present reference, the Present Perfect links the past
action with the present.
Generally, it can be said that, when the Present Perfect is used, the speaker is concerned
with the action in spe, its importance or its connection with the present; actually, one of the

45
main sources of error for Romanian learners is the fact that the Present Perfect has a clear
‘present-colouring’, as well as present translation (in contexts like We have been friends for 5
years.).
Accordingly, most traditional grammarians generally recognize three main uses of the
Present Perfect Tense: the so-called continuative perfect (e.g. We’ve known each other for
years), the resultative perfect (e.g. I’ve bought a new car, John has just gone out), and the
perfect of experience (e.g. When I have asked a London policeman the way, I have invariably
received a polite answer).17

Therefore, the Simple Present Perfect is used:

1. To express past actions or states when time is not considered important by the
speaker. In this case, no adverbial modifier is required, e.g. I have seen this museum. Have you
had lunch?
Sometimes, the result of the action in the Present Perfect Simple is obvious in the
present. (Resultative Present Perfect), e.g. I have washed the dishes. (Result: The dishes are
clean); I have broken my right arm. (Result: I can’t write now).
This meaning is clearest with transitional event verbs denoting the switch from one
state to another. The final (and present state) implied by the present perfect is indicated in
brackets, e.g. The train has left (=the train is not here now). I’ve got a bicycle for my birthday.
(=I now have a bicycle.)
In other examples, the resultative inference is still there, even if it is not quite so
obvious from the verb’s meaning, e.g. He’s broken his leg (=He is still wearing a cast .)
He’s cut his chin with the razor (= the cut is still visible).1
2. To refer to indefinite past, in combination with adverbs of frequency (often,
sometimes, rarely, never, ever, always, seldom, once, twice, several times), or adverbs /
adverbial phrases like before, whenever, so far, up to the present, until/till now, e.g. I have
often seen him carrying a large bag. My dog has never eaten inside. I have phoned her twice.
My mother has never liked chocolate. Whenever I’ve asked him he has given me good advice.
It’s the most intriguing book I have ever read.
In some of these sentences the Present Perfect (the Perfect of Experience) illustrates the
occurrence of the events in the life of individuals up to the present moment, e.g. My dog has
never eaten inside. (never = at no point up to the present in its life); It’s the most intriguing
look I have ever read. (ever = at any point up to now in my life).
Although synonyms, in comparison with so far, until now suggests a change, a new
situation. Compare, e.g. So far, he hasn’t been to London. He hasn’t been to London until
now. (He is in London now.)
The indefinite past can also be expressed with adverbials denoting an
incomplete/unfinished period of time: today, this (week/month/morning etc.), all
day/night/year, etc, e.g. I haven’t heard from him today. They have studied a lot this week. I’ve
been busy all day.
The Present Perfect is used:
3. To express duration-up-to-the-present when a past action started in the past,
continues in the present and is likely to extend into the future, as well.
Durative adverbials preceded by for mark the duration of the period, whereas definite
adverbs marked by: since indicate the beginning of the period of time. In either case, the period
is still unfinished at the present moment. (= the Continuative Present Perfect), e.g. I have
known him since September. He was lived here for two years.
As they express duration, since and for are particularly used in the Progressive /
Continuous Perfect Tense. Nevertheless, apart from the verbs that are not used in the
17
Cf. Cobb, Timothy, Gardiner, Richard, Today’s English Grammar, Editura Prietenii Cărţii,
Bucureşti, 1994, pp. 59 and 61-62.
1
Mircea-Mihai Zdrenghea, ibidem, p. 348

46
continuous aspect (to know, to see, to be, etc.) there are some stative verbs (to stay, to live, etc.)
or dynamic verbs (to work, to study, etc.), which can be used either in the Simple or the
Progressive/Continuous Present Perfect.
With states, the difference in meaning between the Simple and Continuous perfect is
almost negligible; if existent, it is brought by the “limited duration” meaning of the progressive
marker, so that if we compare the two sentences below: I have been living here… They
have lived here… The first suggests a smaller time-scale […] and so far a few days would
certainly go with the first, and for thirty years with the second. 18
1. To express completed activities in the recent/immediate past. In this case, the verb is
accompanied by adverbs like: just, lately, already, of late, during the last week, the last few
days, these (ten) minutes, yet, e.g. She has just turned off the TV. They haven’t seen each other
the last few days. She has called twice these ten minutes. Have they received the gift yet?
They have written a lot of letters lately. Father has recently resigned.
The women have already raised enough money.
One should not confuse this use of just with the use of the adverb meaning barely or
nearly. When having these meanings, it can occur with different tenses, e.g. Mike just wanted
to help us.
On the other hand, just now is used with the Past Tense. (See also the Simple Past Tense
section: He rang you up just now).
Further notes: Most grammarians notice that the British tend to use the Past Tense after
recently and lately. Lately is used with the Present Perfect particularly in questions and
negative statements, e.g. Until recently they were living in Edinburgh.19
More recently his name was linked with that of a local councilor.
Have you been to the movies lately?
I haven’t seen him lately.
Already and yet can both appear in interrogative sentences – with one difference, though:
whereas yet indicates that the question is supposed to find out whether the action is finished or
not, already shows that the speaker is surprised that the action is over, e.g. Have you painted
the fence yet? Have you already painted the fence? (I am surprised, it should have taken you
much longer.)
Already can also occur in affirmative statements, e.g. He has already cooked dinner.
In negative statements, yet has the meaning of Romanian (nu) încă, e.g. Grandma has
not boiled the tea yet. / Grandma has not yet boiled the tea.
Still can also replace yet in negative sentences stressing the idea of lack or failure of
accomplishment, e.g. I still haven’t bought the car.
5. To express a future action, in an adverbial clause of time, prior to another one expressed
by a future tense. The Present Perfect is usually accompanied by: after, when (= after), as soon
as, till/until, by the time (that), before, etc., e.g. He will talk to you after he has returned from
the trip. She will call you up the moment she has come back home. Clean this mess up until she
has come.
6. To replace will in Conditional Clauses, e.g. I’ll pay you a visit if you have made my
favorite cake. They will not be allowed to see the film unless they have done their homework . If
you haven’t understood the lesson, read it again!
In conditional clauses, tenses related to the present (i.e. the Present and the Present Perfect)
express real situations.20
7. To open a conversation where specific information can be asked for with the Simple Past
Tense, e.g. Q: Have you been there?
A: Yes, I have.
Q: What was it like?
A: Great.
18
Taina Duţescu-Colibanu, ibidem, p. 179.
19
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, London, Fifth edition, p. 792.
20
See The Past Tense Simple.

47
 This use is frequent in newspapers and broadcasts to introduce an action that will be
described in The Past Tense. The time in the second sentence is often given, e.g. Police in
Palmon have concluded a major undercover operation […] This was sparked off by a shooting
incident in the centre city last month […].
The Simple Present Perfect can be translated into Romanian by:
1) “Perfect compus”, e.g. I have seen him before. / L-am mai văzut.
2) “Prezent”, e.g. I have known him for all my life. / Îl cunosc de o viaţă / de când mă
ştiu.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE CONTINUOUS ASPECT

The Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to describe a situation or activity which
began in the past and was in progress until recently or until the time of speaking. It is often
used to emphasize the duration of an event, occurring with time expressions which indicate
how long an activity has been in progress.
The Present Perfect Progressive / Continuous is another ‘perfective’ verbal form, like
the Present Perfect Simple Tense, and at the same time its progressive counterpart – with the
essential difference that it focuses on actions (and, infrequently, states) that extend over a
period of time adjacent to the present time; sometimes, the fact that the actions still continues is
made explicit, e.g. Tom has been washing his car for five minutes (now). I’ve been living here
since 1988. How long has she been unconscious? I’ve been playing football.She’s been
reading for two hours. Have you been listening to her? Has he been watching TV? They
haven’t been reading. Jane hasn’t been paying any attention. e.g. Haven’t you been working in
the garden? Hasn’t Tom been eating the cake? Have the men not been repairing the car?
As a rule, the Present Perfect Progressive is almost never found with the passive voice,
since the form is rather unwieldy and long.

Formation
The Present Perfect Progressive / Continuous is formed with the present perfect of the
verb to be (has/have been), plus the present participle of the main verb (i.e. the verb to be
conjugated), e.g. They’ve been drinking my beer.

Illustration
Affirmative
Active voice
I have been asking – eu am întrebat
You have been asking – tu ai întrebat
He has been asking – el a întrebat
She has been asking – ea a întrebat
It has been asking – el/ea a întrebat
We have been asking – noi am întrebat
You have been asking – voi ati întrebat
They have been asking – ei/ele au întrebat
Negative
Active voice
I have not been asking – eu nu am întrebat
You have not been asking – tu nu ai întrebat
He has not been asking – el nu a întrebat
She has not been asking – ea nu a întrebat
It has not been asking – el/ea nu a întrebat
We have not been asking – noi nu am întrebat
You have not been asking – voi nu ati întrebat
They have not been asking – ei/ele nu au întrebat

Interrogative – Affirmative Interrogative – Negative

Active voice
Have I been asking? – am întrebat eu?
Have you been asking? – ai întrebat tu?
Has he been asking? – a întrebat el?
Has she been asking? – a întrebat ea?
Has it been asking? – a întrebat el/ea?
Have we been asking? – am întrebat noi?
Have you been asking? – ati întrebat voi?
Have they been asking? – au întrebat ei/ele?
Active voice
Have I not been asking? – nu am întrebat eu?
Have you not been asking? – nu ai întrebat tu?
Has he not been asking? – nu a întrebat el?
Has she not been asking? – nu a întrebat ea?
Has it not been asking? – nu a întrebat el/ea?
Have we not been asking? – nu am întrebat noi?
Have you not been asking? – nu ati întrebat voi?
Have they not been asking? – nu au întrebat ei/ele?

48
Usage
1. It is used to express an action started in the past and still going on in the present or which has
just finished, e.g.:
Go out and get some fresh air; you’ve been here studying with no break so long!
NOTE:
Some verbs can be used either in the present perfect simple, or in the present perfect continuous
in variation: to expect, to hope, to lie, to live, to look, to rain, to sleep, to sit, to snow, to stand,
to stay, to study, to wait, to work, e.g.: How long have you lived / have you been living in this
house?
It has rained/ has been raining since the morning.
2. Like the simple present perfect, there is an inclusive present perfect continuous used with
temporal FOR (+ a period of time) and SINCE (+ the moment of the beginning of the action),
indicating a period of time stretching backwards into some earlier time with actions and states
still going on, e.g.:
She has been sleeping for an hour.
She has been sleeping since one o’clock.
SINCE can be also a conjunction; in a present context it is preceded by a present perfect and
followed by a verb in the past if the action is over, e.g.:
She has been listening to music in her room since she came home.
SINCE is preceded by a present perfect continuous and followed by a present perfect
continuous if the action still goes on, e.g.:
She has been listening to music since she has been lying in the sun.
3. Since the present perfect continuous frequently expresses an action begun in the past and still
going on in the present, it cannot be used in the negative if the action of the verb is negated,
e.g.:
They have been working here since June, but their wives have not worked here since
September.
However, if the speaker negates the time, the place or the manner of the action (not the action
itself) the present perfect continuous can be used in the negative, e.g.:
“Has he been sleeping on that narrow couch the whole night?” “No, he has not been sleeping
on that narrow couch since he fell asleep, at first he slept on the floor.”
“Have you been waiting for me since ten o’clock?” “No, I’ve not been waiting for you since
ten, I came much earlier.”
4. Unlike the present perfect indefinite, which is used when the speaker is interested in the
result of the action, the present perfect continuous is used to stress the action itself, e.g.:
Compare: I’ve written five letters this morning. I’ve been writing letters this morning.
5. It is used instead of the simple present perfect to express incompleteness, e.g.:
Compare: Who has eaten my sandwich? (= the whole of it, there is nothing left of my
sandwich). Who has been eating my sandwich? (= part of the sandwich is still left).

An enlarged survey:
Usage: The Present Perfect Progressive / Continuous is used:
1) To express an action that began in the past, and which includes the present and may even
extend into the future, e.g. They have been playing chess for an hour.
The Present Perfect Simple can be used with this meaning, too, while the essential
difference is that, with the progressive form, the continuation of the activity up to the present is
emphasized. Compare, e.g. I have worked in the garden for two hours. (I’ve just finished
working); and: I have been working in the garden for two hours. (I’m still working).
2) To express constantly repeated actions in a period of time extending up to the present if
the number of times is not specified, e.g. I have been walking to school for a long time.
If the number of times an action occurs is specified, Present Perfect Simple will be
used instead, e.g. I have been walking to school for seven years.

49
 3) To express a recent situation or activity which explains a present result. The
situation or activity may still be going on, or it may just have stopped. Compare, e.g. We’ve
been discussing the proposals for a number of years (action still going on); and: Your eyes are
red. Have you been crying? (= recently stopped action).
Hence the Present Perfect Continuous tense is used:
With event verbs whose meaning implies eventual fulfillment of the activity or process the
incompleteness feature in the meaning of the present progressive contrasts with the common
present perfect, which indicates that the completion has already been achieved 21, e.g. Someone
has been eating my sandwich! (Some of it is left on the plate.) Someone has eaten my
sandwich! (The plate is empty).
4) To express an activity that has stopped – when proximity in time can be emphasized by
the adverb just, e.g. I’ve just been reading your article. It’s fabulous. I’ve just been listening to
the Madrigal choir. (the announcer on the radio).
5) In adverbial clauses of time, in order to show that an action which began in the past is
still under way22, e.g. While Nick has been watching Judith, she has been drinking her glass of
milk.
6) To express effusive hostess and polite guest, e.g. We’ve been (no) looking forward to
meeting you. I’ve been meaning to ask you.
7) To answer a question in the Present Tense Simple expressing usual behaviour under
certain circumstances (when perfectiveness / anterirority is meant), e.g. When do you feel
giddy? When I’ve been bending down.
The translation of the Present Perfect Continuous into Romanian:
The Present Perfect Continuous is translated into Romanian by:
1) “Prezent”, e.g. He’s been watching TV since I left home. / El se uită la TV de când
am plecat de acasă.
2) “Perfect compus”, e.g. Have you been mending the car? / Ţi-ai reparat maşina (tot
timpul ăsta)?

Occurrence of the Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is common in news, academic prose, and writing. However, the
occurrence of the Present Perfect in these registers is largely varies, as shown in the table
below.
Table23
Variation in the verb phrase

Table 6.1 Verbs that occur the present perfect aspect over 40 times per million words in at least
one register; occurrences per million words:

over 1,000

over 500

over 200

over 100

over 40

21
Mihai-Mircea Zdrenghea, ibidem, p. 352.
22
See Constantin Paidos, English Grammar, Theory and Practice, Bucharest, Editura All
Educational, 1999.
23
Longman of Spoken and Written English, London 1999, p. 464

50
 over 20
HAVE + CONV FICT NEWS
ACAD
been

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
had
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
got
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
gone
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
done
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
made
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
seen
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
come
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
said
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
taken
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
become
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
given
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
shown
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
thought
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
called
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
put
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
lost
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
won
As one can notice, the verb to be is the most present perfect form in all registers, except
conversation. The verb has/have got in BrE conversation in the single most common present
perfect verb in any one register, occurring well over 2,000 times per million words; its
occurrence in academic writing is very rare. In news and academic prose, several other verbs
occur with the Present Perfect frequently.
The situation of the verbs occurring more than 25% of the time with the Present Perfect
in these two registers is the following: News reportage: agree, appoint, campaign, circulate,
criticize, draft, experience, pledge, prompt, vow, witness. Academic prose: criticize, document,
implicate, master, report.
On the other hand, there are many verbs that rarely ever occur with the Present Perfect
less than 2% of the time: accommodate, afford, aim, await, base, believe, bet, boil, compete,
comprise, connect, consist, constitute, contain, correspond, cast, denote, depend, differ,
distinguish, ensure, entitle, excuse, glance, illustrate, induce, inhibit, kiss, lean, let, matter,
mind, need, nod, protect, quit, reckon, reflect, regulate, relate, remember, represent, require,
resemble, scream, smell, smile, stare, suppose, thank, want, wave.24

24
Longman, ibidem.

51
 The perfect aspect combination have/has been is frequent and serves a variety of
functions. Apart from its copular use, it can be used as an alternative of the verb to go.
Some grammarians25 consider that the verb to go has two participles: gone and been.
Have/has gone has a resultative use, meaning “reaching a place and staying there”, e.g. He’s
gone to London. (He’s in London now)
Have/has been is an indefinite past, implying movement to a destination followed by
return, e.g. He’s been to London. (He visited London, but he came back.)
Additionally, have/has been functions as the auxiliary part of a passive verb, or (less
commonly) of a verb in the progressive aspect, e.g. He has been spotted in the street. He has
been thinking of quitting his present job.
In perfect tenses, the verb to be is followed by the preposition to.26
The Present Perfect forms of have and get are used in different ways in AmE and BrE.
Have/has got and have/has had both mark possession in a general sense. Have/has got,
which is extremely common in BrE conversation, has a range of meanings roughly equivalent
to the simple Present Tense of have, e.g. He has got a horse. Jerry has got many books.
It is also frequent to elide the perfect aspect marker (have/has), while retaining the -ed
form of the verb (got), e.g. You got more than me. (You have more than me).
In many cases, the expression has a meaning associated with the perfect aspect have +
got – showing the current possession of something – rather than the past tense, meaning that
something was acquired.
In AmE conversation, the present tense form of have is much more frequently used to
express possession than have/has got. Moreover, AmE distinguishes in meaning between
have/has got (referring to current possession) and have/has gotten (implying that something has
been acquired or that a change of state has occurred.
Compare: I have got a chalet in the mountains (=I have).
I have gotten a chalet in the mountains (=I bought).
In BrE, this perfect meaning is expressed by have/has got, e.g. She has got hold of
some important papers. She has got an orange scarf.
In contrast, have had focuses on the present relevance of some state that came into
being in the past. This use is especially common in conversation and news, e.g. They’ve had an
unhappy life. I’ve had enough of you.
Have/has got(ten), and got in AmE and BrE conversation; occurrences per million
words:
In the BrE conversation have/has got is more common than either got or have
occurring alone. Have/has gotten occurs mainly in AmE conversation. Perfect aspect got is
much more common in BrE than AmE; in contrast, Simple Present Tense have/has (as
transitive main verb) is much more common in AmE.
Most of the verbs that are common with perfect aspect refer to physical or
communicative activities with consequences that can exist over an extended period of time;
these verbs therefore imply a resultant state in the present.
In academic prose, verbs in the Present Perfect Tense are used to imply the continuing
validity of earlier findings or practices, e.g. Experiments have shown that… This, as we have
seen is… It has become the usual practice to…
By contrast, the verbs that rarely occur with the Present Perfect are mainly from the
mental domain and the field of and existence. These verbs refer to states that typically exist at
some past or present time, but do not suggest any ensuing situation, e.g. He needs it to cut the
fence. He wants to have his beard shaved. She believed she could make it there.

25
An A-Z of English Grammar& Usage, 1989, Longman, p. 382
26
The verb to be is normally followed by at or in: He’s at school; He was in that building.

52
 Some dynamic verbs denoting bodily actions (e.g. glance, kiss, nod, scream, smile)
also rarely occur in the Present Perfect Tense, e.g. She nodded thoughtfully. He glanced at his
shoes.
These verbs typically involve short-term events without long-term results.

FUTURITY – PRINCIPAL MEANS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME IN ENGLISH

There is no obvious Future Tense in English corresponding to the time / tense parallel
for present and past. Instead, there are a number of possibilities of denoting future time.
Futurity, modality and aspect are closely related and future time is rendered by modal
auxiliaries and semi-auxiliaries, or by simple progressive forms.
There are five chief means of expressing future time in the English verb phrase:
1. Will / shall + Infinitive: The letter will arrive next week.
2. Be going to + Infinitive: The letter is going to next week.
3. Present progressive: The letter is arriving next week.
4. Simple present: The letter arrives next week.
I’ll be lucky if the letter arrives next week.
5. Will / shall + Progressive Infinitive: The letter will be arriving next week.
All these linguistic forms which express future time belong either to the modal system
(will, shall), or to the aspectual paradigm (the present progressive). A closer examination of the
modal auxiliaries will and shall shows that as modal verbs they express prediction; it is
intrinsically characteristic of predictions that they refer to what might happen in the future. In
fact, all the epistemic27 modal senses, the probability and possibility sense of the modal verbs
involve future time: they represent projections of present attitudes with respect to a future time
sphere. In talking about future events or states it is natural to have modal (or aspectual)
implications. The characteristic is given by the very nature of futurity – we cannot be as certain
of future happenings as we are of events past and present.
“The conference may / can / shall take place tomorrow” is a statement about the
possibility or probability of an event.
Even the most confident prognostication must indicate something of one speaker’s
attitude and so be tinged with modality.
Besides the five means of expressing future time, there are some other means such as:
be about to, be on the point of, be bound to.
“The President of the USA is to visit Romania.”
“He is about to leave for London.”
“I was just on the point of turning off the light when the wind phone rang.”
Be to + Infinitive signifies an arrangement for the future (especially an official
arrangement), while both “be able to” and “be on the point of” emphasize the nearness of a
future event.
The Simple Future Tense
Form of the simple future tense
affirmative short form negative short form
I shall/will I’ll I shall not/will not I shan’t/won’t
You will You’ll You will not You won’t
He will He’ll He will not He won’t
She will She’ll She will not She won’t
We shall/will We’ll We shall not/will not We shan’t/won’t
You will You’ll You will not You won’t
They will They’ll They will not They won’t

Notes on the form of the simple future tense:

27
The term epistemic denotes the branch of modal logic that deals with the formalization of
certain epistemological concepts, such as knowledge, certainty, and ignorance.

53
 a) The modal verb will (or the contracted form ‘ll) is used with future meaning with
subjects of all three persons. The infrequent modal shall is used (especially in Southern
Standard British English) to indicate futurity, but only, with a first person subject, e.g. “No
doubt I shall read the book next week.”
Shall is usually avoided with “you and I”:
“You and I will make excellent writers.”
Although shall and, particularly, will are the closest approximations to a colourless,
neutral future, they do cover a range of meanings with modal colouring, from prediction to
volition.
A strong teaching tradition, especially in Br E, has upheld the use of shall as the correct
form, in preference to will, with a first person subject in formal style.
Predictive will is particularly common in the clause subordinate to conditional or
temporal clauses, e.g. “You’ll see better if / when you put on this pair of glasses!”
b) Contradictions:
Shall weakens to / / in speech, but does not contract to ‘ll in writing. Will contracts to
‘ll in writing and in fluent, rapid speech after vowels (I’ll, you’ll, we’ll) but can also occur after
consonants.
So, we might fiind ’ll used e.g.
- After names: “Mary’ll go there soon”
- After common nouns: “The train’ll arrive in two minutes.”
- After question – words: When’ll they call?
c) Negatives
“Will not” contracts to ‘ll not or won’t; shall not contracts to shan’t;
I won’t / we won’t or shan’t go (I) we will not or shall not go. In Am E shan’t is rare
and shall with a future reference is unusual.

Common uses
The future tense simply refers to a future event. We are not talking about things we
want to happen, or things we intend to do, or things we promise to do. We are only looking into
the future and saying what we think is probable.
This is simply a prediction of the future. Depending on the context, the future tense
may indicate:
A. A single action or state
Time – indicators: tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, tomorrow morning / afternoon, next
week / month / Monday / January, then, soon, when, at, on, in, before, after.
In a few minutes’ / hours’ / days’
In an hour’s time
half / quarter of an hour’s
Examples:
- “She will play tennis the day after tomorrow.”
- “The walls will be painted tomorrow.”
- “We shall go out at nine o’clock.”
- “He will fly to London next Friday.”
- “She’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.”
B. Repeated or habitual actions
Time-indicators (expressed or understood): adverbials of duration and frequency:
“My grandmother will read the newspaper every other day.”
“I shall eat apples once a day”
C. An action of more general character giving a permanent characteristic to the subject:
“He will make a very correct policeman.”
“After living in Paris for two months, you will know French very well.”

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 Other uses:
D. The future tense is used to express future actions or states that are not controlled by
human will, but are dependent on external circumstances; therefore the future of verbs of
perception and non-conclusive verbs is usually expressed by the future tense, e.g. “You will
know the end of the story next month.”
“She won’t agree to this request.”
“They will notice the changes.”
“The pupils won’t be like it.”
“Will they believe it?”
“These people will feel reassured by the revelation that this politician is a super-tax
payer like themselves.”
E. The future tense is used to express the speaker’s opinions, assumptions, speculations
about the future, e.g. “I think it will rain tomorrow.”
“I’m sure they’ll be back by seven.”
“She’ll probably scold them.”
F. Sometimes the future tense is used to express general statements, universal truths,
e.g. “Water will freeze at 0 degrees centigrade.”
“An animal will die without air to breathe.”
“Children are children, and when they play they will make such a noise.”
G. The future tense may be used after when (=“and then”), e.g. “I’ll call you tomorrow,
when I’ll tell you the results.”
H. The future tense may also be used for formal announcements of future plans
(informal: present continuous), e.g. “The teacher will start the new programme next Monday.”
“The President’s two-day visit will begin with a meeting and a short address to the
members of that small community.”
Time adverbials with the will / shall future tense:
Some adverbials like tomorrow are used exclusively with future reference; other like at
4 o’clock, before Friday, are used with other tenses as well as the future, e.g. “I’ ll pick you up
at 8 o’clock.” Now and just can also have a future reference. “This petrol-station will now be
closed on May 23rd” (= a change of date)

Will – Shall
White (apud Ioana Ştefănescu) tries to define with scientific precision the distribution of
the two periphrastic forms. In White’s time literary tradition appears to have been instrumental
in preserving the distinctions between pure future and the non-temporal use of the two
auxiliaries. Evidently, the distinction was no longer, if it ever had been, made everywhere and
by everybody.
“The problem is, when are shall and will mere signs of the future tense and where does
each have a modifying function of its own. White simplified matters for himself by refusing to
see anything but a sign of the future tense in shall. He did not try to separate pure futurity from
futurity combined with other considerations, but merely analysed and compartmented the
various shades of “meanings of shall and will”.
I (or we) shall expresses (1) the speaker’s attitude with respect to what may happen,
provided it so fall out; (2) what the speaker apprehends will be his condition from the
circumstance in which he feels himself at present (Merrily, merrily, I shall now. Under the
blossom that hangs on the bough); (3) a future event with respect to one’s feelings (Why, that ‘s
my dainty, Ariel? I shall miss you); (4) What will befall one in a natural course of things (I
shall fall like a bright exhalation in the evening).
You will expresses (1) our own persuasion concerning another’s intention, or (2) his
future conduct. Both these functions are again purely futuristic. It is only the stressed will that
White admits as modifying the significance of a verb modally.
He (she, it, they) will expresses (1) simple affirmation or conjecture of what may
happen, (2) drawing an inference from what has been premised, (3) supposition or expression

55
of our hopes or fears concerning futurity and (4) the nature and state of disposition not only of
living beings and qualities, but of inanimate things (The mass of waters will no wind obey)
I (or we) will (1) does not merely point at futurity, but intimates that a present
determination of mind is the cause of what will happen (White also speaks of “present
resolution, firmness with respect to the exertion of our own will, inclination or passions), (2)
implies approbation (“I will wed you in another key, with pomp, with triumph and with
revelling), (3) implies displeasure and contains a threatening, (4) gives the highest assurance.
You shall (1) intimates command and superiority in the speaker over the person spoken
to, (2) is used to convey solace and encouragement, (3) Intimates a threatening.

Will – the full verb

1. It is used to express volition emphatically and unambiguously we have the fully
inflected verb will (OE willian), which is distinct from the auxiliary will (a) by its inflection,
(b) by its syntactic construction, and (c) by being used chiefly, if not exclusively, in literary
style:
a. Flexion: 3rd singular present: willeth, wills
preterite and participle: willed
infinitive and imperative: will
first participle: willing (with to and an infinitive, to be considered an
adjective, rather than a real participle, the meaning is not quite that of the verb will,
but having no objection)
b. Syntactically, this verb can take 1) an ordinary object (chiefly neutral pronouns);
2) an infinitive with to: “A man who might have fulfilled the prophecy and had
not willed to do so” (Dickinson)
3) an accusative with infinitive: “But we will send forth letters for my son, To
will him come from Oxford to the court” (Greene)
4) a clause with that: “God had willed that His revelation should rest in the
world” (Beaconsfield)
5) Finally will may be used with adverbs like so, as or by itself.

The Auxiliary
1) Next we come to the “empty world” will, which shared with other auxiliary verbs
the following characteristic traits: it has neither infinitive nor participles, hence it does not take
do and it is combined with the infinitive without to; it is frequently unstressed and in that
position has developed weak forms; its meaning, too, is much more vague than that of the full
verb “will”, as seen in this extensive use corresponding to what in some other languages is
expressed by temporal and modal forms of the main verb. The Modern English forms of this
auxiliary are the following: Present will […] – weak […], written I’ll, you’ll, he’ll.
It is sometimes said that ‘ll, ‘d are contracted forms not only for will, would, but also
for shall, should. This is quite wrong, the sound [w] often disappears, […], and in those
syntactic cases in which shall, should is strictly required, ‘ll or ‘d never appear.

Various uses
2) Will was used in EIE with a substantive as object without any futuristic sense =
“want”, especially in negative or in questions implying a negative sentence. This use is
obsolete.
3) In former times, will, like must, may, might be combined with an adverb denoting a
direction, where it is now necessary in ordinary language to add a verb of movement, the old
idiom is still to some extent used in literary language.
4) Apart from this usage, will is now, like other auxiliary verbs, used either with an
infinitive (without to) or in such a way that an infinitive can be supplied from the context.

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 Volition, Power, Habit:
1) Volition is popularly ascribed to lifeless things.
2) Applied to lifeless things will often denotes power, capacity: “will the ice bear?”
3) The following examples imply the will if an inexorable fate = necessity of some happening
(in the future): “Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come, when it will come” (Locke)
4) A closely related use is found in the familiar that’ll do = “that is sufficient or sufficiently
good”, in which the auxiliary has no reference to the future time.
5) Another connected transition is a consequence of the fact that what one does willingly, one
is apt to do frequently. Hence, will comes to be the expression of a habit especially a habit
which is a consequence of one’s character or natural disposition. This usage goes back to
OE and ME.
6) The same use of will as habit in speaking about animals and even lifeless things, to which
popular psychology is apt to ascribe volition.

Non-futuric volition:
1) Will may be used with regard to the present, rather than to any future time. If will is
emphasized, obstinacy may be meant:
“Children will be children.”
2) Will have has taken the place of obsolete will with an object
“Who will have some more sandwiches?”
This combination may be used in a futuric sense as in the following quotation, where it is
used parallel with the futuric present tense fit out: “If we have the clue you talk about. I fit out a
ship in Bristol dock, …and I’ll have that treasure if I search a year” (Stevenson)
3) “Will have it” meaning “interpret, apprehend” has no reference to future time: “He will
have it that all virtues and all accomplishments met in his hero” (Macaulay)
4) A related use is found when a speaker or writer is considering how strong on expression he
is justified is using: “He fairly turned his back and we will not say fled … he trotted away”
5) Will expressing present volition is more frequent in negative than in positive statements:
“He will not be commanded.” Thus, also in the first person: “I never was afraid of anything
yet, nor I won’t begin now”
6) In positive statements, it is chiefly found when no infinitive follows, in which case will is
stressed: “Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will”.
7) Further examples are found in the characteristic clauses of indifference: “Think what you
will”
8) As an example of present volition without reference to future we may also mention the
familiar phrase: “I’ll trouble you for the salt” [….]

Volitional Future
1) It is a natural consequence of the notion of volition that it generally has reference to what is
happen in the future, the infinitive following will may therefore be said to be a notional
future infinitive.
This leads to the extensive use of will to express first a volition-coloured future and finally a
future time without such coloring. But the more frequent such a use of will as an auxiliary
becomes, the greater is the need for stronger verbs, such as want, need, intend, choose where a
real will has to be denoted. We see this clearly in some biblical examples:
“I wish to give to this last man as to thee”
“But now the words are felt to express only an intention or promise and, thus, half the
significance of the text is lost” (Malloy – apud Otto Jespersen)
Want, choose, intend, mean thus become the natural expression of a will or intention that is
not carried into effect. But on the other hand will often serves to denote the two things at once,
present volition and the certainty of a future happening.
2) The distinction between the strong expression of volition and the weakened will is seen in
Wells:

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 “The man who will be boss will be the man who wants to be boss”
(the same idea might, however, have been expressed by saying: “The man who will be the
boss” with an extra stress on the first will)

First Person

1) As generally used, “I will do that” means “I am willing (or determined) to do that and I
shall do it”. It thus indicates not only volition, but also certainty of fulfillment:
“I will not trouble thee, my child” (Devil)
2) It is easy to see that I will in this way comes to be a natural expression of a promise or a
threat according as the action does, or does not, agree with the interest of the second
person; Note the use in content – clauses like these:
“I promise (have promised, have resolved, I swear) that I will never again taste a drop of
spirit”
3) It is worth observing that the plural “we will” does not always agree with the singular “I
will, because we means I plus some one or more else. If the person (or persons) addressed
to is (or are) included, we have the so – called inclusive first person plural (which in some
exotic languages is kept strictly distinct from the exclusive plural

Questions in the first person

4) The occurrence of will I? (will we?) in Standard English is denied by some grammarians
because it seems absurd to ask somebody else about one’s own will. But, as a matter of
fact, such questions (even apart from will I?) are not very rare after all in idiomatic English,
nor are they so absurd as some theorists imagine.
In the first case, we have questions raised to the second power, when the possibility of a
question is questioned. Will I? thus means “how is it possible to ask about my will?”,
implying that the answer is obvious. But curiously enough, will I? and won’t I? may thus
be used in the same sense, signifying an emphatic I will.
5) But will I? may also mean “I will not”:
“Will I let my child suck the milk of a subject?” (D. Defoe)
“Will you take anything to drink? The domestic asked of them” (W.M. Thackery)
6) Next we have “rhetorical questions” (i. e. formal questions meaning an emphatic statement
of the opposite) as in:
“Whither will I not go with gentle Ithamore? (= I will go anywhere) (C. Marlowe)

Second Person
1) For obvious reasons one has occasion to state anything about the will of the person to
whom one speaks; so “you will” is hardly ever used in the straightforward sense “you have
the (present) will to do such and such a thing.
But “you will” is often used in a request or order most often to a subordinate person; the
tone may make it into a strong command and thus, while formerly presupposing the will of
the second person, it really eliminates that will; and yet Malloy may be right when he says
that this mode of expression is (or was originally) caused by a certain delicacy of feeling
which prompts the superior to avoid the strict form of command.
“You will see the box into the van”. This cannot be said to be an instance of will used to
denote future time, for the meaning is not to predict, but to prescribe:
“The carriage will be at the door at ten minutes to – ten, to take you to Waterloo. (Maxwell)

Questions in the Second Person

2) While it is unnatural to tell a person something about his own will, it is perfectly natural to
ask him about him own will; hence, will you? Is used more frequently in this sense than
with some reference to future time;

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3) Such questions about the other person’s will are often, but not always, equivalent to
requests: “Will you lend me that book?”
4) Will you is a set phrase in invitations:
“Will you join us on a trip to Sinaia?”
5) With such questions may be compared the usual practice of tacking on a question with will
you to an imperative:
“Stop that fidgeting, will you?”
“Just turn off the radio, will you?”
Indeed, it is possible that the actual speech – instinct the imperative is nothing but a kind of
abbreviated will sentence:
“Have a cup of tea! Will you have a cup of tea?”
6) After why, the verb will is often stressed, so that “why will you?” is equivalent to “Why are
you so obstinate”?

Third Person
It seems difficult to find undoubled examples of “he will” to express volitional future in
direct statements, distinct from these cases that are dealt with above or below.
In questions about the will of a third person, Will he? is comparatively rare: the
unambiguous “does he want” (wish, mean, intend) is generally preferred wherever will he?
might be mistaken for a question about the future. In question about the volition will is often
emphatic, as in:
“He’ll leave her lots of money”: future.
“Yes, but will he?”

Will non-volitional future:

Second and Third Person
1) The non-volitional future is naturally found most often in second and third person. The
most obvious examples are those in which the whole context or situation precludes the
possibility of volition on the part of the subject, thus often when the subject is not living
being:
“The next war will be more cruel than can be imagined / the sun will rise at seven.”
2) Adverbs like certainly, probably are very often added:
“He will certainty be rewarded / she will probably die before evening.”
3) The auxiliary will may be stressed to emphasize the certainty of the future event:
“Death may come any day, but it will come some day.” (Shelley)

Questions
4) In the second person “will you” is still used more frequently as a question about volition
than about a pure future, though the latter is increasingly frequent. In questions about time
will is found, for instance in:
“When will you come to see me?” (Ward)
5) In most cases will he? Is a question about the mere future, without regard to volition:
Will the sun rise soon?
Will he be able to go to Switzerland this summer?
What will your parents say?
When will she return?

First Person
1) In the first person will does not lend itself so well as in the second and third person to
the expression of mere futurity, as I will and we will are so extensively and so naturally
put in requisition to express volition, and as the other auxiliary, shall, has come to be
much used with I and we to express mere futurity.

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 2) A special border case is “I’ll be bound” as implying a promise or certainty, as in: “If
that will not suffice, I will be bound to pay it ten times. (Merch)
3) With regard to the first person plural it must be remembered that we means “I plus
someone else”; when this is bought expressly to the consciousness of the speaker, there
is a stronger tendency than with the simple I to use will, as this auxiliary fits the second
or third persons. This is the reason underlying the explanation that Sweet (cf. Otto
Jesperson, English Grammar on Historical Principles) argues for thus: “Such
combinations as you and I, we two, we three, we all take will instead of shall:
“We shall get there first”, but I expect you and I will get there first’
a) Quotations agreeing with Sweet’s rule:
“David, you and I will go upstairs, boy”
“Mother and me will have to work our way upwards”
b) Quotations against Sweet’s rule:
“We there shall be able to go in my chaise” (Austen)
“You and I shall quarrel if you call that lady my aunt
“You and I shall work together” (Stevenson)
“He knew he was at that moment as you and I shall never be able to know him”
(Barrie)
4) In Elizabethan English I (we) will is not infrequent even where no volition is meant:
Abbot is at some pains to explain some Shakespeare cases: “in Hamlet, I will win for
him , if I not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the add hits, the will is probably
used by attraction with a jesting reference to the previous will: “My purpose is to win if
I can, or, if not, to gain shame and the old hits..”
5) In recent use I’ll expressing mere futurity is perhaps most common in the phrase I’ll be
(very) glad, which is often said by people who otherwise say I shall. But in other
combination, too, it is not at all rare in recent English books.
6) The Scotch and Irish, hence also the Scotch-Irish parts of the U.S. use constantly will
in this way:
“I’ll warrant we’ll never see him sell his hen of a rainy day” (Goldsmith)
“I suppose in about a fortnight we will be told that he has been in San Francisco”
(Wilde)

Question in First Person

1) In Standard English will I (will we) is never used as a pure future, but in Scotch, Irish and
to some extent in American English this occurs, corresponding to Standard shall I (we):
“O, when will I forget that?” (Scott)
“Where will we have the pleasure of sending the articles?” (Ridge)
“Will you tell her, man, or will I?” (Barrie)
2) In the following examples the Irish – American will I (we) is still more strange to British
people, as it corresponds rather to an I to (or we to) – asking for advice or order:
What’ll I do when he starts asking me questions? (Regan)
What time’ll I come for you? (London)

Temporal and Conditional Clauses:

Will may of course be used in such clauses as wait tell Tuesday, when you will see
(continuative when = “for then”) and similarly shall: Wait till Tuesday, when I shall tell you
everything.
Thus also in other temporal clauses which do not serve to specify the time: A time will
come when you will know (when I shall tell you)
But “We shall light the lamp when it gets dark.”
“It will be splendid if he is able to come.”
“I will come if it any use to you.” are decidedly more natural than
“We shall light the lamp when it will get dark.”

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 “It will be splendid if he will be able to come.”
“I will come if it is will be any use to you.”
If that’ll do is, of course, all right, as will has no reference to the future here.

Will with Perfect Infinitive:

1) With the perfect infinitive will expresses the before – future; in some of the quotations will
may have the meaning of supposition
“This will be one among the innumerable benefits which you will have bestowed upon me”
(Shelley)
“When parents have abolished the study of Greek, something will have been lost to the
world” (Lang)
“There will be rules, gladly obeyed because they will have been friendly adopted”
Dickinson)
2) The before – future with will have done (The anterior future)
“Fortune will never have done with me, tell she has driven me to distraction” (Fielding)
“I’ll have done in a minute” (Galsworthy)
3) In a temporal clause:
“I shall be remembered when men will have forgotten where Rouen stood.” (Shaw) In this
case will is used to make a supposition about the future.

Supposition:
1) The use of will to express a supposition or probability (with regard to present or past time)
is somewhat related to its use as an auxiliary of the future (the corresponding use of the
future tense in French and Italian and Warden in German).
a) In speaking of the present time generally with the expended infinitive:
“My learned reader will know the reason why one of these verses is printed in Roman
letters.” (Spect)
“It is late, and my father will be getting impatient at my stopping so long.” (Hazlitt)
“Tea will be waiting” (Caine)
b) To make a supposition with regard some friends and says:
“A young man is going to meet some friends and says: I expect I’ll be late. The
Lambournes and Monica will be supping somewhere.” (Sadleir Privil)
c) This use is used more extensively in Scotch than in Southern English:
“He’s getting a big boy, how old will he be?” (Douglas Green Shutters)
d) Will may also express a supposition when followed by the perfect infinitive; you
will have heard = “I suppose you have heard.”
“My earliest acquaintances will not have forgotten the eagerness with which I labored.”
(Coleridge)
“You will have received the tragedy by this time.” (Shelley)
“You will have heard of it?” (Brontë)
e) There is a similar use of will in scientific reasoning, where it approaches the sense
must though with a shade of difference:
“A great stride in the development of the intellect will have followed, as soon as the
half-art and half-instinct of language will have reacted on the brain and produced an
inherited effect; and this again will have reacted on the improvement of language.”

Shall
Forms
The Modern English form of this verb are the following:
Present: shall […] – weak [….]
Second person: shalt […]
Preterit: should […] – weak […], sometimes [..]
Second person: shouldst […]

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 Contracted negative forms (from the 17 th century): shan’t or shan’t […] and
shouldn’t [….]

Use
1) The original meaning of shall, OE sceal, is “owe”; in OE and NE it may take such objects
as money or tribute.
Shall is sometimes found with an adverb of direction without any verb of movement:
“I was in the greatest fright lest she should out with it all”
“There you shall out and work.” (Brontë)
The chief use of shall is with an infinitive, when it meant at first “ought to, must, have to,
an compelled to.” This meaning of obligation, compulsion, duty, necessity or constraint,
physical or moral, is still visible in certain combinations, though in others it has lost its old
force, so that shall like will is often nothing but real meaning of its own.

Fatal obligation
1.1. In the first place, shall may express fatal obligation or necessity, independent
of human will and of any special time (generic time); but the alternation in the
first question with will shows how what is felt as valid at times and predestined
comes to be looked upon as destined to happen in future. Shall in this use
approaches the meaning of must, but in most of the following sentences the
best idiomatic modern, rendering of the idea of fatal necessity would be “is
sure to”, “is certain to”.
“What will be, shall be” (Marlowe)
“They that touch pitch will be defiled.” (Shakespeare)
1.2. A survival of the old use of shall to denote destiny without any necessity
reference to future is found in the question “Who shall say?” (Who is to say =
no one can tell…)
“A volume, which (perhaps merely, form its quaintness – who shall say?)
never failed to inspire me?” (Poe)
1.3. Similarly other “rhetorical questions”:
“Who shall decide, when doctors disagree?” (Pope)
“Twenty month are passed; who shall restore them” (Johnson)
“Who shall dare to say deeds which night and fear brought forth?” (Shelley)
“I must obey the law of my heart, and who shall judge me if I do that?” (Caine)
1.4. Shall also expresses necessity in the phrase;
“It shall go hard but I will make it afford then entertainment” (Irving)

Volitional Obligation
Next we come to those cases in which the obligation or constraint expressed by shall is
due, not to fate, but to human will, either explicit or implicit. The reference is always to
something in the future.
The statement of the will is explicit: this is the case when shall is found in a content
clause after some expression of determination, request, necessity, or certain expectation:
“The very first condition of legal justice is that it shall be no respector of persons; that
it shall hold the balance impartially…and that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty
except by the verdict of a jury.” (Shaw)
We have an implicit constraint in the following cases: in the second and third person
shall most often served that kind of obligation which is dependent on the speaker’s will;
according to the character of the sentiment expressed this I shall take care that such and such a
thing comes to happen in the future becomes either a command, a threat or promise (a threat is
a promise of something disagreeable).

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 Commands, Threats, Promises
Commands in the second person:
“You shall rue it to the end of your days. The hand of the, Lord upon you; he will
arise and smite you.” (Doyle)
A negative command is a prohibition: but here shall is no more used; to the biblical
“Thou shalt not kill” corresponding in modern idiomatic speech “You mustn’t kill.”
In later use “you shan’t” is less a prohibition than an assurance that, so far as it
depends on the speaker, the other person will not succeed in doing this or that:
“That is all you know, and you shall know” implies “all I (shall) allow you to know” (Henley)
With promises in the second person it may seem strange to speak of constraint or
obligation, for when I promise “You shall have then (at) a bargain” there is no obligation on the
part of the subject (you), but on the part of the speaker who is obliged to let the other man have
them (at) a bargain. The transference, however, is a usual one in language: when we say “he
ought to be punished”, “he ought to suffer for it” or “it can be done”, we do not ascribe duty or
power to the subjects (he, it) of the two sentences.
“I have been in a rage these two days. You shall hear” (Byron)
“You shall have them a bargain.” (Sheridan)

(Dependence on the will of the speaker is) Threats in the third person:
“I’m not going to ask – I’m going to make him give me an explanation. He shall hear – he shall
hear. At least he shall understand that he cannot insult the ladies of my family, with
impunity.. .Yes, I will call him to account. He shall see” (Maxwell)
Promises in the third person:
“And if the people say they’re real? – They won’t say it! They shan’t.” (James)
“If I am to recover, the day of my recovery shall see me by your side from which nothing shall
separate me.” (Keats)
Note the distinction between what is independent of the speaker’s will (must) and what
is dependent on it (shall)
“If the thing must be done, it shall be dine.” (Collins)
“Since so it must be, So it shall be.” (Cowper)
A specially frequent case is the relative clause who (which, that) shall be nameless = “whom I
promise not to name”

Shall combined with will

Will in the first person and shall in the second or third are very often combined as parts of the
same promise (or threat):
“I will fetch it you this instant, and save your life. All shall be well. I will begin again.”
(Bennett)
‘“Let her see more company”, said the doctor. “She shall”, said Pete.
“If that doesn’t do, send her away for a while.” “I will”‘ (Caine)

Questions
Shall is used in questions, if the answer one expects is one containing shall as
expression of command, injunction or advice.
Stoffel mentions the use of shall in questions like “When shall the prisoners be tried?”
asked of the man who has the decision in his hands: “Shall asks after the will, will after the
opinion of the man addressed” But this use of shall is rare in third person; however the familiar
“What shall it be?” = “What kind of drink do you want?” is often used.
Shall I? Generally means “do you want (or advise) me to …? (now the same thing is
frequently expressed by am I to …); very frequently the continuation …or, will you … shows
that the question is really about the will of the person addressed:
“Shall I help you to some cheese? Or will you carve for yourself?” (Swift)
“Will you take care of it, or shall I?” (Barrie)

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This also when a person in utter uncertainty addresses an imagining person: What shall I do?
Which way Shall I turn? (now also, and more frequently: am I to…)
“What shall I do?” with extra stress on shall expresses helpless ness or perplexity” (Sweet)
This shall is ever found in questions tacked on to sentences with well (so as to avoid
the form will I, will we):
“I’ll tell you what I like best to do, shall I?” (Brontë)
“I’ll take this upstairs now, shall I?” (Bennet)
It is also used after other forms of invitation or solicitation:
“Let’s sit down, shall we?” (Bennet)
In such sentences we is an inclusive first person plural.

Shall – Pure Future

There is the verb shall used as the expression of future time without the tinge of
obligation or constraint, though we might very often say that the understanding idea is that of
fatal necessity or the will of God as determining the future.
Here it will be convenient first to mention the biblical use of shall, which goes back to
Wycliff’s practice of rendering the Latin future tense by shall, while he uses will to translate
the present tense of Latin volo. The use in old Biblical version has been carefully investigated
by Augusta Bjorling, in “Studies in the Grammar of the Early Printed English Bible Versions”,
which obviously favours well, shall is regularly used in all three persons to express futurity.
Chaucer’s practice favours will as expression for the future (with inanimate as well as
with animate subjects), much more then the bibles do this do not seem reliable witnesses as to
the actual usage of those times but probably show only that it was the practice at school in
translating Latin futures always to use shall.
But, on the other hand, this biblical usage undoubtedly exercised powerful influence on
literary style, especially in serious and solemn writings.

Solemn Predictions
Examples of shall in the third person in solemn predictions of the future (what some
grammarians term ‘prophetic shall’). “Oh, East is East, and West is West and never the twain
shall meet.” (Kipling)
“The wandering Jew, who shall never die, who shall leave, cholera in his track
wherever he may wonder” (Merriman)
Of shall in (solemn) expressions of the future. Examples of this solemn shall in the
second person:
“Listen, you will become a mother and will give birth to a son, whom you are to call by
the name of Jesus” (Luke)

Related uses
The following employments of shall as a pure auxiliary of the future are more or less
(important of the solemn archaic or prophetic use. Shall is sometimes preferred when the future
is expressly contrasted with the present or past (generally is to come):
“Man is a being of high aspiration…existing but in the futuric and the past; being not
what he is, but what he has been and shall be” (Shelley)
Similarly, we sometimes find the relative clause who (that) shall be instead of the more
familiar “that is to be”:
Shall is comparatively frequent after such expressions as “the time will come”:
“The time will surely come, when death will be no longer our, torment, and no man
shall be wretched but by his own fault” (Johnson)
“There will come a time when the human mind shall be visited exclusively by the
influences of the benignant Power” (Shelley)

Conditional, Relative and Temporal Clauses

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 Shall to denote futurity is rare after if (unless), because the simple present tense
(formerly in the subjunctive) is here more usual and quite sufficient:
“I shall be surprised if the right honourable Baronet shall be able to point out any
distinction between the cases.” (Macaulay)
In relative clauses (chiefly generic) shall is frequently used to denote futurity. The
reason is that will is apt to be misunderstood as denoting volition. This shall is, however,
somewhat stiff and pedantic, and the present tense is more idiomatic:
“Can the man who shall be in possession of these be inconstant” (Fieldig)
“Whatever advantage shall accrue from it will belong to you” (Shelley)
“You will answer, to the best of your ability, suck questions as they shall put. You will
also write on such theme as they shall select.” (Brontë).
In many of these sentences the in the relative clause is implicitly a conditional one;
Shall is frequently used to denote futurity in temporal clauses introduced by when, till,
so long as; a condition being often implied; nowadays the present tense is preferred to the more
formal shall:
“When this shall fall into your hands, I shall have disappeared.” (Stevenson)
“…playing with fire – a form of amusement which will be popular as long as feminine
curiosity shall last” (Merriman)
The same use of shall before a perfect infinitive (to express the “before – future”); the
idiomatic expression now is the simple perfect: …armies will continue to exist, long after war
shall have become a nightmare memory [=after war has become].
It is rare to find the simple infinitive instead of the perfect infinitive in a temporal
clause:
“…you tell me that sometime after I shall die too, somewhere in Heaven I shall see her
again.” (Norris)

First person

I (we) shall comes to be the natural auxiliary of the future because I (we) will is so
frequently needed to express volition on the part of the speaker, and because in most cases
when one has occasion to speak of the future with regard to oneself, the implication is of some
more or less fatal necessity:
I shall be thirty next year.
We shall be forgotten long before the end of the millenium.
Shall may be emphasized: I don’t know when I shall die, but I do know that I shall die
some day.
When the necessity is to be specially emphasized, “I shall have to” is the ordinary
expression:
“one of the things I shall have to teach myself is not to be ashamed of it.” (Wilde)
A conditional clause is often appended to I (we) shall:
We shall get wet through if the rain does not stop soon.
We shall be punished if we are caught.
I shall miss the train unless I take a taxi.
Shall in the first person combined with will in the third to express futurity is seen, for
instance in Emily Dickinson:
“We shall pass and a new generation will succeed us.”
When a future state of one’s own feelings is to be mentioned, “I shall” is the natural
expression, because one does not like to imply that they depend on one’s will:
“I shall fell very sorry when he dies
“When I go out I shall always remember great kindness that I have received here from
almost everybody.” (Wilde)
“I shall” is required nowadays if the speaker introduces any word that implies doubt or
uncertainty about the future event:

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 Perhaps I shall go abroad next summer.
In this case the speaker either has not made up his mind yet, or if he has, he still feels
that the going abroad depends on many other things besides his own present will. The
reluctance seen in this case to speak too much of one’s own will was not found to the same
extent in EE:
After the forms: I hope, I fear, I doubt, I shall must always be used, as a rule:
I hope I shall meet you again.
I am afraid I shall be arrested.
I do not know whether I shall enter for the race.

Shall and will together

When a future event is determined by the speaker’s present will, both shall and will
may be used, in certain circumstances I shall is stronger than I will:
“I shall never forgive him” – which implies that it is not only my present will, but that
this will be carried into effect.
“I am come upon a visit to a lady. That visit I shall pay (to Henley)
The contrast between I shall as mere sign of the future and will as implying volition is
well brought out in Stoffel’s example:
“We will kill him, and then we shall see whether he has any money or not.”
“I do not like him, and I will never marry him.”
“I love him, but I am afraid I shall never marry him.”
“You will believe everything I have said; and when you have heard the true story
which I shall tell you (for I will tell you all) you will be far from being offended”
(Fielding)
There is some difficulty when two subjects of different person are joined by means of
(n) or:
“Either it [the Christian faith] or I shall perish” [either it will – or I shall] (Kingsley)

Questions in the First Person

Shall I? may be a question about some future event, the question being very often
accompanied by do you know? or do you think? Thus, in the question to the doctor: “Shall I
ever recover? Or “Shall I be able to get up next week?”
“And then we’ll talk; - what shall we talk about? [=what is it likely that we …?]
9Shelley)
“Shall I never see you again?” (Wilde)
A curious case in the following, in which we have a “question raised to the second
power.”
“And when will you be back?” – “When shall I be back?” (Hope)
“If your husband dies some day or other, what will you do?”
“What shall I do? What do you mean?”
“I mean, will you and Cyril marry then?”
“Of course we shall.”

Questions in the Second Person

Shall you? From asking about an obligation has in strict language come to be a
question about the pure future, distinct from will you?, which is, or at any rate may be, a
question about the other person’s will or willingness. This is perhaps, most natural where the
future is independent of the will of the person addressed to:
Shall you get there in time if you take the 3.20 train?
Shall you see John today? [i.e. Will John come to your place?]
But the use of shall you? is extended to other cases where the future is not wholly
independent of, or even may be wholly dependent on, the will of the person spoken to, but

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where, nevertheless, it is the future and not the will that the speaker wants to make certain
about; thus very often will you? Would be understood as a request:
Shall you be in if I call in the afternoon?
Shall you dine with us on Tuesday?
This shall also occurs in dependent questions like the following:
“Have you thought where you shall put her?” (Austen)
Shall you? even occurs in questions tacked on the sentences containing you will,
although of course the natural tendency is always to repeat the same auxiliary (Sweet gives:
You’ll be there, won’t you?)
“I daresay you will have no objection to join us in a rubber, shall you?” (Austen)

With Perfect Infinitive

I (we) shall with the perfect infinitive serves to express the before–future, in the same
way as will with the same infinitive.
“I shall in a short time have disengaged myself of all my little affairs.” (Osbourne)
“I’ve managed to keep the family quiet till after the funeral, by which time I shall have
the details settled.” (Kaye Smith)
In temporal clauses this shall with the perfect infinitive to express the before–future is
frequent, but only in literary style; it is more natural to leave out the formal indication of the
future and use the simple perfect.
“After this fair flower shall have decayed other flowers will appear.” (Hawthorne)
“Long after Capitalism as we know it shall have passed away… there may be more
men and women working privately.” (Shaw)

Be going to + Infinitive:
Another construction frequently used to express futurity, especially in informal style, is
“be going to” followed by the infinitive. Its general meaning is future fulfillment of the present
“Be going to” is a frozen structure that cannot be analysed into two different verb
forms; it must be listed as such in the lexicon. As Otto Jesperson (in his English Grammar on
Historical Principles) remarks the structure is going to derive from the progressive form of the
verb to go “going” loses its meaning of a verb of movement and becomes an empty
grammatical word. The weakening of the original meaning is particularly clear when it
becomes possible to say: I am going to go, I am going to come. The use began towards the end
of the 15th century, but it is not frequent about 1600.
The form “be going to” is found only in combination with the present tense, but also
with the past tense, the perfect (I’ve been going to have finished the job by the time they arrive)
and progressive aspectual form (They’re going to be watching football next Saturday
afternoon). The last two complex construction are very rare.
As Michael Swan remarks (in Practical English Usage), be going to + Infinitive can
be used to talk about plans, especially in an informal style. Going to often emphasize the idea
of intention, of a decision that has already been made:
We’re going to buy a new flat soon.
I’m going to get married this summer.
When are you going to leave off smoking?
I’m going to keep asking her out until she says “Yes”.
What are the meanings of this idiomatic structure? According to Leech (cf. Ioana
Ştefănescu) “going to + Infinitive” structure is used to denote “future fulfillment of the
present.”
Two extentions of this general meaning are most frequent with this expression: a) the
sense of “future fulfillment of the present intention” which is found chiefly with human subject
that, by conscious exercise of the will, intend to bring about an event or state:
“When are you going to have your hair cut?”
“I’m going to tell him the truth.”

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 “Next year we’re going to have no holiday.”
The closest approximation to “I am going to leave tomorrow” is “I intend to leave
tomorrow”, but the two structures are not perfect synonyms. There is a slight difference in
meaning between them; Thus, “I intend to leave tomorrow” does not tell us whether the
departure will take place or not. Whereas “I’m going to leave tomorrow” contains a strong
expectation (if not quite a prediction) that the respective intention will be carried out.
As Geoffrey Leech (apud Ioana Ştafănescu) points out, “I’m going to punish them” is
stronger than “I intend to punish them.”
The intention communicated by “be going to” is usually ascribable to the subject of the
sentence – but not invariably. For instance, in the example given by Leech “This wall is going
to be painted green” the interpretation is that “We or somebody else intends to paint this wall
green.”
b) The second extension of the general sense of “be going to” can be formulated as
“future fulfillment of present cause”; this sense is common with both agentive action verbs as
well as with verbs describing states; it thus covers a wider range of examples than the
intentional meaning “be going to.”
“She’s going to have another baby.” (She’s already pregnant)
“I think I am going to faint.” (I already feel ill)
“There’s going to be a storm in a minute.” (I can see the black clouds gathering)
Leech comments upon these sentences: “in each them there is the feeling that factors
giving rise to the future happening are already present, it is as if the train of events leading to
the future happening is already under way. The first sentence may be contrasted with “She will
have another baby”, which is the pronouncement of a soothsayer, rather than a piece of news.”
We can infer that “be going to” is used in connection to the immediate future:
“Watch it! The ice is going to give way.” (I can already hear it cracking)
Watch out! The pile of boxes is going to fall (I can see it already tottering)
As McIntosh and Palmer (cf. Ioana Ştefănescu) point out this characteristic sense of
“be going to” has a present orientation or current orientation, there are features in the present
that will determine future events.
“At the moment they are decorating the house and they’re going to alter odd parts of
it.”
“Fire Raiser fighting his way back. It looks as though Carlson is just going to hold
him.”
Often the “current orientation” sense is to be conceived as a train of events already in
motion:
“Will my honorable friend accept that many people in the House think that Concorde is
going to be a gigantic financial disaster?”
“Now the first six are the only people who are going to get a look in, and the first four
are the only people who are actually going to make in.”
“Inevitably, however, by making all these decisions, the Government is going to look
silly.”
If we compare “The cake will be ready in ten minutes”
with:
“The cake is going to be ready in ten minutes”, we can see the difference between the
prediction sense of will and the “current orientation” sense of “be going to”. In the first
sentence, will has a prediction sense, if you are patient or if you leave it, the cake will be ready
in ten minutes. In the second sentence, there is an inevitability that cannot alter the event of the
cake being baked. The first sentence might be looked upon as an advice while the second one
might be looked upon as a warning. The first sentence might be interpreted as “Be patient”
while the second one as “Do something quickly.”
In the following examples given by Palmer (apud I. Ştefănescu) it is clear that the
choice of “be going to” makes the event more immediate and more certain.

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 “Don’t have any doubt about this, dear friends, that if you are going ahead with doing
that, you are going to be dealing with me!”
“I get the impression that some of them seem to think that all they need to do is say a
social compact three times a day before meals and keep their fingers crossed and everything’s
going to be right”
“The things that are poisonous we don’t eat, so we don’t know if they taste nice or not.
Like the Kingfisher. Except a Kingfisher is probably not going to taste very good.”
“But we are not approaching the time when a totally different way of looking at things
is going to come, about refectories, when refectories are going to be placed where food, pre-
frozen, is brought into the establishment and then warmed up and served.”
The first example shows that will is not absolutely essential in the main clause of a
conditional; “be going to” is chosen because it is assumed that the events will, in fact, take
place: the future is “extra–real.”
In the second example, the suggestion is that they believe that they are doing what is
right and that everything will therefore turn out right, in spite of the fact that this is in the form
of an implicit condition.
In the third example there is a fairly firm statement that the kingfisher has a nasty taste
and not simply that it will taste awful if eaten. In the final example it is the immediacy of the
event that dictates the choice of “be going to.”
Note: “Be going to” can be used with respect to remote periods of time: “I’m going to
be a policeman when I grow up” (present intention)
“If Winterbottem’s calculations are correct, this planet is going to burn itself out
200,000,000 years from now.”
It is the context that helps us disambiguate the sentences containing a “be going to”
form. Outside a longer context it is possible to obtain both interpretation for a sentence:
“He’s going to arrive late at the concert” can be interpreted either as “That is his
intention” or
“That’s what will happen if he goes on like this.”
“Be going to” is not generally used in the clause superordinate to a conditional clause:
“If you leave now, you’ll never regret it.”
If you leave now, you’re never going to regret it.
Note: However, “be going to” does occur with conditional (clauses) sentences like the
following:
“If you are expecting a first class hotel, you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Be going to” is used in conditional sentences only when the casual or contingent link
between the two clauses exists at the present time. In most cases this link is placed in the future
and in such cases we use “will” instead of “be going to.”

Present Progressive:
As the description label of this form indicates, the sentence “I’m reading a paper to the
conference tomorrow” contains the simple present tense progressive form that is construction
with a future time adverbial specifies a future time reference. The progressive form is used in
contexts where a place or program or arrangement is fatally bound to the future, e.g. “I’m
starting work tomorrow.”
The aspectual sense of the verb can be explained in the following way: it is a non–
durative event that describes a transition, from non – start to start in the progressive form, at
now it describes an activity that is on the point of unfolding, the transition is not achieved.
To be unfolding (at now, then or after) implies that an element of human volition is
made use of, hence the planned implication attached to this form. Pragmatically, such sentences
are used in the following types of contexts:
(i) John is rising at 5 o’clock tomorrow
(ii) The sun is rising at 5 o’clock tomorrow

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 According to Leech and Svartvik “the latter sentence is absurd because it suggests that
the rising of the sun could be deliberately planned, instead of being determined by natural law”
Such a form can be used to express a certain event, which will take place due to
conscious human agency that wills the event:
“I’m cleaning my room tomorrow”
“I’m having a little birthday party tomorrow”
“We are visiting the museum tomorrow”
The progressive form is used in context in which plans, arrangements, programs are
talked about. This is a consequence of the fact that human volition is engaged in setting up
plans, programs or in securing kinds of arrangements.
“We’re inviting several people to a party.
She’s going back to Montreal in a couple of days.
(What are you doing for lunch?)
We are having fish for dinner.
All these sentences contain the implication of an arrangement already made: the party
has already been decided on, preparations for going back to Montreal have already been made,
the menu has been chosen.
These sentences also contain the implication of imminence that can often accompany a
fixed arrangement. This accounts for the use of the progressive form in context in which the
arrangement or the plan is considered as imminent:
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“I’m starting work tomorrow morning.”
“He is coming to stay with us this Christmas.”
G. Palmer (cited by Ioana Ştefănescu) contrasts the use of the simple present with the
present progressive form when they are used in future time sentences, e.g. “I’m starting
work tomorrow”; “I start work tomorrow.”
In the first sentence the speaker intends to start work – he may perhaps have been ill. In
the second example, tomorrow is the time fixed for him to start. It is for such reasons that we
would normally expect the first, but not the second in “Examinations start tomorrow.”
The element of intention, volition to program some event is part of the progressive
form and therefore, the assertion as such is slightly weaker as far as the occurrence of the event
is concerned.”
G. Leech (cited by Ioana Ştefănescu) makes a similar commentary about these two
forms, e.g. “We are starting for Istanbul” tonight announces a present plan, which might,
conceivably, be altered later.
“We start for Istanbul tonight”, changing the plan is out of question. Moreover, in the
first sentence the arrangement of starting for Istanbul is assumed to have made by the subject of
the sentence. Thus, “We are starting for Istanbul” almost always means “We have arranged to
start for Istanbul” whereas in the second example the arrangement is felt as impersonal, or
collective, one made, for example, by a committee, a court of law, or some named authority.
A construction like “I’m getting a present tomorrow” is ambiguous between an active,
agentive meaning “acquire” or the passive, inert meaning “receive”. The passive meaning is
possible because in this case the plan is understood to have been made and carried out by
someone other than the subject of the sentence: the meanings approximately “Someone has
arranged to give me a present tomorrow.”
The present progressive form contains as part of the implied meaning a modal nuance
that can be spelled out as “plan, arrangement, program deliberately planned by conscious
human agency. This is evident even in the paraphrase of the passive sense of the construction
“I’m getting a present tomorrow.”
If we contrast a sentence in the “be going to” form and one in the present progressive,
we ca notice that there is a difference in interpretation:
“I am going to take Mary out for lunch today.”
“I’m taking Mary out for lunch today.”

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 According to B. D. Graver (Advanced English Practice) an intention is part of one’s
present state of mind, while an arrangement is something already predetermined in the past,
regardless of how the speaker feels now. Hence the second sentence, but not the first, could
conceivably be uttered with some reluctance by someone who now regrets the arrangement and
it could readily be used an excuse: “I’m sorry, I’d like to have a game of billiards, but I’m
taking Mary out for lunch.”
Michael Swan (in his Practical English Usage) observes that the present progressive
can emphasize the idea of fixed arrangement, while “going to” can emphasize the idea of
intention or “previous decision”:
“Are you doing anything this weekend?” (asking about arrangements more natural
than” Are you going to do anything this weekend?)
“Are you going to do anything about the letter from the tax people?” (pressing to know
what has been decided – more natural than “Are you doing anything about the letter from the
tax people?”)
“Who’s cooking lunch” (asking what has been arranged)
“Who’s going to cook lunch?” (asking about a decision)
“I’m seeing Phil tonight” (emphasis on arrangement)
“I’m really going to tell him what I think of him” (emphasis on intention) NOT I’m
really telling him.
“I’m getting a new job.” (It’s already arranged)
“I’m going to get a new job.” (I’ve decided to)
The Present Progressive is not used to make predictions about events that are outside
people’s control.
“Things are going to get better soon.” (NOT Things are getting better soon)
“He’s going to have an accident one of these days.” (NOT He’s having an accident one
of these days)
“It’s going to snow soon.” (NOT It’s snowing soon)
The Present Progressive is used for actions and events, but not usually for permanent
states
“Their new house is going to look over the river.”
(NOT Their new house is looking over the river)
Be going to and the present progressive can be used to insist that people do things or do
not do things:
“You’re finishing / going to finish that soup if you sit there all afternoon.”
“She’s taking / going to take that medicine whether she likes it or not.”
“You are not playing / going to play football on my flower beds.”
“You are not wearing / going to wear that skirt at school.”
The present progressive is common in emphatic refusals:
“I’m sorry, you are not taking my car.”
“I’m certainly not washing your socks.”
In informal speech, going to is often pronounced […]. This is sometimes shown in
writing as gonna, especially in Am E.
“Nobody’s gonna talk to me like this.”
“I left home at six: I was meeting John at six-thirty.”
This sentence represents a situation in past time parallel to the situation in “I’m
meeting John at six-thirty tomorrow.” As far as the first sentence is concerned, the
interpretation is that my meeting at the time I left home.
Note: The past progressive sometimes refers to plans that do not materialize:
“I was coming to see you tomorrow, but the boss has just called my up to ask me to go
to the office.”
More frequently, we find the form “going to” instead. This form would not be used in
“I was coming to see you …” for stylistic reasons – we would not normally say “I was going to
come to see you.”

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Simple Present:
Future reference can be achieved by use of the simple present tense in conjugation with
either an explicitly future time adverbial or an unanchored adverbial.
This use of the simple present tense is characterized by its being accompanied by an
adverbial that specifies RT. As the adverbial is explicitly future (tonight, tomorrow, the day
after) or unanchored (on Tuesday) and which receives temporal specification with respect to
ST, the relation between RT and ST is one of posterity of RT E.g. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”
Next year the musical festival The Golden Stag takes place in mid-August.”
“I am off tonight.”
“I am glad she comes here on Friday.”
“I meet you at dinner on Sunday.”
The future time meaning of the simple present tense refers to a definite future occasion:
at ST the speaker anticipates the content of an event or states that is to take place at a reference
time posterior to the axis of the present. At ST, the context of the anticipated event or state is
described as taking place, e.g. “I go to the countryside next weekend.”
“I begin my exams in three weeks’ time.”
“Children start school tomorrow.”
The RT is specified as next weekend, tomorrow, in three weeks time.
The simple present tense is used, as a rule, in contexts in which the event is scheduled
by exterior factors, there is a fixed decision or plan according to authority. If the speaker used
this form, we can infer that the event or state talked about is expected to take place without fail.
The present tense is used to indicate future time
a) with verbs expressing motion, such as go, leave, start, arrive and also with other verbs:
We leave Braşov at 8 a.m. on Friday and arrive in Bucharest at 10 p.m. We spend a
fortnight in Bucharest.
Note: In Romanian the present tense is frequently used with reference to future time, this
use is less common in English, where it is limited to cases in which a future action is
considered part of a schedule / programme that is already fixed. Sentences of his kind usually
contain an indication of time:
b) when we ask for instruction: “What do we do next.”
“Stand or sit down?”
“Where do I go now?”
“Keep silent or talk?”
c) In time clauses beginning with when, before, after, till, until, while, as soon as, by the time,
as
“This little girl will be very beautiful when she grows up.”
“Don’t unlock the door until I tell you.”
“We will talk the matter over as we drive.”
d) In conditional sentences beginning with if, even if, unless, in case, on condition, provided,
suppose, supposing (the future conditional)
“We will go to the mountain if the weather is fine.”
“He won’t marry her unless he loves her.”
“They won’t come even if I beg them to.”
“Suppose I see him, what shall I tell him?”
“What shall I do supposing the weather is bad?”
“I shall try to make it, on condition you help me.”
“We shall mend it, provided that we are paid for it.”
“I shall help her in case she help me, too.”
Note: In “I don’t know if he will come.” We are dealing with a reported question.
In this case, “if” can be replaced by “whether.”

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 In main clauses, the future use of the simple present may be said to represent a marked
future of unusual definiteness, attributing to the future the degree of certainty one normally
associates with the present and the past.
Note: a) Although the simple present is the normal type of future construction to use in
conditional clauses, the future use of “will” and “be going to” in such cases is by no means
impossible:
“If the crops are ruined by next month’s drought, we’ll have to buy in extra food.” (if the
crops will be ruined..)
“If you’re playing tennis against Mary you’d better borrow my racket. (If you are going to
play…)
b) Corresponding to the future use of simple present in adverbial clauses in the following
use of the present perfect referring to the past in the future:
“The winner will be declared when every competitor has finished the course.”
Other examples: “The flight doesn’t leave at 16:45, it leaves at 18:45.”
“The Money Program return at 5 o’clock on Wednesday.”
“A new comedy series starts on Channel 4 at the end of the week.”
“The big race tomorrow is the Grand National at Aintree.”
The calendar is fixed and one day follows another in the same order. Similarly airline
schedules and sports events are decided many months in advance and are not object to change
the normal course of events.
We see these events as facts and as possible events in the future.
“The wedding is next month and it’s white wedding.” The woman who made the
statement did not consider that there was any doubt that the wedding would take place or that
the bride would be wearing a long white dress.

Other ways of expressing future time

Forms of future substitutes

I am / You are to see Mr. Jones tomorrow

I am / You are about to become a teacher.
I am / You are on the point of leaving.
I am / You are due to arrive at 7.30

Uses of future substitutes

1. The use of “am / is / are to”: “Be to” is used to refer to the future when the actions are
subject to human control. Thus statements such as “I’m going faint” or “It’s going to rain”
cannot be expressed with “Be to”, which has restricted uses:
Formal announcements / public duties:
“OPEC representatives are to meet in Geneva next Monday.”
Formal appointments / instructions:
active: You’re to deliver these flowers before 10.
passive: These tablets are to be taken twice a day.
Prohibitions / public notes:
You’re not to tell him anything about our plans (= you mustn’t)
Poison: NOT TO BE TAKEN!
Note: In this use, be to + infinitive resembles the future use of the simple present, except
that the simple present cannot normally refer to the future unless accompanied by a time
adverbial or some other future referring expression.
2. The use of “be about to”: “Be about to” and “Be to” are two quasi – auxiliary
constructions: “Be to” is quite often used to refer to a future arrangement, plan command or
pre–destined future:
“There’s to be an investigation.”

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 “You are to be back by 10 o’clock.”
“Be about to”, on the other hand, expresses near future:
“The train is about to leave.”
“I’m about to read your essay.”
The meaning of “Be About to” could be alternatively expressed by “be on the point of + V-
ing” or “be going to” together with the adverb “just” (meaning “very soon”):
“I’m just going to read your essay.”
3. The use of “be on the point of” – This construction is used to refer to the immediate future:
“On the point of” conveys event greater immediacy than “be on the point of”:
“Look! They’re on the point of starting.”
The use of “just” with “be on the point of” increases the sense of immediacy, as it does
with the present progressive:
“They’re just starting.”
4. The use of “be due to” – This is often used in connection with time tables and itineraries:
“The BA561 is due to arrive from Athens at 13:45.”
“The BA561 is not due tell 13:15.”
Note: This by no means exhausts the variety of verb constructions referring to future time.
Futurity is often a connotation of other modals than will / shall: e.g. with a dynamic verb, may
or must usually locates the event in the future.
“The weather may be fine.” (tomorrow)
“You must work hand if you want to pass all your exams” (from now on)
The same secondary connotation of futurity is found with semi – auxiliaries such as be
sure to, be bound to, lexical verbs such as hope, intend.
Note2: We often use the words definitely, probably, perhaps, maybe to show how probable a
future event is:
Degree of chance;
100%: We will definitely our turnover next year.
75%: He will probably be angry with me.
50%: Maybe / Perhaps he will win the competition.
25%: The teacher won’t probably like my essay.
0%: He definitely won’t come to my party.
We can also use the verb “be + (un)likely / certain” + infinitive to refer to the future.
We use the present tense of the verb “to be”, and we do not say “will be certain to”. We use
“certain to” to refer to things that we think to be certain, likely to be) expected to refer to things
that are probable, and “unlikely to” to refer to things that are improbable:
“I’ll meet him at the cinema tomorrow. He is certain to come.”
(He will definitely be there)
The price of gold is likely to increase.”
(It probably will increase)
There are a number of verbs and expression that can show how probable we think a
future event is. Here are some common examples:
High probability I’m quite sure that…
I’m confident that…
I expect that…he will keep his promise
The chances are that….
I shouldn’t think that …
Low probability I’m quite sure that + (won’t)…

Will / Shall + Progressive Infinitive

Traditional grammars list the structure “will / shall be working” among the means of
expressing future time reference. Let us consider first some typical examples.
“This time next week I shall be sailing across the Atlantic.”
“Don’t phone me at seven o’clock. I shall be sleeping.”

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 The temporal characterization of the first sentence is the following one: the RT is future
specified by the future adverbial “This time next week” and the simple present tense form; ET
is not specified independently, therefore it is assumed to be simultaneous to RT: the temporal
expression of the sentence is future. The verb has (present) progression; the modal will has its
predictive sense. Therefore, the sentence predicts that this time next week the activity of sailing
across the Atlantic will be in its progression.
The same explanation can be considered for the second sentence. Therefore, the future
interpretation of the sentence does not result from the will + progressive. Infinitive, but from
the adverbial specification of the sentence.
Leech and Svartvik remark “that these examples show that the action is typically
associated with a future point time round which it forms a temporal frame’”. In this, the future
progressive “with will is like the past progressive and present progressive.”
G. Leech (apud Ioana Ştefănescu) considers the following sentences completely
different from the ones above:
“The train will be arriving at 7 o’clock.”
“I shall be writing to you soon.”
“When will you be moving to your new flat?”
To us, the sentences seem to allow the same semantic interpretation; as far as the first
sentence is considered, RT is future, specified by 7 o’clock and the present tense; the aspectual
form, the progressive indicates that the event described in the sentence unfolds at RT= 7 o
clock, the modal will has its expected prediction sense. Hence the semantic interpretation of the
sentence is: prediction that the event of the train’s arriving unfolds at RT. Pragmatically, such a
sentence will be favoured in those contexts in which we would like to indicate that the
prediction has a high degree of certainty; We are so sure that the event takes place in
connection to a posterior RT That the respective event will be in its progression (already) at
RT. The meaning of the verbal construction here is perhaps the most difficult of all future
meanings to characterize.
It can be summed up in the phrase future–as–a–matter–of–course. It indicates that a
predicted event will happen independently of the will or intention of anyone concerned. It is
supposed that this usage has grown up though the need to have a way of referring to the future
uncontaminated by factors of volition, plan and intention which enter into the future meanings
of will / shall + Infinitive, the present progressive and be going to + Infinitive.
It is the semantic reading of this structure which explains it being preferred in contexts
in which a predication about an event is made with such a great certainty that the event is
presented as unfolding at a specified future RT.
G. Leech (cf. Ioana Ştefănescu) contrasts the following pairs of sentences:
a) “I’ll drive into London next week.” (“I’ve made up my mind.”)
b) “I’ll be driving into London next week.” (as a matter of fact)
c) “Will you put on another play soon?” (“Please”)
d) “Will you be putting on another play soon?” (“Is it going to happen?”)
Leech goes on: “In principle, it is possible to use (a) in the neutral predictive sense of “I
shall die one day”, but, in practice, it is difficult suggesting that at the same time that one wants
and intends to drive to London. The possibility of volitional colouring avoided in sentence (b),
which is understood simply as a statement that “such–and–such” is going to happen.
The same thing applies to the second pair. As a question, sentence (c) implies the
intentions of the listener and, therefore, comes to sound almost like a cajoling imperative; But
sentence (d) simply asks whether a future production will come to pass.
Due to its sense, the structure is pragmatically used in those contexts in which the
speaker wants to make a polite invitation: for instance, sentence (b) can be preceded by the
offer “can I give you a left?”, for it would forestall any awkward feeling of indebtedness on the
listener’s part:
“I shall be making the journey anyway, so don’t feel you would be causing me
trouble.”

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 Thirdly, Leech remarks that a restriction consists in the avoidance of this progressive
form in describing abnormal or sudden or violent events which could not be said to happen in
“the natural course of things”.
Sentences like “Margot will be poisoning her husband when he gets home.”
“We shall be blowing up the House of parliament tonight.”
have a crazy, semi–comical air, which arises from the incongruity of treating such outrages as
matter of course. On the other hand, it is intriguing to note that there is an idiomatic
exploitation of such incongruities in colloquial English:
“You’ll be losing your head one of these days (said to a very forgetful)
or person
“He ‘ll be buying himself an island in the Bahamas next.” (said of someone aspiring to
a life of luxury)
The message (with allowance for a certain amount of comic hyperbole) runs:
This is what things will come to in the natural course of events if he carries on in this
absurd way.
“In the same spirit of comic exasperation in the commonly heard question ‘Whatever
will he be doing next?’”
Of all these five structures discussed above only the simple present tense with an
adverbial of future time or an unanchored adverbial constitutes a temporal expression; all the
other four structures contain the simple present tense and the adverbial specification and have
modal and aspectual readings as well.
In sum, the difference in sense between the sentences in (a), (b) and (c) below can be
started along the following lines:
a) “John leaves town tomorrow.”
b) John is leaving town tomorrow.”
c) John will leave town tomorrow.”
a) implies a greater degree of certainty, of predetermination than c) does. Therefore, one can
say “I leave next Tuesday at 4 p.m.” and one cannot weaken the assertion by saying “I
tentatively leave next Tuesday at 4 p.m..”
While “The sun sets tomorrow at 6:57 p.m.” is fine, as the setting of the sun is a fixed
event, “The Sun is setting tomorrow at 6:57 p.m.” is strange.
The future progressive form has a compositional sense derived from the sense of the
component parts: the simple present + progressive aspect + future adverbial; hence, the sense of
b) is that tomorrow the event of leaving will be unfolding as a part of a plan or
predetermination.
Dowty (apud Ioana Ştefănescu) makes the following comment on the future
progressive: “…there may appear to be a certain intuitive but vague connection between the
imperfective progressive and the so called ‘futurate progressive’”
An imperfective sentence such “John is drawing a circle” may be truly uttered on
certain occasions when no portion of a circle exists yet on paper, but when John is merely
observed to be making preparations to draw (assembling the compasses and paper) and his
intentions are known. Perhaps this use is merely “speaking loosely”, but it suggest at least a
psychological tendency of humans to extend the temporal duration of an accomplishment
backward in time to include the preparations for the accomplishment proper, the direct bringing
about of a result. At its extreme, this temporal extension “will go all the way back to the agent’s
decision (if there is an agent to attempt to bring about the result.
The futurate progressive “John is leaving town tomorrow” semantically involves the
notion of planning might seem that event of leaving may after all, be in progress in this loose
sense. So, in order to get sense of the futurate progressive, all we need to do is to treat it as a
progressive form combined in a purely compositional way with a sentence in the present plus a
future time adverbial.
The c) sentence, “John will leave town tomorrow”, implies certainty due to the
prediction sense of the modal will (90% certain that occurs in the sentence).

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 The Future Progressive is used to make on assumption about the future: “I expect he’ll
be feeling better tomorrow’
“I think they’ll be arriving soon”
“I bet they’ll be getting married soon”
“He won’t be changing his job this year” (= “I don’t think he’ll change his job this year”)
Also for an assumption about the present, e.g. “I should think it’ll be raining in
Bucharest now” “It’s very late. He won’t be working now”
The Future Progressive is used to express a polite question:
“Will you be staying here long?”
“Why will you be leaving so early?”
“Where will you be spending the weekend?”
Note: Will you … ? introduces a request.
“Will you make a cake for tea (please)?”
“Will you use this one (please)?”
Other examples: More than 300 million people will be watching the Grand National
tomorrow.
They’re wondering whether he’ll be running in the marathon next year.
I’ll be doing plenty of exercises and getting fit for the race.
Brian will be handing in the Keys to the flat and he’ll be moving in with his son next month.
Now that we’ve won this award I think we’ll probably be getting a bigger audience for our
performance.
To show that an action will be in progress at a given future moment, Romanian
speakers use one of the two forms of “Future tense or one of their variants:
“La ora asta mâine vom munci.” (=o să muncim)
“La anul pe vremea asta voi învăţa”. (=o să învăţ)

Future in the past:

The English language comes nearest to possessing a future in the past tense in the
constructions would + infinitive and was / were + infinitive.
“20 years later, Dick would be the richest man in London”. This usage is uncommon
and is restricted to a literary style and historical writing or narrative. In this case the events
foretold must take place between the then of the narrative and the now for the narration, as
Leech so convincingly explains: “The use of the would + infinitive construction after a past
tense in the main clause is a transposed future obtained by means of a transposition rule. The
tense is shifted from the present time sphere to the past time sphere. This shift is contextually
indicated by a temporal specifier which is almost always the orientation axis of the sentence in
which the clause containing the shifted future is embedded.
The future in the past shows futurity only with respect to a moment of past reference.
The Romanian learner is likely to produce sentences like: *“He told me he will come the next
day because in Romanian the “viitor” is employed in embedded clause, e.g. “Mi-a spus că va
veni a doua zi.”
The future in the Romanian sentence must be replaced by a future–in-the-past in the
English sentence.
The future-in-the-past can be expressed by was going to, was about to, was to, was to
have + past participle, was on the point of, was due to and (in more limited context) would.
These forms can refer to events which were planned to take place and which did not take place,
e.g. “I couldn’t go to Tom’s party as I was about to go into hospital”.
They can also refer to an outcome that could not be foreseen, e.g. “Little did they know
they were to be reunited ten years later.”
However, in the future-in-the-past can also be used to describe events which were
interrupted (just … when)
“We were just going to leave when Jean fell and hurt her ankle.” Or to describe events which
were hindered or prevented (…but):

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“I was to see / was going to see /was to have seen Mr. Kay tomorrow , but the appointment has
been cancelled.”
Note the possible ambiguity of:
“I was going to see Mr. Kay (the meeting did or did not take place” compared with “I was to
have seen Mr. Kay” (I did not see him.)
Future-in-the-past: typical contexts.
The future-in-the-past often used in narrative to describe “events that were destined to
happen, e.g. “Einstein was still a young man. His discoveries had not yet been published, but
they were to change our whole view of the universe”.
“In case the sentence has a past time axis, all the future time expressions are modified
according to the change of context and indicate a future + past situation:
“He was leaving town the day after we arrived”.
“He was going to be a policeman later in his life “.
“He was about to retrace his steps when he was transfixed to the spot by a sudden appearance”.
G. Palmer remarks that’ for future in the past, be going to is regularly used”.
“I was going to say that it looked a bit like a pheasant in flight.”
“It was a matter of complete unimportance unless you were going to be a schoolmaster, which I
never was.”
Note: Would is likely to occur in literary style:
“Twenty years later, Dick Wittington would be the richest man in London.”
However, there is a difference between “would” and “was going to.” Would can only be
used to refer with hindsight to events that were in fact to take place at a certain time later than
the past time referred to. by contrast, “was going to” usually simply indicates current
orientation in the past that there were features of the later event. Most commonly, there was an
intention which may or not have been carried out.
Other examples:
(a) “You were going to phone me yesterday.”
(b) I was going to tell you all about it.”
(c) He was about to go out when I arrived.
(d) We were about to have dinner when the lights went out.
(e) She was going to get her degree and then get a job in Japan but she went to Madrid instead.
Example (a) was said by someone, possibly as a complaint, who is asking for an
explanation for the other person’s behaviour in not telephoning. The answer could be, for
example:
“Sorry, I was going to phone you but I went out and couldn’t find a phone I could use.”
Example (b) was said by someone whose friend has heard some news from other people.
The conversation could be as follows:
Anne: I’ve just heard that you are coming to London for a Holiday.
Sally: Yes, I’m sorry. I was going to tell you all about it but I’ve been so busy I never got
around to writing to you.
Examples (c) suggest that he didn’t go out because I arrived.
Example (d) suggest that we couldn’t have dinner right away because we had to spend time
looking for torches and candles.
Examples (e) means that she did get the degree but changed her mind about going to Japan.
“She was leaving for Singapore the next day.” (The Past Continuous form is used to
talk about a plan or arrangement that was decided in the past would take place in the future
when looked at from that point in the past)
“They were eventually to be punished to ten years’ imprisonment each.”
“The decision she made that day was to have unforeseen consequences.” (to be +
infinitive is used in formal writing or speech and is most common in literary works. It suggests
fulfillment of an arrangement or of someone’s destiny or fate).
The use of the Future-in-the-past of the Continuous aspect forms, e.g. I should be
writing. You would be writing. He would be writing.

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 This tense is used to express a concrete action going on at a definite future moment
(occasionally covering a whole period of time in the future) when that future moment is viewed
from the past.
I told him not to come at six o’clock because I should be having my lesson at that time.
He told me that it was no use trying to get him on the telephone in the morning because
he would be working in the garden from nine till twelve.
In Romanian we have “Ţi-am spus că voi veni”, whereas in English we have “I told
you I would come”. The future tense of the Romanian sentence must be replaced by a future-in-
the-past in the English sentence.

The future Perfect Tense:

Active shall have + past participle
Will
Passive shall have been + past participle
Will
We can use the future perfect to say that something will have been done, completed or
achieved by a certain time in the future.
“By” can mean” not later than.”
“I’ll be home by ten o’clock” (=at or before ten)
“Can I borrow your car? Yes, but I must have it back by tonight.” (=tonight or before)
“By” can also suggest the idea of progress up to a particular time
“By the end of the meal, everybody will be drunk”
“By the time” (that) is used with a verb, to mean “not later than the moment that
something happens”:
“I’ll be in bed by the time you get back.”
“When I have finished the book, I will lend it to you.”
This is quite a complex form with a special temporal meaning, which in teaching will
require much attention from both the teacher and learner even at an advanced stage. The
Romanian equivalents are “prezent” future forms with “o plus conjunctiv prezent”, “voi plus
infinitive” and “viitorul anterior”.
The “viitor anterior” is felt as being either very formal or dialectal, and that is why it is
avoided in colloquial and everyday speech. The “prezent” and the other forms are used instead
of the “viitor anterior”.
However, the choice depends on the meaning of the verb and various other reasons.
Both in English and Romanian after conjunctions that mark anteriority the simple present can
be used.
“After I have finished that book, I’ll lend it to you.”
However, in English this construction with “when” requires the present perfect (in the
time clause): When I have finished the book. Romanian learners transfer the use of the Simple
Present to structures marked by “When”, thus arriving at wrong sentences like “When I
finished the book, I’ll lend it to you”, which mark simultaneity and anteriority.
Another common mistake is the use of the passive voice instead of the future perfect,
because of structural similarities in Romanian.
“When I arrive home, my brother will have eaten dinner” which is often heard as:
“When I arrive home, my brother will be eaten.’
Another example: “When we arrive at the station, the train will have gone” which is heard as:
“When we arrive at the station, the train will be gone”.
A progressive form can be used if we want to emphasize the continuity of a future
achievement:
“I’ll have been teaching for twenty hours this summer.” (or I’ll have taught)
We can also use “will have” to predict the present – to say what we think or guess has
probably happened:
“It’s no use phoning – he’ll have left by now.”

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 In Romanian, this tense is known under the name of “Viitor II”. The action expressed
by it is placed in a moment posterior to the moment of speaking, but prior to the moment
designed by the first term of reference:
“Când vei ajunge tu student, eu voi fi terminat deja facultatea.”

Will and Shall in Indirect Speech:

1. Direct – First Person
I will (volition) remains I will: “I think I will have a whisky and soda”
I will (volition) becomes I would: “When said I would die a bachelor, I did not
think I should live till I said I were married.”
“I promised That I would not abuse her kindness.”
2. “I will” becomes You will”
However, promise us … that there shall [=direct] be nothing clandestine, that you
will pursue your studies.” (Thackeray)
“Shall I” becomes “You should”:
“When I saw you last, you asked whether you should see me again before
Christmas.” (Keats)
“I should” (preterit of imagination) becomes “you should”:
“If you could be assured of that, you think you should be easy.” (Austin)
3. “I will” (volition) becomes “he will”:
“Angela gives promise she will do whatever he shall wish.” (Keats)
“She shall have a careful home.”
“She will order all things duly.”
I will (volition) becomes he would:
“She would go upstairs. She would extinguish the light and go upstairs. No, She
could not.” (Bennet)
I shall becomes he shall
“She says she never shall think well of anybody again” (Austin)
I shall or Shall I? becomes I should:
“He knew he shouldn’t be beyond the reach of her voice.” (Fielding)
I shall (preterit of imagination) becomes he should:
“They pronounced her to be a sweet girl and one whom they should not object to
know more of.” (Austin)
4. In the following questions we see the distinction between the volition and pure
future expressed by the different auxiliaries.
“He held his breath in fearful suspense. Should he be seen? He would not die
without a struggle at least.” (Kingsley)
5. In other case the two auxiliaries reflect different persons in the corespondent direct
speech:
“He thinks himself that he shall recover (=I shall) but the doctor says that he will
die soon (+he, the patient).
Direct Second Person
1. “You will” (will you?, volition) becomes I would (would I?)
“He came to me with a request that I would assist him…” (Franklin)
You will (instead of you shall, promise) becomes I would.
“He said that, if I married him, I would have the finest diamonds in London.”
You will (future becomes I shall, as “I will” would call up too strongly the idea of
volition:
Do you think I shall recover soon?
“You will” becomes “I should” for the same reasons:
“She hoped I should be a good child, she dismissed me.” (Brontë)
You would becomes I would (conditioned or weak volition)
“Why should you think I would see him?” (Sheridan)

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2. You shall becomes you should:
“Our design was that you should have slept in the room that serves me for a study.”
Cowper)
“I desired that you should recognize me for a gentleman.” (Hanley)
“Should you” becomes “you should”:
“If you had a brother like me, do you think you should have loved him as well as Tom?”
3. Will you? (volition) becomes would he; You shall becomes he should: “In another hour she
would know where her child was the tailor has promised that she should.” (Parker)
Direct Third Person
1. He will becomes I will if volition is implied, otherwise I shall; thus auxiliary is used which
would be natural if there were no shifting.
“He thinks I will go there / He thinks I shall soon die.” (Shakespeare)
Sweet, says: “In such a sentence as “He says he hopes I will be there the person of “I” is
regarded from the point of view of “he” as if the sentence were in the form of he said “I
hope you (or he)” will be there! So also in (he said) he was afraid we would not (be able to)
come. In both of these instances shall (should) is advisable, and would probably be
substituted by many on second thoughts, but the construction with will is the genuinely
colloquial one.”
“He will” (or would) becomes “I should’:
“You told Dolly that I should make an excellent wife for a trainer.” (Hope)
“They thought I should die.” (Brontë)
2. “He will” remains ‘he will’ (volition and future)
“The boy says it will be good.”
“He will” becomes “he would”:
“I hoped the time might even come, when he would cease to lead the lonely life.”
“He shall” becomes “he should”:
“We could not reasonably hope he should outlive this day.” (Osborne)

Doubtful cases
1. In the following sentences we seem to have would = a back-shifted will rather that the
direct expression of the after-past mentioned in “The light became more mellow; the long
horizontal rays from a sun that soon would set were stopped by the foliage of the wood.”
(Maxwell)
“He was travelling by express; in a few minutes he would be rushing through the darkness
at a hundred kilometres an hour. (Bennet)
2. Shall shifted into Should in a report of someone’s past speech thought sometimes comes to
resemble the archaic use of should in the after-past-it is not always easy to see whether we
have really indirect speech or a simple relation of what was to happen:
“It was about the last days of our outward voyage – some time that might or, at latest,
before noon of the morrow we should sight the Treasure Island.” (Stevenson)

Should in Temporal Clauses

In temporal clauses we have “should” corresponding to the use of “shall” mentioned in
“What will he do when as he shall be present?” when the main verb is the past. The reference
therefore is to a time that is future in regard to sometime in the past.
But the examples are placed here with “indirect time” because they contain more or
less distinct renderings of someone’s past sayings or thought generally there is a collateral
meaning of purpose.
1. This is particularly frequent after till and until:
“He cast him into prison, till he should pay his debt.” (Matt)
2. The difference between “should” as indicating someone’s thought and the simple preterit to
indicate the actual fact is seen.

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 “I would have taken my leave for the night, but he would not hear of my doing that until
the stranger’s bell should ring. So I sat at the staircase window until he came out with
another chair and joined me.”
3. “Should”, however, is now felt as somewhat stiff and formal, and the natural tendency is to
use the simple preterit even when the implication is something imagined.
4. The same “should” after other conjunctions before:
“They strolled out to have a pipe before business should begin again.” (Stevenson)
“After” with the perfect infinitive “I had serious misgiving for the school’s future after I
should have left.” (McKenna)
“When”: “Catherine entered, announcing that she was ready, when her pony should be
saddled.” (Brontë)
“When” with the perfect infinitive: “She tried to compose herself to answer him with
patience, when he should have done.” (Austen)

Future time in the past

Most of the future constructions can be used in the past time to describe something is in
the future when seen from a viewpoint in the past.
(a) Modal verb construction with “would” (literary narrative style)
(b) Be going to + Infinitive (often with the sense of “unfulfilled intention”)
“You were going to tell me the truth.” (“… but you didn’t…”)
“I was going to marry him, but at last I changed my mind.”
(c) Past progressive (arrangement predetermined in the past)
“I was meeting him at 4 o’clock the next day.”
(d) Be to + Infinitive (formal); (i)= “was destined to”;
(ii)= “arrangement”;
(i) He was eventually to end up in the bankruptcy court.
(ii) The meeting was to be held the following day.
(e) Be about to + Infinitive (“on the point of”; often with the sense of “unfulfilled
intention”)
He was about to hit me.
Of all these constructions, only (a) and (d i) can be considered genuine expressions of
the future-in-the-past meaning, in that they alone can be understood to guarantee the fulfillment
of the happening in question.
Few could have imagined at that time that this brave young officer {was to be / would
be} the first President of the United States of America.
This sentence implies that the young officer (George Washington) did eventually
become president of the United States. The other constructions convey the sense of non-
fulfillment.
Note: The future-in-the-past interpretations, whether or not they imply fulfillment,
should be distinguished from those of the same construction used in indirect speech or free
indirect speech:
I was convinced that no one would interfere.
Surely no one would object, she said.
He told us he was going to resign.
In these cases, would and was going to report what was said or thought to be the case,
according to some explicit or implicit “speaker” or “thinker”.

TENSES OF THE PAST

The Past28 Tense Simple

28
Also called Preterit(e) – a term that comes from Latin (from Latin (tempus) praeteritum,
past (tense), neuter past participle of praeterire, to go by : praeter, beyond, comparative of

82
Definition: The Past Tense Simple is the verbal tense form implying past actions and states
(placed at a certain temporal point in the past or within the limits defined by a certain past
period), either terminated or not, which are not in progress (so, unlike the progressive /
continuous form); sometimes, frequency or repetition are involved.
Forms:
The Affirmative:

I, we, played basketball (last week)

you, he, heard about him (two days ago)
she, etc. gave Mother a present (yesterday)

The Interrogative (-Negative)

we, I, play the guitar?

Did (n’t) you, he, hear the news?
she, etc. give presents?
Or: Did {we, I, you, he, she, etc.} not play/hear/give…?
The Negative
I, we, play ……..
you, she, didn’t hear ……..
they, etc. did not give ……..
Passive Voice

I, he, was
she, etc. asked/given
you, we, were
they, etc.

Formation
1. The regular verbs form the past by adding the ending -ed to the short infinitive: to play
– played.
2. The Irregular verbs have as a past form the second form of the verb (to give –gave)
3. The Interrogative and the Negative are formed with the help of the auxiliary did (in
fact, the Past Tense form of the auxiliary do).
4. The passive voice is formed by using the past tense forms of the verb to be and the past
participle of the respective verb.
The verb to have and to be

The verb to have can form the Past Tense (the Negative and the Interrogative) in two ways.
It can be conjugated alone (I had not, Had he a car?, etc.), or by using the auxiliary did (Did I
have?, He didn’t have…).
For the verb to be the auxiliary did is not used: I wasn’t, Were you?, etc.

Pronunciation of the -ed ending / grammatical suffix

“-Ed” is pronounced either [d] after verbs ending in vowels or the voicing consonants /b/, /g/,
/l/, /m/, /n/, /v/, /z/, /d3/, /3/, /t/ after verbs ending in voiceless consonants /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /f/, /t /,
and [id] after verbs ending in /t/ or /d/:
played / pleid/
arrived /ə’raivd/
liked / laikt/

prae, before), considered, however, obsolete by most grammarians.

83
 wanted /’wontid/.

Spelling of the past tense forms

a) When the verb ends in -e, only -d is added: to arrive – arrived.
Exceptions: to agree – agreed, to decree – decreed.
b) When a one-syllable verb in a single consonant (with the only exception of the verbs
ending in -c, -w, or -x) preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled and
-ed is added: to drop – dropped, to stop – stopped, to pat – patted, to beg – begged.
c) The verbs ending in –ic add k after c, and then the suffix -ed is added: to mimic –
mimicked, to panic – panicked, to picnic – picnicked.
d) When a verb of more than one syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single
vowel, the final consonant is doubled if the final syllable is stressed (to omit – omitted,
to occur – occurred).
The final consonant is not doubled when the final syllable is not stressed (to visit –
visited, to offer – offered, etc.)
However, there are a few verbs (to kidnap, to handicap, to worship) where the final
consonant is doubled although the final syllable is not stressed: kidnapped.
In British English, verbs ending in -l double this consonant, irrespectively of the stress
(to control – controlled, to travel – travelled).29
The verbs ending in -y preceded by a vowel, keep y and add -ed (to play – played). On
the other hand, verbs ending in y preceded by a consonant change y into i and add -ed (to try –
tried).
Also, final -s is sometimes doubled; focused and focussed are both attested, although
the spelling with single s is considered more correct. By contrast, final -m preceded by an
unstressed vowel is usually doubled: program – programmed.

Irregular verbs:
According to most traditional grammarians, seven main patterns are used to mark the
Past Tense and the Past Participle in irregular verbs:
Class 1 verbs take a voiceless -t = [t] suffix to mark both the Past Tense and the Past
Participle. This can replace a final d (the root: to build – built, – built; to spend – spent – spent;
to send – sent – sent), or it may be added to the root (to spoil – spoiled – spoiled; to learn –
learnt – learnt).
Class 2 verbs take a -t or -d suffix to mark both the Past Tense and the Past Participle,
with a change in the root vowel: to feel – felt – felt, to keep – kept – kept, to leave – left– left, to
bring – brought – brought.
Class 3 verbs take the regular -ed suffix for the Past Tense but the -(e)n suffix for the
Past Participle: to show – showed – shown/showed, to sew – sewed –sewed/sewn.
Class 4 verbs have no suffix for the Past Tense, but take the suffix -(e)n for the Past
Participle, with a change in the base vowel for one or both: to break – broke – broken, to
choose – chose – chosen, to eat – ate – eaten, to see – saw – seen.
Class 5 verbs have the Past Tense and the Past Participle marked only by a change in
the base vowel: to come – came – come, to begin – began – begun, to sit – – sat – sat, to hang –
hung – hung.
Class 6 verbs have the Past Tense and Past Participle identical to the Infinitive: to cut –
cut – cut, to shut – shut – shut.
Class 7 verbs have one or more completely unmatched forms: to go – went – gone.
A fairly detailed, explicit and useful manner of grouping the Irregular Verbs into
classes can be found in R. Quirk & alii (op. cit.). The three main criteria used in this taxonomy
are: identity of V2 and V3 (e.g. meet – met – met), presence or absence of the (-ed or -en)

29
In American English, -l is doubled only if the last syllable is stressed: controlled, but
traveled, leveled.

84
suffixes (e.g. speak – spoke – spoken, learn – learnt – learnt vs. meet – met – met), and identity
or lack of identity of the characteristic vowel (e.g. smell – smelt – smelt vs. find – found –
found).

CLASS of TYPICAL V-ed form SUFFIXAT VOWEL OTHER EXAMPLES

IrregularV EXAMPLE IDENTITY (+ ION IDENTITY (+
erb or -) (+ or -) or -)
1. BURN + + + learn, smell, spell; bend, build, lend,
spend; have, make
2. BRING + + - deal, feel, flee, keep, leave, mean, sleep;
buy, catch; lose, tell, hear; say
3. CUT + - + bet, cast, cost, hit, hurt, let, shed, spread,
thrust, wet
4. MEET + - - bleed, feed, hold, lead, read, speed; cling,
dig, fling, hand, sling, spin, stick, strike,
win; find; light; sit; get, shine; fight, stand
5. MOW +/- + +/- saw, sew, show, sow, strew, swell
6. KNOW - + +/- choose, freeze, speak, steal, wake, weave;
bear, swear, tear [tεə], wear; bite, chide,
hide; forget, tread [tred]; lie; blow, grow,
throw; forsake, shake, take; forbid, give;
draw, fall, eat; see; drive, ride, rise, write;
fly; do; beat; thrive
7. SWIM - - - begin, drink, ring, shrink, sing, spring,
stink; come, run; go

Regular and irregular forms:

Many irregular verbs have regular variants. In these cases, they are usually marked
preferences for one alternative or another, influenced by several major factors (register, dialect,
grammatical function-Past Tense vs. Past Participle, etc.)
The expected historical trend is towards a greater use of the regular -ed pattern, and
thus it is not surprising to find Am E more advanced in this respect than BrE It is unexpected,
however, to find conversation more conservative than the written registers in using the irregular
forms (see the percentage recorded, in the table below, for the verbs earn and burn).30
Percentage use of irregular vs. regular forms where both can be used as either past
tense or participle
R regular form over 85% of the time
r regular (v. irregular) form used over 50% of the time
ir irregular (v. regular) form used over 50% of the time
IR irregular (v. regular) form used over 75% of the time
– Combined total of both regular and irregular forms is less than three per million
conversation fiction BrE news academic
past past past past past past past past
tense participle tense participle tense participle tense
participle

snuck (v. sneaked) - - R - R - - -

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
dove (v. dived) - - R - R - - -
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
knit (v. knitted) - - R - - - - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
leant (v. leaned) - - r R - - - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

30
Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, page 396

85
dreamt (v. dreamed) - - r r r - - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
spoilt (v. spoiled) - IR - ir R ir - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
learnt (v. learned) ir IR r r r r r r
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
burnt (v. burned) IR IR r r r r ir r
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
smelt (v. smelled) IR - ir ir ir - - -
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
spelt (v. spelled) IR IR ir - ir - - -
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
leapt (v. leaped) - - ir ir IR IR - -
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
hung (v. hanged) IR IR IR IR ir r IR -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
quit (v. quitted) - - - - IR IR - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
sped (v. speeded) - - IR - IR - - -
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
wed (v. wedded) - - - - IR - IR -
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
lit (v. lighted) IR - IR IR IR - - -

Percentage use in BrE v. AmE news of irregular v. regular forms where both variants
can be used as either past tense or participle

BrE news AmE news

past past past past
tense participle tense participle

leant (v. leaned) - - R -

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
dreamt (v. dreamed) r - R R
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
burnt (v. burned) r r R R
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
learnt (v. learned) r r R R
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
spoilt (v. spoiled)R ir R R
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..
smelt (v. smelled) ir - R -
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
leapt (v. leaped) IR IR r R
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
spelt (v. spelled) ir - R R
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
lit (v. lighted) IR - r r
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
sped (v. speeded) IR - IR -
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
hung (v. hunged) ir r IR ir
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
quit (v. quitted) IR IR IR IR

86
 Usage:
The Past Tense Simple is used:
1) To express an action or state wholly completed at some moment or during some
period in the past.
The action or state described by the Past Tense Simple is completely separated from
the Present and has no (obvious or important) connection with it. Based on its specific
meaning, the Past Tense Simple is used to narrate past actions or states (i.e. the Narrative or
Historic Past), e.g. This kind of head-gear always made an awful impression on the children in
Cranford; and now two or three left off their play, and gathered in wondering silence round
Miss Pole, Miss Matty, and myself.31
The time when the action or state took place is usually mentioned / marked by:
a) An adverb of time or an adjective: yesterday, three/a few years ago, a week/three
weeks ago, last week/summer/July/year, then, when…, or by any adverbs or
adverbial phrases which limit time in the past: in 1880, as soon as, at the time, at
that time, just now, the day before, the other day, recently, this day, last year, etc.
e.g. I met him yesterday.
They spoke two days ago.
He recently32 took up piano lessons.
I graduated from the University in 1997.
Mary was extremely happy this day last year.
We didn’t talk to each other for several weeks at that time.
He started working on that project as soon as he recovered from the accident.
He rang you up just now, etc.
About the time in the past, one can receive more information by asking questions
beginning with: When?, What time?, How long ago?
e.g. {When/What/How long ago} did you see him?
b) By a verb in the past tense:
e.g. They watched him as he disappeared into the forest.
c) By other indicators of the past that are not adverbials of time or temporal
constructions: where, there, that. Cf. the verbs to say, to tell, to get; to buy, to pay,
to cost, to lose, to think.33
e.g. What did you say?
I thought you were leaving.
How much did you pay for that blouse?
It didn’t cost me a thing.
I noticed there were many people.

d) By context, or only in the intention of the speaker:

e.g. Was she at home? (That night, when you told me)
She came to see us every day. (Back then)
What did you say? (I haven’t heard you).
Shakespeare wrote many beautiful poems. (It is thus implied that Shakespeare is dead
and is no longer writing).
Sometimes, the time becomes definite as a result of a question and an answer in the
Present Perfect. In this case, the Past Tense has an anaphoric function, referring to an event
already introduced in the communication and, therefore, known.
e.g. Q: Where has he been?
A: Has he been to the cinema?
Q: What film did he see?
31
Quotation from E.C Gaskell, Cranford, apud Dobrovici V., Dorobăţ D., Lăcătuşu, T.,
Popescu B., English for Advanced Learners, Editura Gama, Iaşi, 1999, p. 95.
32
The adverb recently can also be used with the Present Perfect. See the Present Perfect Simple
33
See The Present Perfect Simple, occurrences of the Present Perfect.

87
 A: He saw ‘Gone with the Wind’.

The Past Tense Simple is used:

- To express a past habit, or a repeated action in the past, e.g. He stood there for hours.
In this case, used to or would may also be employed as an alternative to the Simple Past, e.g.
He used to/would stand there for hours.
However, when we describe past states that have changed used to, and not would will
be employed. (It is to be added that, more often than not, preference for either of the above
alternatives can indicate change of register: would structures are often considered more
colloquial than used to patterns), e.g. The factory used to be in the city centre. (Now it is not
there any more). I used to smoke when I was younger. (I’m no longer in the habit of smoking.)
On the other hand, we do not use used to or would when we mention exactly how many
times something happened, how long ago something took, or that something happened at a
particular time, e.g. We visited Paris five times during the 1990s.
She went on holiday to the seaside last summer.
- To indicate a past ability,34 as the verb is used in its stative sense, 35e.g. The little girl
swam like a fish.
- To replace other tenses:
a) The Present Tense (in Indirect Speech), e.g. “We live in a big house”, the girl said.
The girl said they live in a big house.
However, the Past Tense in the reporting clause can be followed by either the Present
Tense or the Past Tense in the Direct Clause, e.g. She argued that Carl is/was the best in the
class. He said that is living/lives/lived/ in that house.

A present instead of a past tense in the Direct Object Clause shows that the situation
being reported still exists, or is still relevant when we report it.
If we want to indicate that we are not sure that what we are reporting is necessarily
true, or that a situation may no longer exist now, we prefer a past rather than a present tense,
e.g. Sarah told me that she has two houses. (It might suggest that this is the case).
Sarah told me that she had two houses. (It might suggest that this is perhaps not true, or
that she once had two houses, but no longer has them now.)
In Direct Speech the Past Tense is also used to introduce somebody’s words, e.g. “I’m
too busy”, she said.
The Past Tense also replaces the Present in polite requests with verbs like want,
wonder, hope, intend. (This is not a Subjunctive form, like the “Hypothetical Past” or “Modal
Preterite” used in sentences like If I had more money I would buy her a necklace), e.g. I wanted
to ask you a question.
I wondered/was wondering if you could help me.
I hoped you could go over the list one more time.
b) The Past Perfect can also be replaced by a Past Tense form, especially in temporal
clauses introduced by when, after, before, as soon as, e.g. He went out after he finished his
homework. He saw me before I saw him.
She finished cooking when he arrived at home.
The plane took off after the passengers fastened their seatbelts.

34
In general, one uses to be able to when talking about a specific achievement (particularly if it
is difficult and requires some effort) rather then a general ability: She was able to swim 30
miles per day.
35
The term stative is the opposite of dynamic; they are both used in the classification of verbs,
but can also be applied to other word classes / parts of speech, e.g. adjectives. “A stative
adjective such as tall cannot be used with the progressive aspect or with the imperative: *He’s
being tall *Be tall!” (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990, apud The Oxford Dictionary of English
Grammar, 372).

88
 This use of the Past Tense is specific to activity verbs, and expresses consecutive past
actions.
The Past Perfect, however, stresses that the action in the temporal clause took place
only after the action in the main clause was accomplished, e.g. He went out after he had
finished his homework.
1. He finished his homework. 2. He went out.
2 only happened after 1
c) Future (or Future fictional 36), or true events in the future, e.g. In 2109 an
interplanetary vehicle made a journey with several species of animals on board. (We can look
at future events from an even further point in the future).
c’) Future-in-the-Past in adverbial clauses of time if the verb in the main sentence is in
the past, e.g. He told me he would lend me the book when he came.
We were told to wait there until the bus came.
d) A Present Conditional in a Conditional Clause, e.g. My friend would help me if she
were here.
Suppose I was you.37
In this case, the Past Tense is in fact the Past Subjunctive, as it indicates supposition,
and not a tense.
Assuming the form of a “false” Past Tense, the Past Subjunctive can appear after wish,
would rather/sooner, had better38 it’s (high/about) time, as if/though, if only to suggest
desirability, non-fulfillment, criticism, e.g. I wish you were here.
It’s (about) time you grew up. She’s speaking as if she was a doctor (But in fact she is
not.)
I’d rather you did something else for money.
The Simple Past can be translated into Romanian by:
1. “Perfect Compus” or “Perfect Simplu”
e.g. I saw him two days ago.
L-am văzut acum doi ani.
He looked at me, then he went on with his work.
Se uită la mine, apoi îşi continuă lucrul.
2. “Imperfect”:
e.g. Whenever I passed by his house, he stared at me.
Ori de câte ori treceam pe lângă casa lui, se holba la mine.
3. “Prezent” (in Reported Speech)
e.g. He told her he has three cars.
I-a spus că are trei maşini.
4. “Viitor”:
e.g. He told his daughter he would buy her a pony when he returned home.
Îi spuse fiicei sale că-i va cumpăra un ponei când se va întoarce
acasă.
5. “Conjunctiv Prezent”:
e.g. I told him I had felt lonely before I met him.
I-am spus că m-am simţit singur până să-l întâlnesc.
6. “Condiţional prezent” and “Condiţional trecut”:
e.g. She’s speaking as if she was a teacher.
Vorbeşte de parcă ar fi profesoară.
He looks as if he was there.
Arată de parcă ar fi fost acolo.

36
See Mihai Mircea Zdrenghea, ibid., p. 33.
37
For the verb to be the form were (irrespective of the person of the verb) is used especially in
written English.
38
With different subjects

89
 The Past Tense Progressive / Continuous39
Definition: The Past Tense Progressive is the verbal tense form implying past actions
(and, rather infrequently, states), which are in progress (unlike the simple form of the Past
Tense); more often than not, the period of time over which the action/state is extending is
mentioned.
Forms:
The Affirmative

I, she, he Was cooking

you, we, they, etc. Were playing football
fishing

The Interrogative (-Negative)

Was I, he, cooking?

(n’t) she, etc. playing football?
Were you, we fishing?
they, etc.

The Negative

I, she, he, etc. was not cooking

wasn’t playing football
you, we, were not fishing
they, etc. weren’t

Passive Voice

I, she, he, etc was being asked

you, we, were being told
they, etc.

3.1. Usage
The Past Tense Continuous is used to express:
1. A temporary action in progress at a certain moment in the past.
The moment of reference can be expressed by:
a) an adverbial phrase, e.g. last night, yesterday at ten, this time yesterday.
e.g. Last night he was reading the magazine.
a) another activity in the past tense:40
e.g. I was ironing my clothes when he came.
He was walking down King Street when a car hit him.
b) another continuous activity in the past:41
e.g. While she was cooking he was repairing the fence.

39
As mentioned above, the term Progressive is in wider use, as the label Continuous can pose
problems, the chief one being comparative ambiguity.
40
The action in the Past Continuous Tense behaves like a background at a time when something
else, sometimes more important and more dramatic (“the foreground”) took place.
41
It may often happen that one of the two continuous forms can be replaced by a Simple Past
accompanied by an adverb expressing continuity or / and simultaneity, like as, on, while, etc.,
e.g. As he continued they were losing interest. He read on while she was clearing the table.

90
 c) the moment of reference can be understood from the context as the speaker obviously
has a definite time in mind.
e.g. They were moving the chairs and he was sweeping the floor.
Formation:
The Past Tense Continuous is formed with the help of the appropriate tense form of the verb to
be (i.e. was, were) and the present participle of the verb to be conjugated.
The spelling of the Present Participle
a) The final consonant is doubled, if the following vowel is short and stressed: to
stop – stopping, to refer – referring.
b) Final -l is doubled irrespective of the stress: to control – controlling, to travel –
traveling.
In American English, the final -l is doubled only if the last syllable is stressed:
controlling, but traveling. Final -m preceded by an unstressed vowel is usually doubled: to
program – programming.
c) The final -y does not change, whether it is preceded by a consonant or a vowel:
to study – studying, to play – playing.
d) The verbs ending in -ie change it to -y: to lie – lying, to die – dying.
e) When the verbs end in -e, only -ing is added: to have – having, to wave –
waving.
Exceptions: to agree – agreeing, to be – being, to see – seeing, to dye – dyeing, to
singe – singeing.

The Past Tense progressive / Continuous is used to express:

1. Gradual development without any time expression, e.g. It was getting cold.
The little boy was getting fatter and fatter.1
2. Repetitive annoying habitual actions in the past. In this case, the verb in the Past
Tense Continuous is accompanied by adverbs of frequency like: always, continuously, forever,
all the time, etc., e.g. He was always listening to music when I wanted to have a rest. She was
continuously leaving her books at home.
3. Polite requests, e.g. I was wondering if you could give me a helping hand with
my luggage.
4. A future arrangement seen from a past moment, whose unfulfilment is often
understood, e.g. She was leaving the next day.
I was going to give her the parcel.
In these constructions, future references are “colored” by the notion of intention
and it is usually implied that what had been expected did not eventually happen.
5. A Present Continuous in Indirect Speech, e.g. “I am having a shower”, Mary
answered. Mary answered that she was having a shower.
6. A Present Conditional in conditional clauses; in fact a progressive Subjunctive,
e.g. I’d be ecstatic if I were losing weight.
The Past Tense Continuous is translated into Romanian by:
1. “Imperfect”, e.g. I was getting ready for breakfast. / Mă pregăteam pentru micul
dejun.
2. “Prezent”, e.g. She said she was cooking. / A spus că găteşte.
3. “Condiţional prezent”, e.g. What would you say if they were sleeping? / Ce-ai
zice dacă ei ar dormi acum ?

Contrasting the Past Tense and the Present Perfect

As we have tried to demonstrate in the above considerations, the most
important forms for expressing past time in English are the Past Tense and the Present Perfect;
naturally, the differences between the two forms are not only quite numerous, but also highly
relevant for efficient communication in the English language.
1
Especially with repetitive comparatives of superiority

91
 1) Whereas the Simple Past relates a happening in the past to a past time, the
Present Perfect relates a happening in the past to the present.
Past or present relation is also shown by the use of the auxiliaries: was/were for the
Past Tense, and has/have for the Present Perfect 42, e.g. I was taking a stroll into this forest. I
have taken a stroll into this forest.
Describing past actions, the Past Tense is used with adverbs and adverbials naming
a time in the past: last night, at 7 o’clock, in 2000, five weeks ago, etc., e.g. They did a lot of
progress a year ago.
Well connected to present time, the Present Perfect can be used with adverbs
indicating a period of time up to the present: so far, up to now, since we met, etc., e.g. They
haven’t done any progress so far.
2) Some time adverbs or adverbial phrases, however, can be used with both
tenses according to the period of time (present or past) they refer to: ever, never, always,
usually, sometimes, often, five times, several times, already, so far, today, this
morning/week/month/year, etc., since.
Compare:
Past Tense: He never liked being praised when he was young.
(This happened in the past when he was young to be more exact).
Present Perfect: He has never liked being praised.
(Never up to this point of his life).
Past Tense: He always played the piano before dinner.
(Now he is dead or he no longer plays the piano.)
Present Perfect: He has always played the piano before dinner.
(He is still alive, he continues to play the piano and maybe he will do so in the
future).
Past Tense: She often spent most of her money on books.
(She may be dead now or she does not buy books any more).
Present Perfect: She has often spent most of her money on books.
(She still buys a lot of books).
Past Tense: They sometimes brought her a rose when they got back from
the marketplace.
(She is dead now, or they live far away from her)
Present Perfect: They have sometimes brought Mum a rose.
(They still do so).
Past Tense: I phoned her twice that morning.
She did not answer that morning.
Present Perfect: I’ve phoned her twice since morning.
(I might phone her again).
Past Tense: So far43 things were all right between them.
(But after a while they got separated).
Present Perfect: So far things have been all right between them.
(They are still happy together).
Past Tense: She already had three babies.
(Already by that time).
Present Perfect: She’s already had three babies.
(Already by now.)
This morning/month/year/etc., today.
The British are usually very strict about tenses, when parts of the day are involved. As
a rule, with this morning they use the Present Perfect to describe actions that happened up to 12

42
See Alice Bădescu, ibidem.
43
To express actions prior to past time, so far is particularly used with the Past Perfect: So far,
they had lived in that house; idem already.

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a.m., and the Past Tense to describe actions that happened after 12 p.m. 44, e.g. His brother has
phoned me this morning. (It’s any time before 12 a.m.).
His brother phoned me this morning.
(It’s any time after 12 p.m.).
Past Tense: I didn’t see him today.
(It’s still 4 p.m.)
Present Perfect: I haven’t seen him today.
(It’s 8 p.m. I can look at today from a past perspective).
Past Tense: I did a lot of things this year.
(The year is going to end; it’s December).
Present Perfect: I’ve done a lot of things this year.
(I can still do many things by the end of the year.)
Past tense: Mary had a lot of tests this month.
(It’s 25th of the month)
Present Perfect: Mary’s had a lot of tests this month.
(It’s 17th).
Since
Expressing the beginning of a past period, since is usually followed by the Simple Past,
e.g.: I have known him since he attended this school.
However, when since means up to the present, emphasizing the continuation of the
action, it is followed by the Present Perfect, e.g. I have known him since he has attended/has
been attending this school.
Used idiomatically, since when can be followed by any logical tense, e.g.: Since when
do you speak Chinese?
3) The Present Perfect will be used to imply that the result of the action continues up to
the present.
Compare:
Past Tense: She broke the vase. (but now it may have been mended.)
Present Perfect: She has broken the vase. (and it is still broken)
Past Tense: She split coffee on her blouse. (there are no consequences in the
present).
Present Perfect: She has split coffee on her blouse. (She can’t wear this blouse to the
party she is going to tonight.)
4) The Present Perfect will be used to imply that the action happened recently.
Compare, e.g. Have you had lunch? (recently) – and – Did you have lunch?
5) The Present Perfect will be used when the speaker has no definite time in mind, e.g.
A: Have you (ever) been to the circus? B: Yes, I was when I was a child.
Speaker A does not have a definite time in mind. Speaker B is thinking of a particular
period in his/her life (his/her childhood).
6) The Present Perfect will be used when the action is more important for the speaker
than its location in time, e.g.: She has failed. He’s broken the window.
They have insulted me.
7) In tandem, the Present Perfect can start a conversation whereas the Past Tense can
give or asked for more detailed information, e.g. A: Have you mended a broken pipe?
B: Yes, I used Scotch tape but it didn’t work and I called in a plumber.
A: Have you been to the seaside this holiday?
B: Yes, I have. I went to Greece.
A: When did you go?
B: In July.
A: Who went with you?
B: I went with my friends.
A: Did you like it there?
44
See Andrei Bantaş, Essential English, Teora Publishing House, 1991, p. 90.

93
 B: Everything was OK, accommodation, view, food.
Specific information can be provided by asking questions beginning with when, where,
how (much, many), why, referring to actions or states that the speaker already knows, e.g.:
When did you go?45
Where did you find it?
Who wrote the book?
How much did it cost?
Why did you like it?
Interestingly enough, there are certain verbs that are selective in this respect: they are
used more or less frequently with one or the other of the two tenses. Thus, She afforded to buy
that car is more likely to occur than She has afforded to buy that car.46 Compare with: They
have criticized the new tax. (News)
On the other hand, there is sometimes little difference between the Present Perfect and
the Past Tense; they can use both forms for the same situation.
Similarly, in American English, the Present Perfect occurs less frequently than in
British English. Adverbs like ever, never, always, just, recently, lately, yet, already, so far, etc.
are accompanied by the Past Tense, e.g. Did you ever see a porcupine? He just offered me a
job. I never liked dungarees.

Translating past actions from Romanian into English:

The distinction between the Past Tense and the Present Perfect can sometimes raise
great difficulties for Romanian students, since both tenses can be translated into our language
by “perfectul compus”. Thus, e.g. Am băut suc de rodii – finds its English equivalent in: I
drank (Past Tense), or I have drunk (Present Perfect) some pomegranate juice, according to the
intention of the speaker.
When (s)he relates the action of drinking to the past (i.e. I drank some pomegranate
juice an hour ago/last summer/when I was a child), the speaker will use the Past Tense. When,
on the contrary, (s)he relates the action of drinking to the present time (i.e. I have always/never
just/before this week etc. some pomegranate juice), the speaker will use the Present Perfect.
When one intends to emphasize the action itself – i.e. drinking pomegranate juice – the
time is not important, therefore the speaker will use the Present Perfect, e.g. I have drunk some
pomegranate juice.

THE GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF ASPECT

English verbs have the grammatical category of aspect, expressed by various

morphological forms of the verbs, which basically allow one to distinguish between the
durative and non-durative aspect, or the perfective and non- perfective aspect of the verb. This
is done by contrasting two sets of verbal forms of the principle of use or non-use of the Pattern
B + Indefinite Participle, called the Indefinite Aspect and the Continuous or Non-Continuous
aspect of the verb. The Indefinite Aspect of the English Verb means its conjugation in different
moods and tenses in accordance with a number of peculiar patterns, other than “B + Indefinite
Participle” Pattern, such as: the present short infinitive for the present tense indefinite aspect in
all persons excepting the short infinitive + “-s” or “-es” ending for the third person singular (“I
have”; “he has”) or the Present Short Infinitive + the “-ed” ending for the Past Tense. The
Indefinite Aspect of the Indicative Mood in all persons singular and plural for all regular
principal verbs denotes an action which occurs other once in a definite Future Past-Present

45
Compare: Where have you been? suggesting irritation, surprise etc. I’ve looked/I’ve been
looking all over for you!
46
See occurrences of the Present Perfect

94
moment or an everlasting state of the grammatical subject without any idea of its being in
progress at any Present-Past-Future moment.
On the other hand, the continuous or progressive aspect of the English verb based on
“Be + Indefinite Participle” pattern denotes an action or a state still in progress at a given
moment in the past, present or future. Although theoretically English verbs can be conjugated
in the continuous aspect in all the tenses of conditional or subjunctive moods, active or passive,
there are cases when the passive voice, as well as the future perfect are never or seldom used in
the continuous aspect. Using or not the simple or continuous aspect forms is determined by: its
lexical meaning, their grammatical tense, their different determinant. There is the case of the
so-called “time point verbs” which cannot have continuous forms. One cannot say “The runners
were starting when they heard the pistol shoot.” On the other hand, there are some “time-point”
verbs, which can be used in the continuous aspect when the action expressed by them is viewed
as repeated: “The spectators were sitting down and standing up.”
□ “To be”, when used in the basic meanings is not conjugated in the continuous aspect.
It is used in its continuous aspect when denotes a temporary state or quality: “James is just
being naughty.” (He’s naughty only now). “To have” is not as a rule employed in its continuous
aspect, but it is used so when it is part of a verbal expression of the type “to have a
conversation”, “to have a good time.”
The so-called verbs of perception (“to see”, “to hear”) are not conjugated in the
continuous aspect. On the other hand, when they are used in the continuous aspect they imply a
voluntary action on the part of the subject, or they change their meaning: “The customer was
feeling the cloth for its quality.”
Verbs expressing “wish” (“to wish”, “to desire”)
Verbs expressing “feeling” (“to like”, “to love”) and “attitude” (“to loathe”, “to
prefer”), which however may have the continuous aspect in colloquial speech, when the
speaker wants to express some very strong and temporary feeling: “What a beautiful scenery!
I’m loving it!”; “How are you liking my nephew John?”
Verbs expressing mental activities (“to know”, “to believe”, “to suppose”, “to
doubt”); again, when there is a change of need some of these verbs may also be used in the
continuous aspect: “I am thinking of going abroad this summer.”
 Most auxiliary verbs, link verbs, modal verbs, etc.
□ Here are some more examples of verbs with double usage:
“Miss Jones, I want to see you – he said – quickly averting his eyes.”
“But you’re seeing me right now – she said meaningfully.”
“Both were visibly hearing every word of the conversation and ignoring it at the same
time.”
By comparison see “both visibly heard every word of the conversation and ignored it
the same time”, where the descriptive character of the original text which stressed the idea of
gradual unfolding of the hearing process as well as the gradual accumulation of “ignoring” had
been replaced by the mere statement of the first event that had happened some time in the past.
The same comparison can be made between “You’re rather hoping he does know, aren’t you?”
and “You rather hope he does know, don’t you?”. While the original text employs the
continuous aspect to make the idea of hope more emphatic; the continuous aspect is also felt
necessary in specific instances.
Whereas tense refers mainly to past, present or future time orientation, aspect relates to
considerations such as the completion or lack of completion of events or states described by the
verb. Aspect renders the “shape” that an action or state takes in time. It refers to the “quality”
of the event or state described and has no temporal interest in the location of the event. For
instance, in I am eating an apple and I was eating an apple, it is not the location in time
(present or past) that interests us when dealing with the idea of continuity of an action but the
fact that eating is not finished, or is in progress.
In Romanian, aspect is rendered by means of words (e.g. adverbs like mereu, zilnic,
deja, certain verbs e.g. a începe să, a se apuca de, etc.), derivational morphemes (e.g. a

95
 adormi); consequently, we are entitled to say that, in Romanian, aspect is a lexicalized category
(and also, to a certain extent, syntax-dependent).
In English, on the other hand, aspect is a grammatical category heavily subordinated to
the category of tense, and more often than not the forms of the verbs are simply considered –
and also commonly labelled and taught – as such. 47 Yet it is equally true that English is richer
in aspect markers than any other European language.
Structurally, the two aspects in English are distinguished as follows: the progressive /
continuous aspect, which is marked by the auxiliary verb be + -ing participle, and the perfect
aspect, which is marked by the auxiliary verb have + past participle or V3. Both aspects can be
combined with present or past tense.48
Perfect aspect present tense, e.g. I have spoken to him, but he hasn’t answered yet.
Perfect aspect past tense, e.g. I had never seen a squirrel before.
Progressive aspect present tense, e.g. She is doing her homework.
Progressive aspect past tense, e.g. I was thinking of writing him a goodbye letter when I changed my
mind.
Some grammarians (i.e. Leon Leviţchi, Gramatica limbii engleze, Editura Teora, 1994; Leon
Leviţchi, Ioan Preda, Gramatica limbii engleze, Editura Mondero, Bucureşti, 1992; Andrei Bantaş,
Essential English, Editura Teora, 1991; Mihai Mircea Zdrenghea, A Practical English Grammar with
exercises, Cluj-Napoca, Editura Clusium, 1999) consider aspect as resulting from two contrastive forms:
the indefinite form (the Indefinite / Simple / Imperfective Aspect and the progressive / continuous form
(i.e. the Progressive / Continuous Aspect). This seems to be fairly comprehensive and generous
approach, since both aspect distinctions are made use of. Hence, the two ‘axes’ marking aspectual
constituency (viz. that of ‘progressive duration’ and that of ‘perfectivity’) are brought together to form
an all-encompassing, highly regular structural grid, which is unparalleled by any other European
language; the three main temporal axes that are usually recognized as characteristic of English (viz.
Present, Past, and Future) are intersected by the two oppositional aspect axes (viz. Progressive /
Continuous vs. Non-Progressive / Simple, and Perfective vs. Non-Perfective / Simple), leading to a
complex structural picture: I) Present Simple (I do, he does) – Present Progressive (I am doing) – Present
Perfect Simple (I have done) – Present Perfect Progressive (I have been doing); II) Past Simple (I did) –
Past Progressive (I was doing) – Past Perfect Simple (I had done) – Past Perfect Progressive (I had been
doing); III) Future Simple (I will/shall do) – Future Progressive (I will/shall be doing) – Future Perfect
Simple (I will/shall have done) – Future Perfect Progressive (I will/shall have been doing).
The forms of the indefinite aspects show that the action is seen as a fact accomplished in the present,
past or future, without necessarily relating to the moment of speech. In He followed me right away, the
context shows that the action expressed by the Preterit(e) followed was accomplished sometime in the
past. Although the time is not explicitly specified it had a limited duration in time.
In He read only Shakespearean plays or I usually get up early in the morning, the action expressed
by read and get up takes place in a general past or present and has no concrete temporal determination to
specify its duration.

47
G. Palmer adds: “It is unwise to attempt to find clear semantic distinctions between aspect and tense
(and phase), except where a language, such as English, has more than one such a category. In other
languages it is by no means clear always whether ‘aspect’ or ‘tense’ is the more appropriate label for a
formal category of the verb.” (op. cit., 86).
48
David Crystal notes that: “Other English constructions have sometimes been analyzed in terms of
aspect, e.g. involving ‘habitual’ contrasts (as in used to); and in other languages further aspectual
distinctions may be found, e.g. ‘iterative’ or ‘frequentative’ (…), ‘inchoative’ or ‘inceptive’ (…)” (A
Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Blackwell, 27).

96
 In opposition to this indefinite aspect of the action, the forms of the progressive / continuous 49 aspect
show that the action is seen in its development. Since the action of the verb in the continuous aspect
coincides with a certain moment of a present, past or future period, its duration is limited in time. 2
“To distinguish the progressive aspect from the simple form it is necessary to stress three aspects of
meaning:
The progressive (or continuous) form indicates:
Duration : I am raising my arm vs. I raise my arm.
Limited duration: I am living in London (temporary residence)
vs. I live in London (permanent residence)
That the happening need not be completed:
The man was drowning (but I jumped into the water and saved him).
vs. The man drowned”50
Other grammarians, on the other hand, 51 consider the opposition between progressive and perfective
as the main aspectual opposition in English. They believe the ‘perfective’ form to be just a matter of
anteriority, marked by means of the auxiliary have, plus the Past Participle of the verb under
consideration; while this standpoint may be defendable to a certain extent (see, for instance, the situation
of the English Past Tense, where there is no such ‘Perfective’ // ‘Imperfective’ opposition as in
Romanian am mers // mergeam), it is still to be noted that this approach actually dramatically narrows
the sphere of the concept of aspect as applied to English grammar. 1
Based on this opposition, there are two important contrastive pairs in English : durative/ non-
durative (or continuous / non-continuous), and perfective / non-perfective.
In the first contrastive pair, the opposition is between an action which is in progress in a certain
moment or period of time being related to the time of reference (now, then, etc.), and an action which is
not in progress.
Compare: I’m eating now.
I eat every day.
In the second contrast, it is the completion that can separate two actions.
Compare: 1. I have met him before.
2. I often saw him when I worked there.
1a. I have read the book.
2a. I have been reading the book since 2 a.m.
In example 1, the Present Perfect expresses the lack of completion, in contrast to the Past Tense in
example 2.
On the other hand, in example 1a. the Present Perfect expresses completeness, in contrast to the
Present Perfect Continuous in 2a.
As we have already mentioned, an event can be completed or not, in progress or not irrespective of
its relation with now. Thus, tense is a deictic category, while aspect is not; conversely, tense serves to
place events along the axis of time, while aspect draws their ‘contour’: events can be seen as being in
progression, as beginning / setting out, as repetitive, etc., while events / actions and states are

49
Although most grammar books and dictionaries (e.g. Crystal, op. cit., The Oxford Dictionary of
English Grammar, OUP, 1994, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Pearson Education
Limited, 2001, etc.) record both forms (progressive and continuous) as perfectly synonymous, the latter
is slightly ambiguous, because it can imply the idea of “continuing / going on”, while the term
progressive is more suggestive, as it focuses on the “action in progress” / on the “unfolding of the
action”.
2

50
Leon Leviţchi, Ioan Preda, ibid.
51
Mihai Mircea Zdrenghea, ibid.
1
See Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, London, 1999, by Douglas Biber, Stig
Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad, Edward Finegan; Georgiana Gălăţeanu-Fârnoagă, Ecaterina
Comişel, Gramatica limbii engleze, Editura Omegapress, Bucureşti, 1992; Alice Bădescu, Gramatica
limbii engleze, Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 1984.

97
distinguished according to the same aspect constituency (e.g. to sew is an action/event, to adore mainly a
state, and to see – both an action/event, e.g. Doctor Smith is seeing an elderly patient, and a state, e.g.
Granny no longer sees well, depending on the contextual meaning).
Grammarians nevertheless draw attention to the close relation between aspect and tense.
It is true however that the ordering of events imposed by a certain tense may tell upon the aspect of a
certain predication, that an event accomplished at a certain moment is also anterior to that moment. This
is an important point of intersection of tense and aspect. Another is that both tense and aspect deal with
temporal distinctions, they are temporally involved in that actions, events, processes, states, are projected
and measured against time: tense morphemes indicate how the speaker situates events in relation to an
axis of reference, aspect morphemes indicate what /and /or how many portions of time the speaker has in
mind. While tense deals with order in time, aspect deals with “quantity of time, or relations between
quantities of time.2
Aspect can be dealt with from various points of view: duration, definiteness, countability, frequency,
perfectivity, homogeneity52.
Duration can be long or short (e.g. build a house vs. drop a glass). We can also speak of a
vocabulary of duration, e.g. the prepositions for and since, the adverb long, etc. From a “durative” point
of view, we can distinguish between momentary/punctual or time-point verbs (e.g. catch, bang, slam,
etc.) or durative /extended verbs (e.g. run, walk, learn, etc.).
Definiteness. Each verb is given a time interval during which it takes place. Its length can be definite
or indefinite. Verbs such as slam, bang are definite, while durative ones can be either definite (e.g. to do
one’s homework) or indefinite (e.g. live in a flat).
Countability. Based on their quality of being durative or non-durative, verbs can be ‘countable’ (e.g.
jump), or ‘uncountable’ (e.g. know) – very much like the nouns, which can be continuous in space, or
bounded (e.g. petrol vs. desk). Also, plurality can be indicated by adverbs such as once, twice, many
times, daily or the so-called adverbs of frequency often, sometimes, never, seldom, rarely etc.
Based on the opposition countability vs. uncountability, grammarians distinguish between unitary
and multiple aspect, e.g. They talked and then said goodbye. = unitary aspect
They talked all night. = multiple aspect
Frequency. Frequency is indicated by adverbials like once/twice a week, four times a month, often,
seldom, occasionally, sometimes etc.
Perfectivity. A verb/predication is perfective if it is accomplished, from the first moment of, and
throughout, its duration (e.g. sleep, live somewhere, etc.). On the contrary, a prediction lacks perfectivity
if it is accomplished only after a certain duration, developing towards a goal which it may reach or not
(e.g. fall, bang, open, etc.)
Homogeneity. Verbs expressing homogeneity or non-homogeneity can be said to be completed when
they have attained a certain goal or are realized as soon as they begin. Here are some examples of
homogeneous verbs (speak English, sleep, run, etc.), and examples of non-homogeneous verbs (drown,
fall, die, read two pages, etc.).
Types of verbs in terms of aspect: According to the various aspectual features, verbs express:
A. Dynamic / event verbs, which subdivide into: “activity” verbs (ask, listen, drink,
write, play), “process verbs” (change, grow, enlarge, widen, lessen), “verbs of bodily sensation” (feel,
ache, hurt), “transitional event verbs (arrive, fail, die, land, lose), “momentary verbs” (hit, jump, kick,
knock, nod, tap, slap, snap);
B. and static verbs, which are rendered by verbs of “inert perception and cognition” (love,
hate, remember, imagine, know, taste, think, suppose, understand, wish, want), and “relational verbs”
(apply to, belong to, consist of, own, possess, require, include, seem, need, contain, have, fit, etc.)53
Another problem concerning the aspectual features of the verbs is that some verbs cannot be used in
the progressive aspect or can take the simple and the progressive/continuous form: “momentary verbs”
considered accomplished at the very moment they were initiated (e.g. kick, bang, slam, etc.), “verbs of
2
Taina Duţescu-Colibanu, op. cit., 169.
52
Apud Taina Duţescu-Colibanu, ibid.
53
See Taina Duţescu-Colibanu, ibid. Other authors propose different subdivisions of verbs, see
Gălăţeanu-Fârnoagă, Ecaterina Comişel, ibid. page 25, Alice Bădescu, ibid. page 258, Ioana Ştefănescu.

98
inert perception and cognition” (e.g. see, hear, smell, sound, believe, mean, remember, think, etc.),
“relational verbs” (e.g. belong to, own, consist of, etc.), “verbs of bodily sensation” (e.g. ache, hurt, etc.)
Compare: The wine tastes sour (where taste is an intransitive verb)
I am tasting the wine (where taste is transitive and implies deliberate employment of this
sense.)
Compare: I can see you. Stop hiding.
I am seeing you tonight. (see = meet)
She’s seeing the sights of the city. (see = visit)
Mother is seeing cousins off to the station. (see = accompany)
They are seeing about seats for the concert. (see = arrange).
Compare: I can’t hear anything.
I have been hearing a lot from him lately. (hear = receive news)
They are hearing a new pianist. (hear = give an audition)
Compare: I think you are wrong. (think = consider)
I’m thinking of writing him a letter. (think = have the intention of, intend to.)

ASPECT REVISITED

In linguistics, grammatical aspect is a property of a verb that defines the nature of the temporal
flow in the described event or state. It is a category of the verb which refers primarily to the way
grammar marks the duration or type of temporal activity denoted by the verb. In some languages, verb
tenses are not very important or do not even exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important.
English has two sets of aspectual contrasts: perfect(ive) – non-perfect(ive) and progressive – non-
progressive (or continuous – non-continuous). The progressive aspect describes events or states which
are in progress or continuing, whereas the perfect aspect usually describes events or states which occur
or begin during a previous period of time.
There are two grammatically marked aspects in English:
• The Progressive aspect (be + vb-ing);
• The Perfective aspect (have + Past Participle).
Linguists tend to use the word perfect to describe a completed action and imperfect to describe one
that is (or was) incomplete; they also use progressive or continuous to indicate whether an action is
ongoing. Some also have a category for whether an action is habitual. And different languages handle
these things differently. English does not have many different verb forms for these things, but we can
indicate all sorts of differences with our auxiliary verbs; when that is not clear enough, an adverb can
solve ambiguities.
Aspect is connected with morphologic form and each form can only represent one aspect. Thus
aspect is not connected with the context, to the effect that the same form in one context can be
imperfective, and in another perfective. There is no place for a neutralization of aspects. Aspects can be
put into two hierarchies:
imperfective – stative and dynamic; perfective – punctual.
Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration. Present
simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with other tenses that:
• the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant), for example: “I
have emailed the report to Jane” (so now she has the report). This is called perfective aspect, using
perfect tenses.
• the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is uncompleted), for
example: “We are eating”. This is called progressive aspect using progressive (continuous) tenses.
English largely separates tense and aspect formally, its aspects (neutral, progressive, perfect and
progressive perfect) do not correspond very closely to the distinction of perfective vs. imperfective that
is common in most other languages. It is extremely important to distinguish between grammatical aspect

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and lexical aspect. Lexical aspect is an inherent property of verbs, and is not marked formally. This
distinctions made as part of lexical aspect are different from those of grammatical aspect; typical
distinctions are between states (“I have”), activities (“I shop”) and achievements (“I buy”).
The English tense system is considered to have strictly only two basic times (since no primitive
future tense exists in English, and the futurity of an event is expressed in English through the use of the
auxiliary verbs “will” and “shall”, by use of a present form as in “Tomorrow we go to New York”, or by
some other means). But present and past are expressed using direct modifications of the verb, which may
then be modified further by the progressive aspect (also called continuous aspect), the perfect aspect
(also called the completed aspect), or both. Each tense is named according to its combination of aspects
and time.
So, we have for the present tense:
• Present Simple (not progressive/continuous, not perfect; simple): “I eat”
• Present Progressive (progressive, not perfect): “I am eating”
• Present Perfect (not progressive, perfect): “I have eaten”
• Present Perfect Progressive (progressive, perfect): “I have been eating”
(Note that, while many elementary discussions of English grammar would classify the Present
Perfect as a past tense, from the standpoint of strict linguistics – and that elucidated here – it is clearly a
species of the present, as we cannot say of someone now deceased that he “has eaten” or “has been
eating”; the present auxiliary implies that he is in some way present (alive), even if the action denoted is
completed (perfect) or partially completed (progressive perfect). Such is the distinction between time and
aspect, now obscured in English by being conflated within the mechanisms of tense.
The fundamental aspectual distinction, represented in many languages, is that between the perfective
aspect, and the imperfective aspect.
PERFECTIVE – IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT
The perfective aspect is a grammatical aspect. For reasons having to do with the category of
grammatical aspect (i.e. the confusing terminology of perfective vs. perfect), the term “perfective aspect”
is variously taken to refer to one or two quite different concepts. More commonly, nowadays, it refers to
an action viewed as a single whole, and it is equivalent to the aspectual component of tenses variously
called “aorist”, “preterite”, “simple past”.
The perfective aspect refers to a single event conceived as a unit, while the imperfective aspect
which represents an event in the process of unfolding or a repeated or habitual event.
Perfective forms differ from non-perfective forms (also called “simple forms”) in that they consists
of the primary auxiliary HAVE + the past participle of the main verb, e.g.:
perfect tenses: have / has asked; had asked; will have asked;
perfect moods: have asked; having asked; would have asked.
Perfect forms imply two ideas:
1. Anteriority, i.e. the action or event occur before the time indicated by the context of situation, e.g.:
he has examined - present perfect – before now; he had examined – past perfect – before a past time; he
will have examined – future perfect – before a future time.
2. Result, i.e. the action or event has produced, had produced, will have produced a result relevant
to the present, past or future moment.
Therefore, an important characteristic of the perfect(ive) aspect is that an earlier action is linked to
the current situation. The time of the action is irrelevant; what is relevant is the action itself or its result.
The imperfective aspect is a grammatical aspect, too. It refers to an action that is viewed from a
particular viewpoint as ongoing, habitual, repeated, or generally containing internal structure, as opposed
to the perfective aspect, which views an action as a simple whole (and is not the same as the perfect
aspect). In narratives, the imperfective is often used to describe the background situation (“It was
midnight. The room was dark. The rain was beating down. Water streamed in through a broken window.
A gun lay on the table.”), while the perfective describes actions (“Suddenly, a man burst into the room,
ran over the table, and grabbed the gun.”).
English does not have a grammatical form that corresponds exactly to the imperfective aspect. The
progressive tenses are often used to render the imperfective when it describes an ongoing action, and
past habitual actions are often rendered using “used to “ + verb.

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 PROGRESSIVE – NON-PROGRESSIVE
Progressive /continuous forms differ from non-progressive /non-continuous forms (also called
“simple forms”) in that they consist of the primary auxiliary verb BE + the present participle of the main
verb, e.g.:
continuous tenses: is asking; was asking; will be asking; continuous moods: be asking; would be
asking.
NOTE: The perfective aspect and the progressive / continuous aspect can be combined, e.g.:
- combined tenses: has / have been examining; had been examining; will have been examining.
- combined moods: have been examining; would have been examining.

Progressive / continuous forms basically imply:

1. Duration, i.e. the action or event are in progress, e.g. Betty is writing a letter to her boyfriend
When the phone rang, Ben was having dinner.
2. In addition, there are a number of concomitant meanings and overtones which characterize the
continuous aspect, like: - limited duration, e.g. Because it is so hot, Mat is sleeping out on the terrace.
- incompleteness, e.g.: Who has been drinking my coke?
- emotional colouring, such as anger, e.g. He is always coming late. How are you liking your new
job?
Not all English verbs can be used in the progressive / continuous aspect. A very general rule is that
dynamic verbs can be used in the continuous aspect, while stative verbs cannot. To be more precise,
however, it is more accurate to say that verbs with dynamic meanings are used in the continuous, while
those with stative meanings are not.
Classes of verbs more likely to occur in the progressive aspect
Dynamic verbs
a) activity verbs: abandon, ask, beg, call, drink, eat, help, learn, listen, look at, play, rain, read, say,
throw, whisper, work, write etc.
b) process verbs: change, deteriorate, grow, mature, slow down, widen etc.
c) verbs of bodily sensations: ache, feel, hurt, itch etc.
d) momentary verbs: hit, jump, kick, knock, nod, tap etc.
Classes of verbs which are not normally used in the progressive
Stative verbs
a) Verbs of senses (involuntary actions): see, hear, smell, taste, notice, observe, feel.
NOTES:
1. verbs such as look (at), gaze, listen, stare, watch, which imply deliberate use of the senses, can be
used in the continuous aspect, e.g. Liz is watching a film, don’t disturb her.
2. feel, look, smell and taste can be used in the continuous with dynamic meanings, e.g.:
- FEEL, when followed by an adjective indicating the subject’s physical or mental condition, e.g.
Mum is feeling better.
- when it means “to touch”, e.g. The nurse was feeling the patient’s pulse.
- LOOK, when followed by prepositions, e.g.: to look at, to look for, to look down on, etc., e.g.
What are you looking at?
- SMELL, when it means “to sniff at”, e.g. The little girl was smelling the rose.
But, only the non-continuous aspect is possible with the meaning “to perceive an odour”, e.g. Do
you smell smoke?
- SEE, when it means “to see by appointment”, e.g. Sharon is seeing her lawyer on Friday.
- when it means “to visit as a tourist”, e.g. This time tomorrow we’ll be seeing the sights of ancient
Rome.
Other constructions with to see allow the use of the continuous aspect, such as: to see to (= to deal
with), to see somebody home / to the station / to the airport / to the door / to see somebody off etc., e.g.
Derrick is going to London and all his friends are seeing him to the airport tomorrow afternoon.
- HEAR, when used especially legally, that is “to listen to somebody in an official capacity”, e.g.
The court is hearing the third witness of the defence.

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 b) Verbs expressing feelings and emotions: admire (=respect), adore, appreciate (=value), care for
(=like), desire, detest, dislike, fear, hate, loathe, love, mind (=care), respect, value, want, wish.
NOTE: Some of these verbs can be used in the continuous aspect with dynamic meanings, e.g. -
ADMIRE, when it means “look at with admiration”, e.g. I’m admiring him for his integrity.
- APPRECIATE, when it means “to value”, e.g. The farmer was appreciating his cattle.
- MIND, when it means “to look after”, e.g. Sean should be minding his own business.
- LIKE and LOVE, when they mean “to enjoy”, e.g. Mary is loving her new job as a model.
HATE, when it means “to detest”, e.g. I’m hating such stuff, it’s disgusting.
c) Verbs of mental perception or cognition: agree, appreciate (=understand), assume, believe, expect
(=think), feel (=think), forget, know, mean, perceive, realize, recall, recognize, recollect, remember, see
(=understand), suppose, think (=have an opinion), trust, understand.
NOTE: Some of these verbs can be used in the progressive aspect with dynamic meanings, e.g. -
THINK, when it refers to thoughts occurring to somebody, not to their opinions, e.g.:
You look rather thoughtful, what are you thinking about?
- EXPECT, when it means “to wait”, e.g. I’m expecting a telephone call from Alice.
- ASSUME, usually after such nouns as control, power, responsibility, e.g. She said she was
assuming responsibility for everything that had happened.
d) Verbs of possession: belong, have (possessive), own, possess (which normally can never be used
in the continuous aspect).
e) Relational verbs: concern, consist of, contain, cost, depend on, deserve, fit, hold (=contain),
involve, lack, matter, need, resemble, e.g. It concerns everybody.
f) Verbs primary auxiliary verbs and the modal auxiliary verbs.
NOTE: The verbs to be and to have can be used in the continuous aspect in some
cases, e.g. - BE – as an auxiliary verb, to form the passive continuous, e.g. The children were being
looked after by an aunt.
- as a lexical verb BE + adjective is used in the continuous aspect to express a particular situation
contrary to the usual one (which is rendered by the non-continuous/ simple aspect), e.g. Stephanie is a
very good little girl. I can’t understand why she is being so naughty today.
- BE + adjective can also be used in the continuous aspect to express a deliberate action of the
subject, e.g. I don’t think he liked your hat; he was just being polite.
- HAVE with dynamic / habitual meaning e.g. The Sloanes are having a party tomorrow.
g) Most copular / link verbs besides be, such as: appear, feel, keep (= continue), look, seem, signify,
smell, sound (= seem), taste, e.g. He seems tired. The water felt lukewarm.
Why does he look so upset? He keeps saying the same thing.
The flowers smell sweet. The milk tasted sour.

Aspect vs Tense. The category of aspect, along with the category of tense, defines the part of speech
(i.e. the lexical category) known as the verb with respect to the time factor, modality being the third
defining element. The category of tense marks the order of the events in time, it conveys information
about the location of events in time with respect to the moment of speaking.
Unlike tense, the grammatical category of aspect does not depend upon the moment of speaking, it
marks the temporal contour of the events, their duration, their being accomplished or not. This implies
the fact that “aspects are different ways of viewing the interval temporal constituency of a situation”.
Tense relates the time of a situation / event, etc. to some other time usually to the moment of
speaking. Since tense locates the time of a situation relative to the situation of the utterance, we may
describe the category of tense as being deictic. Tense is a deictic category that locates a situation in time,
usually with reference to the present moment, though also with reference to other situations. So, tense is
a deictic category in being the expression, in a linguistic form, of the relationship between the time of
occurrence of a situation and the moment of speaking about it. On the other hand, the grammatical
category of Aspect is not concerned with relating the time of the situation to any other time point, but
rather with the internal temporal constituency of the one situation. It is concerned with such aspects of
temporal situations as whether they should be viewed as analysable wholes or as having various
structures typically concerned with beginnings, middles and ends.

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 While tense is a relational concept which establishes a relationship between event time (the time
relative to speech time which is established for a specific situation), speech time (the time interval of the
speech act) and reference time, aspect concerns the temporal or dynamic properties of a situation such as
completion, repetition and duration.
The grammatical aspect of verbs comprises various morphological forms of the verbs which imply
the duration of the action or the state it expresses.
In discussing of subdivisions of imperfectivity (one of the subclasses of the aspect chart), a
distinction is generally drawn between the terms “progressive” and “continuous”, the former being a
subdivision of the latter (progressiveness is the combination of continuousness with nonstativity.
In traditional discussions concerning the category of aspect in English, the forms here referred to as
Progresive (John was reading) are sometimes referred to as Continuous, so that the particular distinction
made between the two terms should be noted.
In addition to the term “aspect”, some linguists also make use of the word “Aktionsart” (pl.
Aktionsarten); this is a German word meaning kinds of action; also, there have been numerous attempts
to coin an English equivalent, but none of these has become generally accepted. The distinction between
aspect and Aktionsart is drawn in at least the following two quite different ways. The first distinction is
between aspect as grammaticalisation of the relevant semantic distinctions, while “Aktionsart” represents
the lexicalisation of the distinctions irrespective of how the distinctions are lexicalised; this use of
Aktionsart is similar to the notion of ‘inherent meaning’.
The second distinction which is that used by most Slavists and often by scholars in Slavonic
countries writing on other languages is between aspect (in Russian it is called vid) as grammaticalisation
of the semantic distinction and Aktionsart as lexicalisation of the distinction provided that the
lexicalisation is by means of derivational morphology.
Aspects are different ways of viewing the internal temporal constituency of a situation. Aspect is a
non-deictic category and relates the time of the event described in the sentence to a time reference
(present, past) informing about the contour of the event (the event can be presented as a single
unanalysable whole with beginning, middle and end rolled into one), or the situation can be divided into
various individual phrases, the interest falling on the existence of an interval structure.
Aspect is also said to describe the quality of an event while it is observed by the “the way in which
the speaker “sees” the event. Romanian, unlike Russian or English, evinces aspect not as a gramatical
but as a lexicalized category (expressed by means of adverbials: mereu, zilnic, deja, certain verbs and
phrases, eg: a începe sa…, a se apuca sa…, a termina / sfirsi de…, occasionally, derivational,
morphemes, e.g.: a- in “a adormi”) subordinated to the category of tense, since only past tenses express
aspectual oppositions in syntagms with: to continue, to keep (on), to go on…
English is richer in aspect markers than any other Indo-European language; the main aspectual
opposition in English is realized either as have + Participle or as be + -ing, or both.
Aspectual distinctions do not depend on the moment of speech. The ordering of events imposed by a
certain tense may tell upon the aspect of a certain predication, that an event accomplished at a certain
moments also anterior to that moment. This is an important point of intersection between tense and
aspect .
Another is that both aspect and tense deal with temporal distinctions, they are temporally involved in
that actions, events, processes states measured against time: tense morphemes indicate how the speaker
situates events in relation to an axis of reference; aspect morphemes indicate what and / or how many
portions of time the speaker has in mind, while tense deals with order in time; aspect deals with quantity
of time, or relations between quantities of time
Semantic considerations:
In determining the meaning of aspectual forms we start from the meaning of the morphemes
combination have + part, be + -ing. We refer to predications (VP’s), not verbs, as the meaning of the
verb lexeme may be modified by other elements in the sentence, especially direct object or adverbials
(“read” will be assigned other features than “read a book”, “eat” and “eat a peach”, “run” and “run a
kilometre”).

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 Aspectual meaning is ultimately a combination of the semantic features countability and plurality,
duration an frequency, as well as the time of reference intended (unique or irrepeatable, definite or
indefinite).
Duration: the referent of each predication can be associated with a time span. The reality expressed
by the predication has duration and isn’t the predicate itself. Duration can be long, etc. “build a block of
flats”, “aspire to perfection”, or short, etc. “slam the door”, “fall to the ground”, “snap one’s fingers”.
A classification of predications according to aspectual features. A classification often used
divides verbs into stative and dynamic. The criteria for identifying event predications are:
- They can be answers to the questions
What are you doing? I am running
- When used in the Present Perfect, they have an iterative interpretation, e.g. I have always walked
after dinner.
While state predictions indicate continuity, e.g. I have always admired his car.
Hence, grammarians distinguish: Activity verbs: ask, drink, eat, listen play, say, throw, whisper,
write
Process verbs: change, grow, mature, show down, widen.
Verbs of bodily sensation: feel, hurt, ache.
Transitional events verbs: arrive, die, fall, land, lose.
Momentary verbs: hit, jump, kick, knock, nod, tap.
Static verbs: be, represent.
Verbs of inert perception and cognition: adore, astonish, believe, desire, detest, doubt, forgive, hate,
hear, imagine, intend, know, like, love remember, see, smell, suppose, taste, think, want, wish, etc.
Relational verbs - apply to, belong to, concern, consist of, contain, cost, deserve, fit, have, include,
matter, need, own, possess, require, seem, sound.
From a lexical point of view, verbs can be:
1. Verbs of durative action, expressing actions which require a certain duration and last the time,
e.g.: to work, to exist, to listen, to sleep, to continue, to keep, to know, to live, to love, to own, to run, to
fly.
2. Time-point verbs, which express actions and states which occur in a fraction of time, e.g. to come
accross, to start, to stand up, to begin, to end, to catch, to arrive, to reach, to seize, to send, to end.
3. Verbs of double Aspect (only in their dictionary state) which may be used either as durative or as
time point verbs (depending on the context), e.g. He sees well (durative)
He saw her coming (time point verb)
To lie (Romanian “a sta întins”) – to lie down (Rom “a se întinde”)
To stand “a sta în picioare” – to stand up “a se ridica”
To sit “a şedea, a sta jos” – to sit down “a se aşeza”
I hear very well (D)
I heard him singing (TP)
to get (D – “a deveni”) vs. to get up – “a se scula” (TP)
to make (D – “a face”) vs. to make off – “a fugi” (TP).
Because of their lexical sense, some categories of verbs have restrictions of utilization in the
continuous / progressive aspect; especially when used in certain meanings, they can’t be conjugated in
the continuous tenses. Thus:
1. Verbs of perception: to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to feel, to sound, to look, to appear, e.g. Did
you see my pen?
I don’t hear what you’re saying.
Nevertheless, the verbs: to smell, to taste, to feel may be conjugated in the continuous aspect
whenever they imply a voluntary action on the part of the subject (the very translation of these verbs is
different in most cases, e.g. “a degusta”, “a adulmeca”, “a examina (pacienti)”: The doctor was seeing
the patients), e.g.: I am smelling these new perfumes and trying to decide which to buy. I am tasting this
soup to see whether there is sufficient salt in it.

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 As the verbs of perception “to see” and “to hear” cannot imply the idea of voluntary action, this idea
is rendered by “to look” and “to listen” respectively verbs which have the continuous aspect, e.g. I am
looking at the picture. I was listening to a concert.
Whenever the above verbs cease to be verbs of perception and change their meanings, they may have
continuous forms, e.g. “to see” meaning to talk with / to visit, e.g.: The director is seeing the new pupil.
I shall be seeing him tomorrow.
“to taste”, e.g. The chef was tasting the soup.
When “to taste” means “to have a taste” and is used in the continuous aspect, there is an obvious
stylistic implication, e.g. The cake is tasting good.
“to feel” when referring to a state of the body or mind, e.g. I’m feeling all right.
2. Verbs expressing feeling and attitudes such as to like, to love, to prefer, to hate, to dislike, to
object, to loathe, to adore, to regret, to object, to mind, to detest, to want, to wish, to desire , e.g. He will
not object to being examined earlier. I dislike his behaviour.
In colloquial English some of these verbs are used in the continuous aspect to underline the ideas
denoted by them or to show that the feeling is only temporary, e.g. Look at this painting! I’m loving it!
I’m enjoying it very much!
3. Verbs expressing wish: to wish, to desire, to want; e.g.: I want you to learn better. I wish to see
the new film.
4. Verbs expressing “mental activities” such as to know, to understand, to believe, to think, to doubt,
to suppose, to imagine, to suspend, to realize, to hope, to forget, to remember, e.g.: I know the answer to
your question. I believe he has reached home by now.
5. Verbs which show existence or permanent qualities of the objects: (most auxiliary verbs, link
verbs, modal verbs) to be, to have, to belong, to consist of, to possess, to own, to contain, to include, to
comprise, to weigh, to measure, to cost, to resemble, to need, to require, e.g.: To whom does this
rucksack belong? The child seems to be very good at maths.
Other categories of (abstract) verbs: to concern, to mean, to matter, to seem, to keep (to continue), to
appear (to seem).
Remark: virtually all the above verbs are verbs of state. (When they express actions, they can be
used in the continuous / progressive aspect). Some of the verbs so far mentioned may be used in the
continuous aspect when we mean to lend them a certain emotional force. In this case, they are usually
accompanied by such adverbs as: always, forever, continually, generally. E.g. He is always doubting
her words. You are always believing him.
They are constantly being cross with him. I think he is right (“to mean” = Rom “a crede”).
I am thinking of my parent (“to think” = Rom “a se gândi”).
The verbs of perception are frequently used with the modal verb can to show / express an action
developing, e.g. Can you see any of them come?
Thus they are used In the Continuous / Progressive Aspect only when they have other meanings, or
when they express a voluntary sensorial activity. E.g.: I can see a house in the distance.
She was seeing her friends off when we met her (a conduce).
I can feel cold air (a simţi). This material feels soft (Rom “a fi… la pipăit”: Materialul este
moale la pipăit / când îl pipăi(m)
How are you feeling today? (Rom “a se simţi” - “Cum te mai simţi?”)
I am feeling this material to see if it is cotton (Rom “a pipăi”)
The soup tastes good. She is tasting the soup.
The rose smells sweet / The girl is smelling the rose. She looks great / The patient is looking
better today.
The perception verbs to watch, to notice, to observe can be used in the Continuous Aspect, too; they
also imply a voluntary sensorial activity of the subject, e.g.: They were watching me carefully.
To think can be used in the Continuous Aspect only when it means “a se gândi”, “a medita”.
I think it is right (Rom “a crede”). I’m thinking of my parents (Rom “a se gândi”).
To be is used only at simple tenses when it shows existence, e.g. He is at home now.
The verb to be is used in the Continuous Aspect only when it is copulative, in order to underline the
idea of temporay action or irritating state, and sometimes the idea of surprise: e.g: You are usually polite.

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 You are being so rude today.
“To have” is used at simple tenses when it shows the possession: e.g: He has a large family.
It can be used in the Continuous Aspect when it is part of phrases and contructions such as: to have /
a bath / a shower / breakfast lunch / a drink / a rest.
Another classification is made by Vendler who uses the term verb, but he has in view verbs plus
direct object known phrases, verbs and adverbs.
If the situation goes on time in a homogeneous way any part of the situation or of the same mature as
the whole, the verb phrase indicates an ACTIVITY. If the situation is not homogeneously going on in
time, its parts not being of the same nature as the whole, the verb phrase is an ACCOMPLISHMENT.
On the other hand situations that do not have interval phrases are subdivided into two subclasses: States,
which last for a period of time and Achievements, which occur at a single moment of time.
Activities: run, walk, swim, push smth, pull smth, drive a car, play the piano, look at, drink beer,
travel.
Accomplishments: paint a picture, make a chair, build a house, write a novel, read a novel, grow up,
recover from illness, get ready for smth.
States: have a headache, have a house, know, believe, trust, love, hate, desire, like, feel, taste.
Achievements: recognize, realize, lose, find, reach the top, win the race, start, stop, arrive.
Grammmatical implications: In all languages taken together there exist a considerable number of
aspectual oppositions which are grammaticalized. Thus Nida counts no less than 14 kinds of aspect
formally marked in various languages: momentaneous, punctiliar, continuative, frequentative,
habituative, customary, inchoative, completive, incompletive, augmentative, diminutive.
Most languages have markers for one of these oppositions only, and some languges do not possess
the syntactic category of aspect at all. Thus in Romanian, aspectual distinctions are lexicalized, the only
instance when a specialized syntactic form reflects an aspectual opposition being “the imperfect” tense
(e.g. mergeam) versus the “perfectul simplu” and the “perfectul compus” (mersei / am mers), both of
them past tense, which leads to the conclusion that aspect in Romanian is subordinated to the category of
tense. In contradistinction to Romanian, English is very rich in aspectual markers. It possesses
specialized devices used in the marking of aspect. The main aspectual opposition in English is the
opposition between the Perfective and the Imperfective aspects.
Perfectivity indicates the view of a situation as a single whole without distinction of the various
separate phrases that make up that situation, while the imperfective pays essential attention to the
internal structure of the situation. More precisely, the imperfective makes “explicit reference to the
internal temporal structure of a situation, viewing a situation from within”; while perfectivity involves
lack of explicit reference to the internal temporal constituency of a situation, rather than explicitly
implying the lack of such internal temporal constituency. Thus it is quite possible for perfective forms to
be used to be used for situations that are internally complex, such as those that last for a considerable
period of time or include a number of distinct internal phrases, provided only that the situation is
subsumed as a single whole.
The perfective imperfective opposition is grammaticalized in two distinct ways have + (Past)
Participle, be + -ing .
The perfective provides a holistic, summarizing or unifying view upon an event with respect to a
chosen reference time; the concern of the imperfective aspect is for the internal structure of a situation at
a certain reference time. So, the perfective aspect presents a situation in its totality without concern for
its internal contituency; the situation is presented as a single unanalysable unit. The imperfective aspect
is concerned with the internal temporal constituency of a situation, which is presented as divided up into
internal phrases, there being no concern for the whole situation. Perfective looks at the situation from
outside whereas the imperfective looks at the situation from inside.
Morphologically, it is the richest part of speech, since it operates with four of the eight morphemes
of English (-s, -ed, -en, -ing), which participate resulting in grammaticaly relevant devices (the markers
have + Participle, be + v-ing).
Many grammarians consider the habitual as constituting a semantic aspectual distinction on the
same level with the perfective - imperfective distinction.
Comrie (1985) gives the following classification of the aspectual opposition:

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 Perfective - imperfective (habitual, continuous)
English has a separate habitual aspect, though only in the past tense, e.g.: John used to work here.
It is also called the frequentative because it shows the repetition of an action or of a state with the
help of “will”, “would”, “used to”.
The aim of Vendler’s classification is to provide a limited number of “time schemata”, so that by
assigning a verb to one of such schema (ultimately an “aspectual verb type”), we may establish “the
particular way in which that verb presoposes and involves the notion of time. Vendeler starts from the
difference between verbs phrases that posess internal temporal constituency (continuous aspect) and
those that don’t.
The test questions for these two larger groups are: “What are you doing?” and “Do you…?”, so that
“run”, “write”, “work”, belong to the first category because we can conceive them as answers to the first
question: “I am running / writing / working” but not to the second question: “I run / write / work”.
Similarly, “know”, “love”, “recognize” belong to the second category because we can have “I
know / love / recognize Mary” but not “I am knowing / loving / recognizing Mary”. Vendler makes the
following commentary: “This difference suggests that running, writing are processes going on in time.
Indeed, the man who is running lifts up his right leg one moment, drops it the next, then lifts the other
leg, drops it the next, and so on. But although it can be true of a subject that he knows something at a
given moment or for a certain period, knowing and its kin are not processes going on in time. It may be
the case that I know Geography now, but this doesn’t mean that a process of knowing Geography is
going on at present consisting of frases succeeding one another.”
Within each of two groups of verbs, two subclasses can be clearly distinguished, so that in the end
we have four aspectual verb types. The four classes are ultimately established according to the type of
time intervals for which they can be predicated of a certain subject with truth or falsity and are evidenced
by the types of questions it makes sense to consider them answers too. To the above test questions,
another three additional syntactic tests are used:
1) Verb phrases that undergo the imperative form: e.g.: Run! Write! Work!
e.g.: *Know! Love! Recognize!
2) Verb phrases that can occur with the adverbs of manner: willingly, deliberately.
e.g.: She was running deliberately. Mary is willingly working.
e.g.: *She knows the answers deliberately. John loves Mary deliberately.
3) The possibility of a verb phrase to occur in the complement clause of the verbs
“persuade”, “force”.
e.g.: I forced John to run / write / work; but: *I forced John to know / love / recognize.
These syntactic tests discriminate between two genera of verb phrases: the first test question-the
possibility of taking the progressive aspectual form distinguishes between verb phrases that have internal
constituency (run, write, work) and verb phrases that are not processes with succeeding internal phrases
(know, love). The tests (1, 2, 3) concearn the notion of agentivity / the volition which cross cuts the
dimention discussed in the first test question. Verb phrases that have internal constituency are generally
associated with an agent that controls the respective occurence.
In the case of the first group of verb phrases, namely those that admit the progressive aspect as
characteristic time schema, Vendler establishes a marked differentiation within the genus itself by
noticing different semantic properties of the elements of this first class. Thus, to say “John is running” /
“John is pushing a cart now” imply “John has run” / “John has pushed a cart”. On the other hand, even if
“Mary is drawing a circle now” / “Mary is running a mile now” are true now, if she stops in the next
moment, “Mary has drawn a circle”, “Mary has run a mile” may not be true. “In other words, if someone
stops running a mile he didn’t run a mile; if one stops drawing a circle have to be finished, while it does
not make sense to talk of finishing, running or pushing a cart. Thus, we see that while running or pushing
a cart has not set terminal point, running a mile and drawing a circle have to be finished, while it doesn’t
make sense to talk of finishing, running or pushing a cart. Thus, we see that running or pushing a cart has
no set terminal point, running a mile and drawing a circle have a “climax” which has to be reached if the
action is to be what is claimed to be.”
This semantic distinction is confirmed by two additional syntactic properties. For verb phrases like
“push a cart”, “run”, we can ask a question like: “For how long did he push the cart?” *”For how long

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did he run a mile?”, while for verb phrases like “draw a circle” or “run a mile” we can ask a question
like: “How long did it take to draw a circle / run a mile?” *”How long did it take to run?”. The
corresponding answers to “For how long did he push the cart?” and “How long did it take to run?”
contain the characteristic prepositions part of the complex adverbial phrase; e.g.: “For” is
characteristic for verb phrases like: run, push a cart, while “in” is characteristic for verb phrases like:
draw a circle, run a mile (e.g. “He was pushing the cart / running for half an hour”, “He drew the circle
in twenty seconds”, “He ran a mile in three minutes.”)
In other words, “pushing a cart may go on for a time, but it doesn’t take any definite time, the
activity of drawing may also go on for a time, but it takes a certain time to draw a circle”. These
observations lead in Vendler’s oppinion to an interesting consequence: “If it is true that someone has
been running for an hour, than it must be true that he has been running for every period within that hour.
But even if it is true that a runner has run a mile in four minutes, it cannot be true that he has been
running for every period within that hour. But whether it is true that a runner has run a mile in four
minutes, it cannot be true that he has run in any period which is a real part of that time, although it
remains true that he was running or that he was engaged in running a mile during any substrech of those
four minutes.” Similarly, in case I wrote a letter in an hour, I didn’t write it, say, in the first quarter of
that time. It appears, then, that running and its king “go on in time a homogeneous way; any part of the
process is of the same nature as the whole. Not so with running a mile or writing a letter, they also go on
in time but they proceed towards a terminus, which is logically necessary to their being what they are.
The above distinction had led to two different time schemata of two important subclasses of verb
phrases. According to Vendler’s terminology, there is the class of Activity Verb Phrases, that of running,
pushing a cart, playing the piano, driving a car, walking, swimming and the class of Accomplishment
Verb Phrases, that of running a mile, drawing a circle, delivering the mail, painting a picture, growing
up, writing a novel, swimming the pool, playing a game of chess, recovering from an illness. So, the
activity grows up to accomplishment, which is the climax point. A verb denoting an activity answers the
question “For how long did you run/walk/push a cart?” Activities are characterized by the features
(continuous, durative, definite, frequentative, perfective).
Accomplishments. A verb (V) denoting an accomplishment answers the question: How long did it
take to V?
e.g.: How long did it take to run a mile / draw a circle / bulid a house / deliver a sermon / play a
game of chess / grow up / get ready for something?
Accomplishments are characterized by the features (+Continuous, +Durative, +Definite, -Perfective,
-Homogeneous).
Achievements occur at a single moment. They answer the question: At what time / moment did you
+V?
E.g.: At what time / moment did you reach the summit/ identify something / resume something / be
born / win the race?
Achievements are characterized by the features ( +Continuous, -Durative, -Perfective,
-Homogeneous).
States, like activities, can be answers to the question: (For) How long did you +V?
E.g.: (For) How long did you have, posses, desire / want something / like / love / hate / rule /
dominate / believe?
States are characterized by the features ( -Continuous, +Durative, -Frequency, +Perfective,
+Homogeneous).
Some facts are given below which point to the differences between the various types, so what verbs
can be more easily assigned to them according to their use.
Both activities and states answer the same question: “How long did you +V?” The differences
between them (in point of meaning, not the formal difference of continuous tenses) is that activities go
on in time and take time: though not definitely specified, it is a continuous stretch of time, a period,
during which the subject can be said to (be) perform(ing) the respective activity at every moment or time
instance. States, on the other hand, do not take time: during a certain period, by probing, the subject can
be said to be in the respective state at any time instance. A good test for states is whether we can add a
judgement with “whenever”:

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 I smoke (whenever somebody offers me a cigarette).
I know that he is a rascal (whenever I think about it) etc.
Actually, many activities have a ‘derived state sense: for example, smoke is construed as a an
activity in “Are you smoking?”, but as a state in “Do you smoke?” (see also below).
Accomplishments and achievements can sometimes be confused, in spite of the pointed difference
that the former take a period of time to be performed (Question: “How long did it take…?”) while the
latter take only a moment (Question: “At what time did you…?), because of misleading examples like:
“It took him two hours to reach the summit.He found it in five minutes” in which achievements
reach the summit and find apparently go on for a period of time (two hours and five minutes
respectively). The difference between these two examples and an example with an accomplishment:
“I wrote the letter in an hour”, lies in the fact that any moment during the specified period we can
say ‘I am v-ing’ with accomplishments (I am writing a letter), but not with achievements (*I am reaching
the summit, *I am finding it). Actually it is not the reaching of the summit that went on during three
hours, but the climbing preceding it: it is not the finding of the object that went on for five minutes, but
the search.
An important consequence (that can be used as a test) for the difference between the two types is that
achievements cannot be used as complements of the verbs begin or stop.
* He began to recognize her.
* He stopped recognizing her.
while accomplishments can, exactly because they are (+DUR), e.g. He began to write a letter. He
stopped writing the letter.
Thus, leave in the following examples is correct only if understood as a accomplishment, not an
achievement (i.e. not a momentary event, but a series of momentary events repeated during a period of
time): He began to leave his wife. (repeated event). He stopped leaving his wife when she began to cry.
(both stop leaving and begin to cry are repeated)
On the other hand, combinations of begin, start etc with activity verbs yield achievements: He started
running.
We can make a distinction, within achievements, between those that start an activity (start
running/smoking etc) and those that initiate a state, for example know in: Then I knew it.
States are “that puzzling type in which the role of verb melts into that of predicate, and actions fade
into qualities and relations”. They make a large category, which includes, for example, qualities (be
married / present / absent / healthy / ill / hard / hot / yellow) and habits (ocuppations, dispositions,
abilities etc: smoke, drink, play chess, sell vegetables, work for a firm).
Many activities, but also accomplishments and achievements, are ‘habit forming’ and thus acquire a
‘derived state sense’:
smoke (activity) - smoke / be a smoker (state)
write a book (accomplishment) - write books / be a writer (state)
catch a dog (achievement) - be a dog-catcher (state)
“This difference explains why a chess player can say at all times that he plays chess and any worker
for the General Electric Company can say, while sunbathing on the beach, that he works for General
Electric.
An interesting feature of state which distinguishes them from activities and accomplishments is that
be able to v=v, so that can is sometimes redundantly used with some state verbs:
I can believe it = I believe it. I can see it = I see it.
However, to be able to run is different from to run.
Some verbs fall completely, or at least in their dominant use, within one of the categories mentioned
above. Other verbs have an ambigous status and must be assigned to different categories in different
context. Examples:
- harden is an activity as a transitive verb and an accomplishment as an intransitive verb:
He hardened his body by daily exercise. (activity)
The steel hardened fast. (accomplishment)
- think is either an activity (‘think something’) or a state (‘think that something is the case’):
He is thinking about buffalo. (activity).

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 He thinks that buffalo is difficult to shoot. (state)
- know is mainly used as a state, but it can be an achievement:
I know that you like me. (state)
I know how to cook salmon. (state)
I know mathematics and I know Mary. (state)
Now I know it. (achievement)
Suddenly I knew. (achievement).
- see can be either a state or an achievement:
Do you see the rabbit? - Yes, I can see it. (state)
At that moment I saw him. (achievement)
Some verbs behave differently, depending on the type of link verb or object (singular or plural) they
collocate with. Thus, get married is an achievement, while be married is a state: become yellow, write a
book, are accomplishments, while be yellow, write a book are states, etc.
There is another angle from which the time-schemata of the four classes of verb phrases are
discussed. Namely, Vendler shows that “For activities: A was running at time t means that the time t is
on a time stretch throughout which A was running.
For accomplishments: A was drawing circle at t means that t is on the time stretch in which A drew
that circle.
For achievements: A won the race between t1 and t2 means that the time instant at which A won the
race is between t1 and t2.
For states: A loved somebody from t1 to t2 means that at any moment between t1 and t2 A loved that
person.
This shows that the concept of activities calls for periods of time that are not unique or definite.
Accomplishment, on the other hand, imply the notion of unique and definite time periods. In an
analogous way, while achievements involve unique and definite instants, state involve time instants in an
indefinite and nonunique sense.” Vendler concludes his study of the aspectual classes of verb phrases by
noticing that there is a very large number of verb phrases that fall completely within one of these classes,
while others can fall under two more classes depending on some contextual factors. “A little reflection
shows that running, walking, swimming, pushing or pulling something, and the like are almost
unambiguous cases of activity. Painting a picture, making a chair, a house, writting or reading a novel,
delivering a sermon, giving or attending a class, playing a game of chess, and so forth, as also growing
up, recovering from illness, getting ready for something, and so on, are clearly accomplishments.
Recognizing, realizing, spotting and identifying something , losing or finding an object, reaching the
summit, winning the race, crossing the border, starting, stopping, and resuming something, being born,
and even dying fall squarely into the class of achievements. Having, possessing, desiring or wanting
something, liking, disliking, loving, hating, ruling, or dominating somebody or something, and, of
course, knowing or believing things are manifestly states.
In connection with the last group, an obvious idea emerges. From the point of view of time
schemata, being married, being present or absent, healthy or ill, and so on also behave like states. But
then we can take on more step and realize that this is true of all qualities. Indeed, something is hod, not
or yellow for a time, yet to be yellow, for instance, does not mean that a process of yellowing is going
on. Similarly, although hardening is process (activity or accomplishment), being hard is a state. Now
perhaps we understand why desiring, knowing, loving, and so on - the so-called immanent operations of
traditionals philosophy - can be and have been looked upon as qualities”.
Thus, the differences between activities and accomplishments on the one hand and states and
achievements on the other hand are:
1. only activities and accomplishments occur in the progressive, states cannot occur in the
progressive. e.g.: John is running. John is building a house. *John is knowing the
answer.
2. only activities and accomplishments can occur as imperatives, this property does not characterize
states:
E.g. Run! Build a house! *Know the answer!

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 3. only activities and accomplishments occur as compliments of force and persuade; states cannot
occur in this context: e.g. John persuaded Harry to run. John forced Harry to build a house. *John forced
Harry to know the answer.
4. only activities and accomplishments co-occur with the adverbs: deliberately , carefully, states
cannot occur in this context: e.g. John ran carefully. John carefully built a house. *John deliberately
knew the answer.
Activities and accomplishments are distinguished by restrictions on the form of time adverbials they
can take:
1. whereas accomplishment verb phrases take adverbial prepositional phrases with “in”, activity verb
phrases allow only for phrases:
a. John painted a picture in an hour (accomplishment).
b. John walked for an hour. (activity).
Notice that John painted a picture for an hour gets interpreted as an activity verb phrase.
2. parallel to the “in” - and “for” - phrases are the paraphrases with spend some time, take some
time:
a. John spent an hour walking.
b. It took John an hour to paint a picture.
In point of their sense, the progressive form of an activity verb implies that the activity took place
(John was running implies John ran), while the progressive form of an accomplishment verb phrase does
not imply that the respective occurrence came to its fulfillment (John was drawing a circle does not
imply John drew a circle).
Achievements can be distinguished by the following tests:
1. they occur with “in” - phrase time adverbials: John noticed the painting in a few minutes.
2. the paraphrase is “take some time” and not “spend some time”: It took John a few minutes to
notice the painting.
3. they do not occur with adverbs like: deliberately, willingly, attentively, studiously, vigilantly,
conscientiously, obediently, carefully etc. e.g. *John attentively / studiously / willingly detected an
error / found a penny.
The tests that identify activities and accomplishments fail to apply to state verb phrases.
Thus achievements capture either the inception or the climax of an occurrence that can be dated, or
they can be indefinitely placed within a temporal stretch but they cannot in themselves occur over or
throughout a temporal stretch. Accomplishments, by contrast, have intrinsic duration; moreover, they are
not homogeneous. Activities are homogeneous, i.e. any part of the procces is of the same nature as the
whole, they involve no culmination or anticipated result. States may endure or persist over stretches of
time; they are homogeneous.
Kenny’s classification:
In Kenny’s classification, the Vendler achievements (e.g. recognize, find, lose, start, stop) and
accomplishments (e.g. grow up, run a mile, write a novel) count as verb phrases that belong to one single
type, namely performances. It is not unreasonable to integrate these two classes and regard Vendler
accomplishments and achievements as the sub-species of the more ancompassing class of Kenny
performances. This integration, however, cannot be brought off without correcting one of the criteria of
the typology maintained by Vendler. Vendler argued that accomplishments together with activities form
one genus, while achievements and states belong to another genus because both achievement and state
predications do not admit the progressive aspect. This distinction fails because the grammatical criterion
on which it is based fails, e.g. one can come across well-formed sentences in which an achievement verb
phrase is used in the progressive aspectual form, e.g. He was winning the race. The old man was dying
when an operation was performed that saved his life. The helicopter was landing when the storm started
etc.
What argues strongly for the integration of accomplishment and achievement verb phrases under one
single typology is the fact that both represent occurrences that involve a product, upshot or outcome.
Moreover, there cannot be an accomplishment without a closely related end-point achievement, i.e. one
cannot say “I wrote a letter” if he cannot say “I finished the letter”. Significantly, both accomplishment

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and achievement verb phrases are admissible in contexts like, e.g. It took him twenty minutes to draw the
circle. It took him a minute to notice the picture.
It is characteristic of both accoplishment and achievements to occur in contexts like:
He drew the circle in twenty seconds. He noticed the picture in a minute.
Taking into consideration the above mentioned similarities between accomplishment and
achievement verb phrases, Kenny postulated one single class that comprises both, namely,
performances. Kenny’s classification is given below:
a) STATES: like, be nice, think, hate, love, smell, be happy, sit, hear.
b) PERFORMANCES: to build a house, lose, find, to cut a cake, land, recover from illness, spot,
discover.
c) ACTIVITIES: to listen to, ponder on, to walk in the park, laugh, to run.
Kenny brings a significant advance to the analysis of verb phrases by introducing some
supplementary linguistic criteria such as paraphrase possibilities, characteristic adverbial phrases as well
as differences induced by tense-implications.
1. Temporal adverbial phrases in / for: Thus Kenny remarks that only performances take time. States
may last for a time and activities go on for a time. We may ask how long it took to paint the door blue,
but not how long it took the door to be blue. It takes human beings twenty-one years to become adults,
but there is no time which it takes them to be adults; one may giggle for five minutes, but one does not
take five minutes to giggle. Performances are performed in a period of time. States and activities are
performed for a period of time. We travel to Rome in three days, and stay there for three days; if we
spend an hour in a successful search for the thimble, then we look for it for an hour and find it in an
hour.
2. The adverbs “quickly” and “slowly”: Because to do something quickly is to take a short time to do
it, and to do something slowly is to take a long time to do it, only thos occurrence which take time can be
done quickly or slowly. States cannot be qualified by these adverbials according to Kenny, but only
performances. Needless to say tjat Kenny uses “slowly” and “quickly” in a temporal interpretaion, e.g.
Mary may take cakes faster than Jane, but she cannot be beautiful faster than Jane; it is possible to learn
French slowly, but not to know French slowly. Of course, one can see a joke quickly, just as one may
take a long time to see a joke.
3. Complements of main “finish”: Only performances can be complete or incomplete. Contrast: I’ve
not yet finished drying the baby with “I’ve not yet finished loving tha baby and I’m half way through
drinking my glass of whisky with * I’m half way through wanting a drink. Thus activities and states may
be prolonged indefinitely or they may cease; performances come to definite end and are finished, e.g. I
can go on keeping a secret for ever (state), but I can go on telling a secret until it is told.
Taking into consideration these observations, Kenny gives tha following semantic description to the
three types of verb classes that he identified:
Performances are brought to an end by states. Any performances is describable in the form “bring it
about that p”, where p is the respective state, e.g. to wash the dishes is to bring it about that the dishes are
clean; to learn French is to bring it about that I know French; to walk to Rome is to bring it about that I
am in Rome. In all these cases, what is brought about is, by our criteria, a state, e.g. “is clean”, “know
French”, “is in Rome”. A performance verb phrase may bring baout another performance, e.g. if the
policeman is forcing the prisoner to walk to the police-station, the policeman is bringing it about that the
prisoner is bringing about his being at the police-station. Thus every performance must be ultimately the
bringing about of a state or of another performance. Thus, some performances ar bringings into
existence: build a house is bring it about that a house exists. Others terminate existence: burning the
gasworks is bringing it about that the gasworks does not exist. Others are alternations which consist in
bringing it about that some substance posesses a property which it did not hitherto possess.Others marely
bring about a change in place: putting the baby to bed brings it about that the baby is in bed. The
substance which is changed by a performance may be the performer himself: when I grow up, learn to
drive a car, join the party or learn Greek, the new states of affairs which I bring about are all states of
myself.
Wider theoretical perspectives have been opened up in recent years as linguists have identified the
existence of categories so fundamental as to span the distinction between verbs and nouns. The

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Mourelatos, Taylor, Bach, line of investigation focuses on the existence of a common theoretical basis
in the investigation of nouns and verbs (and adjectives).
The theory assumes as basic the process of individuation, i.e. the identification of an individual out
of a several individuals, more precisely, the identification of an individual object (in the case of nouns)
or an individual situation (in the case of verb phrases). The process of individuation is discussed in a
theory about MEREOLOGY, i.e. a theory of the part-whole relationship, upon which the operation of
identifying an entity (object or situation) is based. The relation between a whole and it part(s) is defined
by two properties: 1. subdivisibility versus anti-subdivisibility: in the case of nouns, stuff nouns, i.e.
mass nouns like gold are characterized by subdivisibility: division of a lump of gold into smaller lumps
will not impair the stuff itself, i.e. the lumps will be of gold. Thus mass nouns (which are non-sortal) are
subdivisible. The same property was sometime called homogeneity. On the another hand, sortal terms
like common countable nouns are anti-subdivisible. For instance, smaller parts of a table, or of a house,
girl, rabbit, etc. will not be tables, houses, girls, rabbits. Smaller parts of a table will be its legs, its top,
the nails used, etc., but they themselves are not a table.
2. additivity versus anti-additivity is the property to be identified by Quine’s test of “cummulative
reference”: any sum of parts which are water is water (see also the Category of Number under
NOMINA). Non-sortal terms such as mass nouns are additive: one can add gold to gold, it will, by
addition, remain gold. Countable nouns, on the other hand, are anti-additive: several tables, if added, do
not make another larger table.
A clear parallelism between nouns and verb phrases can be seen from this perspective. Taylor and
Mourelatos are the first linguists to discuss the problem from this perspective.
Mourelatos proposes a trichotomy for the aspectual classes of verb phrases that does not rely on the
notion of agent, namely situations described by verb phrases in English comprise states and occurrences;
occurrences are either processes or events; and events are either developments or punctual occurrences.
We can give some examples:
e.g. States: The air smells of jasmine. / John loves Mary.
Processes: It’s snowing. / John is running.
Events: a) Developments: The sun went down. / John made a chair.
b) Punctual occurrences: Tha cable snapped. / He blinked. / The pebble hit the water. / Mary arrived.
The term event covers those performances that involve a human agent (e.g. John made a chair. /
Mary arrived) as well as those cases where no human agent is involved, hence the term “performance”
cannot be applied (e.g. The sun went down. / The cable snapped, etc). In the same vein, the term process
is free of the agent implied by the term activity, therefore it can cover sentences like: It is
snowing/raining, etc., as well as cases like John is running. The term state remains unchanged and it
denotes the state predications in the Kenny-Vendler typology.
Now, Murelatos draws a parallel between event predications and countable nouns on the other hand,
and process predications and states and mass nouns, on the other hand.
We should remember that the count / mass distinction as applied to nouns was characterized by some
overt, syntactic environments (see The Category of Number, Sortal versus Non-Sortal Designation):
1. Countable nouns have plural forms; 2. countable nouns are individuated by a, each, every; 3.
countable nouns occur with the cardinals and the count quantifiers many, several, few, i.e. enumeratives
according to Ware.
Mass nouns do not occur in any of these syntactic environments:
1. mass nouns do not have plural forms - if they do, there is a change of sense that produces a change
of class.
2. mass nouns do not individuate by a, each, every;
3. mass nouns do not occur with the cardinals or with the count quantifiers, instead they occur with
the mass quantifiers, “the amassives” according to Ware.
Taking these syntactic properties of nouns as characteristics for count and mass behaviour,
Mourelatos demonstrates that event verb phrases (Vendler’s accomplishments and achievements) have
count features: “…either the occurences are explicitly counted, or if they are not, the occurences are
nevertheless implicitly under the governance of terms that presuppose that the occurences are countable

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(“a” or “at least one”). Let us consider the following event verb phrases, e.g. 1. Vesuvius erupted three
times.
(There were three eruptions of the Vesuvius.)
2. John painted a picture.
( There was at least one picture painted.)
3. The plant grew up rapidly.
( There was a rapid growing up of the plant.)
4. John drove to Rome twice this month.
(There was two drivings to home)
5. John won the race on Sunday.
(There was a winning of the race)
On the other hand, process verb phrases and states have mass features. Let us notice that the process
verb phrase “push a cart” in (6) does not permit a paraphrases with “There was pushing of the cart”, e.g.
6. John pushed the cart for hours.
*There was pushing of the cart by John.
The second admissible paraphrase is of the form “There is snow on the roof” or “There is gold in the
mountain”. Any of the “amassive quantifiers” could occur: little, much, enough and the like. Moreover,
Mourelatos remarks “Certainly we get nonsense if we attach a cardinal count adverbial to such an
example: “He pushed the cart twice for hours”. Even more striking if the example sentence is simply “He
pushed the cart”. This sentence could, without any other adverbial, have the import of a process
predication in a suitable context. Adding, however, the cardinal count adverbial “three times” suffices to
transform this prima facie process predication into a event predication. Thus “He pushed the cart three
times” has to be interpreted as elliptical for some performance predication - as the context might
impliimplicitly specify - e.g. “He pushed the cart three times out of his way” or “He pushed the cart over
the hill three times”, or, “He started pushing the cart three times”. In any of these cases there were, in the
relevant sense, three completed pushings of the cart. Similary with…”He swam three times on
Thanksgiving” cannot fail to have the implication that he took three swims, that three swims were
completed - regardless as to whether the context does or does not indicate the actual distance coverd in
each of these swims”.
State verb phrases have mass features, too. As Mourelatos remarks “We cannot transform “John
hates liars” into “*There is a hating by John of liars”; nor we transform “Helen dominates her husband”
into “*There is a dominating by Helen or her husband”. Correspondingly, cardinal count adverbials do
not occur in context of state predication - unless they refer purely to the occasion of the state rather than
the state itself. “John hated liars three times in this life” is acceptable provided it is tages or junctures of
John’s life that are being counted. Moreover, if an occasion phrase is already supplied, the use of a
cardinal count adverbial in collocation with a prima facie state predication has the effect of transforming
the latter into an event predication.
Thus “John loved her last summer” is most naturally construed as synonyms with “John was in love
with her las summer”. But “John loved her three times last summer” must mean either that “John fell in
love with her three times last summer” or that “John made love to her three times last summer”…
Instead there are mass-quantified expressions. Thus we can say “There is hate by John of liars”; “There
is dominance of her husband by Helen”; “There is love of her by John”.
Some contrastive and comparative issues relating to defining and using the category of Aspect:
If in English the category of aspect is rather a matter of syntax, it essentially belongs to the lexicon and -
to a lesser extent - to morphology in Romanian. The very terminology of the field is rather variegated
and disputed in English, e.g. the term phase is used by some modern grammarians to describe the
meaning of perfect tenses, or the term aspectualiser, sometimes used in generative grammar for a
formative marking an aspectual relation (for instance, by Quirk, Lyons, Comrie). Some grammars simply
ignore it by including the matter under the general heading “Tenses” (e.g. Collins Cobuild English
Grammar), or relegate it to the section relating to Tense usage (M. Swan). Nevertheless, aspect in
English can be a difficult issue mainly owing to its intrinsic elusiveness (not only for foreign - in our
case, Romanian - learners)

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 THE CATEGORY OF VOICE

Voice is a morphological category, which expresses the relation between the subject and the direct
object in a sentence. (Here is a common dictionary definition of the concept: “voice: Grammar. a
category of the verb or verbal inflections that expresses whether the relation between the subject and the
verb is that of agent and action, action and recipient, or some other relation. (See active, passive,
middle”54). The grammatical category of voice is an important grammar aspect, especially as English is
an analytical (or ‘syntactic’) language, in which structures and word ordering (i.e. syntax) are all-
important. The passive voice occurred from the earliest times (as early as Old English), and since then it
has caused various problems. However, there were no passives in early English comparable to the
extremely frequent patterns we are familiar with in Modern English.
There are two voice proper: the active voice, which shows that the action is performed by the
grammatical subject (“Mr. Jones invited all his friends to his birthday party.”); The passive voice, which
shows that the action is suffered by the grammatical subject (“Mr. Jones’s friend were all invited to his
birthday party.”). The passive form is made up with the auxiliary “to be”, conjugated in the required
mood, aspect, tense or form + past participle of the verb to be conjugated.
When an active voice form turns to a passive one, the subject of the respective active construction
becomes a so-called object of instrument/object of agency, preceded by the preposition “by”, which is, as
a matter of fact, the logical subject of the new passive construction: “He cuts the loaf of bread into equal
shares” →”The loaf of bread was cut into equal shares.” As we can see from the these examples, the
preposition “by” + the object of instrument are not necessarily mentioned in the respective passive
construction. The passive voice is very much used in English as compared to Romanian, particularly in
sci-technical English, the idea being that one’s attention is drawn to the bearer of the action rather than to
the doer of the action: “They make one million cars a year here.” →”A million cars are made a year
here.”
Note: Although there is not a reflexive voice proper in English, the reflexive pronouns used after
transitive verbs, functioning as direct objects in an English sentence rather than reflexive voice markers,
one should note the frequent rendering of English passive forms by Romanian reflexives. Unlike some
other languages which form their passive forms only transitive verbs, the English language forms them
from intransitive verbs as well: “All this time, he was been looked after by an old aunt of his. “This
house has not been lived in for many years.”; “Don’t worry, everything will be well taken care of.” “to
comment on”, “to depend on/upon”, “to dispose of”, “to laugh at”, “to look after”, “to provide for”.
Observation: There are situations when certain verbs followed in the active voice by an indirect
nonprepositional object as subject: “Peter gave John a toy cat.” → “John was given a toy.”
There are cases of ellipsis in a passive construction in the same subordinate clauses, particularly in
relative clauses: “By orders from the police, all cars illegally parked (that have been illegally parked)
have been craned out trucks and taken to a special parching lot.”
The meaning of an active construction is not different from its passive counterpart, but they aren’t
perfect semantic synonymous because of the sentence stress which renders the meaning of one part of
the speech from another more important. The use of Passive Voice instead of Active one may be
determined by cases as:
-when the active is difficult to establish: “Apparently that house had not being lived in for many
years.”;
-when, for some reason, the active subject is not worth mentioning: “They were shown round the
garden first and then they were invited in the house.”;

54
Here is the dictionary definition of the grammatical term middle: “ (especially in Greek and
Sanskrit grammar): denoting a voice of verbs expressing reciprocal or reflexive action” –
Collins Dictionary.

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 -the passive subject is the all important element in the sentence (the case of technical English): “The
rocker arms are activated by the push roads which in their turn are pushed by the crankshaft.”
□ Passivals. There are cases when a Passive Tense may be implied in certain English verbs, which
are not in the Passive Voice. In such a case, the grammatical object of a transitive verb becomes the
grammatical subject of the sentence, without a change of the verb in the Passive. The resulting form is a
“passival”. “This coat wear well” instead of “One wear this coat well.” Or “this coat can be worn well.”
(These are verbs that, even though not in the passive, presuppose the passive meaning; from a direct
object of an active construction, they become grammatical subjects of the respective sentences, e.g.
“The flowers sold quickly.”; “The field did not flood fortunately.”
□ The syntactical value of the passive voice:
-in a sentence, the Passive Voice forms of different tenses and moods became a verbal
predicate or a part of a verbal predicate:
“The house was built in ten days.” (simple verbal predicate)
“They were taken good care of.” (phraseological predicate).
The Passive Voice is a part of phraseological predicate. “He shouldn’t come so late. He
could be attacked by robbers.” (part of a modal compound verbal predicate);
-There are cases when a past participle form of a verb looses its verbal value and is felt
as an adjective preceded by a link verb. In such a case, the respective construction is
“compound nominal predicate”: “This house is built of bricks.” (predicative).
As a rule, Romanian passive-reflexives are rendered into English by passive forms (“se
zice”, “se crede”, “se ştie” become “it is known”, “it is thought”, “it is believed”): “Houses are
usually built from wood” (“Casele se construiesc…”).
Passive voice patterns are particularly useful in two situations:
 when it is more important to draw our attention to the person or thing acted
upon, e.g. The unidentified victim was apparently struck during the early morning hours.
 when the actor in the situation is not important, e.g. The aurora borealis can be
observed in the early morning hours.
The Passive Voice has an important function in English because it is widely used in
scientific literature, news, conversation, academic prose, where there are many verbs that occur
most of the time in the passive voice. The verb is a principal part of speech, around which
gravitates and are organized the other (secondary) parts of speech. So, the Passive Voice is an
essential problem of English grammar.
Voice makes it possible to view the action of a sentence in two ways, without change
in the facts reported, e.g. a) The postman killed the mouse.
b) The mouse was killed by the postman.
Sentence (a) is in the active voice, and sentence (b) in the passive voice.
By means of these two voices we indicate whether the subject of the sentence is at the
same time the subject (doer) of the action expressed by the predicate verb or the object of it.
One and the same actual event may be represented in two different ways. We may
concentrate our attention on the doer of the action. That means that we make the doer of the
action the subject of our sentence.
In such case the verb is in the active voice, e.g. a) He read the book in haste.
Or we may place the object of the action in the centre of our attention. That means that
we make the object of the verbal action the subject of the sentence. This is expressed by the
passive voice, e.g. The book was read in haste.
It becomes clear why the doer of the action is usually not expressed in a sentence with
a predicate in the passive voice.
Yet there are instances when in a passive construction the doer of the action is
expressed and introduced by the preposition by, e.g. The letter was read by him.
This construction is of later development and not characteristic of the passive.
The Active Voice shows that the action is performed by the grammatical subject, e. g.
Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations.
Mr. Deeds looked at the window.

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 They promised Mary a bicycle for her birthday.
We know that he has travelled a lot.
John must invite him.
My mother will ask him.
The director calls the agent.
The girl had written the letter.
In a sentence that uses the active voice, the subject of the sentence acts, that it is the
“doer” of an action.
For example: We finished our homework.
The subject of the sentence, “we” did the finishing.
The Active voice helps to create clear and direct sentences. In most nonscientific
writing situations, active voice is preferable to the passive.
Even in scientific writing, the overuse of passive voice or using the passive voice in
long and complicated sentences can cause readers to lose interest or to become confused.
Sentences in the active voice are generally, though not always, clear and more direct
than those in passive voice, e.g.
Passive (indirect) Active (direct)
T The entrance exam was
Over one third of the
failed by over one third
applicants to the school
of the applicants to the school.
failed the entrance exam.
school.
The brakes were slammed
She slammed on the brakes
on by her as the car sped
as the car sped downhill.
downhill.
Your bicycle has been I have damaged your bicycle.
damaged. (agent omitted) bicycle.

Sentences in the active voice are also more concise than those in passive voice
because fewer words are required to express action in active voice than in passive, e.g.
Passive (more wordy) Active (more concise)
Action on the bill is being The committee is considering
considered by the committee. action on the bill.
By then, the sound track will
By then, the sound engineers
have been completely
will have completely remixed
remixed
the sound track.
by the sound engineers.

The opposite of “active” is “passive”. Here are some pairs of examples of different
verb types to show the contrast between active clauses and their corresponding passive clauses:
a) My brother rejected the idea. (active)
b) The idea was rejected (by my brother). (passive)
a`) I was cleaning the bathroom. (active)
b`) The bathroom was being cleaned (by me). (passive)
The Passive Voice shows that the action is suffered by the grammatical subject (which
is in the nominative case, although logically it should have been in the accusative – thus, a
direct object), e.g. The story had been written earlier.
Whenever an active voice form is turned into a passive voice form, the direct object of
the active construction becomes the subject of the passive construction, while the subject of the
active construction becomes an object with the preposition “by” (an object of agency, or
instrument), e.g. a) John is going to invite him.
b) He is going to be invited by John.
The term “ passive “ is the name of verb phrases which contain the construction “ be
+ past participle “:

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-is accepted;
-has been shown;
-will be covered;
-had been invited;
-was called.
This voice is far more frequently used in English than in Romanian, particularly in
scientific and technical texts. Consider the following sentences borrowed from a single page of
a technical text: “If the motion is reversed” … “By angular displacement of a rotating body
during any time interval is meant the angle described during that interval by any line
parallel to the plan of rotation” … “is regarded as positive” … “The motions of bodies may
“be divided into three classes” … “A body is said to have a motion of translation when it moves
on continuously in the same direction” ... “the same motion is repeated again and again..”, etc.
Note the frequent rendering of passive forms by Romanian reflexives.
More passive forms are used in contemporary English not only incomparison with
Romanian, but also in comparison with the earlier stages of the English language itself: there is
a growing tendency to make the person or thing spoken of the subject of the verb in the passive
voice.
In passive constructions, the subject still establishes what the clause is about, but it is
the recipient of the action, not the agent. We choose passive constructions when the new or
important information is:
-what happened to the subject: I have been sacked.
-who or what did it: The letter was written by Paul.
-how it was done: The conference was badly organized.
We also choose them when the agent is unknown or unspecified, e.g. No one was injured. In
addition, we choose passive construction to avoid very long subjects – a passive construction
allows us to put a long and / or complex phase at the end of a clause where it is easier to
understand than at the beginning, e.g.: Many people have been refused help by the new
commission which was set up to look into possible abuses in the allocation of council housing.
The Reflexive Voice indicates that the action made by the subject reflects upon itself,
e.g. The outlaw availed himself of the opportunity.
In English, reflexive voice is not used very often because the number of reflexive verbs
is reduced today (there are approximately 150 of them).
Today, most of the common verbs that used to take reflexive pronouns (e.g. to wash, to
comb, to dress – so the so-called ‘morning verbs’) are replaced either with intransitive verbs, or
with transitive verb structures and Direct Object, e.g. The boy washed. She combed her hair.
My brother dressed carefully for his friend’s wedding.
Sometimes the action denoted by a transitive verb passes over not to a person other
than the doer, but back again to the doer himself, the action reflecting upon the doer. Such
verbs are said to be reflexive verbs. Some transitive verbs turn into intransitive-reflexive
structures, e.g.
The boy fell and hurt himself.
The dog always shakes himself when he comes out of the water.
The seagulls were preening themselves on the sand.
There is a tendency in Modern English to drop the clumsy self-pronoun and we often
come across intransitive verbs with reflexive meaning. This occurs when the reflexive meaning
of the verb is clear from the context. In some cases both forms, with and without the reflexive
pronoun, are still used, e.g. I wash (myself) with cold water in the morning.
Dress (yourself) quickly.
The fog lifted a little.
I feel quite well.
Bad news spreads like oil.
Thus the division into voices is based on the relation between the action (expressed by
the predicate verb) and the doer or recipient of the action (expressed by the subject).

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 The passive voice is extensively used in Modern English. There are many more passive
constructions in English than in Romanian. In an overwhelming number of cases, Romanian
passive reflexives are rendered by English passive forms, e.g. Construcţiile acestea se formează
din…
These constructions are formed of …
Importanţa acestei reguli se poate vedea din…
The importance of this rule may be seen from…
Se poate presupune că…
It may be supposed that…
Se construieşte un bloc pe strada noastră…
An apartment house is being built in our street.
Se crede că…
It is thought that…
Se putea vedea un munte în depărtare.
A mountain could be seen in the distance.
Se ştie că Shakespeare a scris 37 de piese.
Shakespeare is known to have written 37 plays.
Se auzea vocea lui.
His voice was heard.
Se credea că…
It is believed that…
Se împrumutaseră nenumărate motive folclorice.
Numberless folklore motifs had been borrowed.
The passive voice is formed:
- by using the appropriate tense of the verb ‘ be ‘ + past participle of the given verb
(the third form), e.g. An interesting question was raised. An interesting question must have
been raised for the meeting to have taken so long.
Here are the tense forms:
Present: Ben invites him. → He is invited.
Past: Ben invited him. → He was invited.
‘Used to ‘ – past: Ben used to invite him. → He used to be invited.
Future: Ben will invite him. → He will be invited.
Future in the past: Ben was going to invite him. → He was going to be invited.
Present continuous: He is interviewing her. → She is being interviewed.
Past continuous: He was interviewing her. → She was being interviewed.
Present perfect: Ben has invited him. → He has been invited.
Past perfect: Ben had invited him. → He had been invited.
Future perfect: Ben will have invited him. → He will have been invited.
Here are the basic modal forms:
Present: Ben must ask him. → He must be asked.
Past: Ben may be invited. → He may have been invited.
Here are the infinitive forms:
Present: He is to write. → It is to be written.
Past: He was to write. → It was to have been written.
The perfect continuous tenses are not normally used in the passive. They are replaced by the
corresponding tenses of the common aspect. Otherwise, the continuous forms are used, e.g. New
houses are being built in this district.
Confusion between the passive and other type of constructions:
The combination ‘ be + past participle ‘ can be:
A) A passive (it is definitely so):
-When an adverbial modifier characterizes the action, e.g. This dictionary is always
used by Peter.

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 -When the verb is in the continuous aspect, e.g. This dictionary is being used by
Peter.
B) A compound nominal predicate, e.g. She is used to getting up early, because she has been
doing so for years.
This combination shows the state in which the subject is, so the structure is a
compound nominal predicate.
‘RULES OF THUMB’
In order to help us to develop a feeling for when to use passive construction, course
materials generally give us or help us to work out ‘rules of thumb’ which focus on particular
contexts of use and particular verbs.
We use passive constructions:
-to describes processes:
The beans are picked in late summer and are left to dry in the sun.

-in various formal (often academic) styles of discourse

It is sometimes argued that …
A distinction can be made between …
-or to describe procedure in formally reporting scientific experiments:
Eight subjects were interviewed in the first round of interviews.
-to avoid the implication of personal involvement or responsibility:
The vase got broken, Mum.
I’m afraid the work on your car won’t be completed today.
-with certain verbs – verbs we use when the person who did the action is generally
unimportant.
They often describe claiming, blaming, acts of destruction or emotional reactions:
He is alleged to be in a sanatorium.
We have been inundated with gestures of support.
We often also find it helpful to consider that while in speech we can use stress and
intonation to highlight whether information is new, in writing we depend on ordering
information, e.g.:
A) Spoken: SHAKESpeare didn’t write ‘Edward ll’, MARlowe did.
B) Written: ‘Edward ll’ WASN’T WRITTEN by Shakespeare, it WAS WRITTEN by
Marlowe.
We are sometimes told that we choose passive constructions in order to give extra
prominence to the subject. That is not true.

Transformation from the active voice to the passive:

Voice is a grammatical category that makes it possible to view the action of a
sentence in two ways without changing the facts reported, e.g. The butler murdered the
detective. (active voice). The detective was murdered by the butler. (passive voice)
Practically all verbs which can be used transitively can be constructed in the
passive, even verbs whose transitive use belongs to the peripheral area of the verb, e.g. His plan
was laughed at by everyone who heard it. The horse was walked up the hill.
Verbs of incomplete predication such as seem, be, resemble, last, have cannot be
used in the passive.
Have with durative association is however only to be found in the active form, e.g.
He has a house. We have about a hundred copies in stock.
If the object of a statement like this is to become the subject, some other
constructions than the passive must be resorted to, e.g. A hundred copies are in stock.
With perfective association, have is sometimes used in the passive, e.g. There was
nothing to be had.
Transformation from active to passive for verbs with one object:

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 In the case of sentences having a verb that requires one object, in the transformation
from the active into the passive the subject (agent) can be omitted or it is transformed into a
prepositional phrase with ‘ by ‘, the focus of attention falling on the object (the patient) that
becomes subject in the passive sentence, e.g. I am washing Mary. Mary is being washed by
me.
The by + Agent astructure is used after the passive:
A) When we need to say who or what is responsible for an event, when we feel the
need to give information, e.g. The boy was beaten by his class – mate for eating up his
sandwich.
B) With verbs like build, compose, damage, deign,destroy, e.g. St Paul’s was
designed by Christopher Wren.
The passive is not simply an equivalent alternative to the active, able to replace it
without any change of meaning. However, some ideas may be expressed naturally in both of
active and passive form, the choice depending on which noun we want to make the centre of
interest or on stylistic factors, e.g. France beat England in yesterday’s rugby international./
England was beaten by France in yesterday ‘ s rugby international.
If both the agent (the logical subject) are expressed, the passive sentence covers the
same reality as the corresponding active sentence.
When the agent is not specified, the conception of this logical subject is sometimes
so vague that the content of the passive form approaches that of a corresponding intransitive
verb form, e.g. The door was opened.
may have roughly the same content as: The door opened.
Compare also such sentences:
Only articles of the first quality were sold.
Goods of that quality will never sell.
It was felt to be a mistake.
It felt cold.
Often the intransitive formulation connotes something characteristic of the subject, not action,
e.g. The door won’t lock. The orange peels easily. She didn’t photograph well.
Transformation from active to passive for verbs with two objects:
In English, some verbs such as give, tell, show, lend, get, write, pay, sell, buy, bring,
make, fetch, promise, teach, etc. may take two objects, an indirect object (standing for a person)
and a direct object (standing for a thing).
Either object may become the subject of the corresponding passive sentence, though
usually the indirect object becomes the subject of the passive.
When the direct object acts as the subject of the passive sentence we are more
interested in ‘what is done’ and the indirect object is more often found with ‘to’ than without it,
e.g. Justice must not be denied to anyone. My first toy was offered to me at the age of three.
The passive with the indirect object as subject is particularly common when the direct
object is in the indefinite form and thus not linked with the preceding statement, e.g. They were
given ample warning.
However, cases where the direct object is in the definite form also frequently
display the same construction, particularly if the direct object is long, e.g. He looked as if he
had been given the key of Paradise.
Transformations from active to passive for prepositional verbs:
Combinations of verb + (obligatory or typical) preposition affects the complement of
the preposition; thus, while it is possible to have a passive construction such as, e.g. It was
obvious that the bed had been slept in.
An expression such as He has travelled in the East cannot be converted into a passive
construction.
Similarly, combinations of verb + object + preposition, functioning as a transitively used
verb, commonly occur in the passive construction with the complement of the preposition as
subject, e.g. He was taken no notice of. The house was set fire to.

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 But if the combination has not merged into a whole, passive expressions have the
object of the verb as the patient. Compare:
The situation was paid attention to.
I wonder why such attentions are paid to this lady.
The following verbs accept a passive construction only when they are used with a
figurative meaning: ‘go into’, ‘arrive at’, ‘look into’, e.g. The problem was carefully
gone/looked into by the farmers. This conclusion was arrived at after long talks.
Other prepositional verbs will accept only in special cases. Here are some
examples: Other possibilities are talked of.
His approach on the subject is to be thought of as very bold.
A lot of things will have to be dealt with before we leave.
Transformation of sentences of the type ‘THEY SAY…’:
The sentences of type ‘subject + verb of saying (thinking, feeling) + noun clause
object, e.g. They say he is an honest, hard – working man.
have three possible passive counterparts:
The sentence is introduced by ‘it’ + passive + that – clause:
It is said (that) he is an honest, hard – working man.
The sentence is introduced by ‘it’ + passive + to be:
It is said to be plenty of rooms at that motel.
The subject of the noun clause becomes the subject of the whole passive sentence
and the verb takes the infinitive verb:
He is said to be an honest, hard – working man.
Transformation with a total change in meaning:
In some other cases the corresponding active and passive forms of a sentence do not
carry the same meaning, e.g. There is nothing to seen here (= there is nothing worth seeing
here). There is nothing to be seen here (= nothing is seen here). Your statement interests me (=
the statement has already been given). I am interested in your statement (= the statement is
being sought). He can’t teach John (= he is unable to teach John). John can’t be taught (= he is
unable to learn).
Sentences that cannot have an active counterpart:
Many passive voice sentences do not have an active voice counterpart:
Shakespeare was born at Stratford.
This notion is based on a misconception.
It is alleged that the thief entered the house through the window.
He was reputed to be a good teacher.
Repute can be used in the active with ‘be’ and ‘have’:
They reputed him to have the means to do it.
They reputed him to be the one who did it.
Sentences that cannot have a passive counterpart:
The following sentence – types can’t be passivised. These are sentences where the
object is:
A reflexive pronoun:
John has been washing himself for hours.
A reciprocal pronoun:
We could hardly see each other in the dark room.
A possessive pronoun:
The teacher shook his head and sighed.
Sentences that prefer the passive construction:
Some of the most important situations in which the passive form is the natural mode of
expression are listed below:
When the active subject is an indefinite or vague pronoun or noun, or is clear from the
context: This house was built three hundred years ago.
The door has been left open. It is assumed that the committee will do something about it.

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 When we wish to make a statement sound impersonal for some social reasons (tact,
delicacy of feeling, embarrassment, etc.): It has been decided that your salary shall be reduced.
You have been told so many times not to touch these things.
In formal, usually written statements, containing requests, directions, instructions
or prohibitions for greater effect: Students are forbidden to smoke in the classroom.
This room must be tidied up. Boys are required to come to school in proper uniform.
When the accent falls on the object rather than the subject of the action: The escaped
convict was arrested two days later.
Sentences that use either the active or the passive with a passive meaning:
There is vacillation between the active and passive form for passive content in some
phrases:
There is only one thing to do/to be done.
There is nothing to fear/to be feared.
There is a lot to do yet/to be done yet.
There is often a slight difference in content between these two possibilities:
The active form implies duty, necessity:
The corrections show how much remains to do.
The passive form implies possibility as in:
There is nothing to be done about it.
The active form of the infinitive and active content, passive form and passive content,
generally go together in modern English:
I like to teach English
and
I like to be taught.
After the verbs ‘be’, ‘leave’ and ‘remain’ we find a number of cases of the active form
of the infinitive with passive content. In many cases one form is now idiomatic, either the
active or the passive form being used for the passive content:
The key was nowhere to be found.
The causes were not far to seek.
You are to blame. (= the fault lies with you).
By slight alterations in the last mentioned phrase, the passive form can be made to
express almost the same content:
You are to be blamed for your negligence.
Passive structures with group–verbs:
Group–verbs such as ‘to lose sight (of …)’, ‘to take care (of …)’, ‘to put an end (to
…)’, ‘to set fire (to …)’, ‘to shake hands (with …)’, ‘to find fault (with …)’, ‘to catch hold (of
…)’, ‘to take note (of …)’, ‘to lay hold (of …)’, ‘to have recourse (to …)’, etc., which are
followed by a prepositional object and are thus equivalent to objective (intransitive) verbs with
a prepositional object (compare: They spoke of him. / They took notice of him.), may also have
two parallel constructions: active and passive. In the passive construction the preposition is
retained by the group – verb and turns into an adverb (to be taken care of, to be put an end to):

Active Passive
The elder sister takes care The younger children are
of the younger sister. taken care of by the elder
sister.
We lost sight of the boat in The boat was lost sight of
The dense fog. in the dense fog.
Here are some more examples:
When the powder in the barrel of a gun is set fire to, it explodes and drives out the bullet with
great force.
Our conversation was put an end to by their arrival.
The rope was caught hold of.

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 Note: - Because of the close connection of the verb with its nominal part, the latter is,
as a rule, not used as the subject of the passive. Only with such group – verbs where the
connection is looser, may the nominal part be used as the subject of the passive: the connection
becomes also looser through the addition of an attribute to the nominal part of the group – verb:
No attention was paid to his remark (to pay attention to …).
No fault was found with the child (to find fault with …).
A tight hold was caught of the rope (to catch hold of …).

THE PASSIVE VOICE AND THE COMPOUND NOMINAL PREDICATE

The combination of the verb ‘ to be ‘ with the past participle does not always form the
passive voice; it may be also a compound nominal predicate. When the verb ‘to be’ with the
past participle comprises the idea of an action, when it shows that the subject is acted upon, it is
the passive voice; when the past participle indicates the state in which the subject is, serving as
a predicative, the verb ‘to be’ is a link–verb and they both form a compound nominal predicate:
He is used to our climate (compound nominal predicate).
This pen is always used by me (passive voice).
It was very hot in the room because all the windows were closed (compound nominal
predicate).
The door was closed at seven o’clock by the hall porter (passive voice).
The book is not illustrated by a well – known artist (passive voice).
The children were dressed and taken for a walk (passive voice).
Sorry, I am mistaken (compound nominal predicate).
I am always mistaken for my sister (passive voice).
Some more examples on the compound nominal predicate:
I can tell you that I was surprised.
The number of copies is limited.
As we see from the above examples, in some cases it is quite clear that the
participle is a mere predicative and the whole combination is a compound nominal predicate.
We clearly have a passive form when the verb is qualified by an adverbial modifier
characterizing the action, as in the following cases:
The top was reached by means of a strong cord.
The top of the mountain was reached by ten o’clock.
The top was reached under the greatest difficulty.
Also, when the verb is in the continuous form:
The article is being written.
When we returned, a new school was being built in our village.

‘PASSIVIZATION’ IN THE NP
Just as in clauses with two-argument verbs the realization of the arguments of the
lexical head may be reorganized as a result of passivization in NPs which reorganizes the
arguments of the noun, e.g. (A) Rembrandt painted his wife Saskia.
(B) Saskia was painted by Rembrandt.
(C) Rembrandt’s picture of Saskia.
(D) Saskia’s picture by Rembrandt.
(A) – illustrates an active clause
(B) – is its passive counterpart.
(C) and (D) – illustrate the nominal counterparts of (A) and (B), respectively.
In (C), the external argument of the NP is realized by the pre – nominal possessor,
the Saxon / Germanic genitive Rembrandt’s, and the internal argument is realized by the ‘of’ –
phrase.
In (D) the internal argument of the noun is realized by a ‘by’-phrase.
As in the case of passive sentences (E), the external argument is the passivized
nominal projection need to be expressed (F):

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 (E) Saskia has been painted very often.
(F) Saskia’s picture hangs on every wall.
Although judgements are somewhat controversial, it seems that one difference
between the passivization process in the NP and that in the clause is that for many speakers the
understood external argument in a passivized nominal construction cannot easily be undertood
as the controller of the subject of a rationale clause. This contrast is illustrated in (G) and (H):
(G) The city was destroyed in order to prove a point.
(H) The city’s destruction in order to prove a point.
SUBJECT OF ‘NP’
That the pre-nominal possessor is parallel to the clausal subject is also suggested by the data in
the next(A), (B) and (C):
(A) Mary frequently criticized John.
(B) Mary’s frequent criticism of John
(C) Her frequent criticism of John
In the English clause the subject NP may be separated from the verb which
thematically marks it: in (A) the subject NP ‘Mary’ occupies the canonical subject position and
is separated from the theta-marking lexical head, the verb ‘criticize’, by the VP-adjoined
adverbial ‘frequently’.
It can be suggested that the pre-nominal possessor phrase is like a subject. As was
the case in clauses, the pre-nominal genitive ‘Mary’s’ and possessive ‘her’ may be separated
from the head noun, this time by an adjective: (B) and (C). On the other hand, adverbials cannot
intervene between the verb and its object, as shown by the next example (D).
Again, in the NP counterparts e.g. (E) and (F), the internal argument realized by the
‘of’-phrase may not be separated from the head noun by an adjective:
(D) *Mary criticized frequently John.
(E) *Mary’s criticism frequent of John.
(F) *Her criticism frequent of John.
TYPICAL MISTAKES MADE BY LEARNERS
COMPREHENSION
Learners may fail to recognize a passive construction, thinking that the subject of a
sentence is the agent when it is not. For example, in the following, they may understand that the
man was the attacker:
A man was attacked by three women.
This problem is particularly acute:
- where the facts contradict normal expectations (as in the example above).
- in listening as opposed to reading, where the learner can look back and check.
- in listening when learners may fail to hear the auxiliary verb (e.g. ‘was’), which makes the
sentence passive.
- where the past tense form and the past participle are the same
(e.g. ‘attacked’) – but not ‘bit-bitten’.
It is often difficult for learners and teachers to identify when these problems occur.
However, we can analyse texts for potential problems, and then in class consciously check
whether or not our students have understood.
SPEAKING AND WRITING – NON-USE:
For most learners knowing when to use passive constructions is the greatest problem,
and they often don’t use them where they would be appropriate. The following description of
wine production, for example, was written by a learner with a very good command of grammar
and vocabulary, and who was able to form passive sentences accurately and appropriately in
controlled exercises. She had no particular personal association with wine production, and
wanted to write simply about agriculture and economic activity in her country: In my country
we produce very good quality wine. We grow the vines mainly in the West of the country where
the winters are milder. People pick the grapes at the end of the summer – they have to pick
them at exactly the right time. When they have picked them they have to process the grapes

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very quickly. We keep some wines for a long time to improve before we put it into bottles. We
can buy my country’s wines in many other European countries. Despite her command of
passive forms, the learner did not spontaneously use any. This non-use of passives misleadingly
gives the impression that she has some personal involvement or interest in wine production.
misleadingly, learners also often ‘forget’ causative constructions.
I cut my hair yesterday. (Meaning: I had my hair done yesterday.)
We can help learners by frequently pointing out missed opportunities for using
passive constructions. We also need to ensure that we:
- pay attention to the occasions when we use passive constructions as well as to
their form
- present passive constructions to learners as an independent and valid way of
presenting information in their own right rather than as though they are active constructions
which have undergone some form of ‘transformation’.
LEAVING OUT AUXILIARY VERBS
Learners may leave out the auxiliary verb before the past participle, e.g. *England
beaten by Costa Rica in the semi-final.
*Catherine loved very much by Mr Heathcliff.
In some cases the learners may be mislead by reading newspaper headlines, in
which the auxiliary verbs are normally omitted (‘England beaten by Cost Rica ‘ is an
acceptable headline).
Learners may use the verb in the appropriate tense and simply follow it with ‘by’,
e.g. *The film makes by Scorsese.
*It believes by many people that my country is all desert.
This may also happen where the agent is not specified, e.g. *Portuguese and many
African languages speak in Angola.
CHOOSING THE WRONG AUXILIARY VERB
Learners sometimes mix up ‘be’, ‘been’, and ‘being’, e.g. *Our house is be
renovated.
*Their documents haven’t being accepted.
This problem may be affected by the fact that we tend to pronounce these words
very indistinctly when they are auxiliary verbs.
CHOOSING THE WRONG PREPOSITION
Some learners may systematically use the wrong preposition to introduce the agent
in passive constructions,e. g. *Kennedy was killed from a man called Oswald.
They may also over-use ‘by’, particularly where ‘with’ is necessary in order to
indicate the ‘means’ (as opposed to the agent) by which something happened, eg. *He was
attacked by a knife.
CHOOSING THE WRONG VERB
Learners sometimes try to construct a passive form of no-object verbs:
*He was died in 1998.
WORD ORDER: Many learners make mistakes in the order of words in ‘causative’
constructions, typically combining the auxiliary ‘have’ or ‘get’ with the past participle, e.g. *I
am going to have cut my hair this afternoon.
*She got mended her suitcase.
Some learners who ‘know the rule’ still make this mistake because the correct
order of words ‘feels’ wrong to them.
SPECIAL CASES:
Speakers of languages (not very) closely related to English may translate literally from
their own languages, e.g. *I am born in 1899. (French and Italian)
*I born in Montevideo. (Spanish)
PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AND ADJECTIVES

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 Generally, it is clear when past participles are used in passive constructions. The
past participle in the following, for example, conveys a strong sense of action and is very much
a part of the verb, e.g. She was knocked down on the way home from school.
Many adjectives are derived from past participles (e.g. astonished, bothered,
closed, etc.) and some of these words now function mainly (or even exclusively) as adjectives,
e.g. Her childhood was emotionally deprived. She’s feeling very jaded.
A lot of words can be used both as a past participle in passive constructions and as
an adjective. Usually the context makes it clear which of these is the case. In the first sentence
which follows, ‘locked’ clearly describe a state – it is an adjective. But in the second, ‘locked’
describes an action and is part of a passive construction, e.g. The door was obviously locked.
(adjective) The doors are locked as soon as the visitors leave each night. (passive)
VOICE CONSTRAINTS
Although it is the general rule that transitive verb sentences can be either active or
passive, there are a number of exceptions where there is no simple paraphrase relation. we will
distinguish five kinds of ‘voice constraint’ associated with, respectively, the verb, the object,
the agent, meaning and frequency of use.
VERB CONSTRAINTS
Active only: There are greater restrictions on verbs occurring in the passive than in the
active In addition to equative and intransitive verbs, which can never take the passive, some
transitive verbs (at least in certain uses) do not occur in the passive, for example: They have a
nice house. He lacks confidence. The auditorium holds 2300 people. This dress becomes her.
The coat does not fit you. Will this suit you? John resembles his father.
Passive only: Conversely, with some verbs only the passive is possible, e.g. John was
said to be a good teacher. John was reputed to be a good teacher.
*They said him to be a good teacher.
*They reputed him to be a good teacher.

VERBS THAT ARE USUALLY OR SOLELY PASSIVE

abash (tr.; usually passive) to cause to feel ill at ease, embarrassed, or confused; make
ashamed55;
addict (tr.; usually passive; often foll. by to) to cause (someone or oneself) to become
dependent (on something, esp. a narcotic drug);
adjudge (tr.; usually passive): 1. to pronounce formally; declare: he was adjudged the winner.
2. to determine judicially; judge; to order or pronounce by law; decree: he was adjudged
bankrupt. to award (costs, damages, etc.); 3. Archaic. to sentence or condemn;
ally (tr.; usually passive) to connect or be related, as through being similar or compatible;
associate (tr.; usually passive) to consider in conjunction; connect: rainfall is associated with
humidity;
attach (reflexive or passive) to become associated with or join, as in a business or other
venture: he attached himself to the expedition; (…) (usually passive) Military. to place on
temporary duty with another unit; (usually passive) to put (a member of an organization) to
work in a different unit or agency, either with an expectation of reverting to, or while retaining
some part of, the original working arrangement;
barricade (…) 3. (usually passive) to obstruct; block: his mind was barricaded against new
ideas;
bemire (…) (usually passive) to stick fast in mud or mire;
benumb (…) 2. (usually passive) to make inactive; stupefy (the mind, senses, will, etc.);
bias (usually passive) to cause to have a bias; prejudice; influence;
blast off (when tr., usually passive) (of a rocket, spacemen, etc.) to be launched;
bless (…) 6. (usually passive) to endow with a talent, beauty, etc.: she was blessed with an
even temper;

55
The verbs on the list and their definitions were selected from Collins yyy

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bomb out: (tr., usually passive)to make homeless by bombing: 24 families in this street have
been bombed out;
bring down (…) 2. (usually passive) Slang. to cause to be elated and then suddenly depressed,
as from using drugs;
bruit [bru:t] (tr.; often passive; usually foll. by about) to report; rumour: it was bruited about
that the king was dead;
buck (tr.; usually passive) Informal. to cheer or encourage: I was very bucked at passing the
exam;
build up (…) 5. (tr., usually passive) to cover (an area) with buildings;
bunker… (passive) to have one’s ball trapped in a bunker;
burn (…) (tr.; usually passive) Informal. to cheat, esp. financially;
burn out (tr.; usually passive) to destroy by fire;
calculate (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to design specifically; aim: the car was calculated to
appeal to women;
carry away (…) 2. (usually passive) to cause (a person) to lose self-control. 3. (usually
passive) to delight or enrapture: he was carried away by the music;
catch up (…) (tr.; often passive) to absorb or involve: she was caught up in her reading;
chew up (…) 2. (usually passive) Slang. to cause (a person) to be nervous or worried: he was
all chewed up about the interview;
choke up (…) 2. Informal. (usually passive) to overcome (a person) with emotion, esp. without
due cause;
chuff (…) (tr.; usually passive) Brit. slang. to please or delight: he was chuffed by his pay rise;
clem (when tr., usually passive) English dialect. to be hungry or cause to be hungry;
commit (…) 4. (usually passive) to pledge or align (oneself), as to a particular cause, action, or
attitude: a committed radical;
congest (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to block (the nose) with mucus;
consternate : (tr.; usually passive) to fill with anxiety, dismay, dread, or confusion;
contraindicate: (tr.; usually passive) Med. to advise against or indicate the possible danger of
(a drug, treatment, etc.);
couch (…) 2. (when tr., usually reflexive or passive) to lie down or cause to lie down for or as
for sleep;
counterstain (…) (tr.; usually passive) to apply (one of a series of stains) to a specimen to be
examined: haematoxylin is counterstained with eosin;
cut out (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to suit or equip for: you’re not cut out for this job;
cut up (…) 3. (usually passive) Informal. to affect the feelings of deeply;
debauch (…) 1. (when tr., usually passive) to lead into a life of depraved self-indulgence;
deliver (…) 4. (passive; foll. by of) to give birth (to offspring);
disjoint (…) 4. (tr.; usually passive) to end the unity, sequence, or coherence of;
distress (…) 2. (usually passive) to subject to financial or other trouble;
dominate (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to predominate in (something or someone);
embarrass (…) 2. (usually passive) to involve in financial difficulties;
embay (tr) (usually passive) to form into a bay; to enclose in or as if in a bay; (esp. of the wind)
to force (a ship, esp. a sailing ship) into a bay;
enamour or U.S. enamor (tr.; usually passive and foll. by of) to inspire with love; captivate;
charm;
enroot (tr.; usually passive). 1. to establish (plants) by fixing their roots in the earth. 2. to fix
firmly, implant, or embed: to enroot an idea in the mind;
enwrap (…) 2. (usually passive) to engross or absorb: enwrapped in thought;
equip (…) 2. (usually passive) to provide with abilities, understanding, etc.: her son was never
equipped to be a scholar;
erode (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) Pathol. to remove (tissue) by ulceration;
etch (…) 4. (tr.; usually passive) to imprint vividly: the event was etched on her memory;
example (tr.; now usually passive) to present an example of; exemplify;

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exercise (…) (often passive) to occupy the attentions of, esp. so as to worry or vex: to be
exercised about a decision;
fame: (tr.; now usually passive) to make known or famous; celebrate: he was famed for his
ruthlessness;
famish (…) 1. (now usually passive) to be or make very hungry or weak;
fate (…) (tr.; usually passive) to predetermine; doom: he was fated to lose the game;
finger (…) 6. (tr.; usually passive) to arrange the keys of (a clarinet, flute, etc.) for playing in a
certain way;
fixate (…) 4. (tr.; usually passive) Informal. to obsess or preoccupy;
flabbergast (tr.; usually passive) Informal. to overcome with astonishment; amaze utterly;
astound;
flush1 (…) 6. (tr.; usually passive) to excite or elate;
funk (…) (tr.; usually passive) to make afraid;
garment (tr.; usually passive) to cover or clothe;
generalize (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to cause to become widely used or known;
gen up (often passive; when intr., usually foll. by on) Brit. informal. to brief (someone) or
study (something) in detail; make or become fully conversant with: I can only take over this job
if I am properly genned up;
give up (…) 4. (tr.; usually reflexive) to surrender: the escaped convict gave himself up (…) 7.
(tr.; often passive or reflexive) to devote completely (to): she gave herself up to caring for the
sick;
grill (tr.; usually passive) to torment with or as if with extreme heat: the travellers were grilled
by the scorching sun;
gunge (…) (tr.; usually passive; foll. by up) to block or encrust with gunge; clog;
hackneyed not interesting, funny, etc., because of being used too often; lacking in freshness or
originality – hackneyed phrases/jokes/slogans (Cambridge);
hang up (...) 2. to keep delayed, suspended, or held up; 3. to cause to stick or snag
immovably – the ship was hung up on a sandbar;
have (…) (usually passive) Slang. to cheat or outwit: he was had by that dishonest salesman;
have up (tr.; usually passive) to cause to appear for trial: he was had up for breaking and
entering;
hunt (…) (tr.; usually passive) to persecute; hound;
indicate [usually passive] (formal) to be necessary or recommended: A course of chemotherapy was
indicated (Merriam-Webster);
interstratify (transitive verb) to insert between other strata :arrange in alternate strata – lava
flow interstratifiedwith sedimentary rock (Cambridge);
intussuscept (tr.; usually passive) Pathol. to turn or fold (an organ or a part) inwards;
invaginate;
invalid (…) 2. (usually foll. by out; often passive) Chiefly Brit. to require (a member of the
armed forces) to retire from active service through wounds or illness;
invest (…) 6. (tr.; usually passive; foll. by in or with) to provide or endow (a person with
qualities, characteristics, etc.): he was invested with great common sense;
involve (…) 3. (often passive; usually foll. by in or with) to concern or associate significantly:
many people were involved in the crime. 4. (often passive) to make complicated; tangle: the
situation was further involved by her disappearance;
jumble (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) to remember in a confused form; muddle;
knacker (…) (tr.; usually passive) Slang. to exhaust; tire;
lace (…) 5. (tr.; usually passive and foll. by with) to streak or mark with lines or colours: the
sky was laced with red;
lade (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive and foll. by with) to burden or oppress. 3. (tr.; usually passive
and foll. by with) to fill or load;
lap (…) (tr.; usually passive) to envelop or surround with comfort, love, etc.: lapped in luxury;
lay up… 2. (usually passive) Informal. to incapacitate or confine through illness;

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lose (…) (usually passive) to absorb or engross: he was lost in contemplation; (usually passive)
to cause the death or destruction of: two men were lost in the attack;
mix up (…) 3. (often passive) to put (someone) into a state of confusion: I’m all mixed up. 4.
(foll. by in or with; usually passive) to involve (in an activity or group, esp. one that is illegal):
why did you get mixed up in that drugs racket?
moither or moider Dialect (tr.; usually passive) to bother or bewilder;
necessitate (…) 2. (usually passive) to compel or require (someone to do something);
oblige (…) 1. (tr.; often passive) to bind or constrain (someone to do something) by legal,
moral, or physical means. 2. (tr.; usually passive) to make indebted or grateful (to someone) by
doing a favour or service: we are obliged to you for dinner;
overspend (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) to wear out; exhaust;
pair (…) (when tr., usually passive) Parliamentary procedure. to form or cause to form a pair:
18 members were paired for the last vote;
parch (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) to make very thirsty: I was parched after the run;
phase: 1. (often passive) to execute, arrange, or introduce gradually or in stages: a phased
withdrawal;
pitch (…) (music) (usually passive) (of a wind instrument) to specify or indicate its basic key
or harmonic series by its size, manufacture, etc.;
place (…) (passive) Brit. to cause (a racehorse, greyhound, athlete, etc.) to arrive in first,
second, third, or sometimes fourth place;
pocket (…) 3. (usually passive) to enclose or confine in or as if in a pocket;
podzolize (usually passive) to make into or form a podzol: podzolized soil;
poop2 (pu:p) U.S. and Canadian slang. 1. (tr.; usually passive) to cause to become exhausted;
tire: he was pooped after the race;
press (…) 13. (tr.; usually passive) to have little of: we’re hard pressed for time;
promise… (usually passive) to engage to be married; betroth: I’m promised to Bill;
puff (…) 2. (tr.; often foll. by out; usually passive) to cause to be out of breath;
put about (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to disconcert or disturb: she was quite put about by his
appearance;
put on (…) 2. (usually passive) to adopt (an attitude or feeling) insincerely: his misery was just
put on;
put upon (intr., prep., usually passive) to presume on (a person’s generosity, good nature, etc.);
take advantage of: he’s always being put upon. to impose hardship on; maltreat: he was sorely
put upon;
reckon(…) 3. (usually passive) to consider or regard: he is reckoned clever;
reconcile (…) 1. (often passive; usually foll. by to) to make (oneself or another) no longer
opposed; cause to acquiesce in something unpleasant: she reconciled herself to poverty;
rejuvenate (…) 2. (usually passive) Geography to cause (a river) to begin eroding more
vigorously to a new lower base level, usually because of uplift of the land. to cause (a land
surface) to develop youthful features;
relegate (…) 2. (usually passive) Chiefly Brit. to demote (a football team, etc.) to a lower
division
repute (tr.; usually passive) to consider (a person or thing) to be as specified: he is reputed to
be intelligent;
revolt (…) 2. (usually passive) to feel or cause to feel revulsion, disgust, or abhorrence;
ride (…) 14. (tr.; usually passive) to tyrannize over or dominate: ridden by fear;
rive (usually passive). 1. to split asunder: a tree riven by lightning. 2. to tear apart: riven to
shreds; 3. Archaic. to break (the heart) or (of the heart) to be broken;
rumour (…) 1. (tr.; usually passive) to pass around or circulate in the form of a rumour: it is
rumoured that the Queen is coming;
run down (…) 3. (tr., usually passive) to tire, sap the strength of, or exhaust: he was
thoroughly run down and needed a holiday;

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say (…) (usually passive) Irish. to persuade or coax (someone) to do something: If I hadn’t
been said by her I wouldn’t be in this fix;
sclerotize or sclerotise (tr.; usually passive). Zoology. to harden and darken (an insect’s
cuticle);
season (…) 3. (tr.; usually passive) to make or become mature or experienced: seasoned troops;
seize (…) 10. (passive; usually foll. by of) to be apprised of; conversant with;
sequester (…) 2. (usually passive) to retire into seclusion;
shag. Brit slang. (…) 2. (tr.; often foll. by out; usually passive) to exhaust; tire;
shoot (…) 16. (tr.; usually passive) to variegate or streak, as with colour;
signpost (tr.; usually passive) to mark with signposts; to indicate direction towards: the camp
site is signposted from the road;
snooker (…) 3. (often passive) to thwart; defeat;
snow (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive, foll. by over, under, in, or up) to cover or confine with a
heavy fall of snow;
spare(…) 5. (usually passive) (esp. of Providence) to allow to survive: I’ll see you again next
year if we are spared;
specialize to change and develop so as to be suited for some particular use or living
conditions – The front legs of a mole are specialized for digging;
steam up (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) Slang. to excite or make angry: he’s all steamed up
about the delay;
steep (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) to saturate; imbue: steeped in ideology;
stick (…) 15. (tr.; usually passive) Informal. to cause to be at a loss; baffle, puzzle, or confuse:
I was totally stuck for an answer;
straiten 1. (tr.; usually passive) to embarrass or distress, esp. financially;
strand (…) 2. (tr.; usually passive) to leave helpless, as without transport or money, etc.;
stretch (…) 14. (tr.; often passive) to extend, as to the limit of one’s abilities or talents;
strike (…) 16. (tr.; usually passive) to afflict with a disease, esp. unexpectedly: he was struck
with polio when he was six;
subject (…) 2. (often passive; foll. by to) to expose or render vulnerable or liable (to some
experience): he was subjected to great danger;
subtitle (tr.; usually passive) to provide a subtitle for;
suffuse (tr.; usually passive) to spread or flood through or over (something): the evening sky
was suffused with red;
suspend (…) 2. (tr.; passive) to cause to remain floating or hanging: a cloud of smoke was
suspended over the town;
take (…) 4. (usually passive) to charm or captivate: she was very taken with the puppy;
tape (…) 3. (usually passive) Brit. informal. to take stock of (a person or situation); sum up:
he’s got the job taped;
transcribe (…) (usually passive) Biochem. to convert the genetic information in (a strand of
DNA) into a strand of RNA, esp. messenger RNA; See also genetic code, translate (sense 6);
translate (…) 6. (tr.; usually passive) Biochem. to transform the molecular structure of
(messenger RNA) into a polypeptide chain by means of the information stored in the genetic
code; See also transcribe (sense 7);
transmit (…) 4. (tr.; usually passive) to pass (an inheritable characteristic) from parent to
offspring;
transport (…) 3. (usually passive) to have a strong emotional effect on;
trouble (…) 5. (tr.; usually passive) to agitate or make rough: the seas were troubled;
try (…) 4. (tr.; often passive) to give pain, affliction, or vexation to: I have been sorely tried by
those children;
tucker2 (tr.; often passive; usually foll. by out) Informal, chiefly U.S. and Canadian. to weary
or tire completely;
unhorse (tr). 1. (usually passive) to knock or throw from a horse;

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urbanize or urbanise (tr). 1. (usually passive): a. to make (esp. a predominantly rural area or
country) more industrialized and urban; b. to cause the migration of an increasing proportion of
(rural dwellers) into cities;
want (…) 8. (tr.; often passive) to seek or request the presence of: you’re wanted upstairs;
whack (tr). 1. to strike with a sharp resounding blow; 2. (usually passive) Brit. informal. to
exhaust completely.

PREPOSITIONAL VERBS
In English, prepositional verbs can often occur in the passive, but not as freely as in the
active. Compare the following sentences with prepositional verbs:
1) The engineers went very carefully into the problem.
2) The engineers went very carefully into the tunnel.
1)` The problem was very carefully gone into by the engineers.
2)` *The tunnel was very carefully gone into by the engineers.
3) They arrived at the expected result.
4) They arrived at the splendid stadium.
3)` The expected result was arrived at.
4)` *The splendid stadium was arrived at.
In these sentences it is clear that the difference in acceptability can be stated in terms of
concrete / abstract passive subjects. it is only in figurative use that GO INTO, ARRIVE AT,
LOOK INTO, and many other prepositional verbs accept the passive.
With some effort, one may construct contexts where such verbs will passivize even
concretely, especially in parallel construction, e.g. This private correspondence of mine has
been gone into and rummaged so many times that it is totally disarranged.
With other prepositional verbs, the non-occurrence in the passive cannot be similarly
accounted for, e.g. John cared for / called for / looked at / adjusted to / agreed with / lived with
Mary. ~ Mary was cared for / called for / looked at / adjusted to / agreed with / lived with.

OBJECTS CONSTRAINTS
Nominal and clausal objects
Verbs can be followed by both nominal and clausal objects:
Nominal object (Noun phrase): John loved Mary.
Clausal object (Finite clause): John saw that she was pretty.
Non-finite clause (Infinitive): John hoped to kiss her.
Non-finite clause (Participle): John enjoyed seeing her.

COREFERENCE56 BETWEEN SUBJECT AND NOMINAL OBJECT

Co-reference between subject and nominal object blocks the passive transformation, and
occurs with (a) reflexive, (b) reciprocal, and (c) possessive pronouns in the object. Normally,
however, transitive verbs with other nominal objects passivize, e.g.
a) John could see Paul in the mirror.
b) John could see himself in the mirror.
a`) Paul could be seen in the mirror.
b`) *Himself could be seen in the mirror.
c) We could hardly see each other in the fog.
c`) *Each other could hardly be seen in the fog.
1) The handsome, bald doctor shook the nurse.
2) The handsome, bald doctor shook her head.
3) The handsome, bald doctor shook his head.
1`) The nurse was shaken by the handsome, bald doctor.
2`) Her head was shaken by the handsome, bald doctor.
56
The term coreferential means “ (of more than one linguistic expression) designating the same
individual or class”.

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 3`) *His head was shaken by the handsome, bald doctor.

CLAUSAL OBJECTS
Of the clausal objects only those consisting of a finite clause regularly have passive
analogues, e.g. Mary was loved (by John).
Mary was cared for (by John).
It was seen (by John) that she was pretty.
That she was pretty was seen (by John).
*It was hoped (by John) to kiss her.
*To kiss her was hoped (by John).
*It was enjoyed (by John) seeing her.
*Seeing her was enjoyed (by John).
Finite clause objects which are introduced by ‘that’, ‘whether’, or ‘if’ normally takes
passives with ‘it’-subject and so-called ‘extraposition’, the clause remains in post-verbal
position in the passive sentence but is introduced by anticipatory ‘it’ as subject. ‘That’ is
obligatory in ‘that’-clauses occurring initially as subject, without anticipatory ‘it’, e.g. It could
hardly be expected (that) Ruth would be on time.~That Ruth would be on time could hardly
be expected.
The construction with anticipatory ‘it’ never occurs with participles but is sometimes
used with infinitives, e.g. It was desired to have the report delivered here.

AGENT CONSTRAINTS
Unlike the active subject, the agent phrase is optional. This is the case when it is
irrelevant or unknown, as in, e.g. The Prime Minister was attacked last night in the debate.
The agent is often left out when it is redundant, as in: Jack fought Michael last night
and Jack was beaten.
An agent phrase ‘by Michael’ would clearly be unnecessary or even impossible in this
context.
Since the agent is usually left unexpressed, it may be unrecoverable, which means that
change of voice from passive to active is highly restricted: Order has been restored without
bloodshed and without concessions ~ John (?) has restored order without bloodshed and
without concessions.
~ The government (?) has restored order without bloodshed and without concessions.
~ The army (?) has restored order without bloodshed and without concessions.
The ‘by-’ phrase containing the agent of a passive clause (and corresponding to the
subject in an active clause) is only required in specific cases. In fact, only about one out of five
English passive clauses have an expressed agent. The passive is especially associated with <
impersonal > style, such as < scientific and official writing >. Here the question of who is the
agent (i.e. who performs the action described by the verb) is often unimportant and need not be
stated: The question will be discussed at a meeting tomorrow.
The passive may be a convenient construction to choose also when we do not know
who the performer of an action is: A police officer was killed last night in a road accident.

MEANING CONSTRAINTS
A shift of meaning may accompany shift of voice in verb phrases containing auxiliaries
that have more than one meaning, e.g.: ‘shall’, ‘will’ and ‘can’, e.g. John cannot do it.
It cannot be done (by John).
In the active sentence ‘can’ would normally be interpreted as expressing ability,
whereas in the passive sentence it is interpreted as expressing possibility.
Even when ‘can’ retains the same lexical meaning in the active and passive, a shift of
meaning is possible: John can’t be taught (He is unable to learn). He can’t teach John (He is
unable to teach John).

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 FREQUENCY CONSTRAINTS
To the structural restrictions mentioned in the preceding sections, we may add
‘frequency constraints’.
There is notable difference in the frequency with which the active and passive voices
are used.
The active is generally the more common, but there is considerable variation among
individual texts.
The passive has been found to be as much as ten times more frequent in one text than
another.
The major stylistic factor determining its frequency seems to be related to the
distinction between informative and imaginative prose rather than to a difference of subject
matter or of spoken and written English.
The passive is generally more commonly used in informative than in imaginative
writing, notably in the objective, non-personal style of scientific articles and news items.

QUASI–PASSIVES
The passive sentences ‘We are encouraged to go on with the project.’and ‘John was
interested in linguistics.’ represent a ‘mixed’ class whose members have both verbal and
adjectival properties.
They are verbal in having active analogues, e.g. (The results) encourage us to go on
with the project.
Linguistics interested John.
The adjectival properties are the potentiality for:
-coordination of the participles with adjectives,
-adjectival modification with ‘quite’, ‘rather’, ‘more’, etc.
-replacement of BE by a lexically ‘marked’ auxiliary, e.g. We feel rather encouraged
and content… John seemed very interested in and keen on linguistics.
In such adjectival uses of the past participle, it is rare to have a ‘by-’ agent.
However, blends do occur, for example: I feel rather let down by his indifference.
Even passive compounds which are morphologically isolated from the active by not
having an infinitive may occasionally have ‘by-’ agents, e.g. We are unimpressed by his
attempts ~ His attempts unimpressed us. ~ His attempts did not impress us.
The passive sentence ‘John was interested in linguistics’ can also be seen as related to
the following active sentences: Someone interested John in linguistics.
Someone made John interested in linguistics.
As in e.g. ‘Coal has been replaced by oil ‘, the prepositional phrase in e.g. a) ‘John was
interested in linguistics’ permits two analyses.
The agent interpretation of e.g. (a) implies that we recognize ‘in’ as an agent phrase
preposition.
There are, in fact, several prepositions which can introduce such ‘quasi-agents’, for
example, ‘about’, ‘at’, ‘over’, ‘to’, ‘with’. ‘By’ can also be used with similar meaning, e.g. We
were all worried about the complication ~The complication worried us all
I was a bit surprised at her behavior ~Her behavior surprised me a bit
You won’t be bothered with me any more ~I won’t bothered you any more
This edition was not known to him ~He did not know this edition
Clausal complements of such quasi-passive constructions can also be said to have agent
function, e.g.
I was surprised to hear John failed in the exam. ~ To hear that John failed in the exam –
surprised me / (?) made me surprised.

PASSIVALS

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 A passive sense may be implied in certain English verbs, although they are not in the passive voice.
The grammatical object of a transitive verb becomes the grammatical subject of the sentence without a
change of the verb into the passive; the form thus obtained is a ‘passival’, e.g.
This book reads easily (instead of ‘ One reads this book easily ‘, or ‘ This book can be read easily’.)
(Romanian: ‘Cartea se citeşte repede’).
The field did not flood.
The car drove into the garage.
These constructions are the result of an incomplete process of passivization. The object takes the
place of the former subject, but the verb form does not change, e.g. They sell beach balls best in summer.
(active)
Beach balls sell best in summer. (passival)

AGENTIVE AND NON-AGENTIVE PASSIVES

AGENTIVE PASSIVES:
Sentences: a) This violin was made by my father
b) This conclusion is hardly justified by the results
have a direct passive – active relation. The difference between the two is that the former has a
personal, the latter a non-personal agent:
a)` My father made this violin
b)` The results hardly justify this conclusion
Sentence: c) Coal has been replaced by oil., is a passive with two possible active
transforms depending on the interpretation of the ‘by’ – phrase:
c)` Oil has replaced coal
c)``(People in many countries) have replaced coal by oil
Sentence c)` is an active transform like b)` with a non-personal agent; c)`` is an active
transform where the ‘by’-phrase has been given an instrumental interpretation (by=with).
Consequently an active subject must be supplied.
NON-AGENTIVE PASSIVES
Sentence: 1) The modern world becomes more highly industrialized and mechanized.
has no active transform or possibility of agent addition, since no ‘performer’ is conceived of.
The participles have adjectival values: compare ‘industrialized ‘ ~ ‘industrial’ and
‘mechanized’ ~ ‘mechanical’. Besides a number of such ‘resulting’ verbs ending in ‘-ize’
(organize, americanize, etc), this class includes ‘existing’ constructions, as in:
2) The house is already sold
The corresponding active of which is not:
(The agent) already sells the house.
but: (The agent) has already sold the house.
In this case, voice transformation involves aspectual shift from present to present
perfect.
While it is clear that (1) and (2) are not ‘passive’ in the sense of the sentences:
I was surprised to hear John failed in the exam;
John called the man,
they still satisfy the formal passive requirement and, as in the case of e.g.(2), often have an
‘indirect’ voice relationship.
We will therefore call this class ‘ non-agentive passive / intensive active complement
constructions ‘, recognizing that, e.g. The house is already sold
are related both to agentive passive, e.g. The house has already been sold
and to the intensive (active) complement construction
The house is already gone
The house is no longer available.

COMPLEX COMBINATIONS OF ASPECT AND VOICE

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 English verb phrases can be marked for combinations of aspect and voice. That is, the
perfect aspect, the progressive aspect, and passive voice can occur together in various
combinations, presenting more specialized verbal meanings.
The perfect passive is the only complex combination that is moderately common:
- the present perfect passive occurs over 1000 times per million words in academic
prose and news
- the past perfect passive occurs about 500 times per million words in fiction
All other combinations of aspect and voice are generally rare.
Given the high frequencies for both perfect aspect and passive voice in academic prose
and news, it is not surprising that the two are often used together.
Typically, this combination retains the time orientation (‘past with present relevance’)
of the perfect aspect while demoting the agent through use of the passive voice, e.g. He has
been jailed for explosives offenses in Ulster and has previously been denied a visa. (NEWS)
Since 1916 much government money has been spent on these developments. (ACAD.)
In fiction, perfect passives are also moderately common in the past tense, e.g. He had
been thrown from a moving train. (FICT.)
Most of the lights had been turned off … (FICT.)
The two remaining combinations, both involving the progressive aspect, are attested
but considerably less common.
Perfect progressives are used occasionally in fiction, especially in the past tense, e.g.
He had been keeping it in a safety deposit box at the Bank of America. (FICT.)
For months she had been waiting for that particular corner location. (FICT.)
The meaning of the perfect progressive here is to refer to a situation or activity in
progress up to a particular time.
Progressive passives are used occasionally in news reportage and academic prose, e.g.
A police spokesman said nobody else was being sought in connection with the incident.
(NEWS)
These figures include only the budget as it was set up, since expenses therein are still
being incurred while a budget for the future is being prepared.
Here the ‘in progress’ meaning of the progressive is combined with the change of focus
associated with the passive.

NONFINITE VPs
The infinitive and the two participles of verbs are described as nonfinite, that is, they
are not marked for present or past tense. A VP marked for present or past tense is therefore a
finite VP.
A finite VP of two or more verbs consists of an operator-verb marked for tense,
followed by one or more nonfinite verbs, including the main lexical verb.
Lexical verbs are only marked for present or past tense themselves when they are
single-verb VPs.
If a VP contains no finite operator-verb or main verb, but only nonfinite verbs, then it
is called a nonfinite VP. Therefore, finite VPs function as predicators in finite clauses, and
nonfinite VPs in nonfinite clauses.
The nonfinite VP ‘being found’ from ‘ The appliance should be returned with this
guarantee on being found detective. ‘ ‘on being found detective’, consists of the nonfinite ‘-ing’
participle ‘being’ and the ‘-en/-ed’ participle ‘found’. It is therefore passive. The same verbs
can be used in a VP such as ‘was being found’, in which ‘was’ is an operator – verb in the past
tense, and so marks the VP as finite.
Nonfinite VPs function in subordinate clauses of various kinds in the structure of
clauses and also as post-modifiers in NP structure. A participle used as a NP pre-modifier is
usually identified as an adjective.

THE CAUSATIVE ‘HAVE’ AND ‘GET’

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 VERBS COMMON WITH THE ‘GET’ PASSIVE
The ‘get’ passive is generally rare and restricted primarily to conversation.
Only a few verbs are common with the ‘get’ passive, even in conversation.
- over 20 occurrences per million words: ‘get married’
- over five occurrences per million words: ‘get’ + hit, involved, left, stuck.
It is interesting to note that most of the verbs that are moderately common with ‘get’
passives have negative connotations, conveying that the action of the verb is difficult or to the
disadvantage of the subject. These verbs include ‘hit’, ‘left’, ‘stuck’, and sometimes ‘involved’.
Most of the verb commonly occurring in the ‘get’ passive in conversation, like many in
the ‘be’ passive, are used as stative passives. Thus, most of these constructions cannot take an
agent. However, use of the ‘get’ passive conveys a more dynamic sense than the ‘be’ passive.
That is, the ‘be’ passive often simply describes a state, while the ‘get’ passive describes the
process of getting into the state, with a resultant meaning similar to ‘become’. The copula ‘get’
is typical of conversation, while the written registers, especially academic prose, would use
‘become’ instead.
‘Be’ passive:
I was married for a couple of years in the seventies. (conv)
They weren’t involved for that long. (conv)
You’re gonna be left alone to get on with your job. (conv)
‘Get’ passive:
She got married when she was eighteen. (conv)
And then we start to get involved in local society. (conv)
It’s about these people who got left behind in Vietnam. (conv)
My head got stuck up there. (conv)
The passive auxiliary is normally ‘be’. Its only serious contender is ‘get’, which
however is usually restricted to constructions without an expressed animate agent. Compare the
following sentences:
The boy got hurt on his way home from work.
*The boy got given a violin by his father.
The ‘get’ passive is avoided in formal style. Even in informal English, however, it is
far less frequent than the ‘be’ passive:
Our house is getting painted.
If they make such criticisms they will get treated with the contempt they deserve.
This story eventually got translated into English.
‘Get’ is much more common as a ‘resulting copula’ in sentences which look
superficially like the passive but cannot have an agent:
We are getting bogged down in all sorts of problems (informal)
I have to get dressed before eight o’clock. (= ‘dress’)
I don’t want to get mixed up with the police again.
Your argument gets a bit confused here.

VERBS COMMON WITH THE ‘HAVE’ PASSIVE

1) The ‘have’ + object + past participle ‘ construction
This construction can be used to express more neatly sentences of the type ‘ I employed
someone to do something for me ‘.Instead of saying ‘ I employed someone to clean my car ‘ we
can say ‘ I had my car cleaned ‘, and instead of I got a man to sweep my chimneys (‘got’ here =
paid / persuaded,etc.), we can say ‘ I had my chimneys swept’.
Note that this order of words, i.e. ‘have’ + object + past participle. must be observed
as otherwise the meaning will be changed:
a) He had his hair cut. – means he employed someone to do it,
but
b) He had cut his hair. – means he cut it himself some time before the time of speaking
(past perfect tense).

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 When ‘have’ is used in this way the negative and interrogative of its present and past
tenses are formed with ‘do’:
a) Do you have your windows cleaned every month ?
b) I don’t have them cleaned; I clean them myself.
c) He was talking about having central heating put in. Did he have it put in in the end?
And it can be used in continuous tenses:
a) I can’t ask you to dinner this week as I am having my house painted at the moment and
everything is upside down.
b) While I was having my hair done the police towed away my car.
c) He says that the house is too small and that he is having a room built on.
2)’Have’ + object + past participle construction can also be used colloquially to
replace a passive verb, usually one concerning some accident or misfortune:
a) His fruit was stolen before he had a chance to pick it.
can be replaced by
b) He had his fruit stolen before he had etc.
and
c) Two of his teeth were knocked out in the fight.
can be replaced by
d) He had two of his teeth knocked out.
It will be seen that, whereas in 1) above, the subject is the person who orders the thing
to be done, here the subject is the person who suffers as a result of the action. The subject could
be a thing:
e) The houses had their roofs ripped off by the gale.
‘Have’ something done – usually describes a service performed for us by someone
else, e.g. I’ve just had my car serviced.
It can also describe something unfortunate that happens to someone, e.g. We have had
our car stolen so we need a lift.
This applies to a range of tenses, e.g. I’m having my flat painted next week.
I have it done every year. Sheila had her hair done yesterday.
I was having the roof repaired when it happened.
Note the quite different colloquial expressions ‘have someone round/over.
In this case, there is no sense of a service, e.g. We had some friends round for dinner last night.

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

In English grammar, sequence of tenses is the sequence according to which the tense of
a subordinate verb in a sentence is determined by the tense of the principal verb, as in I believe
he is lying, I believed he was lying, etc
In English, there is a strict arrangement of verb tenses in complex sentences (Rom.
frază formată prin subordonare). The tense of the verb in a subordinate clause usually depends
on the tense of the verb in the main clause; the general idea is that we are not allowed to pass
over a long period of time (more tenses) when we have to link two or more actions in a
complex sentence.

E.g.: He said he would go to the seaside next summer (not *he will go)

I (Simple Past) II (Simple Present) II (Simple

Future)

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 (I) He said……………………………………………………(II) he will go

(II) he would go

- Present and Present Perfect actions can be linked to Past or Future actions:
1 2
E.g.: He says he will go (went 2’) to the seaside.
I shall tell her what we have done.
1 2
(he went) (2’) He says (1) He will go (2)

We have done (2) I shall tell (1)

- Past actions are linked to past actions and future actions to future or present actions:

E.g.: He saw I was writing. He knew I had arrived some minutes before.
1a 2a 1b 2b
I had arrived he knew (1b)
(2b) he saw (1a)

I was writing (2a)

E.g. She will cry if we punish her.

We’ll be visiting the town when she arrives there. (not *when she’ll arrive)

● See “Future Tense” – exercises the notes!

If we punish she will cry
When she arrives she’ll arrive

We’ll be visiting

- Generally speaking, simultaneous actions are introduced by the same tense:

E.g.: I was writing and (I) was listening to a song on the radio.
He will go there and (he) will tell the truth.
He will go
He will listen

I was writing
I was listening

- A previous / preceding action is introduced by a precedent tense along the line of

tenses:

E.g.: She told me (that) she had arrived three hours before.

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 She tells me (that) she will go to the seaside next summer.

she had arrived She told She tells She will go

- A future action is linked to a past action by the Future-in-the-past:

E.g.: She told me (that) she would go to the seaside the next year.

She would go
She told

Reported / Indirect Speech:

Indirect / Reported Speech, or (especially American English) Indirect Discourse, is

the reporting of something said or written by conveying what was meant rather than repeating
the exact words, as in the sentence He asked me whether I would go, as opposed to He asked
me, “Will you go?”.
Here are some remarks and ‘rules of thumb’:
The final action is usually in the past simple, e.g. The party had begun before I arrived.
But for some strange reason it is possible for the final action to be in the past perfect
when an action has not been completed in time as in the above example when you were late for
the party!
The party began before I had arrived. (Romanian: “înainte să apuc eu să ajung acolo”)
There seems to be no scientific explanation for this linguistic phenomenon (or ‘quirk’)
… It is just one of the mysteries of the English language…
When two actions happen close together you will not have enough time to make a
present perfect tense, e.g. I had finished my work and went home.
Compare also:
I finished my homework before I had received your letter.
I had finished my homework before I received your letter.
Grammarians usually say that there should be a logical connection between the two
clauses. So, try to consider the sentence below in point of logicality:
*I finished my homework before I received your letter. (!)
Compare also:
He died after he was hit by a truck.
He died after he had been hit by a truck.
In Indirect / Reported Speech, it is virtually only the past tenses that pose problems
for foreign learners of English – due to the syntactic (re-)arrangement of the tenses in the
(direct object) clauses that follow:
Basically, all the verbs in the respective subordinate clauses go down one (nominal)
tense. Thus:
Present becomes Past tense.
Past Tense, as well as Present Perfect Tense, become Past Perfect.
Future becomes “Future-in-the-Past” (i.e. will becomes would).
Of course, there are exceptions, too, in which actual temporality is observed, e.g. (I am
waiting for the train’s departure): Jack told me (20 minutes ago) that the train will leave at 6
p.m. [It is 3 p.m. now.]
Jane told me (on Tuesday) that the plane for Indonesia will leave at 3 a.m. on Friday. [Today is
Wednesday]

MODALITY AND MOODS

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 Defining modality:
I. [From The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar].
modality: 1. The expression of the speaker’s, opinions about present likelihood or about
obligation:
(a) (narrowly) by means of a modal auxiliary verb;
(b) (more widely) using any of the linguistic means available.
Different kinds of modality are distinguished. The main two are EPISTEMIC (concerning
likelihood) and DEONTIC (concerned with current obligation). A third type, DYNAMIC modality,
recognizes the use of certain modal verbs (especially could and would) to refer to the past,
which the other two types do not. Compare:
She could read when she was only three (dynamic)
It’s a bad result, but it could be worse (epistemic)
Could I say something, please? (deontic).
See also ALETHIC.
2. The state conveyed by one of the possible (grammatical) moods of a verb. E.g. the modality
of IMPERATIVE or SUBJUNCIVE verb phrases.
II. [from Today’s English Grammar, T. Cobb, R. Gardiner, pp. 89, 342].
223: When an auxiliary is used with a purely modal function, it may be called an AUXILIARY OF
MODALITY. Mostly, however, modal auxiliaries retain something of their character of
auxiliaries of predication. See the uses of should described in 167 and 176, that of would
described in 182, and that of might decribed in 160. For examples in the present tense see 158
and 171. In If I were to tell you all I now, you would be amazed. were is an auxiliary of
modality, a modal preterite, and a subjunctive all in one. It expresses remoter possibility than
should in the first ex. of 176.
224. On ADVERBS OF MODALITY, see 722.
722. [p. 342]
MOOD – MODAL – MODALITY
The student who has read the statement in 214 ff. of the uses of the subjunctive in
present-day English, American as well as British, may test the validity of the following
definitions. (Non-fact is not used in the sense of ‘contrary to fact’ but in that of ‘what is not a
fact’).
MOOD is a verbal category represented in English by the opposition (he) play – (he)
plays, of which the former (subjunctive) denotes non-fact, the latter (indicative) either fact or
non-fact.
The difference between the subjunctive and the indicative denoting non-fact is one of
style.
MODAL (from mode = mood), as commonly used, refers to grammatical expedients,
such as the preterite of modality, to express non-fact, or at least a modification of fact.
MODALITY, as a substantive, expresses the same notion as the adjective modal.

III. [from David Crystal’s A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics].

modality:
A term used in GRAMMATICAL and SEMANTIC analysis to refer to constrasts in MOOD
signalled by the VERB and associated categories. In English, modal contrasts are primarily
expressed by a subclass of AUXILIARY verbs, e.g. may, will, can. This subclass is symbolised as
M in the PHRASE-STRUCTURE RULES of a GENERATIVE grammar. Modal verbs share a set of
morphological and syntactic properties which distinguish them from the other auxiliaries, e.g.
no -s, -ing, or -en forms. In CASE grammar, modality refers to one of the two major
constituents of a sentence’s DEEP STRUCTURE, the other being PROPOSITION.

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IV. [from Collins dictionary (electronic version)]:
modality [məu'dæliti], pl. -ties. 1. the condition of being modal. 2. a quality, attribute, or
circumstance that denotes mode, mood, or manner. 3. Logic. the property of a statement of
being classified under one of the concepts studied by modal logic, esp. necessity or possibility.

THE CATEGORY OF MOOD

Defining mood:
I. [From The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar]: mood: 1. One of the formal
categories into which verb forms are classified, indicating whether the verb is expressing fact,
command, hypothesis, etc. Traditional grammar recognizes the INDICATIVE, IMPERATIVE and
SUBJUNCTIVE moods.
2. A distinction of meaning expressed by any of the chief sentence types. According to
this definition, INTERROGATIVE joins INDICATIVE (or DECLARATIVE) and IMPERATIVE as a mood
category.
Mood is an alteration, apparently in the 16 th century, of the earlier mode, a borrowing of
Latin modus ‘manner’, which was also used in this grammatical sense. The alteration may have
been due to the influence of the unrelated word mood ‘frame of mind’, which has an evident
semantic affinity with it.

II. [From Collins dictionary (electronic version)]: mood 1. Grammar. a category of

the verb or verbal inflections that expresses semantic and grammatical differences, including
such forms as the indicative, subjunctive, and imperative…

III. [From David Crystal’s A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics]: mood (modal,
-ity) A term used in the theoretical and descriptive study of SENTENCE/CLAUSE types, and
especially of the VERBS they contain. Mood (‘modality’, or ‘mode’) refers to a set of
SYNTACTIC and SEMANTIC CONTRASTS signalled by alternative PARADIGMS of the verbs, e.g.
INDICATIVE (the UNMARKED from), SUBJUNCTIVE, IMPERATIVE. Semantically, a wide range of
meanings is involved, especially attitudes on the part of the speaker towards the factual content
of the utterance, e.g. uncertainty, definiteness, vagueness, possibility. Syntactically, these
contrasts may be signalled by alternative INFLECTIONAL forms of a verb, or by using
AUXILIARIES. English mainly uses modal auyiliaries, e.g. may, can, shall, must, but makes a
little use of inflection (e.g. If I were you v. I was…). The semantic analysis of modal verbs,
and the study of their distribution in everyday speech, is a topic which has attracted a great deal
of recent attention in LINGUSITICS, and several classifications involving such notions as
necessity, possibility, certainty, etc. have been proposed. The results of such studies have
implications for fields other than linguistics; for example, theoretical modal distinctions
involving such notions have been a major concern of logicians.

Grammatical Moods other than the Indicative

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

In general grammar (not only in English grammar), Subjunctive denotes a mood of

verbs used when the content of the clause is being doubted, supposed, feared, true, etc., rather
than being asserted. The rules for its use and the range of meanings it may possess vary
considerably from language to language. In the following sentence, were is in the subjunctive:
I’d think very seriously about that if I were you. (Let us compare it with the indicative mood,

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which denotes a mood of verbs used chiefly to make statements; so, the indicative does not
have an essential modal force; in other words, it occupies ‘level 0’ in point of marking
modality).
There is much debate around the very concept of Subjunctive in English grammar.
Logically and functionally opposed to the indicative, which stresses the factual, the subjunctive
implies the non-factual, such as wish, hope, possibility and the like.
The present subjunctive is identical in form with the (short) infinitive (i.e. without to)
in all three persons, singular and plural. Consequently, the only way in which the present
subjunctive differs in form from the present indicative is in the 3 rd person singular, where there
is no -s ending), e.g. It is strongly recommended that the procedure be continued.
The past subjunctive is marked in form only in the 1st and 3rd persons singular of the
verb to be, which is were, though in non-formal (or colloquial) language was is the preferred
form, e.g. If I were your husband, I’d give you no lectures. (See also the Conditional, and
expressing conditions, below).
The subjunctive is used in both main clauses, and subordinate clauses.
(1) The subjunctive in main clauses:
Here the mood is restricted to fixed expresions of wishing or hoping, e.g.
God save the King!
Long live the Queen!
Heaven be praised!
God forbid! (= May it not happen!)
(2) The uses of the subjunctive in subordinate clauses:
a. The past subjunctive is very common in clauses of condition (see below: expressing
condition), e.g.
If you went there oftener, you would know everything about them.
(Cf. Romanian: Dacă te-ai duce pe acolo mai des, ai şti totul despre ei).
The present subjunctive is literary or highly formal, e.g.
If this be true, old hopes are born anew.
The only exception to this formal description is the set phrase if need be, e.g.
If need be, we can sell the cutlery.
The past subjunctive can also express concession, e.g.
They are all punished, be they natives or foreigners.
b. A past subjunctive is also used in (unreal, or concessive) comparative clauses
introduced by as if or as though, e.g.
He looks as though he took his work seriously (= as though he takes…)
She treats me as if / as though I were a child.
(Compare: He was yelling as if a viper had bitten him – where the (hypothetical) Past
Perfect is used, in fact nothing but a perfective form of the Subjunctive; in Romanian: “de
parcă l-ar fi muşcat o viperă”).
c. The same unreal meaning can be said to underlie the use of the past subjunctive after:
-if only, e.g. If only we had a bigger house, life would be perfect (see also Expressing
Condition below)
-wish and had rather / sooner (expressing wish or desire), e.g.
I wish he were / was back at school.
Where’s your mobile phone? I wish I knew…
Do you want met to tell you? I’d rather you didn’t…
d. Similarly, the past subjunctive is used after it’s time, it’s high time, it’s about time,
e.g.
It’s (about) time we spoke to him.
It’s high time they stopped smoking.
(Compare with the following example, where only the suitability of the time is
expressed: It’s time to speak to him about it).

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 ● The present subjunctive is rarely used in subordinate clauses. Actually, only formal
language (i.e. legal language) preserves it, after verbs like suggest, recommend, propose, order,
or phrases like It is advisable / desirable / recommendable / suitable / appropriate / important,
etc. e.g.
We propose that the clause be extended to cover such eventualities.
It is imperative that this matter be discussed immediately.
In such clauses, the subjunctive is commoner in American English than in British
English. The British English use prefers should + infinitive structures, e.g.
We suggest (that) the system (should) be changed at once.
The manager recommended that the papers be typed by the secretary.
I am adamant that his (should) be put to the vote.
It is vital that he (should) start as soon as possible.
There is much talk and confusion about the correctness of If I were / If I was. The
general idea is that, in formal English, the ‘correct’ form is the former (at least, by way of
tradition). The variant If I was is the only possible when the condition referred toi s in no sense
an unreal condition, e.g.
If I was mistaken about it then it certainly wasn’t through lack of trying.
(Compare with: If I were mistaken about it, surely I would have realized).

THE CONDITIONAL MOOD

Since English does not have an inflected form to express the Conditional Mood, it uses
auxiliaries for that purpose, basically modal verbs, e.g. would, should, could, might, and will.
The forms of the Conditional mood proper are the following:

The Present Conditional:

Affirmative form:
I / we should/would go
You / he / she / they would go

Interrogative:
Should/would I / we go?
Would you / he / she / they go?

Negative:
I / we should not / shouldn’t go, or:
I / we would not / wouldn’t go
You / he / she / they would not go, or:
You / he / she / they wouldn’t go

Negative-interrogative:
Should I/we not / Shouldn’t I / we go?
Would I/we not / Wouldn’t I / we go?
Would you / he / she / they not go?
Wouldn’t you / he / she / they go?

The Past Conditional:

Affirmative form:
I / we should/would have gone
You / he / she / they would have gone

Interrogative:

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Should/would I / we have gone?
Would you / he / she / they have gone?

Negative:
I / we should not / shouldn’t have gone, or:
I / we would not / wouldn’t have gone
You / he / she / they would not have gone, or:
You / he / she / they wouldn’t have gone

Negative-interrogative:
Should I/we not / Shouldn’t I / we have gone?
Would I/we not / Wouldn’t I / we have gone?
Would you / he / she / they not have gone?
Wouldn’t you / he / she / they have gone?

Note: There is a growing tendency to use the auxiliary would for all persons (so, would
is used even instead of should in the first persons of the verb: I and we). The same happens with
the auxiliary will (instead of shall) for expressing futurity.

Actually, the conditional mood is closely linked to the sentences expressing (unreal)
conditions – comprising the so-called if clauses, e.g. If she had more money she would buy a
Porsche.
If he had had more courage, he would have climbed Mount Ararat.

● Basic values and usage.

(a) When temporality proper is involved:
● When we want to express something that is always true, we use the present + present
sequence, e.g. If I work late, I get tired.
If the water is boiling / has boiled, it means the food is nearly ready.
● When we want to express something that was always true, we use the past + past
sequence, e.g. We went home early if it was foggy.
If it was snowing, we stayed at home.
(b) When modality is involved:
● For real situations, we use the present + future sequence, e.g.
If you keep driving like that, you’re going to have an accident.
If you see John, tell him I’ll ring him tomorrow.
● For hypothetical situations, we use the (‘hypothetical’) past + conditional sequence
(i.e. Subject + would have Verb1), e.g.
If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.
If I was having a party, I wouldn’t invite Tom.
In fact, the so-called (‘hypothetical’) past is a form of the Subjunctive (as the very
meaning – and Romanian translation – of the sentence can show): Dacă aş şti răspunsul, ţi-aş
spune. The hypothetical-conditional sense of the verb is actually that of an old subjunctive
form, which evolved as a ‘past tense’ form. The only remaining trace of the old subjunctive
sense is the (standard) use of the form were for all persons in such sentences, e.g. If I were
you / If I were in your shoes, I would not help him.
Moreover, note that it is possible to use should instead of would in the first person, e.g.
If I left home, I think I should be lonely.
● For hypothetical past situations, we use the (‘hypothetical’) past perfect + conditional
past sequence (i.e. Subject + would have Verb3), e.g.
If I had been invited, I’d have gone to that posh ranch.
If I had known who was coming, I would have met / I could have met you at the station.
Such sentences refer to past events.

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 (c) Special uses: with modal verbs:
-Possible situations in the present, e.g.
If you get wet, you should change your clothes immediately.
If you come early, we can discuss the problem together.
-Hypothetical situations, e.g.
If I had all the money, I could help you.
-Hypothetical situations in the past, e.g.
If you hadn’t reminded me, I might have forgotten.
Note the sentences in the last class are based on ‘speculations on past events’ (cf. You
could have come earlier… He must have been indoors all day…, etc.)

● There is a lot of variation relative to these kind of hypothetical (i.e. modal) sentences.
All of the structures below are in fact as many forms of the (conditional) Subjunctive.
-If only:
e.g. If only I had enough time!
If only I hadn’t drunk too much, this would not have happened!
-Unless and other alternatives to if (Unless means only if not):
e.g. I’ll go ahead and get the tickets unless you call me this afternoon.
If can be replaced by as/so long as, provided / provinding, or only if.
I’ll do what you say provided the board of directors were not informed.
-Past events with results in the present: past perfect + would:
e.g. If Dora hadn’t missed the plane, she would be here by now.
-Should:
e.g. If I should be late, go without me. (It means I do not expect you to be on time…)
-Were to:
e.g. If I were to ask you to marry me, what would you say?
-Happen to:
The structure emphasizes chance possibilities. It is often used with should.
e.g. If you happen to see the Harrisons, could you ask them to call me?
If you should happen to be passing, drop in for a cup of tea.
-If it were not for / If it hadn’t been for:
The structure expresses the fact that one event depends on the other.
e.g. If it weren’t for him, this company would be in a mess.
If it hadn’t been for their excellent goalkeeper, Arsenal would have lost.
-Will and would: Adding politeness and emphasis, e.g.
e.g. If you will/would wait here, I’ll seee if the manager is free.
If you will stay out late, no wonder you are tired! (= ‘If you insist on doing so…’)
-Supposing / suppose, otherwise (meaning ‘or if not’), used instead of if, e.g.
e.g. Supposing you won the football pools, what would you do?
Thanks for your directions to the house. We wouldn’t have found it otherwise.
(=If you hadn’t given us directions, we wouldn’t have found the house.)
-But for:
Used in formal language, but for is used to replace if not.
e.g. But for your help, we would have been in trouble.
(= If you hadn’t helped us, we would have been in trouble.)
-If so / If not: The phrase refers to a sentence which is understood but not stated
e.g. There is a possibility that Jim will be late. If so, I will take his place.
-If and adjectives:
In expressions such as If it is necessary / If it is possible, the verb to be can be dropped,
e.g.
If necessary, take a rest.
Drop a line, if possible. If interested, apply within.

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The attitudinal Past Tense:
This is a form of the past tense having a lot in common with the ‘false’ (because
hypoithetical) past tense forms which are used under the heading of either Subjunctive or
Conditional (see above). When the past tense refers to present time in main clauses that express
a tentative, and therefore more polite and deferential attitude, it implies attenuation, politeness,
etc., having a modal weight, e.g.
Did you want to see me? (a form which is more polite and less abrupt than Do you
want to see me?). the same happens in some other languages, such as Romanian (Mă gândeam
că poate aveţi nevoie de ajutorul meu…), or French (Je voulais vous informer que…).
Also compare: I was wondering if you could help me with it.
and: I wonder if you could help me with it.
Moreover, the verb to hope has evolved a special polite expression, i.e. a polite request
(I was hoping you could help me with this), which has no present counterpart.

THE IMPERATIVE MOOD

The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. The
imperative mood expresses commands, direct requests, and prohibitions. In many
circumstances, directly using the imperative mood seems blunt or even rude, so it is often used
with care. It is usually found only in the present tense.
Many languages, including English, use the bare verb stem to form the imperative. In
English, second-person is implied by the imperative except when first-person plural is
specified, as in “Let’s go!”. The imperative mood is formed by using the verb in its simplest,
unconjugated form: “Listen!”, “Sit!”, “Come here!”. Sometimes a vocative (the case used
when the referent of the noun is being addressed) is used for clarification as in “Sit down,
John.”
The imperative mood is very powerful. It is often appropriate to use the imperative
mood when giving instructions. However, in other types of documents, such as letters,
procedures, or recommendations, the bare imperative may be too strong. To tone down the
effect of the imperative, you can use “politeness” words, such as “please”, or rephrase in the
indicative with an auxiliary verb such as “would”: “Would you please send the relevant
documents to us as soon as possible?”
Affirmative: Stop it! Come here!
Negative: the negative is formed with the primary auxiliary DO and the negation not, e.g.:
Don’t go! Don’t you go! The lexical verb BE is also used with DO in the negative, e.g.: Don’t
be silly!
NOTES:
a) The person addressed is normally not mentioned, but a noun can be placed at the
end, e.g.: Come, children!
b) Especially in the negative the use of the pronoun you sounds impolite, e.g.: Don’t
you ever smoke in here!
c) Emphatic DO can be used with the affirmative imperative, sometimes implying
irritation from the part of the speaker, e.g.: Do be quiet!

Equivalents of the Imperative:

They are used for the second and third person. They are formed from the verb LET +
the accusative of the pronoun or noun + the short/ bare infinitive.

Usage
1. First person imperative, e.g.: Let me tell you something. Let us go home.
The negative is formed with not placed before the infinitive, e.g.: Let’s not wait too long.
NOTE:

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 It is possible to use don’t before let’s in colloquial English, e.g.: Don’t let’s wait for
him any longer!

2. Third person imperative, e.g.: Let him see it. Let her have it her own way. Let them do their
job.
NOTE:
These constructions are no longer frequent in contemporary English, must or to be to being
preferred. That applies even more to the negative form, e.g.: He must see it. They must do their
job. She must not / is not to have it her own way.

THE NON-FINITE MOODS

THE INFINITIVE

The base of the verb is used for making up the Infinitive, with or without the particle to
in front of it, as in: He can sing. He is trying to sing.
In both the above sentences the word sing is in the infinitive. The form sing is the
“infinitive simple”, either “short”, i.e. sing, or “long”, i.e. to sing.
The infinitive in the perfective aspect has the form:
Infinitive perfect(ive): (to) have worked (have + past participle)
And the passive form is: to be sung (Romanian “a fi cântat”), to be bitten (Romanian
“a fi muşcat (de un câine, etc.)”)
The other forms of the Infinitive are:
Infinitive continuous / progressive, e.g. (to) be smoking
Infinitive perfect(ive) continuous / progressive, e.g. (to) have been smoking
Infinitive continuous / progressive, passive voice, e.g. (to) be being sung
Infinitive perfect(ive) continuous / progressive, passive voice, e.g. (to) have been being bitten.
Note: The last two forms are rarely / hardly ever used in everyday / actual speech.

Uses of the Infinitive:

(a) Without to:
1. After modal auxiliaries and do, e.g. I must go now
I don’t know
2. After dare and need, when used as auxiliaries, e.g. How dar you talk like that!
You nedn’t tlk like that!
3. After had better and had best (also, would best in American English), e.g.
You had better apologize
You had (you’d) best ask the porter
4. In the so-called ‘accusative with infinitive’ construction, e.g.
-after let, make and have, e.g. We let him smoke
I made her turn round.
We had him say a few words.
-After the following verbs of sense prception:
feel, hear, see, watch, e.g. I felt the woman touch my back
We heard him tell the porter
They saw Jack die.
We watched the train approach the platform.
These verbs can aslo be followed by the present participle (i.e. the V-ing form). The difference
between them corresponds to the difference in usage between the simple and the continuous
aspects, e.g. I felt him creeping up behind me.
We heard her crying bitterly in the next room.
She saw smoke coming from the house.
They wathced Tom slowly dying.

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-Two infinitive forms are possible after the verb help, e.g. We helped him move house / We
helped him to move house.
The corresponding passive constructions with these verbs pose quite a few problems.
5 After why (not), e.g. Why stay indoors in this lovely weather?
Why not try our cream cakes?
(b) With to:
1. The infinitive with to can be used as the subject, complement 57 or object of a sentence. The
following example contains all three (in that order):
To die is to cease to exist.
2. In an accusative with infinitive:
-After verbs expressing desire or dislike: want, wish, expect, like, prefer, hate, e.g.
I want/wish you to remember this.
I expect you to know that.
Tom would like you to leave at once.
We prefer your cousin to stay here.
We would hate the cat to suffer.
-In fairly formal language, after ‘point of view’ verbs, expressing belief, supposition,
judgement, assertiveness, e.g. We believe this to be a mistake.
We supposed him to be dead.
We considred/judged it tot be of little use.
I felt/knew it to be true.
These accusations he maintained to be false.
Less formal language would prefer a that clause, e.g. We believe (that) this is a mistake.
I know (that) i tis true.
He maintained that these acusations were false.
-In the corresponding passive constructions, to remains, e.g. This was believed to be a mistake.
-Note the common be said to, for which there is no active equivalent (if we do not count the
phrase They say…), e.g. It is said to be true.
-The to infinitive must also be used in passive constructions with the verbs let, make and have,
e.g. She was made to do it.
He was seen to remove both jacket and tie.
3. Used following nouns, pronouns and adjectives, e.g. She has always had a tendency to
become hsterical.
We shall remember this in days to come.
There are things to be done.
There is that to take into consideration.
Glad to meet you!
We were afraid to ask.
This game is easy to understand.
Such constructions are particularly common after superlatives and only, e.g.
This is the latest book to appear on the subject.
She’s the only person to have got near him.
4. Corresponding to a subordinate clause:
-Expressing purpose or result58 (sometimes with the addition of in order, or so as (purpose), or
only (result) for emphasis), e.g. He left early (in order) to get a good seat.
They arrived (only) to find an empty house.
Try to be there on time.
Note that in spoken English to after ‘try’ can be replaced by and, e.g. Try and be there…
57
In grammar, a complement is: (1) a noun phrase that follows a copula or similar verb, as for
example a moron in the sentence He is a moron; (2) a clause that serves as the subject or direct
object of a verb or the direct object of a preposition, as for example that he would be early in
the sentence I hoped that he would be early.
58
Romanian: construcţii finale and consecutive, respectively.

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-With embedded59 interrogatives, e.g. Tell me what to do.
I didn’t know where to look.
We didn’t know who to ask.
We weren’t sure whether to tell him or not.
-Expressing time or circumstance, e.g. I shudder to think of it (= when I think of it)
To hear him speak, one would think he positively hates women (=when one hears him speak…)
5 Corresponding to a main clause, in exclamations of surprise, e.g. To think she married him!
(= it is strange to think…)
6. In elliptical sentences expressing future arrangements – which are typical of newspaper
headlines e.g. MARK BLIMP TO MAKE GREEN SPEECH.
PUTIN TO VISIT DISASTER ZONE.
7. The ‘split infinitive’, so called because an adverb is put between to and the base, has become
very common in spite of being frowned upon by many, e.g. Nobody will ever be able to fully
comprehend his philosophy.
However, it can sometimes be the natural position for an adverb, e.g. The way out of this is to
really try and persuade him.
Here realy means ‘very much’ and modifies the verb to try, whereas in the next sentence really
could also mean ‘actually’, and thus modify the whole sentence, e.g.
The way out of this is really to try and persuade him.

Here is the dictionary definition of split infinitive, and the Usage Note in Collins English
Dictionary and Thesaurus: “(in English grammar) an infinitive used with another word between
to (the infinitive marker) and the verb itself, as in I want to really finish it this time. Usage. The
traditional rule against placing an adverb between to and its verb is gradually disappearing.
Although it is true that a split infinitive may result in a clumsy sentence (He decided to firmly
and definitively deal with the problem), this is not enough to justify the absolute condemnation
that this practice has attracted. Indeed, very often the most natural position of the adverb is
between to and the verb (He decided to really try next time) and to change it would result in an
artificial and awkward construction (He really decided to try next time). The current view is
therefore that the split infinitive is not a grammatical error. Nevertheless, many writers prefer to
avoid splitting infinitives in formal written English, since readers with a more traditional point
of view are likely to interpret this type of construction as incorrect”.

8. To without the base is often used in repetition rather than the complete infinitive, e.g.
Why haven’t you tidied your room? I told you to.
I did it because she encouraged me to.
Have you finished the translation? No, I haven’t, but I’ll try to.
9. For + noun/pronoun and to-infinitve, e.g. There has always been a tendency for our language
to absorb foreign words.
He waited for her to finish.
This idiomatic construction often expresses condition or purpose, e.g. For the
university to function properly, more money is needed; or it can express circumstance and even
be the subject of the sentence, e.g. For me to say nothing would be admitting defeat. For a man
to get custody of his children used to be difficult.

THE GERUND

The gerund (also called by some grammarians the verbal noun 60) has features typical of
both nouns and verbs. Most common dictionaries define it as “a noun formed from a verb,
59
In grammar, to embed means “to insert (a subordinate clause) into a sentence”.
60
Most common dictionaries define the gerund as “a noun formed from a verb, denoting an
action or state. In English, the gerund, like the present participle, is formed in -ing: The living is
easy”.

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denoting an action or state”. In English, the gerund, like the present participle, is formed in - ing
(so, it is one of the quite numerous -ing forms). Examples of gerund: The living is easy.
Shopping is her favourite pastime. (The etymology of the term is the following: derived from
Late Latin gerundium, from Latin gerundum “something to be carried on”, ultimately from
gerere “to wage”).
(a) Noun-like features:
1. A gerund can be subject, complement or object, e.g.
Skating is difficult. (subject)
That is [= means] cheating. (complement)
I hate hunting. (direct object).
The above functions are shared with the infinitive – thought there are differences of nuance.
2. Gerunds can follow a preposition, e.g. He’s thought of leaving.
She’s very good at dissembling.
The infinitve cannot occupy this position: compare, e.g. Is everyone aware of the possibility of
injuring their partners when sleighing? [not * the possibility to injure]
and: The programme gives the students the opportunity to learn more about global warming.
3. A gerund can be determined or modified by an article, adjective or a possessive, and
be post-modified by a phrase beginning with of, e.g. He has alwas recommended the reading of
good literature. He deserves a beating.
Careless writing leaves a bad impression. The soprano’s singing left us unmoved.
The timing of his remarks was unfortunate.
Note: Learners should be careful to the use of the v-ing (+ Object) structure, vs. the the
v-ing of Noun strucure, which must not be confused, e.g. She is very much interested in
providing real-time information. He was not interested in the making of those earthen pots.
(b) Verb-like features:
1. A gerund can take an object or a complement, e.g. Shooting the tiger was
unavoidable.
Becoming an expert took him more than ten years.
2. I can be nodified by an adverbial, e.g. She was afraid of totally disillusioning the
team.
3. It can have a subject, e.g. The idea of John going to see her is absurd.

The possessive and the Gerund:

There is often uncertainty about the presence or absence of a possessive, e.g.
Do you remember him / his trying to persuade her?
Here both are correct. But this dos not mean that there is never any difference in usage
between the two. The following instances are, we think, illustrative:
(a) When the gerund is subject or complement, e.g.
Your trying to persuade me will get you nowhere.
It was Jake’s insisting we went there that saved the situation.
(b) When the gerund is object, or follows prepositions.
In such cases both uses are possible, e.g.
They spoke at great length about him / his being elected president.
You don’t mind me / my turning up so late, do you?
There are however cases when the sue of the possessive would present something of a
style clash in spoken or colloquial contexts, e.g.
They laughed their heads off at him falling into the river.
In this example, the use of the possessive ‘his’ would be too formal.
Similarly, the gerund must not be confused with the present participle (Rom. gerunziu)
in such constructions. Some sentences can be ambiguous, e.g.
I hate people trying to get in without paying.

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 (If trying is a gerund, the meaning is ‘I hate the fact that (some) people try to get in
without paying’. If trying is a present participle, the meaning is ‘I hate people who try to get in
without paying’).
But the -ing form is unambiguously a gerund in a sentence such as:
I hate their trying to get in without paying.
There is a tendency to make greater use of the possessive before the gerund in
American English than in British English.
(c) The stress / emphasis factor
If the subject of the gerund is being heavily emnphasized, the possessive is less likely
to be used, e.g.
Imagine YOU marrying Ted!

The Gerund and the Infinitive compared:

(a) There is little or no difference.
Since the infinitive and the gerund both have noun-like features, in that they can
function as subject, object and complement, often there is little or no difference between them
in meaning, e.g.
We can’t bear seeing you like this.
We can’t bear to see you like this.
On the other hand, sayings and quotations a re ‘fixed’, e.g. Seeing is believing.
To err is human, to forgive divine.
(b) They have different meanings:
1. The general versus the specific: the gerund often indicates a general activity or state,
and the infinitive a more specific one, e.g. I hate refusing offers like that (general)
I hate to refuse an offer like that (specific)
But there are exceptions, e.g. I prefer being called by my Christian name.
I prefer to be called by my Christian name.
Both of the above examples could be either used in a general or a specific context, the
difference being academic in any case since a preference is a general thing.
In American English the infinitve is oten used in cases where british English would use
a gerund, e.g. I like cooking (BrE)
I like to cook (AmE)
Both of these refer to a general liking. For reference to specific occasions both British
and American English would say:
I’d like to cook something for you.
2. If the verb try means ‘attempt’, either the infinitive or the gerund is used, e.g.
I once tried to make a film, but I couldn’t.
I once tried making a film, but I couldn’t.
Try to speak more slowly.
Try speaking more slowly.
But of try is used to mean ‘experience’, then only the gerund is used, e.g. I’ve never tried
eating jellyfish.
Let us compare this with:
I once tried to eat jellyfish, but couldn’t.
3. After forget and remember the infinitive refers to future time (or posteriority), the
gerund to past time, e.g. I won’t forget to dance with her (in the future)
I won’t forgte dancing with her. (in the past)
Will she remember to meet me? (in the future)
Will she remember meeting me? (in the past)
(c) The infinitive only, or the gerund only:
1. The infinitive only is used:
Some verbs can be followed only by the infinitive, e.g. want, wish, hope, deserve:
I want/wish to leave now

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We hope to be back by five
He deserves to be punished.
2. The gerund only is used:
Other verbs take the gerund only, e.g. avoid, consider (“think of”), dislike, enjoy,
finish, keep, practise, risk, e.g. He avoided answering any questions
I dislike dressing up for the theatre.
We enjoy having friends round to dinner
She finished typing her letter.
Why do you keep reminding me?
Would you mind stepping this way, Sir?
You must practise playing the piano more often.
I don’t want to rish upsetting Gilbert.
3. In the examples in (1) and (2) above, both he infinitve and the gerund are objects of
the perceding verbs. So is the gerund in “I stopped looking at her”, unlike the infinitive in “I
stopped to look at her”, where the function of the infinitve is that of adverbial of purpose.
Similarly, there is a great deal of difference between:
He was too busy talking to her (i.e. talking made him busy)
and: He was too busy to talk to her (i.e. he was busy doing something else)
In much the same way, the adjective worth, used in impersonal constructions, can be
followed by the gerund only, e.g. Their suggestion is worth considering.
4. It is also important to distinguish between to as a marker of the infinitive and as a
preposition. The gerund must follow a preposition, as in:
I’m tired of watching television
That’s just like wishing for the moon.
What do you think about getting a loan?
They were not in the habit of receiving lots of money from lending money to tourists.
Special attention should be paid to the preposition to:
They are committed to implementing the plan.
We’re looking forward to receiving your letter.
I object to raising money for that purpose.
We’re not used / accustomed to getting u pat this hour.
The phrase be accustomed to is sometimes found with the infinitive, though, e.g.
They’ve never been accustomed to pay(ing) for anything.

THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE

The present participle is a participial form of verbs used adjectivally when the action it
describes is contemporaneous with that of the main verb of a sentence, and also used in the
formation of certain compound tenses (when it is also called “indefinite participle”). In English
this form ends in -ing, e.g. seeing, working, etc. It can be equated to Romanian gerunziu.
The present participle normally functions either as verb or as and adjective.
(a) Functioning as a verb:
1. The present participle is used with be to form the continuous form / aspect, e.g.
He is running. He was running. He has been running.
2. The present participle frequently functions as an elliptical relative clause, e.g.
They went up to the people coming from the theatre (= who were coming)
3. However, it may have a looser connection with the rest of the sentence, sharing its
subject with the verb in the present or past tense. In writing, the looser connection is often
indicated by a comma, and in speech – by intonation, e.g.
She turned towards the man, looking shy and afraid.
Here the subject of looking is she. But if we leave out the comma, the subject of
looking is likely to be interpreted as the man, and the sentence would then belong to the type in
(2) above.

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 This relatively loose present participle may precede its subject, e.g. Looking shy and
afraid, she turned towards the man.
It often expresses cause, condition or time, being equivalent to a subordinate clause,
e.g. Living alone, she often feels uneasy at night (= Because / since / as she lives alone…)
You’d get more out of life, living alone (= … if you lived alone)
Driving along, I suddenly passed a field of tulips (= while / as I was driving along…)
Sometimes, it is equivalent to a main clause, e.g. She went up to him, asking for his advice (=
… and (she) asked for his advice)
Living in the Scottish Highlands, he is a sensitive musician who helped organize the Bath
Orchestra (= He lives in Scotland and (he) is a…)
4. The ‘dangling’ participle:
A present part is considered to be ‘dangling’ if its subject is other than that of the verb in the
present or past tense, e.g. Comning down the staircase carrying as uumbrella, one of the mice
tripped him up. It is unlikely that the subject of coming is one of the mice! ‘Dangling’
participles are normally to be avoided as they often cause unintentional amusement. However,
if an indefinite subject is understood, like an indefinite we or French on, or German man, then a
‘dangling’ participle is acceptable, e.g. Generallay speaking, British cooking leaves a good deal
to be desired.
Judging by the way she dresses, she must have a lot of confidence
The work will have to be postponed, seeing that only two of us have tools.
5. In other circumstances, to avoid a ‘dangling’ aprticiple, the subject of the participle (different
from that of the other verb) can precede it in the so-called ‘absolute construction’, e.g. The lift
being out of order, we had to used the stairs.
She being the hostess, any kind of criticism was outt of the question
We’ll do it on Sunday, weather permitting. (Romanian. “…dacă ne dă voie / lasă / permite
vremea”)
God willing, we can do it. (Romanian. “Cu voia lui Dumnezeu,…”, “Dacă vrea Domnul,…”).
(b) Functioning as an adjective, e.g. She has already been a loving child.
Her appearance is striking.
She finds Toby very charming.
Of course, from this function comes the adverbial one, e.g. He is strikingly handsome.

The present participle and the gerund compared:

Let us consider the following sentence: I cannot get used tot hat man avoiding my eyes
all the time. This is ambiguous because avoding (my eyes all the time) can be interpreted as
either a gerund or a present participle.
If it is a gerund, the sentence is equivalent to ‘I cannot get used to the fact that that
mani s avoding my eyes’).
But if it is a present participle, the meaning is ‘I can’t get used to that man who is
avoiding my eyes’.
In the following sentence there is doubt that the -ing form is a gerund:
Children suffering like that is on our conscience (= the suffering of the children);
Nor is ther any doubt that it is a present perfect in: Children suffering like that are on
our conscience (= children who suffer…)
When a gerund modifies a noun, only the gerund is stressed in speech; the noun is not:
a living room (= a room for living);
but when the modifier is a present participle, it and the noun receive equal stress:
a living animal (= an animal that lives / is alive).

THE PAST PARTICIPLE

Many of the following functions should be compared with the present participle:
(a) Functioning as a verb:

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 1. The past participle is used with have to form the perfective aspect, e.g.
He has/has arrived;
and with be to form the passive voice, e.g. She is/was admired;
and with both have and be to form the perfective passive, e.g. She has/had been admired.
2. The past particple frequently funcitons as an elliptical relative clause, e.g. They
ignored the concerts given by the local orchestra (= which were/had been given…).
Or it can function as a subordinate clause of cause, condition or time. a conjunction /
conjunct (especially if and when) sometimes makes the meaning eplicit, e.g. Watched over by
her family, Diana felt safe but unhappy.
(If) treated with care, DVDs should last for years and years
DVDs should last for years and years if treated with care
(When) asked why this was so, he refused to answer.
He refused to answer when asked why this was so.
The past participle can also function as a main clause, e.g. Born in Aberdeen, he now lives in
Perth with his wife and children.
3. The past participle sometiems ‘dangles’ unacceptably by becoming detached from the
subject of the sentence, e.g. Told to cancel the meeting, his project was never discovered.
This could be better expressed as:
His project was never discussed as he was told to cancel the meeting.
4. The ‘absolute construction’:
The problems solved, they went their separate ways. (Romanian. “Odată rezolvate problemele,
…”)
That done, he left.
(b) Functioning as an adjective:
3. I am very tired.
The defeated army retreated.
It should be noted that in the first example the modifier is very, as indeed it must be
before an adjective. If the modifier is much, the verb-like character of the past participle is
emphasized, e.g. I am much obliged
He’s been much troubled by the news.
When aged, beloved, blessed, cursed and learned are adjectives (meaning, respectively,
‘advanced in years; old’, ‘dearly loved’, ‘1. made holy by religious ceremony; consecrated; 2.
worthy of deep reverence or respect; 3. beatified by the pope; 4. characterized by happiness or
good fortune; 5. bringing great happiness or good fortunea euphemistic word for damned’,
‘deserving to be cursed; detestable; hateful’, ‘having great knowledge or erudition; involving or
characterized by scholarship’), -ed is normally pronounced [id], but when they are verbs, the
pronunciation is the regular [d] and [t], e.g.
He has aged
An aged man [id]
He comes here every blessed night! [id]
This cursed family of his will stop at nothing [id].

THE ADVERB

English adverbs are a heterogeneous class, varying greatly in their functional and
positional ranges . They constitute a series of overlapping subclasses, and some of them belong
to more than one subclass. For example, the adverb very is an intensifier that functions only as
a premodifier (very large, very careful), whereas too is an intensifier when it functions as a
premodifier (too small, too quickly), but it has a different meaning when it functions as an
adverbial, e.g. I have no doubt that my poor dear mother though him, too. (Charles Dickens)

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 We may regard as complex adverbs certain fixed expressions that have the form of
prepositional phrases, such as of course and as a result.
The terms ADVERB and ADVERBIAL are distinct. Adverb is the name of a word class
or part of speech, and so adverbs can be contrasted with adjectives. The adverb phrase is a
phrase preceded by an adverb, for example very carefully, preceded by the adverb carefully.
Adverbial is the name of a constituent of a sentence or clause. So adverbial can be contrasted
with complements of the verb such as subject predicative and direct objects. An adverb phrase
may function as an adverbial.
Used alone or with one or more modifiers, adverbs have two characteristic functions: A :
as a premodifier of an adjective or of another adverb.
e.g. (1). one foot’s slightly bigger than the other though.
(2). The truly disturbing aspect is that the CIA itself was also laughably amateurish in
not challenging his obvious breaches of Accepted procedure. (= to a degree that was
laughable). (The Sunday Times, 27 February 1994, page 1)
(3). This really takes things too far, doesn’t it?
As premodifiers or postmodifiers, adverbs are generally intensifiers, indicating degree
or extent above or below an assumed norm: slightly (bigger), laughably (amateurish), too
(far), very (badly).
B : As an adverbial in sentence or clause structure.
The other characteristic function is as adverbial in the sentences or clause structure.
There is often more than one adverb functioning as adverbial in the same sentence, e.g. (1).
Actually you probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it here.
(2). Funnily enough, many patients who show such learning consequently deny ever
having done the task before.
Though important informational, adverbials are optional constituents of the sentence or
clause, in the sense that if they are omitted the sentence
remains well-formed.
Adverbs are obligatory constituents when they function as complements, e.g .
(1). Here I am in the playground, with my eye still fascinated by him, though I can not
see him. (Charles Dickens)
(2). If the place grabbed me then I recreated it and put a story there.
As with the other word classes, many adverbs do not have suffixes: now, here, often,
therefore, however. The most common adverb ending is -ly, which is added to adjective to form
adverb: openly, madly, carefully, quickly, axiomatically. If the adjective ends in -ic, the suffix is
generally -ally, as in romantically, heroically, electrically, axiomatically.
Less common are adverb endings in -ward and -wise. The ending –ward usually has a
direct meaning. The ending -wise generally has either a manner meaning or a viewpoint
meaning.
-ward: forward, upward skyward, northward, inward, afterward.
-wise: likewise, otherwise, lengthwise, snakewise, marketing-wise, stomachwise,
pricewise.
A grammatically important class of adverb are the wh- adverbs, so called because most
of them are written with the initial wh-, the exception being how and however. Several of them
introduce relative clauses: when, where, why, whereby, whereupon, and the archaic whence,
wherein.
The wh- adverbs how, when, where, and why introduce interrogative sentences and clauses, e.g.
(1). “How can you be so aggravating?”, said my mother, shedding more tears than before, as to
talk in such an unjust manner. (Charles Dickens)
(2). Why are you looking at me, Bobby? I have never borrowed a hardback.
(3). How well I recollect it, on a cold grey afternoon, with a dull sky, threatening rain.
(4) When I had finished it, he asked me where I was going to school. (Charles Dickens)
Syntactic Values of the English adverb (cf. English Grammar, Sidney Greenbaum,
1996, p. 141-144)

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 The English adverbs express many meanings; they also realize many kinds of syntactic
functions:
A: potentially, as head of an adverbial group;
B: as adjunct, complement and, marginally as subject and object in clauses;
C: as modifier.
D: as stance adjunct associated with whole clauses;
E: as connectives between clauses.
Less typically, adverbs can realize the integrated clause functions of complement,
object and subject. Since adjuncts of various kinds are syntactic elements that can be realized
not only by adverbs, but also finite and non-finite clauses, some grammars group all these
classes of realizations under the general name of adverbial.
In their functions as modifiers in group structures, adverbs occupy fixed position. As
adjuncts, however, they are more mobile, occupying initial, middle or end positions. Not all
adjunctive adverbs are equally mobile. The choice is determined by its type, the scope of its
meaning (whole clause and a part of clause), the degree of emphasis the speaker wishes to give
to it, and the general information structure of the clause. The scope of reference of adverbs as
adjuncts are also very important, the different positions an adverb may occupy determine the
scope of its reference.
Since there is rarely a one -to-one relationship between function and type, many words
can realize more than one syntactic function, with the position of the adverb varying according
to its function. This is illustrated by the adverbs altogether and later:
Altogether: He owes me a hundred dollars altogether (adjunct).
I think you are altogether wrong (modifier of adjective).
There were a lot of interesting people there, so altogether,we had a very good time.
(connective).
Later : There will be another performance later. (adjunct)
The later performance will be at midnight. (modifier of noun)
The performance later will be a better one. (post modifier)
In conversation, adverbs sometimes occur alone, as responses to something said by the
previous speaker. In such cases the adverb can carry out such discourse functions as agreeing
emphatically, expressing mild interest, asserting strongly or granting permission in particular
contexts. (English Grammar, Angela Downing and Philip Locke, 1992, p. 508-514)
Adverb Forms
According to form, adverbs may be of four kinds:
(A), Simple adverbs: here, now, still, how, fast, then, there, before.
(B), Compound adverbs: sometimes, everywhere, anyhow.
(C), Phrase adverbs: at once, at last, at least, forever,
(D), Derivative adverb:
--- adjective + -ly : beautifully, happily, quickly.
--- participle + -ly: charmingly, undoubtedly.
--- ordinal numeral + -ly: firstly, secondly, thirdly.
Note: – The participle or adjectival -ed is pronounced [-id] before -ly when the stress
immediately precedes the suffix: fixedly, allegedly, deservedly (so also where -ed is originally
[-id]: decidedly, doggedly, spiritedly):
Otherwise, [-dli / -tli]: determinedly, shamefacedly.
--- adjectives in “-ic” add “-ly” to form “ -ical”:
basic --basically, scientific – scientifically , economic – economically; and exceptions:
publicly , politically.
Rules of spelling of adverbs derived by adding the suffix “-ly”:
(A). A final “-y” changes to “-i”:
e.g. happy – happily , gay – gaily
In monosyllables there are, however, alternative forms:
gaily – gayly, drily – dryly , shily – shyly .

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(B). A final “-e” is retained:
E.g. sincere – sincerely, extreme – extremely .
However, there are some exceptions as following:
--- adjective ending in the “-ue” drop “-e”:
due – duly , true – truly.
--- adjectives ending in “-ble” drop the final “-e” and add “-y”:
noble – nobly, humble – humbly, sensible – sensibly
--- the word whole: whole – wholly. I wholly agree with you.
(C). The ending “-ic” changes into “ -ically”.
magic – magically, basic – basically
(D). After “ -ll”, we always add “-y” directly.
full – fully.
There are some adjectives which end in “-ly”, like friendly, we cannot add another “-ly” to such
an adjective. Instead we can use a phrase with manner, way, or fashion, e.g. adjective: We
received a friendly greeting.
adverbial: They greeted us in a friendly manner.
Sometimes, we use another adverb formed from an adjective of
similar meaning.
adjective: That is not very likely.
adverbial: That probably won’t happen.
Some adjectives ending in “-ly” are costly, cowardly, friendly, likely, lively, lonely,
lovely, silly and ugly. Participle forms such as annoying and surprising form adverbs in “-ly”,
e.g: It was surprisingly cold for the time of year.
But we do not usually form adverb from participle ending in “-ed”, e.g. Everyone stared
in astonishment .The only exceptions are a few participles ending in “-ed”, like excited,
exhausted, e.g : The crowd shouted excitedly.
Sometimes, the adverb can be with or without “-ly”. In these examples, there is no
difference in meaning, but it is more informal to leave out the suffix “-ly”, e.g: (1). If you buy
goods in bulk, you can sell them cheap/cheaply.
(2). Do you have to talk so loud /loudly?
Others are direct(ly), fair(ly), tight(ly), quick(ly), slow(ly).
We use the form without “-ly” only in frequent combinations like talk loud, go slow, fly
direct or play fair. With longer or less common expressions, we use “-ly”.
There are some pairs such as hard and hardly which are both adverbs, but which have
different meanings, e.g (1). You deserve a rest because you have work hard.
It will take hardly any time at all (hardly any = almost no).
(2). The man raised their hands high in the air.
The theory is highly controversial. (highly = very)
Others are such as near/nearly, late/lately, deep/deeply, free/freely,
most/mostly. (Oxford Learner’s Grammar, 2005, p. 263-265).

Classification of the English Adverb

Adverbs of Manner:
These adverbs describe a verb showing the manner or circumstances of an event or
situation. Some of the “-ly” adverbs of manner that describe the way in which something is
done are the following: carefully, correctly, differently, closely, brightly, quickly, distinctly,
easily, formally, quietly, thickly, widely.
There are adverbs of manner that indicate not only the way in which something is done,
but also the feelings of the person who does it, such adverbs are: angrily, gladly, proudly,
sadly, cheerfully, hopefully, wearily, eagerly.
As it has already been shown above, adverbs of manner may also indicate the
circumstance in which an action takes place, such as: accidentally, bodily, directly, dully,
artificially, commercially, illegally, deliberately.

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 Adverbs of manner answer the question “how?”, or “in what way / manner?”.
Adverbs of Place:
Such adverbs give us information about place. They can indicate either location,
position or direction, destination. Some adverbs of place that indicate position are: abroad,
halfway, oversea, ahead, here, there, somewhere, aloft, indoors, anywhere, inland, under,
around, midway, underground, ashore, nearly, underfoot, away, nowhere, underwater,
downstairs, offshore, upstairs, everywhere, outdoors. All these adverbs answer the question
where?
Destination is usually expressed by such adverbs of place as: aboard, home, outside,
abroad, inside, overseas, ashore, near, there, downstairs, next door, underground , downtown,
outdoor, upstairs, heavenward, out of doors, uptown.
Direction may be indicated by the following adverbs: ahead, clockwise, southward,
along, downward, around, east, south-east, back, eastward, round, backward, north, up,
forward, left, on, westward, westward, north-east, north-west, sideways, south, upward and so
on. Such adverb answer the question where to or where from?
Some prepositions or prepositional or adverbial phrases can also be used as adverbs,
such as: above, over, in front of, behind, round , in and out of, below, back and forth, next to,
beneath, backward(s), round and round, beside, forward, to and fro, between, here and thither,
under, opposite, in between, underneath.
Adverbs of Time:
Adverbs and adverbial phrases of time can refer either to definite time, indicating
“exactly when” something happens, and answering the question when?, or to duration,
answering the question since when? / for
how long?, or to indefinite time. The last type of adverbs do not answer time questions
precisely.
Adverbs of definite time refer to the current time or to certain days, years etc., such as:
at three o’clock, yesterday, today, tomorrow, on Monday, on New Year’s Eve, in the morning,
at noon, at dawn, last week, last month, last year, when, then, ago. When more than one adverb
of definite time occurs, the more particular must precede the more general, that is the order
should be time + day + date + year:
e.g. We will have to meet them at 10 o’clock in the morning on Sunday May 21st 1995.
Ago is used only when the point of reference is present, e.g: I wrote to him three days
ago.
When the point of reference is past or future, before and not ago must be used, e.g: She
said she had met him two days ago.
They will arrive here before noon.
Adverbials of duration indicate how long something lasts or takes and can be expressed
either by such adverbs as always, all day long, (not) any more, (not)any longer, no longer, no
more, briefly, for ever, indefinitely, long, overnight, permanently, temporarily, or by
prepositional, phrases beginning with the following preposition: after, before, by, during, for,
from… to …., in, since, through, till, until.
The preposition for indicates how long something continues to happen and marks the
duration of a period of time in the past or in the future, or up to the present, e.g. You stayed in
the hotel for ten days. (=You no longer stay there).
You have stayed in the hotel for ten days. (=You are still there).
When the period of time is mentioned for the first time, for is followed by for an hour,
for a week, for a month, for a year, for a (long/short) while, e.g. We waited for him for an
hour.
When the period of time is already known (season, period of the day), or when the time
word is modified by such words as past, coming, following, next, last, for is followed by the,
e.g. My mother is off for the day.
They have been working for the past two hours.
You will be free for the next three days.

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 Sometimes, when we want to emphasize or exaggerate how long something lasts, for is
followed by such plural nouns as ages, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries, e.g. My
son has not taken any medicine for years.
When we want to be less precise about how long something lasts, we can use
approximating adverbs like about, almost, around, less than, more than, nearly after for, e.g.
She lived in that house for nearly five years.
Since such verbs as to last, to stay, and to wait have durations as part of their meaning,
they can be followed by a noun group instead of a prepositional phase with for. The verbs to
take and to spend can never be followed by a for-phase, but by a noun group.
Since marks the beginning of a period that lasts till now and is associated with the
Present Perfect, or it marks the beginning of a period that lasted till then and is associated with
the Past Perfect, e.g. We have known him since 1985.
When I met him that evening, he had not eaten since morning.
Since can also occur as an adverb on its own, e.g. Our niece visited us in April, but we
have not seen him since.
A time word +after + the same time word emphasizes either that an action is repeated
continuously for a long time, or that a state continues for a long time, e.g. We waited for an
answer day after day.
We use in to show that something will happen before the end of a certain period of time.
It can often be replaced by within in formal English, e.g. They will finish their work in (within)
two days.
Till / until are used with “continuity verbs” to mean “any time before and not later than”,
while by is used with “momentary” / “point of time verbs “ having the same meaning of “any
time before and not later than”, e.g. Will you wait here till I come back?
The train will have arrived by 10 o’clock.
During refers to a whole period of time and is always followed by a noun, e.g. Many
people lost their lives during the earthquake.
Among adverbs of time there are also included the adverbs of frequency which indicate
how often an activity is repeated. Such adverbs fall into two categories: adverbs of definite
frequency, such as once, twice, every other day, every three days , every few days, every fourth
day, hourly / daily / weekly / fortnightly / monthly/ adverbs of definite frequency: once, twice,
adverbs of indefinite frequency, such as almost always, nearly always, generally, seldom,
(very) frequently / occasionally / often / rarely, once in a blue moon, sometimes, from time to
time,
Adverbs of Degree:
Adverbs of degree indicate the extent of an action or the degree to which an action is
performed. The most frequent adverbs of degree such as: absolutely, far, really, adequately,
fully, reasonably, almost, greatly, remarkably, amazingly, half, significantly, awfully, hardly,
simply, badly, hugely, slightly, barely, immensely, somewhat, a bit, incredibly, soundly,
completely, intensely, strongly, considerably, just, sufficiently, dearly, largely, supremely,
deeply, mainly, surprisingly, drastically, moderately, suspiciously, dreadfully, much, terribly,
enormously, nearly, too, enough, noticeably, totally, entirely, pretty, truly, utterly, purely, very,
quite, fairly, well, rather, fantastically, wonderfully.
These adverbs can make the word they modify weaker or stronger. The words that can be
modified by adverbs of degree may be:
A) adjective : rather difficult;
B) Adverb : quite fluently;
C) Verbs :I did not quite understand;
D) Nous (very rarely) : That was quite an experience.
Fairly / Quite / Rather / Pretty / Very.
Fairly means “less than the highest degree” and is usually combined with adjectives or
adverbs that suggest a good state of affair and it is less complimentary than quite, and fairly is
never combined with comparativ, e.g. Your story is fairly interesting.

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 Quite is a little stronger than fairly. When used with gradable adjective or adverbs, it
means “less than the highest degree” or “better than expected”, e.g. His answers were quite
good
They played quite well.
When used with non-gradable61 adjectives or adverbs (dead, perfectly, marvellous, right,
impossible), quite means “absolutely”, “completely”; Not quite, usually used with non-gradable
words, and means “not completely, like “ I did not quite understand you.
Many times the meaning of quite depends on stress and intonation, so if it is pronounced
with a rising tone, it has a positive meaning, if it pronounced with a falling tone, its meaning is
negative, e.g. They managed to finish the job quite quickly. The problem was quite
complicated.
Rather is stronger than quite and is used to mean either “more than is usual / expected”
or “more than is wanted / accepted”. Rather can be either preceded, or followed by a with no
difference in meaning, e.g. It was a rather long journey.
It was rather a long journey. It must be underlined that, when we make a favorable
comment, quite is usually preferred to rather, while in unfavorable comments, rather is
preferred to quite, although quite is also possible, e.g. These apples are quite cheap. This car is
rather / quite expensive.
Pretty has a similar meaning to rather, but pretty is used in a more informal style,
like “I am pretty hungry.”
Very is the most common intensifier and is used before gradable adjective or adverbs,
in the positive degree, and when by much, very can be followed by comparatives, and when
preceded by the, or possessive adjectives, it can be followed by superlatives or nouns, e.g. My
car is very much faster than bus. She will do her very best to help us. Read the lesson from the
very beginning, please!
Much / Far / A Lot
Much and far as intensifiers are usually combined with comparatives and superlatives.
While a lot is followed only by comparatives, e.g. This exercise is much / far more difficult
than the other. This is much / far the worst road in the country. It is a lot warmer today than it
was yesterday.
Too – Enough
Too means “more than the right amount” or “more than is desirable”. Enough means “the
right amount”, and not enough means “less than the right amount”. While too goes before an
adjective or adverb, enough goes after it, e.g . This suitcase is too heavy for me. This house is
big enough for us.
Note that enough can also be a determiner when used before a noun, e.g. We have
enough money to buy this car.
Hardly / Barely / Scarcely
Hardly, barely, and scarcely are negative words and they mean “almost not”.
Consequently, they can never combine with other negative word, e.g. She hardly ever leaves
her house (= almost never)
They have barely enough food (= almost not enough)
We scarcely know anybody here (= almost no person)
So - Such
Both so and such are used to emphasize a quality that someone or something has. So can
be followed by an adjective , an adverb or a noun group preceded by much, many, little, few.
Such may be followed either by a singular noun preceded by a, or by a plural noun group, e.g.
He spoke so quickly that nobody understood him.
I have never done such difficult exercises.
Adverbs of frequency
61
In linguistics, the term gradable denotes a word in whose meaning there is some implicit
relationship to a standard: big and small are gradable adjectives. Its opposite is non-gradable or
ungradable.

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 Adverbs of frequency indicate how often an activity is repeated; such adverbs fall into
two main categories:
(a) adverbs of definite frequency: once, twice, three/several times (a
day/week/month/year etc), every + day/ week/ month/ year/ morning/ afternoon/ evening/ night/
etc , every other day , every three days , every few days, every fourth day, hourly / daily /
weekly / fortnightly / monthly/
annually / yearly, on + Sunday / Thursday / weekdays, etc.
(b) adverbs of indefinite frequency: always, almost always, nearly always, generally,
seldom, (very) frequently / occasionally / often / rarely / regularly / usually, (almost) never,
hardly ever, again and again, at times, (every) now and then, from time to time, (every) now
and again, once in a blue moon, sometimes.
The English adverbs of frequency can sometimes go after the subject and before a
negative auxiliary; compare these sentences:
I do not often have breakfast. ( = I seldom have breakfast)
I often do not have breakfast. (= I often go without breakfast)
Always, never, and often in front position are emphatic, and we can use always and never
in instruction, e.g. Always the ghost appeared at the same time.
Never try to adjust the machine while it is switched on.
We can use a phase with every, most or some to express frequency.
These phrase can go in front or end position. We also can use once, twice,
three times, etc., e.g. Every summer we all go sailing together.
Some evening we do not have the television on at all.
Two tables to be taken three times a day.
Paul has been married several times.
The adverbs daily / weekly / fortnightly / monthly/ annually / yearly etc go in end
position, like “Are you paid weekly or monthly?” (Oxford Guide to English Grammar, John
Eastwood, 1994, p. 269).
Interrogative adverbs:
Such adverbs as how, when, where and why are often used to begin a question:
e.g: (1). ‘Silence!’, cried Mr. Mell, suddenly rising up, and striking his desk with the book.
‘What does this mean? It’s impossible to bear it. It’s maddening. How can you do it to me,
boys?’
(2). ‘And how do you get on, and where are you being educated, Brooks?’, said Mr. Quinion.
(3) ‘Why should she be inclined to forgive him now? ‘ said my mother, rather sharply,’ Now
that he’s got a brother, I mean,’ said Peggotty. (Charles Dickens].
Connective / Linking / Relative Adverbs:
Numerous adverbs are used to introduce a clause. Such adverbs are employed when:
(a). An extra reinforcing piece of information is added: also, as well, beside,
furthermore, moreover, e.g. My sister has painted a landscape. She has also painted one.
I do not like this idea, and, moreover, I think it is illegal.
That dress would not fit me, besides I can not afford it.
(b). When a comparison is made: equally, likewise, similarly, e.g. He ignored her, and
she ignored him likewise.
My brother was taught to read by my mother, and similarly, so was I .
(c). A contrast is pointed to: alternately, conversely, even so, however, nevertheless,
nonetheless, rather, still, though, yet.
e.g. I do not like your suggestion . However, you may do as you.
I am feeling ill, but I will come with you nevertheless.
She is pleasant enough, (and) yet I do not like her.
(d). We want to indicate that something happens before or after an event we have already
mentioned: afterwards, beforehand, earlier, (ever) since, finally, first, last, later, meanwhile,
next, presently, simultaneously, soon, soon after, subsequently, suddenly, then, throughout, e.g.
The child had gone into the park. Meanwhile his mother was searching for him in the street.

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She looked around. Suddenly, she realized she was alone.
(e). We want to summarize the things mentioned above: all in all, and so on,
essentially. The interrogative adverbs how, when, where and why may also be employed as
relative adverbs, e.g. (1) Glowing with pleasure to find that he had still this interest in me, I told
him how my aunt had proposed the little expedition that I had before me, and whiter it tended.
(2) I believe that Steerforth had said what he had, in jest, or to draw Miss Dartle out;
and I expected him to say as much when she was gone, we two were sitting before the fire. But
he merely asked me what I thought of her. (Charles Dickens)
Focus Adverbs:
Such adverbs as alone, merely, principally, chiefly, mostly, purely, especially, notably,
really, even, only, simply, exclusively, particularly, solely, just, predominantly, specially,
mainly, primarily, specifically precede the word they qualify to focus attention on it. The
position of these adverbs in the sentence is flexible, according to the word we want to focus on
and, in this way, they convey slightly different meaning, e.g: Even Mary could do that exercise.
(=although she is not very good at maths).
Mary could do even that exercise. (= among other thing)
Only Nick smelt the flower. (= nobody else)
Nick only smelt the flower (= he did not do anything else)
Nick smelt only the flower (= nothing else)
Sometimes only combined with too to means “extremely”, e.g. That problem was only too
difficult for me.
The adverbs too, as well, not… either focus our attention by adding some more
information, e.g. This car is too expensive for me. ( =more than desirable)
Grandfather is old, and grandmother is old too / as well. (=also)
I cannot swim and my sister cannot swim either.
Viewpoint adverbs:
Some adverbs or adverbial phrases are used to indicate the speaker’s or the writer’s
attitude to the fact or event he is talking about. So speaker / writer may show:
(a) how sure he / she is about something: certainly, maybe, really, clearly, naturally,
remarkably, definitely, obviously, significantly, evidently, perhaps , strictly, honestly, possibly.
(b) that he is going to be brief : anyhow, anyway, briefly, in brief, e.g. I do not think you
can do it but you can try anyhow.
(c) what is the opinion is: absurdly, hopefully, surprisingly, agreeably, incredibly,
typically, astonishingly, ironically, unexpectedly, mercifully, characteristically, unbelievably,
conveniently, miraculously, unfortunately, curiously, mysteriously, unhappily, fortunately,
oddly, luckily, frankly, paradoxically, unnecessarily, happily, sadly, honestly, strongly, e.g. I
was agreeably surprised by the cheapness of the price.
Unfortunately, I have not enough money to travel abroad.
Truth adverbs:
A truth adverb expresses what the speaker knows about the truth of a statement: how
likely it is to be true, or to what degree it is true, e.g. Perhaps / maybe Mandy has missed the
bus. You have certainly / undoubtedly made a good start.
Most of these adverbs can go in front, mid or end position. Certainly, definitely and
probably usually go in mid position. But in a negative sentence we put a truth adverb after the
subject rather than after the auxiliary. Sometime we can use a prepositional phase, e.g. The
whole thing is ridiculous in my opinion.
We get on quite well together on the whole.
Comment adverbs:
We use this kind of adverb to make a comment on what we are saying, e.g. Luckily, no
one was killed.(=It was lucky that no one was killed)
I am afraid / Unfortunately we did not win anything.

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 We can also use an adverb to comment on someone’s behaviour. But, if the adverb is in
a different position, it has a different meaning. Compare the adverbs of comment and manner,
e.g. I stupidly left the car unlocked. (= It was stupid of me)
The man stared stupidly. (= in a stupid manner)
We can use a phrase with to for someone’s feeling about something, e.g. To my
surprise, the newspaper was not interested in the story.
To Phil’s delight, his plan proved successful.
Comment adverbs can used to comment on why we are saying something, e.g.
Honestly, / To be honest, I think you are making a wrong decision. (Oxford Guide to English
Grammar, John Eastwood, 1994, p. 275-276).

THE PREPOSITION

The preposition is a traditional word class, comprising words that relate two linguistic
elements to each other, and that genrally precede the word which they ‘govern’.
Simple prepositions are predominantly short words (e.g. at, by, down, for, from, in(to),
to, up), some of which also function as adverbs. There are some longer prepositions (e.g.
alongside the quay, throughout the period), and also COMPLEX prepositions consisting of
combinations of two or three words that function in the same way (e.g. according to,
regardless of, in front of, by means of, in additon to).
There was at some time considerable prejudice against putting a prepostion later than
the word it belongs to (!). Rewording is possible in some contexts (e.g. the word to which it
belongs), but a deferred (or strandded) preposition is cometimes unavoidable without a major
rewriting:
What did you do that for?
The problem is difficult to talk about
This is a matter we have to reckon with.
It’s not to be sneered at!
The predjudice goes back to Latin grammar, in which the chacrateristic placing of the
particle is indicated by its name praepositio, fom praeponere ‘put before’.
Prepositions overlap not only with adverbs but also with other word classes: e.g. near is
like an adjective in having comparative and superlative forms (nearer / nearerest the window),
since can be preposition (since the war), adverb (I haven’t seen them since) and conjunction
(since the war ended).” (The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar)

● In point of form, prepositions can be:

1. Simple, e.g. about, by, during, from, in, on , over, round, to, under, with.
2. Compound, e.g. alongside, into, inside, outside, throughout, within, without.
3. Complex, e.g. according to, ahead of, apart from, as for, because of, due to,
instead of, out of, owing to, together with, up to.
4. Prepositional phrases (in Romanian: locuţiuni prepoziţionale), e.g. at the back of,
by means of, by the side of, in accordance with, in front of, in opposition to, in
spite of, on account of, on behalf of, with a view to.
● In point of semantics, there are: (1) Prepositions of place of direction, e.g.
abroad, above, across, amid(st), inside, next, off, on top of, opposite, outside, past,
uder, up, upon, within; (showing direction or destination): about, after, along,
alongside, around, at, down, from, inside, into, off, onto, out of, to, toward(s), up.
(2) Prepositins expressing time, e.g. about, after, ahead of, at, before, between, by, for,
from, in, inside, on, since, throughout, till, to, towards., until, up, up to, within.
(3) Causal prepositions, e.g. on account of, by reason of, owing to, thanks to.

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 SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF PREPOSITIONS

1. Space Prepositions (“Prepoziţii spaţiale”):

about – în preajma, în jurul
above – deasupra, e.g. The candelabrum is above the table.
across – de-a curmezişul, peste
after – după
among – printre, e.g. You’ll find it among the books over there.
at – la, în, e.g. He was at school.
before – înaintea, în faţa, e.g. She stood before him, saying no word.
behind – înpoia, în spatele, îndărătul, e.g. Let’s wait behind the wall.
beside – lîngă, alături de, e.g. Stay beside me!
between – între
by – lîngă, pe lîngă
from – de la, din
in – în, la
into – în, înăuntrul, e.g. Come into the room, please.
near (to) – lîngă
off – de pe, e.g. Take these dishes off the table.
on – pe, e.g. The pencils are on your desk.
over – peste, deasupra, e.g. The airplane flew over the town.
past – pe lîngă, e.g. I saw him go / walk past the theatre.
through – prin
to – la, spre, către, e.g. I am going to school.
under – sub, dedesubtul, e.g. Take the cat from under the table!

2. Temporal Prepositions (“Prepoziţii temporale”):

about – pe la, în jurul, e.g. It’s about five o’clock.
after – după, e.g. after that – după aceea
at – la, în, Ø, e.g. at noon – la amiază; at night – noaptea;
before – înainte de, înaintea…, e.g. before the war – înaintea războiului
by – pînă la, nu mai târziu de, e.g. I’ll be back by eight o’clock.
during – în timpul, e.g. during holiday – în timpul vacanţei / concediului
for – timp de, e.g. They’ve been living in Bucharest for two years.
from – de la, din, e.g. Closed from 9 to 11 a.m.
in – în, Ø, e.g. in July; in the afternoon
on – în; la (data de…), pe, e.g. on Saturday; on July 6
past – după, trecut(e) de, şi…, e.g. ten minutes past ten – (ora) zece şi zece (minute)
since – de la, din, e.g. I’ve known him since 1995.
till / until – pînă, nu mai târziu de, e.g. We waited until six. I’ll wait here till the end of time!
to, towards – spre, către, e.g. twenty minutes to ten; towards evening.

3. Causal Prepositions (“Prepoziţii cauzale”):

of – din cauza, din pricina, de, e.g. She died of lung cancer. – (Cf. from below)
on account of – din cauza, din pricina, e.g. I couldn’t come in time on account of the

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snowstorm.
because of – din cauza, e.g. She was punished because of Tom.
by – din, e.g. He did it by mistake.
from – de, din cauza, e.g. She suffered from leuk(a)emia.
for – pentru, din cauza, e.g. Susan is proud of her family for their support.
owing to – datorită, din pricina, e.g. Sue’s reading was hesitant owing to a stammer.
out of – din, de, e.g. She did it out of charity, not out of spite!
thanks to – datorită, mulţumită, graţie…, e.g. I’m here thanks to your helpful brother.

4. Final Propositions (“Prepoziţii finale / de scop”):

for – pentru (a…), în vederea…, ca să…, e.g. He lacks the necessary tools for making an
umbrella. He is responsible for the efficient running of the department.

5. Prepositions expressing reference (“Prepoziţii care exprimă referirea”):

about – despre, în privinţa, e.g. What are you talking about?
of – despre, în legătură cu, e.g. Are you sure of it? We don’t know of anything that would be
suitable.
on – despre, asupra, e.g. This is a book / treatise on style.

SOME SOURCES OF ERRORS IN TRANSLATING PREPOSITIONS

a man about town – om de lume

above suspicion – în afară de orice bănuială
to ask after somebody – a se interesa de cineva / de sănătatea cuiva
against a blue background – pe un fond albastru
at liberty, at a distance – în libertate, în depărtare
at interest – cu dobândă
at somebody’s expense – pe cheltuiala cuiva
behind somebody’s back, behind the scenes – în spatele cuiva; în culise
by force – cu forţa
by night – pe timp de noapte; noaptea
by chance – din întîmplare
by contrast – prin contrast, spre deosebire
to travel by land / water / road – a călători / merge pe uscat / apă
to travel by train / coach – a călători / merge cu trenul
by Monday; by this time – până / nu mai târziu de luni; între timp
one by one – unul câte unul
to change minute by minute – a se schimba la fiecare minut
to judge by appearances – a judeca după aparenţe
to call him by his last name – a-i spune pe numele mare
to eat by candlelight – a mânca la lumina lumînării
for sale – do vânzare
the train leaves for Braşov – trenul pleacă la Braşov
word for word – cuvânt cu cuvânt
for anything I know – după / din câte ştiu (eu)
safe from danger – în afară de (orice) pericol
in the street(s), in the field / sky – pe stradă, pe câmp / cer; (Cf. AmE on the field / sky);
in the shade / sun – la umbră / soare
in time – la timp / vreme; (Cf. on time “punctual; punctually”: The train was on time.

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We paid our bills on time);
in all probability – după toate probabilităţile
in children / small animals – la copii / animalele mici
on their own will – de bună voie
on the way to – în drum spre
on hand – la îndemână
on tiptoe – în vârful picioarelor
on duty – de serviciu
a walk round the town – o plimbare prin oraş
from time to time – din când în când
patient under pain – răbdător la durere
upon principle – din principiu
a custom with the old Germans – un obicei la vechii germani
with Shakespeare – la Shakespeare
shaking with rage – tremurând de furie.

THE CONJUNCTION

The conjunction is a word that connects sentences, clauses or words with the same
syntactical function.
A traditional classification of conjunctions can be drawn according to their form, and
also according to their function.
● Thus, in point of form and complexity, conjunctions can be:
1. Simple, e.g. and, but, if, that
2. compound, e.g. however, notwithstanding, otherwise, unless
3. Correlative, e.g. as…as, both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but
also, whether…or
4. Conjunctional phrases, e.g. as well as, as if, as though, for that reason, for
instance, in order that / to, that is why, so long as.
● In point of function, conjunctions can be:
1. Coordinate / coordinative conjunctions.
2. Subordinate conjunctions.
1. The first set includes the following subclasses of conjunctions: (a) copulative
conjunctions, e.g. and, as well as, besides, both…and, furthermore, no less than, neither…nor,
not only…but also (b) adversative conjunctions, e.g. but, whereas, while, (c) disjunctive
conjunctions, e.g. or, also, or else, otehrwise, either…or. (d) conclusive conjunctions, e.g.
accordingly, consequently, on that account, hence, so, then, that’s why. (e) explanatory
[ik’splænət(ə)ri] conjunctions, e.g. that is, for example, fro instance, let us say, say, such as,
that ist o say.
2. The second set of conjunctions includes the following subclasses: (a) conjunctions
introducing subject clauses, e.g. that, what, who, which, whoever, whatever, whichever, when,
how, why, where, if, whether. (b) conjunctions introducing predicate clauses, e.g. what, who,
where, when, whatever, whether, that, why. (c) conjunctions introducing direct object clauses,
e.g. that, if, whether, how, what, whatever, who, whoever, where, wherever, why, which,
whichever. (d) conjunctions introducing indirect object clauses, e.g. to whom / whoever /
whomever, to what. (e) conjunctions introducing prepositional object clauses, e.g. who,
whom, whoever, what, whatever, which, whichever, how – preceded by prepositions. (f)
conjunctions introducing relative / attributive clauses, e.g. who, whom, which, whose, of which,

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where, when, how, why, that. (g) conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of manner, e.g. as,
like, muich, just as, how, (in) the way, in the manner, as if, as though. (h) conjunctions
introducing adverbial clauses of place, e.g. where, wherever, wheresoever (archaic). (i)
conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of time, e.g. after, as, before, long before, by the
time, each time, every time, the last time, (the) next time, since, when, whenever, while, once,
no sooner…than, hardly/scarcely…when, until, till, now that, as soon as, the moment. (j)
conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of condition, e.g. if, only if, unless, on condition
that, provided (that), providing (that), supposing (that), suppose, but for, if only, in case, as
long as. (k) conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of purpose, e.g. in order that, in order
to, so, so as to, so that, lest. (l) conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of concession, e.g.
although, though, despite (the fact that), in spite of, even if, even though, except that, much as,
not that, however, however much, however long, no matter, no matter whether, whether,
whatever, whoever, whichever, notwithstanding (the fact), while. (m) conjunctions
introducing adverbial clauses of casue / reason, e.g. as, because, since, considering (that), for
the reason that. (n) conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses of result (Romanian:
circumstanţiale consecutive), e.g. so, so that, and so, such (= so great) that.

THE INTERJECTION

The term interjection may variously mean, according to dictionaries: “1. a word or
remark expressing emotion; exclamation. 2. the act of interjecting. 3. a word or phrase that is
characteristically used in syntactic isolation and that usually expresses sudden emotion;
expletive”. Or: “A minor word class whose members are outside normal clase structure, having
no syntactic connection with other words, and generally having emotive meanings. Examples:
aha, alas, oh!, mm, oops!, sh! Several interjections involve sounds that are not among the
regular speech sounds of English, e.g. those represented in writing by tut-tut, which is actually
a sequence of alveolar clicks, or ugh, in which gh represents a voiceless velar fricative /x/ (as in
the Scottish pronunciation of loch). In thse two patricular cases a secondary pronunciation
based on the spelling has arisen (/tΛt’tΛt/, /Λg/).” (The Oxford Dictionary of English
Grammar).
Let us consider the uses and make-up of the following imitative terms: humph, er,
atcha, ba, hoo-ha, lah-di-dah, kazoo, peekaboo. Here are some more English interjections: ah,
ahem, bah, eh, err, hey, hurray / hooray, oho, ooh, ouch, ow, phew, uh-huh, whoopee, whoops,
wow, yippee, yum-yum, yup.

REMEMBER, AND PRACTICE WITH, YOUR GRAMMAR

EXERCISES

EXERCISES WITH THE MODALS

DARE, (*)WILL, (*)WOULD, *USED TO

1. De obicei mergem la înot de două ori pe săptămână.
2. Am să mă duc la petrecerea lor indiferent dacă vă place sau nu.

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 3. Deşi reparasem maşina, nu vroia să pornească.
4. Nu a îndrăznit să ne spună pînă acum că are coşmaruri noaptea.
5. Deschideţi, vă rog, portbagajul. E doar un control de rutină.
6. Vrei să-mi aduci o ceaşcă de cafea, te rog?
7. Am sunat la uşă, dar n-a vrut să-mi deschidă, sau cel puţin aşa cred, pentru că era
lumina aprinsă la fereastra sufrageriei.
8. Când mergeam la munte cu echipa de salvamontişti, ne trezeam cu noaptea în cap, de
obicei înainte de răsăritul soarelui.
9. Deşi are de obicei foarte puţin răgaz / timp disponibil, o să te primească neîndoielnic.
10. – Ai verificat şi priza, şi cablul?
– Da, dar frigiderul tót nu merge.
11. – Cum îndrăzneşte el să vină fără să ne anunţe?
– Nici o problemă – noi sîntem familiarizaţi cu tupeul lui, iar el s-a obişnuit să fie acceptat
aşa cum este.
12. Nu vreţi să vă apropiaţi mai mult? De aici se vede mult mai bine peisajul!

● Practise the modal verbs with the following Romanian contexts:

2. Se poate ca nimeni să nu-şi amintească cum s-a întâmplat?
3. Ar trebui să-ţi iei măcar o maşină; preţurile sînt în creştere şi s-ar putea să nu mai
găseşti o asemenea ocazie.
4. Dacă aţi fi amabilă să vă prezentaţi, v-aş putea face o programare; aşteaptă foarte
mulţi pentru audienţe la domnul director.
5. Oricât de mult ţi-ai dori un lucru, trebuie să înveţi că e nevoie de multă muncă
pentru a-l obţine.
6. Cu toţii au insistat să nu se dea jos din pat, întrucât starea de sănătate nu-i permitea
acest lucru.
7. Mi-aş dori ca Moş Crăciun să-mi aducă nişte patine anul acesta.
8. Nu se poate ca el să fi lipsit de la o asemenea întrunire importantă.
9. N-am putut merge ieri la şcoală pentru că am fost la un control medical.
10. Pot să vă duc eu valiza. O să vă fie mai uşor numai cu un bagaj.
11. Asemenea evenimente au loc destul de des când eşti în călătorie.
12. Vă deranjează dacă fumez pe balcon?
13. Deşi era foarte târziu, am reuşit / putut cu greu, în cele din urmă, să termin
proiectul acela stresant.
14. Ştiu că sînt plecaţi de azi dimineaţă aşa că ar fi trebuit să se întoarcă până acum.
15. Oare cum de îndrăzneşte să îi viziteze tocmai la recepţia fiicei lor fără să fie invitat
sau măcar să se anunţe?
16. Mă întreb de ce n-au adus-o şi pe pisicuţa lor; trebuie să se simtă foarte singură
acasă.
17. Aş vrea să nu-mi mai adreseze asemenea vorbe apăsătoare.
18. Le-am sugerat să vină mai devreme pentru că se întunecă repede.
19. Dacă acum nu se poate deplasa fără căruciorul cu rotile, sînt sigur că în câteva luni
va putea să facă mici plimbări.
20. Oricât timp vei petrece în compania lor, ia-ţi şi un casetofon portabil.
21. Nu trebuia să-i mai aduci aminte de asta. Ştii că la tine nu-i place să fie cicălit
22. S-ar cuveni ca tinerii să le cedeze locul în autobuz celor mai în vârstă.
23. Ne-au provocat la o întrecere de biciclete în parcul din centrul oraşului.
24. Nu se poate ca ei să aibă îndoieli asupra veridicităţii spuselor tale.
25. Aţi fi putut să ne anunţaţi de la bun început ca să ştim ce măsură să luăm.
26. Când eram mici ne jucam de-a v-aţi ascunselea în grădina din spatele casei.
27. Trebuie să fi vorbit mult în timpul conferinţei pentru că era răguşit când a ieşit.
28. Se poate ca ei să ne fi depăşit deja pe traseu şi acum probabil că ne aşteaptă.
29. Am putut să mă descurc singur atunci şi sper că o voi face şi data viitoare.

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30. În caz(ul) că auzi pe cineva strigându-te, să nu întorci capul, ci să mergi mai
departe cu pas grăbit.
31. Nu am putut închide un ochi toată noaptea din cauza vecinului de deasupra.
32. Nu am putut închide un ochi toată noaptea ca să nu rămână cazarma nepăzită.
33. Ori de câte ori îl zărea în capătul uliţei, grăbea pasul vizibil şi trecea glonţ pe lângă
el, dând nemulţumit din cap.
34. Ni s-a recomandat să fim mai punctuali şi mai puţin zgomotoşi.
35. Dacă s-ar trezi devreme ar termina de scris articolul; poate că l-a şi terminat deja.
MUST
1. Nu te grăbi. Trebuie să mai fie destul timp până la plecarea (take-off) avionului.
2. Începe să ningă aşa că trebuie să ne îmbrăcăm cu haine mai groase.
3. Ai observat că mătuşa fratelui tău nu a sosit încă? Trebuie să fi pierdut trenul.
4. Sună telefonul. De ce nu răspunzi? Trebuie să fie colega mea de clasă.
5. Surioara mea mai mică doarme, aşa că nu trebuie să faceţi zgomot în dormitor.
6. Mă privea fix de parcă m-ar fi cunoscut de undeva. Şi eu aveam acelaşi sentiment.
Trebuie să ne mai fi văzut cândva într-un alt loc.
7. Acum o să vă iert, dar nu trebuie să mai repetaţi asemenea greşeli.
8. Bunica nu mai tricotează ca de obicei în faţa şemineului: trebuie să-şi fi rătăcit
ochelarii pe undeva.
9. Nu trebuie să parcăm maşina acolo! Nu vezi indicatorul?
10. Nu ştiu de ce n-a venit încă. Probabil că mai stă de vorbă cu prietena lui în parc.
SHOULD, OUGHT TO
1. Părinţii voştri ar trebui să fie mult mai precauţi, nu?
2. Persoanele grase n-ar trebui să mănânce prea multe dulciuri, ce crezi?
3. S-ar cuveni să-l suni de ziua lui, nu-i aşa?
4. Ar trebui să cumperi cadourile de Crăciun de pe acum!
5. N-ar trebui să staţi de vorbă cu necunoscuţi sub nici o formă.
6. Ar trebui să ne vizitaţi mai des!
7. Cred că n-ar mai trebui s-o luăm de la capăt.
8. Ar cam trebui să revizuiţi majoritatea materiei: începem să uităm, nu?
9. Dacă tot a sosit poştaşul cu pensia, ar trebui să plătim şi abonamentul TV.
10. Trebuia să fiţi mai atenţi la traversarea străzii.
11. Ar fi trebuit să te laşi de fumat mai demult; acum n-ai mai avea probleme cu inima şi
plămânii.
12. N-ar fi trebuit să-i spuneţi tot adevărul; nu vedeţi ce trist e acum?
13. Dacă tot a sosit poştaşul cu alocaţia pentru copii, n-ar fi trebuit să ne aducă şi ziarul de
azi?
14. Cred că ar fi trebuit să te bizuieşti mai mult pe puterile tale.
15. Spunea că ar fi trebuit s-o conduci măcar la gară.
16. Vezi bine că nu s-ar fi cuvenit să faci o asemenea afirmaţie.
17. Era poate mai bine să te fi dus să-i urci în tren, nu crezi?
CAN
1. – Poate veni şi ea cu noi?
– Nu, nu e voie, merg numai adulţii.
3. Vorbiţi mai rar; nu înţeleg tot ce spuneţi!
4. – Ştii să cânţi la cimpoi sau fluier?
– Nu, dar va trebui să ştiu până la sfârşitul cursului.
5. După ce a răsărit soarele, am putut ieşi pe terasă.
6. Nu pot citi cu ochelarii aceştia; pot să îi folosesc pe ai tăi?
7. – Pot să vă conduc la aeroport?
– Da, ne poţi însoţi – mai e un loc liber în maşină.
8. Te-aş fi anunţat mai din timp dacă aş fi putut…
9. Ar fi putut să vină mai devreme, dar au preferat să se întoarcă pe jos.

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10. Nu am putu să expediez telegramele ieri – mi s-a spus că poşta e închisă.
11. Era foarte fericit pentru că a reuşit să cumpere computerul de care avea atâta nevoie.
12. Vor putea schia din nou de îndată ce va ninge.
SHALL, SHOULD, OUGHT TO, TO BE SUPPOSED TO, HAD BETTER
1. – Aş prefera să nu mănânc în seara asta decât să mă îngraş din nou…
– Mai bine ai fi încercat o cură de slăbire prin mişcare.
2. Vă promit că veţi avea în curînd tricourile pe care vi le doriţi aşa de mult.
3. N-ar trebui să aşteptăm pe peronul de vis-à-vis?
4. Aş prefera să dau examenul de literatură universală în sesiunea de toamnă decât acum.
5. Ar trebui să acordaţi mai multă atenţie pronunţării engleze. sînt o mulţime de cuvinte
care se pronunţă altfel decât se scriu; în plus, faceţi o sumedenie de greşeli de intonaţie.
6. Ar fi trebuit să asculţi emisiunea de ieri de la radio: a fost foarte educativă.
7. N-ar fi mai bine să discutăm despre asta acum, ca să înlăturăm orice nelămurire?
8. – Să-l întreb acum, când e mai bine dispus şi nu s-a plictisit încă de toată tevatura asta?
– Nu, nu e nevoie… Poate că n-ar trebui să-l întrebi chiar deloc.
9. Mai bine v-aţi ocupa de organizarea cinei. Fiecare participant îţi va suporta doar
cheltuielile de drum.
10. De ce s-o încurajăm? N-are ea nevoie de nici o încurajare. Mai bine o ajutăm sa-şi facă
bagajele.
11. – Poimâine este ziua de naştere a logodnicei mele. S-o sun să-i spun la mulţi ani sau
să-i trimit o felicitare?
– Mai bine i-ai duce un buchet de flori. I-ar face mai mare plăcere să te vadă decât să te
audă doar.

MODAL VERBS – REVIEW

1. Vei putea ieşi la joacă de îndată ce termini temele.
2. Puteţi vorbi mai rar, vă rog? Eu nu pot înţelege prea bine italiana.
3. Trebuie să fie cineva acasă, pentru că poarta e deschisă.
4. Ar fi bine să-ţi iei umbrela – începe ploaia şi s-ar putea să răceşti dacă te udă.
5. N-am terminat traducerea pînă la miezul nopţii, aşa că a trebuit să lucrez aproape pînă
în zori.
6. Chiar trebui să plecaţi acum? Nu mai puteţi să zăboviţi puţin?
7. Mi-au spus că ar prefera să locuiască la o pensiune decât în cămin.
8. Puteţi folosi scara de incendiu oricând doriţi.
9. Credem că au fost indignaţi la auzirea acestei veşti, când s-au transmis ştirile de seara.
10. Presupun c-aţi putea amâna spectacolul de adio, dacă e absolut necesar.
11. Recepţionera ar fi trebuit să se arate mai amabilă cu turiştii, nu?
12. Nu voia să mă asculte nici în ruptul capului, deşi am încercat să-i explic situaţia.
13. Nu crezi că ar trebui s-o vizitezi, dacă spui că nu se simte prea bine?
14. Directorul adjunct trebuie să sosească dintr-un moment în altul.
15. Aş prefera să nu scriu de mână: am un scris dezordonat şi în plus pe calculator pot face
corectura mult mai uşor.
16. Ni s-a spus că nu trebuie să staţionăm mult timp aici. S-au plătit multe amenzi pentru
nerespectarea regulamentului în ultimul timp.
17. Trebuie să termin manualul acesta înainte de sfîrşitul lunii.
18. Singurul din grupul nostru care, după spusele lui, ştia să vorbească ceva germană era
George. Lucrul amuzant e că, atunci când, în Frankfurt, ne-am întîlnit cu acel pictor
neamţ, n-a fost în stare să lege nici măcar o propoziţie ca lumea.
19. Am înţeles că vecina sa ştie să gătească calcan precum un maestru al artei culinare
dintr-un mare restaurant parizian.
20. Pesemne că a nins la munte, de vreme ce bate un vînt atât de rece…
21. N-ai voie să te aşezi la masă fără să te speli pe mâini!

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 MODAL VERBS TESTS

1) ___ we go now ? a. Will b. Must c. Could d. Might

2) Mark ___ help you tomorrow a. is able to b. may c. can d. should be able to
3) Tom ___ see the museum now: it’s beautiful! a. – b. can c. will d. would
4) You ___ be punished severely, sir. a. need b. would c. shall d. would
5) ___ I have one of those bottles of Coca Cola? a. Will b. Must c. Could d. Would
6) Those boys ___ do crazy things when they are left alone in their room. a. shall b. will c.
could d. would
7) ___ I borrow your umbrella, sir? a. Shall b. May c. Might d. Have (I) to
8) You ___ say all those terrible things about poor Doris! a. shall not b. couldn’t c. mustn’t d.
wouldn’t
9) ___ all their dreams come true! a. May b. Might c. Shall d. Can e. Will
10) She ___ have done better in her maths test. a. could b. might c. would d. has to
11) It ___ rain in the morning… a. shall b. couldn’t c. may d. will have to
12) They ___ have finished all their water-drilling projects. a. may not b. can’t c. mustn’t d.
shouldn’t
13) I understood then (that) she ___ go out of the castle whenever she wanted. a. may b. might
c. was obliged to d. should
14) My! It’s bitter cold now; it ___ have snowed in the upper Carpathians. a. must have b.
should have c. could have d. might have
15) Granny ___ arrive on Tuesday. a. shall have to b. might c. shall be able to d. would
16) You ___ have been so rude to little Jim! a. mustn’t b. shouldn’t c. couldn’t d. won’t
17) She ___ all the cleaning and washing. Her husband is very good at doing those jobs. a.
needn’t have done b. mustn’t have done c. didn’t need to do d. can’t have done
18) ___ you be so kind as to offer me a glass of water? a. Shall b. May c. Could d. Must
19) You ___ to do it all by yourself. Nobody asked you to. a. mustn’t have done b. hadn’t to
do c. didn’t have to d. couldn’t have to
20) My children ___ all the mess here. They were in their study reading. a. wouldn’t have made
b. can have made c. mustn’t have made d. couldn’t have done e. couldn’t have made
21) I think she inherited a small fortune: she ___ earn all that money just by going to that silly
work of hers! a. mustn’t b. could c. can’t have d. can’t
22) He looked exhausted. He ___ had a hard working day. a. must have b. could have c. need
to have d. should have
23) Parking across the slope ___ be rather risky, you know. a. will b. can c. need to d. should
24) She ___ watered the exotic plants every day. If she had, they wouldn’t have wilted /
withered / drooped! a. can’t b. must not have c. might not have d. can’t have
25) Passengers ___ not lean over the window. a. may not b. might not c. need not d. must not
e. ought not f. should not g. would not
26) ___ I help you to clean the bookshelves? a. Shall b. Do you need to c. Will d. Would
27) Grandma didn’t hear the phone ring. She ___ in her bedroom. a. must have been b. will
have been c. need have been d. would be e. will be
28) They ___ be in Manchester by now. It takes less than two hours to get there by coach. a.
need b. could c. would d. must
29) Mummy, ___ I add some more baking powder to the dough? a. would b. need c. might d.
will
30) He was such a nonconformist and stubborn boy; he ___ never comply with the adults’
requests and orders, or any kind of rules and regulations! a. need b. would c. should d. ought
to.

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 THE INDICATIVE MOOD
Active Voice

The axis / line of tenses

Time has three large periods; and each period corresponds to several tenses; time is a
chronological (and philosophical) entity, while tense is a grammatical category.
Another distinction drawn in English grammar is that between the continuous and the
simple aspect. So, the various tenses may be continuous (or progressive) and simple (non-
continuous).
Voice (Rom. “diateza verbelor”) shows the relation between the doer of the action and
the action itself: there is an active voice (E.g. I made a cake; I gave him books, etc), and a
passive voice (E.g. The cake was made by me; He was given books (by me), etc).

Past Present Future

Simple Past perfect Past Present Present Future perfect Future
tenses simple Simple perfect simple simple simple
simple
Continu- Past perfect Past Present perfect Present Future perfect Future
ous cont. cont. cont. cont. cont. cont.
tenses

 Simple tenses generally show two types of actions (they have two main value):
1. A repeated (or habitual) action on a long period of time:
E.g.: I go to school every day (“for one year…, ten years”)
I went to school every day last year.
2. A very short action that could happen at some moment:
E.g.: I was walking when the rain started.
 Continuous tenses generally show an action happening over a short and more precise period
of time; they represent uninterrupted / continuous action. Sometimes, this form is called
“progressive”:
E.g.: I have been living here for ten years. “Locuiesc aici de 10 ani”.
They are often used to form parallels with simple tenses:
E.g.: I was watching T.V. when you arrived. “Mă uitam la televizor când ai venit.”
Working on the verbs and tenses in a sentence needs four stages in thinking:
1. What kind of action does the tense show?
2. What are the adverbs of time / time adverbs generally used with a certain tense?
(Compare: always, usually, and every day, and now, at the moment, etc.)
3. What is the general formula to put a verb in a certain tense and form?
4. What is the Romanian translation of the English tense? (mainly for translations).

PRESENT TENSE

A) SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

I. It shows: - repeated actions over a long period of time:
E.g.: I go to school every day.
General - permanent actions:
Values: E.g.: A postman delivers letters.
- general truths:
E.g.: The earth turns round the sun.
II. Adverbs generally used with this tense:
- of definite time: EVERY (DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR)
ONCE / TWICE / THREE TIMES…A (WEEK…)
IN THE MORNING / AFTERNOON / EVENING

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 AT NIGHT / NOON / MIDNIGHT // ON SUNDAY…
(They are placed at the end of the sentence when they are not stressed / emphasized)
- of indefinite time: ALWAYS, OFTEN, USUALLY, FREQUENTLY,
SELDOM, RARELY, SOMETIMES, GENERALLY,
etc.
NEVER (in neg. sentences with a verb in the affirmative form)
(placed before the verb)
E.g.: We often go skating in winter.
III. general formula:
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
Subject+VB.I Subject + DO+NOT+VB.I -
DO+Subject+VB.I
(3rd pers.sg. : (DON’T)
DO+S+NOT+VB.I
the ending –S/ES)
(DON’T+S+VB.I)

E.g.: I write I don’t write - Do I write?

He writes he doesn’t write - Do I not write?
(Don’t I write?)
Doesn’t he write?
IV. Romanian translation: indicativ prezent.

THE 3RD PERSON ENDING: -S / ES

- Pronunciation:
-s [s] – after the voiceless consonants, e.g. [p, t, k, f, g] E.g.: stop – stops
[z] – after the voiced consonants, and vowels and semivowels
E.g.: grow – grows
read – reads
- es [z] – E.g. go – goes; do – does
[iz] – after the seven sounds [s, z, ks(=x), , t, , d] E.g.: watch – watches; mix –
mixes
- Changes in spelling / orthography:
- final -y changes in -i + es when it is preceded by a consonant:
E.g.: try – he tries.

B) PRESENT TENSE, THE CONTINUOUS ASPECT:

I. General value: it shows an action happening at present, in the moment of speech.
II. Adverbs: NOW, AT THE MOMENT, AT PRESENT (placed at the end of the sentence).
III. General formula: S + TO BE + VB.I-ING
(present)
IV. Romanian translation: prezent indicativ.

THE ENDING: -ING

- Spelling / orthography:
- one-syllable / monosyllabic verbs ending in consonant preceded by a short (and
simple) vowel double the consonant: E.g.: run – running; stop – stopping; hit –
hitting; hop – hopping; (compare with: hope – hoping);
- two-syllable / bisyllabic verbs with the stress on the second syllable double the
final consonant:
E.g.: begin – beginning; forget – forgetting; prefer – preferring;
- final -l is always doubled in British English (not in the American variant):

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 E.g.: travel – travelling (cf. AmE. traveling)
- (compound) verbs ending in -p double the final p:
E.g.: kidnap – kidnapping;
- verbs ending in -ic add a k to the final -c:
E.g.: mimic, picnic – mimicking, picnicking;
- final -e is dropped before -ing:
E.g.: make -making
- final -ie changes in -y:
E.g.: die – dying; lie – lying;
- final -y doesn’t change in any situation:
E.g.: cry – crying; play – playing;

VERBS NOT NORMALLY USED IN THE CONTINUOUS / PROGRESSIVE ASPECT (=

Verbs of State / States):
- verbs of perception: see, hear, notice, smell, taste, feel, etc.
- verbs of thinking: think (that), consider (that), understand, know, realize, suppose,
believe, remember, forget, recall, expect, mind, etc.
- verbs of feeling and volition: want, wish, desire, like, hate, dislike, care, refuse,
forgive, adore, hope, intend, agree, etc.
- verbs of state, expressing permanent qualities of people or objects: be, belong,
own, have, possess, contain, need, cost, require, resemble, etc.
- other verbs: concern, matter, mean, seem, keep, etc.

PRACTISE

PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE

Translate into English:
1. Întotdeauna servim cina la ora şapte seara, de regulă când este toată familia acasă.
2. Îmi vizitez rudele de pe litoral în fiecare an.
3. Conduce destul de bine pentru o femeie, nu?
4. Noi spunem de obicei că soarele răsare la est, dar de fapt, pământul este cel care se
învîrte în jurul soarelui.
5. Nu ştiu de ce, dar vor să plece chiar acum.
6. Ei spun că te duci acolo în fiecare după-amiază.
7. Mă interesează în mod deosebit acest amănunt.
8. Cumnata ei predă geografie, iar mătuşa e profesoară de balet.
9. Îmi spune că aude muzica de afară şi nu se poate concentra.
10. Trebuie să fie grafoman: scrie câte zece-douăsprezece scrisori pe zi.
11. În regiunea aceasta vremea se schimbă pe neaşteptate.
12. Nu ne ridică probleme niciodată: plăteşte mereu la timp şi e foarte corect.
13. Îţi faci prea multe griji în privinţa lui. Ar fi bine să nu te mai gândeşti singură la toate.
14. Magazinele de mercerie deschid după ora zece.
15. Nu mă surprinde deloc această veste. Mă aşteptam să fie aşa.
16. Închide întotdeauna robinetele şi verifică lumina înainte de a pleca de acasă.
17. Îmi amintesc foarte bine de ea: şi mama mea o cunoaşte pe a ta.
18. În zona aceasta plouă foarte des şi nu cade decât puţină zăpadă iarna.
19. Ea îşi cheltuieşte toţi banii pe rochii de seară şi bijuterii, iar el pe jocurile de noroc.
20. Cumnatul meu repară ceasuri. Poţi să-ţi aduci orologiul acela vechi dacă ai nevoie să
fie reparat.
21. Ce faci tu cu asta? Mai bine ai alege un şpaclu.
22. Este fermier de mult timp şi ştie bine ce are de făcut: primăvara şi toamna fertilizează
pământul şi tunde pomii.

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 23. Se trezeşte înaintea mea în fiecare dimineaţă, dar nu mă deranjează pentru că intră în
dormitor fără să facă zgomot.
Poţi folosi fotoliul acela ca pe o canapea, pentru că este extensibil.

PAST TENSE

A) SIMPLE PAST TENSE

I. General values: it shows: - past actions repeated over a long period of time:
E.g.: I went to school every day last year.
- a very short action which interrupted another action
happening in the past:
E.g.: I was writing when you phoned me yesterday.
II. Adverbs generally used with this tense:
- of definite time: YESTERDAY
LAST (WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, etc.)
A (WEEK, MONTH, Etc.…) AGO.
(placed at the end of the sentence when they are not stressed /
emphasized)
- of indefinite time (to complete the meaning): ALWAYS, OFTEN, etc.
(placed before the verb, i.e. after the Subject group):
E.g.: I always went to school in the morning last year.
III. General formula;
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTEROGATIVE
Subject+VB.2 Subject+DID+NOT+VB.1 DID+Subj.+VB1
(DIDN’T) DIDN’T+Subj.+VB.1
(VB.2 = ending -ED regular (DID+Subj.+Not+VB.1)
verbs
= first past irreg.
Verbs
E.g.: I, you, he/she/it I…they didn’t write Did I…they write?
We, you, they wrote play play?
played Didn’t I… write?
Did I not write?
play?
IV. Romanian translation: indicativ - perfect compus (usually)
- imperfect (special stylistic effect – when
telling a story, etc.)
- perfect simplu (special stylistical efect: very
rapid actions, in anecdotes, etc.)
B) CONTINUOUS PAST TENSE
I. General value: it shows a past action happening over a short period of time (a continuous
action which may be interrupted by a past simple action, i.e. a very short action)
E.g.: I was watching T.V. when the bell rang
PAST CONTIN. SIMPLE PAST
II. Adverbs used: besides the general adverbs used to introduce the simple past tense, we
specify the time of the continuous action by adding more
precise adverbs of time
ALL DAY yesterday
FROM…TO last year, etc.
FOR (five hours)
AT THIS TIME; WHILE; WHEN.
III. General formula: Subject + to BE + VB.1 –ing
(past: I/he…was; you/we/they were)

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IV. Romanian translation: imperfect indicativ.
THE ENDING -ED
- Pronunciation:
- [t] –after the voiceless consonants (Rom. “surde”) [p, t, k, f, θ, s, , t]
Ex,: work – worked; passed; boxed;
- [d] – after the voiced consonants, vowels and semivowels:
E.g.: discover – discovered; dine – dined; carry – carried
- [id] – after [t], [d]: add – added; start – started;
- Changes in spelling / orthography:
- final -e drops before -ed: dance – danced; tie – tied;
- monosyllabic verbs ending in a consonant preceded by a short (and simple) vowel
double the final consonant: rub – rubbed; stop – stopped;
- bisyllabic verbs with accent on the second (i.e. last) syllable double the final
consonant: prefer – preferred; regret – regretted; (compare with offer – offered)
- final –l is doubled (in British English): travel – travelled; fulfil – fulfilled;
- final –y changes to –i, when preceded by a consonant: cry – cried; study – studied;

TYPES / CLASSES OF IRREGULAR VERBS

I. II.
burst bind buy feel lend lay
sell
cut find bring keep send pay
tell
cost fight sleep build say
hit think meet learn
let catch leave spend
shut teach mean
set up
stand have hear
understand sit hold
get read
win make
lose
stick
shine
III.
come begin wake (up) blow shake show
do
become drink write grow take sow go
ring drive throw
lie
sing choose know
be
swim break draw
eat
run speak fly
see
forget
bite
weave
fall

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 wear
give

EXERCISES:
I. Find all the irregular verbs in the text bellow; make all the grammatical and logical
changes, if necessary, and then translate the fragment into Romanian:
I (begin) to learn English because I (say) I want to become a teacher (to teach).
I (hear) that I must do many exercises and speak much, (keep) in mind and not to forget
what I know.
I go to school; I leave home at 7 o’clock; I catch the bus; the driver gives me a ticket
(to drive); I (pay) for the ticket; I (put) the ticket in my pocket but I lose it; I don’t find it; I sit
down and I shut the window; I think that I must buy another ticket; I stand up and I come to the
driver but I see my ticket on the floor; It flew (=to fly) from my hand.
I come home at noon; I ring the bell; I eat, I cut bread, I drink water; I sleep for an
hour; I wake up; I write my homework; I tell mother that I want to send a letter; the stamps cost
5000 lei; I stick the stamps; I meet a friend in the park; I shake hands with him; he lands me a
book made (to make) in Romania; I bring the book home; I read it; I understand everything; I
lay the book on the table.
I feel tired; I let my brother come into my room and I bind myself to build him a house;
I must choose the toys; I draw him a scenery: the flowers grow in the garden, the wind blows,
the birds fly and sing, a boy throws a stone into the window, he breaks it; he wears long
trousers; a dog lies in the garden, then it runs away and bites the boy; the sun shines; the fish
swims in the lake; My brother shows the picture to my mother; I get a good mark!
Then I watch T.V. Our football team wants to win the match; They want much but they
lose. I spend my evening at home. I say ‘Good night’. I go to bed.

II. Change the first person singular by the third person singular; rewrite the text.
III. Change the simple present tense by the simple past tense; read the text, and then write it.
IV. Translate into English:

PAST SIMPLE TENSE

1. Vă mai amintiţi cu ce era îmbrăcată când aţi văzut-o ultima dată?
2. I-am cunoscut pe naşii mei prin 1992, cu puţin înainte de absolvirea facultăţii.
3. Nu voia să se despartă de ea nici în ruptul capului. Abia atunci am înţeles cu toţii cât de
mult o iubea. Nu-şi putea stăpâni deloc plânsul în timp ce vorbea în instanţă.
4. Când erau tineri, tata şi colegii lui jucau fotbal în fiecare duminică după-amiază.
5. Nu cred că am vizitat Praga acum 5 ani. Eram în Londra şi pe vremea asta ploua teribil
acolo, iar noi vizitam clădirea Parlamentului.
6. Poate este timpul să afle cu toţii motivele care l-au împiedicat să-şi însoţească familia
în concediul petrecut la München.
7. Nu i s-a întâmplat des să vorbească aşa incoerent, de parcă ar fi beat.
8. De-ar şti ce-i aşteaptă, cu siguranţă că n-ar mai pleca acolo.
9. N-ar fi chiar toţi patru de părere să începeţi experimentele aşa de curând.
10. Am dori să ne facem bine înţeleşi şi să nu existe vreun fel de disensiune.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

1. Mergea îngândurată pe stradă când, deodată, şi-a reamintit de unde îl cunoştea: au
locuit o bună bucată de timp la aceeaşi gazdă; ea stătea la parter, în timp ce el locuia la
mansardă. Când avea ea ore cu profesorul de canto, el îşi punea mereu şosetele la uscat.
2. Cu bunica sa se înţelegea mai mult prin semne, pentru că de obicei nu prea auzea: fie
tricota în timp ce se uita la televizor, fie mormăia singură prin casă atunci când avea
treabă – pasămite vorbea cu pisica!

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 3. Intenţionam să o invit şi pe ea la balul nostru de absolvire, dar, când am sunat-o, bunica
ei mi-a spus că doarme şi că nu se va trezi decât peste 4-5 ore pentru că s-a întors dintr-
o călătorie obositoare în Italia, aşa că am renunţat la ea (la idee) şi am continuat să-mi
calc rochia de seară.
4. Când am ieşit pe uşa liceului, cei doi poliţişti încă îl mai interogau pe portar care
gesticula neîntrerupt şi vorbea de parcă ar încerca să se disculpe.
5. O mai aşteptam încă pe peron atunci, când şeful de gară a dat semnalul de plecare şi,
deşi trenul tocmai începea să se pună în mişcare, ea nu părea să mai vină.
6. Ne-aţi aşteptat ieri la sala de concerte? N-am mai venit pentru că la ora 6 seara soseau
finii noştri din Constanţa şi ne-ar fi părut rău să nu-i întâmpinăm la gară.
7. Ce făceau vecinii tăi când am trecut pe la tine alaltăieri seară? În timp ce (eu) sunam la
uşă, de la ei a ieşit ţipând o femeie desculţă (barefoot) şi s-a repezit în fugă pe scări. În
tot timpul acesta dinăuntru se auzea plângând un copil.
8. Mai era încă viu, domnule doctor? Am văzut totul de pe faleză: în timp ce toţi aveau
impresia că se va îneca / se îneacă, din şalupa aceea a sărit un tânăr şi l-a salvat, pe
când tocmai se scufunda.
9. Duminică dimineaţa încă mai dormeam când a venit mama să-mi aducă micul dejun şi
mi-a spus vestea aceea îngrozitoare. Nu credeam că o să-l mai revăd după un asemenea
accident, dar când am ajuns la spital completa liniştit un rebus şi m-a privit cu acelaşi
zâmbet jovial ca întotdeauna.
Cobora grăbit scările imobilului din strada Eminescu atunci când i-a ieşit în cale un om care
gâfâia foarte tare, ciufulit şi îmbrăcat straniu, cu un frac scurt la mâneci, pe sub care avea un
hanorac galben, decolorat, nişte pantaloni bufanţi în carouri de unde se ghiceau vârfurile sparte
ale unui pantof bej în piciorul stâng şi al unei sandale mov în piciorul drept, iar o cravată atârna
nestingherită în buzunarul de la piept al fracului.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

A) SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

I. General values: it shows: - an action or state that began in the past and which continues
in the present, going towards the future, or with the possibility of being repeated in present or
in future:
E.g.: I have gone to the cinema twice this month. (It
is possible that I go again, as the month is not finished)
- an action that began in the past and it finished very recently; the consequences are
obvious:
E.g.: Have you written your homework?
Yes, I have. (My homework is written)
It is the most frequently used tense in English when an adverb of time is not specified:
E.g.: Where have you been? (yesterday?!, an hour ago?!, this week?!, for the last two
hours?!)
It is very much used for the sequence of tenses (it can link past, present and future,
involving no changes like the PAST TENSE):
E.g.: I’ve just told him that I want there but I haven’t told
him that I’ll go there again.
I went I’ve told I’ll go
II. Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases generally used with this tense:
- THIS… (WEEK, MONTH, YEAR)
- TODAY - (placed at the end of the sentence
when they are not stressed)
- LATELY, RECENTLY

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 - ALREADY, JUST
- NEVER (vb. To the affirmative form ) - (placed between the Auxiliary and the
main verb)
- EVER (in interrogative sentences)
- YET (in neg. and interrogative sent.) - (usually placed at the end of the sentence)
- FOR (shows the period of time, generally including some of, or coming up to, the
present moment)
- SINCE (shows the beginning of the period
E.g.: I haven’t been to the cinema lately.
He has never been abroad, yet.
I have know Mary for four years, since 1988.
III. General formula: Subject + TO HAVE + VB.3
(present: I…they have/he, she, it has)
VB.3 ending –ED – reg. Vbs.
Second past – irreg. Vbs. (from the list)
E.g. AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE
I have played I have not Have I
He has written (haven’t) played (Haven’t I) play
He has not written Has he write
(hasn’t) (Hasn’t he)
IV. Romanian translation: - perfect compus indicativ
- prezent indicativ
E.g.: I have known Mary for three years.
(O cunosc pe Maria de trei ani)
I have already known such characters
(Am cunoscut deja / Am mai cunoscut astfel de inşi.)

B) CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT

I I. General value: - it shows / stresses on action happening continuous on a shorter period of
time, which began in the past and goes on in the present.
E.g.: I have been writing for three hours and I haven’t finished yet.
II. Adverbs generally used:
- the general adverbs that introduce the simple present perfect and adverbs that
specify better the period of the continuous action: FOR / SINCE
E.g.: I have been living here for ten years / since 1990.
III. General formula: Subject + TO BE + VB.1 -ING
(present perfect: I… they have been
He/she/it has been)

E.g.: AFFIRM. NEG. INTERROG.

I have playing I haven’t playing
been been
He has writing He hasn’t writing

INTERROG.
Have I playing? Haven’t I playing?
been been
Has he writing? Hasn’t he writing?
IV. Romanian translation: - prezent indicativ
- perfect compus indicativ
E.g. I have been reading for an hour
(“Citesc de o oră. / E / Se face o oră de când citesc”).
She is crying because she has been cutting onion.

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 (“Plânge pentru că a tăiat ceapă.”)
She is crying because she has been cutting onion for the last ten minutes.
(“Plânge pentru că taie ceapă de zece minute”).

PAST PERFECT TENSE

A) THE SIMPLE PAST PERFECT TENSE

I. General values: It shows: - past actions finished before other past actions:
E.g.: He had finished his homework when his friend arrived.
III. Adverbs which are generally used with this tense:
- adverbs that introduce the present perfect as well:
ALREADY, JUST, NEVER, EVER, FOR, SINCE, etc.
- adverbs which are used to show the previous action:
WHEN, AS SOON AS, BEFORE, AFTER, UNTIL, BY THE TIME, etc.
E.g.: The boy didn’t go to bed until he had finished his homework.
III. General formula: Subject + TO HAVE + VB.3
(past: I…they had)
E.g.: AFFIRM. NEG.
I /…they had played I /…they had not played
(I’d) written (I hadn’t) written
INTERROG.
Had I /… they played?
Hadn’t I /… they written?
IV. Romanian translation: - mai mult ca perfect indicativ;
- perfect compus indicativ
E.g. She was crying because she had cut onion. (Plângea pentru că a tăiat / tăiase ceapă.)
B) THE CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT TENSE:
I. General value: It shows: - an action happening continuously on a shorter period of time
before another action happened, or which was interrupted by a short past action: E.g.: I had
been writing for two hours when he arrived.
II. Adverbs used: - especially FOR/SINCE to show the period more precisely.
III. General formula: Subject + TO BE + VB.1 –ING
(past perf. simple: I /… they had been)
E.g.: AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
I /… they had been playing I /… they had not been playing
(I’d been) writing (I hadn’t been) writing
INTERROGATIVE
Had I /… they been playing?
Hadn’t I been writing?
IV. Romanian translation: - mai mult ca perfect indicativ
- imperfect indicativ
E.g. She was crying because she had been cutting onion for the last ten minutes. (Plângea
pentru că tăiase / tăia ceapă de zece minute).

FUTURE TENSE

A) SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

I. General value: it shows a future action seen from the present:
- on a short period: E.g. I’ll go there tomorrow.
- Repeated over a longer period of time: E.g. I’ll go to school every day next year.
II. General adverbs: NEXT… (DAY, WEEK, YEAR, SUNDAY, etc.)
TOMORRROW

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 IN FUTURE, SOON
THIS AFTERNOON (if we speak in the morning!)
III. General formula: Subject + SHALL/WILL + VB.1
SHAL = I / we
WILL = you / he / she / it / they
WILL = for all the persons
E.g.: AFFIRM. NEGATIVE INTERROG.
I shall/will play I shall not play Shall/will I play?
(I’ll play) (I shan’t play) Will you write?
You will write You will not write (Shan’t I play?)
(You’ll write) (you won’t write) Won’t you write?
IV. Romanian translation: viitor indicativ; (colloquially) prezent indicativ.

B) CONTINUOUS FUTURE TENSE

I. General value: it shows: - an action in progress at a certain moment in the future (over a
short period):
E.g.: We’ll be watching a film at this time tomorrow.
II. General adverbs: - adverbs that introduce simple future and adverbs that specify the time
(a short period)
(AT) THIS TIME (TOMORROW)
BY THREE O’CLOCK (ON SUNDAY)
WHEN, WHILE (to compare two actions)
III. General formula: Subject + TO BE + VB.1 -ING
(future: shall / will be)
E.g.: AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
I…they’ll be playing I…they won’t be plying
INTERROG,
Shall / will I / we be playing?
Shan’t / won’t I / we be playing?
(Will you not be playing?)
IV. Romanian translation: viitor indicativ.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

I. General value: it shows: - a future action that will happen before another future action:
(shown by the simple future); a previous action
E.g.: I will have arrived there by the time you park the car.
II. General adv.: to show the comparison between two actions:
AFTER, BEFORE, WHEN, BY THEN, BY THE TIME…, BY (7 o’clock),
TILL / UNTIL
ALREADY
III. General formula: Subject + TO HAVE + VB.3
(future: will / shall have)
E.g.: AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROG
I’ll have played I won’t have played Will I have played?
written written written?
(Won’t I have played?
written?
IV. Romanian translation: viitor anterior indicativ; viitor.

B) CONTINUOUS FUTURE PERFECT

I. General value: - an action happening continuously (over a short period) before / up to another
future action:

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 II E.g.: When you arrive to my place, I’ll have been writing for an hour.
III (when you arrive = present tense with future tense; after when)
II. General adv.: - to specify the period better:
FOR / SINCE
BY THE END OF (THE YEAR)
III. General formula: Subject + TO BE + VB.1 -ING
(future perf.: I shall/will have been)
E.g.: AFFIRM. NEGATIVE INTERROG
I’ll have been playing I won’t have Will I have
writing been playing been playing?
writing writing?
(Won’t I have
been playing?
writing?
IV. Translation: viitor anterior indicativ.

OTHER MEANS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME

Present Continuous Tense: She’s leaving in the morning.

Present Simple Tense (for actions that are strictly scheduled / in regular timetables, etc.): Your
train leaves at nine o’clock.
Future Continuous Tense: They’ll be playing this time tomorrow. I’ll be seeing you!
To BE GOING TO + Infinitive (“a avea de gînd să…”): I’m going to help you some day.
To BE TO + Infinitive (“a urma să…”): I am to give you the books, aren’t I?
 (Virtually all the above patterns can be used – in their modified forms – to express future time
as to the past, e.g.:
He said he would go to Bucharest.
She said he was leaving in the morning.
(For actions that are strictly scheduled / in regular timetables, etc.): They thought the train left
at nine o’clock.
(Future Tense in the Past) They said they would write their homework tomorrow.
(Future Continuous Tense in the Past) They would be playing this time tomorrow. I’ll be
seeing you!
To BE GOING TO + Infinitive, in the Past: (“a avea de gînd să…”): I said I was going to help
you some day.
To BE TO + Infinitive, in the Past: (“a urma să…”): He said he was to give me the books.

FUTURE IN THE PAST

I. It is used to show an action considered as future compared to a past action:
E.g.: He told me he would go to the seaside the next summer.
II. Adverbs used: generally – those introducing a future tense
- NEXT, …, ON (SUNDAY,…),
III. General formula: SHOULD/WOULD + VB.1
(I / we) (you, he, they)
(or WOULD for all the persons)
IV. Romanian translation: viitor indicativ.

EXERCISES
1. Translate into English:
1. Ne spuseseră că vor da examen la facultatea de drept, dar s-au răzgândit.
2. Când m-am întâlnit cu el pe stradă mi-a spus că va pleca în Anglia pentru trei luni.
1. Nu ţi-a spus că va pleca la mare săptămâna viitoare?
2. Ştiai că o să mergi acolo a doua zi, nu-i aşa?

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 3. Ieri mi-au spus că vor merge cu noi la teatru duminică.

2. Translate into English:

1. După o ploaie neîntreruptă, urmează o perioadă însorită.
2. Vei fi aflat sau învăţat, presupun, aceste lucruri când erai în clasa a VII-a.
3. Nu pleca înainte de a-ţi lua umbrela: încă mai plouă – şi cred că va mai ploua un
timp…
4. Cântăreaţa lui preferată urmează să plece într-un nou turneu în Spania. Norocoasa!
5. Am asigurat-o pe bunica lui că nu ne vom întoarce târziu de la teatru.
6. Dacă mama va găsi coriandru, va face o salată grecească de care îţi place ţie.
7. Vecinii noştri sînt tocmai pe punctul de a pleca la serviciu.
8. Contrabasistul va repeta de 45 de minute când va sosi soprana la operă, nu?
9. Nu speram să-l mai găsesc acasă la ora aceea şi nici nu credeam că va mai studia pentru
lucrarea de disertaţie.
10. De cât timp va găti mama când te vei întoarce tu de la şcoală?
11. Unde ieşim la plimbare în după-amiaza aceasta?
12. Te voi suna după ce voi vorbi cu partenerul din Elveţia, bine?
13. Am promis că mă voi face cuminte când o să iau vacanţă.
14. Le-am explicat oaspeţilor că vor putea vizita dormitorul cu mobilă de mahon numai
după ce vor trece prin sufrageria florentină.

3. Translate into English:

1. Suntem aproape siguri că la ora aceea nu vor mai aştepta pe peron.
2. Probabil că secretara va mai scrie încă scrisorile de recomandare când se va întoarce
directorul general de la şedinţă.
3. Săptămâna viitoare pe vremea asta o să zburăm cu avionul spre Praga.

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD – A REVIEW

It is a finite mood (Rom. “mod personal”) which expresses states and events that are
unreal, hypothetical, etc.
 There are three types of Subjunctive:
1. The Obsolete Subjunctive (“învechit, arhaic”), or American Subjunctive – having
the form of the “Short Indefinite Infinitive”, e.g. I demand that everybody be present
tomorrow. God save the King! Be it said here…
2. The Analytic Subjunctive (using modal verbs), e.g. May you live to make a
good mother-in-law!
Good as it may be, the apple is rather sour.
It is a pity / It’s a shame that she should be such a liar.
3. The “Modern Subjunctive”, which has two forms:
a. Subjunctive Past Tense, e.g. If I were you, I would do it better. If he had more
money he could buy a new car. I wish you were quieter.
b. Subjunctive Past Perfect e.g. If you had been in my shoes, what could
you have done? Had I not been so inactive, I could have succeeded in my attempt.
I wish you had talked earnestly.
 Usage: The Subjunctive is mainly used in such cases and structures as:
- I wish you were more careful.
I wish you / he / they would be more attentive.
I wish the rain would stop.
I wish I could help them.
I wish he would not be such a fool.

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 I wish you were talking earnestly.
I wish you were not driving so fast.
I wish I had been there before 5 o’clock.
- If I were a king… If I knew Italian… If I were in their shoes…
If only I could do it…
- You are looking at me as if / as though you were angry with me.
- Suppose you were my brother…
- It’s high time / It’s about time she did something useful.
- I would rather / I would sooner he went with me.

 Practise the subjunctive mood with the following sets of sentences while trying to
translate them into English: (A)
1. I se recomandă să fie mai prudent, altfel cine ştie ce i se poate întîmpla…
2. Eu zic să întrebe acum, apoi s-ar putea să fie prea târziu.
3. Merge(a) de parcă ar şchiopăta / ar fi şchiopătat.
4. Vorbea înainte, de parcă / ca şi cum n-ar fi înţeles ce i-am spus.
5. Nu e ciudat să se întoarcă (tocmai) astăzi?
6. E de dorit să vii acasă mult mai devreme seara.
7. Era de aşteptat să nu fi ajuns la timp pe o asemenea vreme.
8. E de necrezut să i se întîmple una ca asta tocmai lui.
9. Nu e totuna să meargă pe jos pînă în campus sau să cheme un taxi.
10. E ciudat că vine de fiecare dată la tine să ceară informaţii despre noii colegi.
11. Este inadmisibil să creadă toate balivernele care se spun despre el.
12. Era normal să se implicat mai mult în rezolvarea acestui caz.
13. Pare puţin probabil ca el să fie făptaşul, de vreme ce era la 50 de mile distanţă.
14. Este recomandabil să facă eforturi mai mari pentru a-şi construi o carieră solidă.
15. E interesant că ştie orice amănunt despre ea fără să fi văzut-o măcar.
16. Nu e normal că a lăsat-o de izbelişte tocmai acum când are mai multe greutăţi.
17. Nu ţi se pare anormal că lucrează de dimineaţa şi pînă seara şi tot nu are bani de ajuns?
18. Nu ştiam dacă i se pare sau nu neliniştitor că Betty nu apăruse încă pînă la ora aceea.
19. Mă aşteptam să i se pară puţin ciudat că dă răspunsuri atât de evazive.
20. E remarcabil că citea de numai două ore şi reuşise să elaboreze deja partea introductivă
a lucrării.
21. Zicea că i se pare cât se poate de normal să vină să-i ceară mâna de la părinţii adoptivi.
22. Ar fi dorit să participe şi el la competiţia aceasta dacă doreşte să-ţi evalueze cu adevărat
potenţialul.
(B)
1. Mi s-a părut că e cam prematur să discute despre afaceri acum.
2. Am recunoscut cu toţii că ar fi de dorit să participe şi mirii la inaugurarea noului local.
3. Şi-a închipuit că o să i se pară destul de neobişnuit că nu a găsit pe nimeni la intrarea în
hotel.
4. Trebui să-ţi spun că mi se pare foarte greu de crezut că nu ai acceptat o propunere atât
de avantajoasă.
5. Chiar nu şi-au dat seama că este mai important de rezolvat chiar în perioada aceasta
problema locativă?
6. Nu mi se pare că ar fi de dorit să intri – chiar şi fără voia ta – într-o astfel de
încurcătură.
7. Lăsând la o parte orice glumă, mi se pare înfricoşător să mergi de unul singur noaptea
prin cimitir.
8. Presupun că şi ţie ţi s-a părut destul de puţin probabil să mai poată recupera banii
pierduţi.
9. E ridicol să pui asemenea întrebări fără perdea unei doamne atât de stilate.

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 10. Nu e aşa că e cam nepotrivit să încerci să faci curte, încă din prima zi în care ai văzut-o,
unei tinere despre a cărei apropiată căsătorie se ştie în tot oraşul?
11. Fireşte că mi se pare o neruşinare din parte cuiva să mintă cu atâta nonşalanţă.
12. Ar fi o adevărată catastrofă şi un lucru de neadmis pentru noi toţi ca şi ea să treacă
printr-o experienţă asemănătoare.
13. Nu mi se pare imposibil de conceput un astfel de deznodămînt.
14. Găsesc că e o poveste prea încurcată, cum că a fost răpită şi dusă cu forţa într-un loc
necunoscut, de unde nu avea scăpare decât dacă părinţii ei ar fi răscumpărat-o.
15. Era practic inadmisibil ceea ce i se spunea şi toţi credeau că o asemenea faptă nu va
rămâne fără consecinţa grave.
(C)
1. E foarte trist că nimeni nu s-a oferit să-i dea o mână de ajutor.
2. Era bine să fi venit şi logodnicul tău, chiar dacă nu a fost invitat mai devreme.
3. Oricui în afara voastră i s-ar părea neobişnuit să i se spună că trebuie să se conformeze
întocmai dispoziţiilor primite şi să nu riposteze în vreun fel.
4. Nu ţi se părea de neconceput să-şi mai revină după un accident atât de tragic?
5. Tot ce pot să-ţi spun este că nu e mai puţin ciudat să-l ajuţi la greu pe cel care ţi-a făcut
rău decât să-ţi faci rău celui care ţi-a dorit binele.
6. Nu e bizar să tot faci tot soiul de presupuneri nefondate în loc să afli exact despre ce
este vorba?
(D)
1. Insistaţi să se facă odată curăţenie în biroul directorului, altfel vom fi cu toţii
concediaţi.
2. Propun să plece toate echipajele în acelaşi timp, dar să fie întîmpinate la sosire de
persoane oficiale.
3. Bunicul ne îndemna adesea să nu ne certăm pentru că numai aşa vom putea avea
încredere unul în altul mai târziu.
4. Au fost sfătuiţi să facă aşa cum cred de cuviinţă că ar fi mai bine.
5. Locotenentul ordonă ca nimeni ca nimeni să nu mai iasă la aplicaţii fără echipamentul
de protecţie.
6. Cerură să se facă investigaţii mai atente în cazul crimei de la casa de schimb valutar.
7. O îndemnară să plece neîntârziat. Altfel nu vor mai răspunde pentru ceea ce i se putea
întîmpla.
8. Li s-a cerut să vină neîntârziat la secretariat pentru a completa nişte formulare urgente.
Sugeraţi-le că s-ar putea să nu mai fie nevoie de o finanţare suplimentară şi, chiar dacă era,
orice deblocare de fonduri a fost sistată.

VOICE

Voice (Rom. “diateză”) is the grammatical category which shows the relationship
between the subject of the verb and the action or event expressed by it.In English there are two
voices: the Active Voice and the Passive Voice.
1. The Active Voice indicates that the grammatical subject is the doer / the
performer of the action expressed by the verb, e.g. John killed a bird.
2. The Passive Voice indicates that the grammatical subject of the sentence is not
the doer / the performer of the action expressed by the verb, but the receiver / the patient of that
action, e.g. The bird was killed by John. (So, the direct object of the verb in the active
construction becomes the grammatical subject of the passive structure): Subject + Active
verb + Direct Object + Indirect Object… → Subject +Passive verb + Indirect Object…
+Agent.
Sometimes, the Agent is left unmentioned. Some special constructions with the
Participle are based on the Passive Transformation, e.g. Lucy was said to be a hard-working
student (<= They / People said Lucy was a hard-working student).

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 The Passive transformation is based on the use of the verb to be, which is conjugated
in the respective tense, mood and aspect, and followed by the Past Participle form of the verb
(V3), e.g. The glass is broken; The glass is being broken; The glass will be broken; The glass
will have been broken; The glass has been broken; The glass was broken; The glass was
being broken; The glass would be broken; Let the glass be broken; If the glass were broken; Had
the glass been broken, etc.
 Types of Passive transformation:
a. Sam took the mug. → The mug was taken by Sam.
b. Fred gives the pupils some tests. → The pupils are given some tests by Fred.
Tests are given to the pupils (by Bill).
c. They / You sent for the doctor. → The doctor was sent for_ (by them / you).
d. They elected him president. → He was elected president.

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION EXERCISES (1)

1. (Mă) întreabă (prea) adesea lucruri prosteşti.

2. Scrie o scrisoare şi nu poate veni chiar acum.
3. O cunoşti de mult timp?
4. Ne aşteptaţi de multă vreme aici?
5. A zis că o să sune după ce va termina.
6. Credeam că învaţă la engleză de mult timp.
7. Spunea că ştie adresa lui Victor.
8. Mi s-a spus că citeşte ziarul.
9. Cred că vine poimâine…
10. A întrebat dacă poate să vină când vrea.
11. Voi doi vă duceţi să vă jucaţi afară, nu?
12. Aşa fac oamenii mari întotdeauna.
13. E ciudat că vine tocmai astăzi.
14. Mă aşteptam să ştie mult mai multe.
15. Simţea că nu este (tocmai) persoana potrivită.
16. Îmi bătea tare inima.
17. Mai demult venea deseori să servească cina la noi acasă.
18. Veneau la piscină destul de des pe vremuri, nu?
19. Jenny era mama, iar tu (erai) tata.
20. Nu ştiam pe atunci ce are de gînd să facă.
21. Recunoscu imediat că vorbea la telefon cu prietena lui de cel puţin 45 de minute.
22. Ningea. Ningea cu fulgi mari de cu seară.
23. Dacă erau bogaţi, aveau bani să cumpere vila aceea.
24. Dacă voiau, îţi împrumutau tratatul acela de medicină.
25. Măcar dacă luai umbrela mea cu tine!
26. Mai bine telefonai aseară.
27. Trebuia să facem cum ni s-a spus.
28. Urmau să sosească astăzi la prânz.
29. Nu voiam să-i cer nici un favor.
30. V-aţi întors ieri seară?
31. Mă gîndeam că ai putea să vii şi tu cu noi…
32. Mi s-a spus că a uitat banii în buzunarul pardesiului.
33. I-ai văzut ultimele proze?
34. Ei, de-acuma ne-am dus şi noi!
35. Am aflat că ştii bine nemţeşte.
36. N-am observat-o de ore bune.

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37. E cam ciudat că a dormit aşa de mult!
38. Se zice că ar fi traficant de droguri, criminal în serie şi… bigam!
39. Se zice despre el c-ar scrie romane de aventuri.
40. Ai accepta dacă ţi s-ar face o propunere atât de avantajoasă.
41. Aş dormi, dar nu pot din cauza zgomotelor.
42. Se aude că ar sosi săptămâna viitoare.
43. Se poartă de parcă ar fi mare domn şi el nu e decât un biet chelner de birt.
44. N-ar trebui să bei tot sucul de portocale.
45. Se spune că n-ar fi el criminalul.
46. Se zice că l-ar fi înşfăcat de guler şi i-ar fi tras un pumn în nas.
47. Ştiam aproape totul. Dar nu i-am fi spus nimic dacă n-ar fi insistat atât.
48. Dacă am fi ştiut despre inundaţii, ne-am fi cumpărat din timp bărci pneumatice.
49. Am fi venit şi noi dacă ne-aţi fi spus cu ce să ne îmbrăcăm.
50. Măcar dacă ar fi sosit un pic mai devreme!
51. N-ar fi trebuit să-ţi mai faci atâtea griji.
52. Se zice că l-ar fi salvat de la înec.
53. Se duc deseori să-i ajute pe bătrâni, dar cred că astăzi îşi fac bagajele pentru că se duc
la Veneţia.
54. - Vine şi ea? - A spus că vine, dar când ne-am întîlnit în parc eram sigur că o să se
răzgîndească.
55. Mi-a spus că nu-i pasă ce cred ceilalţi, ea scrie scrisori şi nu pleacă nicăieri.
56. E normal că a refuzat să-i împrumute cărţi, devreme ce nu le aducea înapoi.
57. Cântă la pian de trei sferturi de oră şi tocmai aterminat o partitură pe care n-am mai
auzit-o pînă acum.
58. A zis că studiază italiana de câteva luni.
59. E ciudat că nu vrea să plece în expediţia de la Polul Sud.
60. Ştiam că vorbeşte de mult araba.
61. Ne-a spus că vorbeşte la telefon şi doreşte să nu fie deranjat.
62. – Ştiu că în fiecare zi soseşte acasă la ora 18.30. - Şi astăzi de ce soseşte aşa târziu?
63. Nu ştiaţi că sînt aşteptaţi de vreo jumătate de oră şi nimeni nu are de gând să-i anunţe.
64. E surprinzător că vrei să-l mai ajuţi după ce ţi-a irosit jumătate din banii de ipotecă.
65. Nu ştiam că are diplomă de licenţă de un şi jumătate şi profesează deja de trei luni.
66. Nu se aşteptau să-i întîlnească la cabană, deşi ştiau că trebuie să vină şi ei, fiindcă
făceau parte din acelaşi club de alpinişti şi montaniarzi.
67. E de necrezut că te roagă pe tine s-o ajuţi când ştie cât de mult te-a supărat.
68. Mă aşteptam să ştii despre întrunire.
69. Cineva a propus să se schimbe data conferinţei.
70. Dacă aflau cine e, îl invitau la concertul nostru.
71. Vine mereu şi cere cu împrumut cărţi fără să le mai înapoieze.
72. Da, ea aşa face întotdeauna, cheltuieşte toţi banii pe bijuterii.
73. Aşa fac toţi copiii.
74. De obicei e un coleg şi prieten admirabil, dar acum e mai nervos pentru că lucrează la
un proiect mai dificil.
75. Cum i-au zărit pe poliţişti, au luat-o la sănătoasa şi duşi au fost.
76. N-auzi că întârzii la şcoală?
77. Când am sosit noi, spăla duşumeaua la bucătărie.
78. Pleca dis-de-dimineaţă şi se întorcea seara târziu, frânt de oboseală şi mort de foame.
79. Deseori, lucra la dicţionar pînă în zori de zi şi nu se putea trezi decât foarte greu să
plece la cursuri.
80. Dacă aflai de la început mai veneai? 
81. Când s-a deschis uşa, scriam la raportul acela inutil de peste o oră şi jumătate.
82. Se jucau. De când a început ninsoarea – să tot fi fost două ore de când se jucau.
83. N-ai fi atât de sigur dacă ai încerca să fii mai comunicativ.

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 84. intram şi eu dacă ştiam că mă aştepţi în birou când am vorbit noi la telefon.
85. De când făceaţi autostopul când am oprit noi?
86. Am ştiut ce să cer, nu?
87. Vedeam că am greşit, dar nu îmi dădeam seama unde sau nu voiam nici în ruptul
capului să recunosc de faţă cu ceilalţi.
88. Nu înţelegeam pînă unde are de gînd să ajungă.
89. Ce făceaţi dacă vă învinuiau de dispariţia misterioasă a picturii?
90. Spuneau că vor restaura / renova vechea clădire, dar nu decât o propunere, din păcate.
91. Simţea că se întîmplă ceva ciudat cu ea, dar nu putea spune ce.
92. Îi întreba pe toţi care treceau cum se ajunge la noua lui adresă, dar nimeni nu-i putea
indica exact locul…
93. Vara mergem zilnic la înot cu colegul meu de bancă.
94. Ce mânca el mâncam şi eu, dar nu speram ne să fie de ajuns.
95. Copilul de numai şase ani vorbea de parcă ştia franceza de foarte mic, deşi nu mai avea
guvernantă franţuzoaică de când părinţii lui se mutaseră din casa aceea moştenită.
96. Măcar de-ar fi sunat ceva mai devreme!
97. Dacă pleca avionul şi stăteai o noapte în aeroport!
98. Mai bine cumpăram nişte carne tocată, nu-i aşa?
99. Nu era cazul să-i cedezi locul, putea aştepta ca toţi ceilalţi!
100. Trebuia să-l anunţi dacă voiai să vă întîlniţi la muzeul de istorie. Uneori pleacă mai
devreme, să ştii.
101. În curînd se împlinea o jumătate de secol de la înfiinţarea liceului.
102. Am aflat că nu ai veşti tocmai bune… (I learn that…)
103. Credeam că ai terminat deja.
104. Când te-ai coafat aşa de frumos?
105. Ai terminat deja sau nu? Lucrezi de cinci ore şi încă nu ai mâncat.
106. N-aţi văzut niciodată un ghepard viu?
107. I-ai scrie dacă ai primi răspuns?
108. - Aţi văzut vreun OZN? - Or fi fiind ele multe, dar noi nu le prea vedem…
109. Ce-ar fi dacă am merge acolo cu toţii?
110. Mai bine v-aţi spăla pe dinţi, copii!
111. De-ar fi să fie aşa, aş veni şi eu cu voi.
112. De-ar şti ei cum stau lucrurile, pariez că n-ar mai face atâta zgomot pentru nimic!
113. Se-aude că ar fi turnând o peliculă, dar îl tot văd cherchelindu-se la cîrciuma din colţ.
114. Vă priviţi în ochi de parcă v-aţi spune tot, iar ceilalţi se uită consternaţi de parcă n-rar
înţelege nimic.
115. Măcar dacă s-ar termina mai repede semestrul acesta!
116. Ce n-ar da să fie şi el de faţă la premieră!
117. N-ar trebui să porţi pantofi cu toc înalt!
118. Se zice că peste o săptămână încep Serbările Zăpezii.
119. Rîdea de parcă auzise o glumă bună.
120. Se lăudau că au urcat pe vîrful cel mai înalt din zonă.
121. O fi ascunzînd ea ceva, altfel nu scornea toată povestea aceea incredibilă.
122. Zicea că a primit o scrisoare de la el săptămâna trecută.
123. Trebuia să te opreşti şi s-o ajuţi, nu crezi?
124. Oare te ia de fraier sau mi se pare mie?
125. Să păstrez tăcerea sau să-i spun tot?
126. Să fie oare intimidat – ori e doar viclean?
127. Să plecăm acum sau să mai rămânem puţin?
128. Se întrebau ce să facă.
129. Au întrebat-o ce să le dea.
130. Să-mi facă ea una ca asta!

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131. Să-i fi văzut cum minţeau!
132. Să fi venit şi Vasile, nu se mai întîmplau toate neplăcerile ştiute.
133. Orice-aţi spune, nu pot să cred aşa ceva.
134. Trebuia să-i dea o lecţie ca să-l pomenească!
135. Să fi fost pe vremea secetei celei mari, acum vreo 40-50 de ani, aş zice.
136. Se vede că n-au terminat încă.
137. Se aude că au terminat de vopsit cercevelele de la ferestre.
138. Măcar de nu te-ai fi grăbit aşa!

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION EXERCISES (2)

1. Aproape în fiecare sâmbătă seara ne întîlnim cu socrii vecinilor noştri în faţa teatrului.
2. Am trimis deja scrisoarea la care scriam de o jumătate de oră când a sosit Robert.
3. - Sandra n-a venit încă la liceu în după-amiaza aceasta, nu?
4. N-am aflat din păcate nici o veste de la el pînă acum.
5. Când a ajuns şi-a dat seama că Eunice l-a aşteptat mai bine de o oră şi tocmai plecase.
6. Spărgătorii au fost denunţaţi după ce au jefuit şi a doua bancă din centru.
7. Când s-a dus a doua oară în Italia, în 2002, învăţase deja bine italiana şi ceva mai slab
franceza.
8. În tot timpul acela, sperase că se va termina totul cu bine.
9. Vom ajunge la Birmingham la ora 11.40, dacă avionul n-o să aibă întârziere din cauza ceţei.
10. Anul acesta a luat lecţii de pian şi de canto pentru că vrea să se înscrie la conservator.
11. Dacă nu va sosi la timp, toată lumea se va alerta şi va întreba ce s-a întîmplat cu el.
12. Li s-a spus că trenul de Torino a sosit cu câteva minute mai devreme şi staţionează doar 10
minute.
13. În august, mama împlineşte 48 de ani, iar tata se pensionează.
14. Stăteau ore întregi în faţa calculatorului şi jucau tot felul de jocuri ciudate şi zgomotoase.
15. Nici nu apucaseră bine să pună valizele în portbagaj, că şi-au amintit că nu au luat
umbrelele.
16. De-abia intră pe uşă, că au şi năvălit copiii asupra lui să-l scotocească prin buzunare.
17. Ieri i-a spus că astăzi împlineşte 38 de ani, iar anul trecut pe vremea asta îmi spunea că are
numai 35 de ani!
18. - Când trebuie să plătesc factura de întreţinere? - Cu cât mai repede, cu atât mai bine!
19. - Vor veni şi Amanda cu sora ei mai mare la ziua ta onomastică?
20. – Copii, cu cât veţi termina mai repede, cu atât veţi avea mai mult timp de joacă.
21. Să fi avut mai mulţi bani, îmi cumpăram rochia aceea de seară…
22. Tocmai mă întrebam dacă o să vină şi el în excursie.
23. Dacă nu i-ai fi răspuns la salut, ar fi crezut că nici nu l-ai iertat atunci când şi-a cerut scuze
pentru gafa făcută.
24. Dacă ştiau că nu se întorc ieri, nu-i mai aşteptau defel pe aeroport.
25. N-ar fi cutezat să te roage vreodată aşa ceva dacă nu era încredinţat că o să faci tot ce-ţi stă
în putinţă să-l ajuţi.
26. Cred că mâine vom pleca la Paris, iar poimâine vizităm Luvrul.
27. Joi seara vom lua cina la familia Adams, cu cei mai buni prieteni ai noştri, pe care nu i-am
mai văzut de vreo doi ani.
28. Duminică ducem copiii la patinoar, iar apoi mergem la restaurantul chinezesc.
29. Ce faci diseară, mergi la teatru sau te duci la concertul lui Toto Cutugno?
30. - Unde îţi petreci vacanţa de Crăciun? Ce-ar fi să vii cu noi la schi?
31. - Cine vrea să vină cu mine în turneu la New York? - Cu toţii vrem!
32. Nu pot să repar aspiratorul şi nici cumnatul meu nu poate; a tot încercat de aseară…
33. Annie s-a culcat deja. La fel şi bunicuţa ei, dar cred că Antonio n-a adormit încă, şi nici
fratele lui.

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34. - Am aflat din scrisoarea ta c-o să te duci cu o bursă de studii europene în Olanda. - Da, aşa
este!
35. Dacă chiar câştig concursul acesta, îi voi da mamei premiul, pentru că-l merită pe deplin!
36. Dacă aş trimite felicitările acum, ar ajunge de-abia vineri, ceea ce înseamnă că e mai târziu
de cât mă aşteptam.
37. Aş vrea să ştiu de unde vine domnul acela înalt cu impermeabil gri şi pălărie neagră.
38. - E timpul ca şi tu să recunoşti adevărul şi să-ţi ceri măcar scuze…
39. - Astăzi te-am aşteptat 50 de minute lîngă statuia ecvestră a lui Mihai Viteazul, iar de 5
minute îţi dau dau apeluri pe telefonul mobil. Unde-ai fost toată ziua?
40. Mi-a spus că vopseşte ferestrele de la ora 6 şi că tot n-a terminat.
41. - Domne fereşte şi păzeşte! Să nu mai treci vreodată prin cimitir noaptea!
42. - Lua-o-ar naiba de maşină! Iar s-a înţepenit motorul! Nu vrea să pornească şi gata!

►Make up sentences which you think best illustrate the following phrasal verbs; try
to distinguish between adverbial particles and (obligatory) prepositions:
abstain from, ache for, act (up)on, add up, agree with, ask after, attend to, back down,
back up, back up, bank on, bargain for, be about, be beyond, be in for, be in, be off, be
through, blow up, bone up on, break down, break in, break into, break off, break out, break up,
break with, bring about, bring down, bring on, bring up, burn down, call away, call down, call
for, call off, call on, call to, call up, catch on, catch up with, come up, come across, come
along, come around, come down, come in, come off, come out, come over, come up with, cut
across, cut down on, cut down, cut in, cut off, cut out, do away, do for, do in, do out, do over,
do up, do with, draw apart, draw back, draw in, draw off, draw into, draw up, drive at, drive
back, drive into, drive off, enlarge on, face up to, fall apart, fall back, fall down, fall in, fall
into, fall off, fall on, fall out, fall over, fall to, get about, get across, get along, get around, get
away, get back, get by, get down to, get down, get in, get in, get into, get on, get out, get over,
get through, give away, give in, give in to, give off, give out, give up, go about, go against, go
along, go around, go at, go back, go by, go in for, go in, go into, go off, go on for, go on, go
out, go over, go through, go up, go with, grow away from, grow on, grow out, grow up, hang
up, have in, have on, have out, hint at, hold against, hold back, hold down, hold forth, hold in,
hold off, hold on, hold over, keep after, keep ahead, keep at, keep away, keep back, keep down,
keep from, keep in, keep in with, keep off, keep on, keep out, keep up, lay aside, lay before, lay
down, lay into, lay off, lay on, lay out, let down, let in, let off, let on, let up, look after, look
down, look for, look forward to, look in, look into, look on, look out, look through, look up,
make at, make away, make for, make into, make up, part with, part with, pass away, pass by,
pass off, pass on, pass over, put about, put across, put back, put by, put down, put forward, put
in, put off, put on, put through, put up with, run for, run in, run into, run about, run off, run out,
run over, run through, run up, set about, set aside, set back, set forth, set off, set on, set out, set
to, set up, stand back, stand by, stand for, stand on, stand out, stand up, take across, take after,
take apart, take away, take back, take down, take for, take in, take on, take out, take over, take
to, take up with, take up, throw up, turn away, turn down, turn in, turn into, turn off, turn out
for, turn out, turn over, turn to, turn up, walk out on, write down, write off.

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 APPENDICES

DIFFICULTIES OF THE ENGLISH VERB

The irregular verbs are a difficulty for some of us because they have a special form in past
tense and past participle. They don’t end in –ed (although there are cases when the verb can have
this ending) and these verbs must be taught by heart.

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .
abide abided, abode abided a locui
arise arose arisen a se ridica
awake awoke, awakened awaken a se trezi
be was/ were been a fi
bear bore borne a purta
beat beat beaten a bate
become became become a deveni
befall befell befallen a se întâmpla
beget begot (also begat) begotten a naşte
begin began begun a începe
behold beheld beheld a zări, a vedea
bend bent bent a (se) îndoi
bereave bereft, bereft, a lipsi de
bereaved bereaved
beseech besought, besought, a implora
beseeched beseeched
beset beset beset a pune, a aşeza
bestride bestrode bestridden a încăleca

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

bet bet, betted bet, betted a pune pariu

betake betook betaken a reduce la
bethink bethought bethought a-şi aduce aminte de,
a se gândi la.
bid bade, bid bid, bidden a ruga
bind bound bound a lega
bite bit bitten a muşca
bleed bled bled a sangera
bless blessed, blest blessed, blest a binecuvanta,
blow blew blown a sufla,a bate
break broke broken a (se)sparge
breed bred bred a creste
bring brought brought a aduce
broadcast broadcast broadcast a transmite
browbeat browbeat browbeaten a teroriza
build built built a construi

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burn burned, burnt burned, burnt a arde
burst burst burst a izbucni;
a năvăli;a crăpa
bust (BrE) bust, (BrE) bust, a izbucni;
(esp AmE) busted (esp AmE) busted a năvăli;a crăpa
buy bought bought a cumpăra
can could could a putea
cast cast cast a arunca

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

choose chose chosen a alege

cleave cleaved, cleaved, a (se) lipi,a adera la
cleft, clove cleft, cloven a crăpa
cling clung clung a se agăţa
come came come a veni
cost cost cost a costa
creep crept crept a se târî
cut cut cut a tăia
deal dealt /delt/ dealt a trata
dig dug dug a săpa
dive dived, (AmE) dove dived a se scufunda
do did done a face
draw drew drawn a desena,
a trage
dream dreamed, dreamt dreamed, dreamt a visa
drink drank drunk a bea
drive drove driven a conduce
dwell dwelt, dwelled dwelt, dwelled a locui
eat ate eaten a mânca
fall fell fallen a cădea
feed fed fed a hrăni
feel felt felt a (se) simţi
fight fought fought a cauta
find found found a găsi

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

flee fled fled a fugi,

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 a se refugia
fling flung flung a arunca
fly flew flown a zbura
forbear forbore forborne a îndura, a suporta
forbid forbade, forbad forbidden a interzice
forecast forecast forecast a prevedea; a prezice
foresee foresaw foreseen a prevedea; a prezice
foretell foretold foretold a prevedea; a prezice
forget forgot forgotten a uita
forgive forgave forgiven a ierta
forgo forwent forgone a se lipsi de, a renunţa la
forsake forsook forsaken a părăsi, a abandona
forswear forswore forsworn a adjura, a renega
freeze froze frozen a îngheţa
gainsay gainsaid gainsaid a contrazice; a nega
get got got a primi, a obţine
(also gottenAmE)
gird girded, girt girded, girt a înconjura
give gave given a da
go went gone a merge
grind ground ground a măcina
grow grew grown a creşte
hamstring hamstrung hamstrung a paraliza

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

hang hung, hanged hung, hanged a atârna

have had had a avea
hear heard heard a auzi
heave heaved, hove heaved, hove a se ridica; a palpita
hew hewed hewn, hewed a tăia, a despica
hide hid hidden, hid a se ascunde
hit hit hit a lovi
hold held held a ţine
hurt hurt hurt a lovi, a răni,a durea
input inputted, input inputted, input a alimenta
inset inset, insetted inset, insetted a insera
interbreed interbred interbred a (se) încrucişa, a (se)
corci
interweave interwove interwoven a (se) întreţese
keep kept kept a păstra
kneel knelt,. knelt, a îngenunchia
(esp. AmE) kneeled (esp AmE) kneeled
knit knitted, knit knitted, knit a tricota
know knew known a şti, a cunoaşte
lay laid laid a pune, aşeza
lead led led a conduce
lean leaned leaned a se apleca, a se sprijini

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 (also leant esp. BrE) (also leant esp. BrE)
leap leapt, leapt, a sări

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

(esp. AmE) leaped (esp. AmE) leaped

learn learned, learnt learned, learnt a învăţa
leave left left a pleca, a lăsa
lend lent lent a da cu înprumut
let let let a lăsa, a permite
lie lay lain a zăcea, a se afla
light lit, lighted lit, lighted a aprinde
lose lost lost a pierde
make made made a face
may might might a putea, a avea voie să
mean meant meant a însemna
meet met met a (se) întâlni
mislay mislaid mislaid a rătăci, a pierde
mislead misled misled a înşela; a corupe
mistake mistook mistaken a face o greşeală, a
confunda
misunderstand misunderstood misunderstood a înţelege greşit,
a-şi face o părere greşită mow
mowed mown, mowed a cosi
outbid outbid outbid a suprasolicita
outdo outdid outdone a întrece; a epuiza
outgrow outgrew outgrown a depăşi
outride outrode outridden a întrece călare
outrun outran outrun a depăşi;

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

a întrece măsura
outsell outsold outsold a vinde mai mult în
comparaţie cu
overbear overbore overborne a copleşi; a intimida
supraîncărca;
overcast overcast overcast a întuneca; a îmbrăca;
overcome overcame overcome a învinge; a covârşi
overdo overdid overdone a exagera;
a frige prea tare
overdraw overdrew overdrawn a exagera; a-şi depăşi
overeat overate overeaten a îndopa
overhear overheard overheard a auzi fără să vrea
a surprinde (o conversaţie)
overpay overpaid overpaid a plăti generos

195
oversee oversaw overseen a supraveghea
override overrode overridden a istovi; a călca în
picioare
overrun overran overrun a invada ; a depăşi
oversee oversaw overseen a supraveghea
overtake overtook overtaken a ajunge din urmă
overthrow overthrew overthrown a răsturna; a înfrânge
partake partook partaken a împărtăşi
pay paid paid a plăti
plead pleaded, pleaded, a susţine; a pleda

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

(esp AmE) pled (esp AmE) pled

pre-set pre-set pre-set a prestabili; a prelega
proofread proofread proofread a corecta
prove proved proved a dovedi
(also proven AmE)
put put put a pune
read read /red/ read /red/ a citi
relay relaid relaid a retransmite
rend rent rent a smulge; a despica
repay repaid repaid a răsplăti
reset reset reset a repune
rid rid, ridded rid, ridded a scăpa de, a elimina
ride rode ridden a călări
ring rang rung a suna
rise rose risen a răsări, a se ridica
run ran run a fugi
saw sawed sawn, sawed a tăia cu fierăstrăul
say said said a spune
see saw seen a vedea
seek sought sought a căuta
sell sold sold a vinde
send sent sent a trimite
set set set a pune
sew sewed sewn, sewed a coase

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

shake shook shaken a scutura; a tremura

shear sheared shorn, sheared a tunde oi
shed shed shed a vărsa
(lacrimi, sănge)
shine shone, shined shone, shined a străluci
shoe shod shod a potcovi

196
shoot shot shot a împuşca
show showed shown, showed a arăta
shrink shrank, shrunk shrunk a se strânge; a se scoroji
shut shut shut a închide
sing sang sung a cânta
sink sank, sunk sunk a (se) scufunda
sit sat sat a şedea
slay slew slain a ucide
sleep slept slept a dormi
slide slid slid a aluneca
sling slung slung a arunca
slink slunk slunk a se furişa
slit slit slit a (se) crăpa
smell (esp. BrE) smelt, (esp. BrE) smelt, a mirosi
  (esp. AmE) smelled (esp. AmE) smelled
smite smote smitten a izbi; a fermeca
sneak sneaked sneaked a pârî; a se furişa
(also snuck AmE) (also snuck AmE)

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

sow sowed sown, sowed a semăna

speak spoke spoken a vorbi
speed sped, speeded sped, speeded a grăbi; a accelera
spell (esp. BrE) spelt, (esp. BrE) spelt, a ortografia
  (esp. AmE) spelled (esp. AmE) spelled
spill (esp. BrE) spilt, (esp. BrE) spilt, a vărsa (lapte etc.)
(esp. AmE) spilled (esp. AmE) spilled
spin spun, span spun a toarce
spit spat spat a scuipa
(also spit AmE) (also spit AmE)
split split split a despica
spoil spoiled, spoilt spoiled, spoilt a răsfăţa
spotlight spotlighted, spotlighted, a reflecta
spotlit spotlit
spread spread spread a (se) întinde
spring sprang sprung a izvorî; a sări
(also sprung AmE)
stand stood stood a sta (în picioare)
steal stole stolen a fura; a se furişa
stick stuck stuck a lipi
sting stung stung a înţepa
stink stank, stunk stunk a mirosi urât
strew strewed strewn, strewed a presa
stride strode stridden a merge cu paşi mari

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 Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of
the Infinitive .

strike struck struck a lovi

string strung strung a înşira (pe o aţă)
strive strove, strived striven, strived a năzui
swear swore sworn a jura pe; a înjura
sweep swept swept a mătura
swell swelled swollen, swelled a se umfla
swim swam swum a înota
swing swung swung a legăna
take took taken a lua
teach taught taught a preda
tear tore torn a rupe, a sfâşia
tell told told a spune, a povesti
think thought thought a (se) gândi
thrive thrived, throve thrived a prospera
throw threw thrown a arunca
thrust thrust thrust a înfige
tread trod trodden, trod a călca
unbend unbent unbent a îndrepta; a(se)
destinde
undergo underwent undergone a suferi; a se supune
(unei operaţii)
underlie underlay underlaid a susţine
undersell undersold undersold a vinde mai ieftin
understand understood understood a înţelege

Verb Past Tense Past Participle Translation of

the Infinitive .

undertake undertook undertaken a întreprinde

underwrite underwrote underwritten a semna; a garanta
undo undid undone a anula; a ruina
unwind unwound unwound a (se) desface;
a (se) descolăci
uphold upheld upheld a susţine; a înălţa
upset upset upset a răsturna; a tulbura
wake woke, waked woken, waked a se trezi
waylay waylaid waylaid a aţine calea (cuiva)
wear wore worn a purta
weave wove woven a ţese
wed wedded, wed wedded, wed a (se) cununa
weep wept wept a plânge
wet wetted, wet wetted, wet a uda
win won won a câştiga
wind /waind/ wound wound a răsuci
withdraw withdrew withdrawn a (se) retrage;

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 a (se) îndepărta
withhold withheld withheld a reţine; a refuza
withstand withstood withstood a se împotrivi la;
a rezista la
wreak wreaked, wreaked, a-şi vărsa (furia etc.)
wrought wrought
wring wrung wrung a stoarce
write wrote written a scrie

FURTHER TENSE PRACTICE

1.A Write these verbs in the third person singular. Pay attention to their spelling.
Model: drink – drinks, wash – washes, study – studies.
go, miss, eat, hurry, be, try, have, say, do, watch, live, get, stop, read

1.B Put the verbs in the brackets into the simple present
Situation:
I (get up) at 7.30 when the alarm-clock (ring).
I get up at 7.30 when the alarm-clock rings.
1. I (eat) breakfast in a hurry, not to be late for school.
2. Dan (be) off early to the factory where he (run) a label printing business.
3. Mum (drive) to school at 8.10.
4. Unfortunately, she (teach) at my school.
5. I (travel) to school with her in the car, although it (do) my reputation no good to be seen
arriving with a teacher every day.
6. I (be) in the sixth form at the High School in Boston, Lincolnshire.
7. Alice and I (sit) at the back answering at suitable intervals.
8. One student (read) the passage, then other students (help) translate.
9. The teacher (help) when we (need) her, but otherwise (keep) quiet.
10. Homework (take) up most of the evening, if not all of it.

2.A Respond to the following statements, using emphatic DO/DOES.

1. Laura swims very well.
2. Susan and Mary work very hard.
3. Diana dances very well.
4. Helen and Alice play tennis very well.
5. Sandra drives very fast.
6. Angela types very well.
7. Liz and Betty run very fast.
8. Christine works very hard.
9. Paula and Lily walk very fast.
10. Lucy and Julia skate very well.

2.B Make sentences using the following words. Pay attention to the order of words in the
sentence.
1. Alice, puts, on her desk, in the morning, usually, some flowers.
Alice usually puts some flowers on her desk in the morning.

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 Subject + adv. of frequency + predicate + direct object + adv. of manner + place + time.
2. Tom, drinks, in the morning, always, tea.
3. Father, finishes, at five o’clock, work, every day.
4. Dan and his friends, go, on Saturdays, to the cinema.
5. Mother, mixes, in this bowl, cakes, always.
6. The neighbour’s dog, chases, often, our cat.
7. We, speak, very well, English.
8. Our club, holds, once a month, a meeting, at school.
9. Mrs Brad, looks, on her way to work, in the shop windows, always.
10. Mr Barton, teaches us, twice a week, English.
3.A Put the verbs in the brackets into the simple present or present continuous form. Note
that THINK and CONSIDER can be used in the continuous aspect if they mean REFLECT,
WEIGH MATTERS.
1. Paul (think) about the exam.
2. He (think) it was long and difficult.
3. … you (smell) gas? I (think) the new stove is leaking.
4. Fred (consider) buying my old bicycle.
5. He (consider) it a good bargain.
6. … you (remember) the name of the boy who (walk) on the other side of the street?
7. “What … (think) about?” “I (think) about my holidays. I (think) I’ll have a good time at
the seaside.”
8. I (suppose) I must go now. My parents (wait) for me at home.
9. The buss … still (stand) at the buss stop. … you (think) we can just catch it?
10. … you (listen) to what I am saying? … you (understand) me?

3.B Put the verbs in brackets into the proper form of the present.
1. Victor (live) in Brasov. At present he (live) in Bucharest.
2. The wind (blow) hard outside. It often (blow) hard in autumn.
3. The paly (begin) now. Plays on TV always (begin) at 8.15 p.m.
4. It (get) colder and colder. Winter (come).
5. Monica (try) to finish her work early today. She (go) to the theatre in the evening.
6. I sometimes (forget) to take my keys when I (leave) the house.
7. We (spend) this week on the coast; we (enjoy) ourselves very much.
8. Every morning I (get up) early. On Sunday mornings I (sleep) late.
9. I (plan) to buy a bicycle soon.
10. Today I (not read) the newspaper that I usually (read).
11. On my way to school I usually (meet) many people who (go) to their work..
12. Our neighbours always (interfere) in other people’s affairs!
13. When it (rain) people usually (stay) indoors.
14. The sun (rise) in the east and (set) in the west.
15. I will wait until you (come).
4.A Give the present perfect forms of the following irregular verbs.
1. I see. I’ve seen. 11. They lead.
2. He teaches. He’s taught. 12. He rings.
3. It bursts. 13. It strikes.
4. He breaks. 14. He draws.
5. I catch. 15. They give.
6. We give. 16. You forget.
7. I show. 17. He falls.
8. They feel. 18. I feed.
9. He wears. 19. It shrinks.
10. We hide. 20. He sells.

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4.B Use the prompts below to list the activities the students have not done this week
because they have studied for their exams. Put the verbs in the simple present perfect
negative: Subject + HAVE/HAS + NOT/-N’T + Past Participle.
1. Lorrie / not watch / any TV.
Lorrie hasn’t watched any TV this week.
2. Lorrie and I / not waste / any time
3. We / not put off / difficult tasks / any longer
4. Lorrie’s mother / not visit / her
5. The two of them / not go / shopping
6. Lorrie’s boyfriend / not call / her
7. Lorrie and I / not sleep / much
8. We / not focus / on unimportant things / either
9. I / not spend / any time / with my friends

5.A Use the Recent Present Perfect to show that events are completed in the near past.
Complete these sentences about the Walt Disney company. Choose verbs from: become,
get, grow, increase, go up, fall, go down, change, improve.
1. Recently, the Walt Disney company has grown in size.
2. In recent years, the Disney company _____ its image for the better.
3. Because of this, purchases of Disney stocks _____ .
4. Animated movies made by Disney _____ popular again lately.
5. As a result, people who invested in Disney stocks _____ rich.
6. Stocks in other companies haven’t done so well recently. They _____ ,
7. The price of the smaller companies’ stocks hasn’t gone up. It _____.
8. However, with lots of advertising, some smaller companies _____ their images in recent
years.
9. The results are already obvious – the purchase of their stocks _____ .

5.B Supply HAS BEEN or HAVE BEEN as appropriate.

Ever since the wicked Queen poisoned Snow White with an apple…
1. Snow White has been lying in a gold coffin.
2. Candles have been burning at Snow White’s head.
3. Snow White’s coffin _____ lying under a tree in blossom.
4. The Seven Dwarfs _____ keeping vigil around Snow White.
5. It _____ raining.
6. The animals of the forest _____ grieving.
7. The birds of the forest _____ crying.
8. The prince _____ traveling in search of Snow White.
9. He _____ trying to find the house of the Dwarfs.

6.A Add SINCE or FOR to the time phrases below.

1. for two days 8. ___ 1950
2. since ten o’clock 9. ___ several months
3. ___ an hour 10. ___ New Year’s Eve
4. ___ July 11. ___ they came
5. ___ Sunday 12. ___ the past few months
6. ___ ages 13. ___ a long time
7. ___ three weks 14. ___ he left

6.B Fill in the blanks with FOR or SINCE . Put the verbs in italics in the continuous
present prefect.
1. We (study) for the final exams ___ two weeks.
2. This man (read) the paper ___ he got on the bus.

201
 3. The patient (sleep) ___ __ twelve hours now.
4. My aunt and my uncle (stay) ___ with us ___ September.
5. Mr. Sims (work) ___ in this office ___ he graduated from college.
6. I (call) ___ the doctor ___ the last five minutes.
7. My brothers (read) ___ __ they came back from school.
8. The Smiths (save) ___ money for a new car __ they got married.
9. It (rain) ___ __ ages.
10. You (paln) ___ this party __ a long time, haven’t you?

KEY TO THE EXERCISES

Exercise 1.A
go – goes say – says
miss – misses do – does
eat – eats watch – watches

hurry – hurries live – lives

be – is get – gets

try – tries stop – stops

have – has read – reads

Exercise 1.B
1. I eat breakfast in a hurry, not to be late for school.
2. Dan is off early to the factory where he runs a label printing business.
3. Mum drives to school at 8.10.
4. Unfortunately she teaches at my school.
5. I travel to school with her in the car, although it does my reputation no good to be seen
arriving with a teacher every day.
6. I am in the sixth form at the High School in Boston, Lincolnshire.
7. Alice and I sit at the back answering at suitable intervals.
8. One student reads the passage, then other students help translate.
9. The teacher helps when we need her, but otherwise keeps quiet.
10. Homework takes up most of the evening, if not all of it.

Exercise 2.A
1. Ann: Laura swims very well.
Kate: Yes, she does swim well, but I can swim better.
2. Ann: Susan and Mary work very hard.
Kate: They do work hard, but I can work harder.
3. Ann: Diana dances very well.
Kate: Yes, she does dance well, but I can dance better.
4. Ann: Helen and Alice play tennis very well.
Kate: Yes, they do play tennis well, but I can play better.
5. Ann: Sandra drives very fast.
Kate: Yes, she does drive fast, but I can faster.
6. Ann: Angela types very well.
Kate: Yes, she does type well, but I can better.
7. Ann: Liz and Betty run very fast.
Kate: Yes, they do run fast, but I can faster.
8. Ann: Christine works very hard.
Kate: Yes, she does work hard, but I can work harder.
9. Ann: Paula and Lily walk very fast.
Kate: Yes, they do walk fast, but I can walk faster.

202
10. Ann: Lucy and Julia skate very well.
Kate: Yes, they do skate well, but I can skate better.

Exercise 2.B
1. Alice usually puts some flowers on her desk in the morning.
2. Tom always drinks tea in the morning.
3. Father finishes work every day at five o’clock.
4. Dan and his friends go to the cinema on Saturdays.
5. Mother always mixes cakes in this bowl.
6. The neighbour’s dog often chases our cat.
7. We speak English very well.
8. Our club holds a meeting at school once a month.
9. Mrs. Brad always looks in the shop windows on her way to work.
10. Mr Barton teaches us English twice a week.

Exercise 3.A
1. Paul is thinking about the exam.
2. He thinks it was long and difficult.
3. Do you smell gas? I think the new stove is leaking.
4. Fred is considering buying my new bicycle.
5. He considers it a good bargain.
6. Do you remember the name of the boy who is walking on the other side of the street?
7. “What are you thinking about?” “I am thinking about my holidays. I think I’ll have a
good time at the seaside.”
8. I suppose I must go now. My parents are waiting for me at home.
9. The buss is still standing at the buss stop. Do you think we can just catch it?
10. Are you listening to what I am saying? Do you understand me?

Exercise 3.B
1. Victor lives in Brasov. At present he is living in Bucharest.
2. The wind is blowing hard outside. It often blows hard in autumn.
3. The play is begining now. Plays on TV always begin at 8.15 p.m.
4. It is getting colder and colder. Winter is coming.
5. Monica is trying to finish her work early today. She is going to the theatre in the evening.
6. I sometimes forget to take my keys when I leave the house.
7. We are spending this week on the coast; we are enjoying ourselves very much.
8. Every morning I get up early. On Sunday mornings I sleep late.
9. I am planning to buy a bicycle soon.
10. Today I am not reading the newspaper thet I usually read.
11. On my way to school I usually meet many people who are going to their work.
12. Our neighbours are always interfering in other people’s affairs!
13. When it is raining people usually stay indoors.
14. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
15. I will wait until you come.

Exercise 4.A
1. I’ve (I have) seen.
2. He’s (he has) taught.
3. It’s (it has) burst.
4. He’s (he has) broken.
5. I’ve (I have) caught.
6. We’ve (we have) given.
7. I’ve (I have) shown.
11. They’ve (they have) led.
12. He’s (he has) rung.
13. It’s (it has) struck.
14. He’s (he has) drawn.
15. They’ve (they have) given.
16. You’ve (you have) forgotten.
17. He’s (he has) fallen.

203
8. They’ve (they have) felt. 18. I’ve (I have) fed.
9. He’s (he has) worn. 19. It’s (it has) shrunk.
10. We’ve (we have) hidden. 20. He’s (he has) sold.

Exercise 4.B
1. Lorrie hasn’t watched any TV this week.
2. Lorrie and I haven’t wasted any time this week.
3. We haven’t put off difficult tasks any longer this week.
4. Lorrie’s mother hasn’t visited her this week.
5. The two of them haven’t gone shopping this week.
6. Lorrie’s boyfriend hasn’t called her this week.
7. Lorrie and I haven’t slept much this week..
8. We haven’t focused on unimportant things either this week.
9. I haven’t spent any time with my friends this week.

Exercise 5.A
1. Recently, the Walt Disney company has grown in size.
2. In recent years, the Disney company has changed its image for the better.
3. Because of this, purchases of Disney stocks have increased.
4. Animated movies made by Disney have become popular again lately.
5. As a result, people who invested in Disney stocks have got rich.
6. Stocks in other companies haven’t done so well recently. They have fallen.
7. The price of the smaller companies’ stocks hasn’t gone up. It has gone down.
8. However, with lots of advertising, some smaller companies have improved their images in
recent years.
9. The results are already obvious – the purchase of their stocks has gone up.

Exercise 5.B
Ever since the wicked Queen poisoned Snow White with an apple…
1. Snow White has been lying in a gold coffin.
2. Candles have been burning at Snow White’s head.
3. Snow White’s coffin has been lying under a tree in blossom.
4. The Seven Dwarfs have been keeping vigil around Snow White.
5. It has been raining.
6. The animals of the forest have been grieving.
7. The birds of the forest have been crying.
8. The prince has been traveling in search of Snow White.
9. He has been trying to find the house of the Dwarfs.

Exercise 6.A
1. for two days 8. since 1950
2. since ten o’clock 9. for several months
3. for an hour 10. since New Year’s Eve
4. since July 11. since they came
5. since Sunday 12. for the past few months
6. for ages 13. for a long time
7. for three weks 14. since he left

Exercise 6.B
1. We have been studying for the final exams for two weeks.
2. This man has been reading the paper since he got on the bus.
3. The patient has been sleeping for twelve hours now.
4. My aunt and my uncle have been staying with us since September.

204
 5. Mr. Sims has been working in this office since he graduated from college.
6. I have been calling the doctor for the last five minutes.
7. My brothers have been reading since they came back from school.
8. The Smiths have been saving money for a new car since they got married.
9. It has been raining for ages.
10. You have been planning this party for a long time, haven’t you?

VOICE – EXERCISES

1) Put the following sentences into the passive, using an infinitive construction where
possible:

a) We added up the money and found that it was correct.

b) They claim that this engine is twice as powerful as the previous one.
c) Someone seems to have made a terrible mistake.
d) People know that he is armed.
e) Someone saw him pick up the gun.
f) We know that you were in town on the night of the crime.
g) You needn’t have done this.
h) He kikes people to call him ‘sir’.
i) Don’t touch this switch.
j) You will have to get someone to see to it.
k) It is impossible to do this.
l) Someone is following us.
m) They used to make little boys climb the chimneys to clean them.
n) You order me about and I am tired of it.
o) He doesn’t like people laughing at him.
p) You don’t need to wind this watch.
q) You can combat dandruff by frequent shampooing.
r) They say that the rocket travelled six thousand miles and landed in the target area.
s) People believe that he was killed by tribesmen.
t) They are to send letters to the leaders of charitable organizations.
u) We consider that she was the best singer that Australia has ever produced.
2) Turn the following sentences into the active voice. Where no agent is mentioned one
must be supplied:

a) Why don’t you have your eyes tested ?

b) This speed limit is to be introduced gradually.
c) The runways are being lengthened at all the main airports.
d) It is now 6 a.m. and at most of the hospitals in the country patients are being
wakened with cups of tea.
e) Byron is said to have lived on vinegar and potatoes.
f) This signpost has been tampered with.
g) Have a lift put in and then you won’t have to climb up all these stairs.
h) It is being said that too little money is being spent by the government on roads.
i) For a long time the earth was believed to be flat.
j) Someone will have to be found to take her place.

3) Put each verb in brackets into the passive in an appropriate tense:

205
a)Nothing – (see) of Pauline since her car – (find) abandoned near Newbury last week.
b) As our new furniture – (deliver) on Monday morning I’ll have to stay at home to check that
it – (not damage) during transit.
c)For the past few days I – (work) in Jack’s office, as my own office – (redecorate).
d) A major new deposit of oil – (discover) in the North Sea.
e)No decision – (make) about any future appointment until all suitable candidates – (interview).
f) The last time I went sailing with friends the boat – (sink) in a gale.
g) Pictures of the surface of the planet Venus – (receive) yesterday from the space probe
‘Explorer’ which – (launch) last year.

4) Underline any uses of the agent which are unnecessary:

a)My jewelers has been stolen by a thief !

b) It has been decided by the school that Wednesday will be a school holiday.
c)Harry was pushed over by someone standing next to him in the queue.
d) The goods are transported by rail to our warehouse in the Midlands.
e)I was told by someone that you have a vacancy for a computer operator.
f) Sue has been picked by the selectors for the national team.
g) The letter was sent by post on the 21st of last month.
h) The larger portrait was painted by a little-known Flemish artist.
i) It has been agreed by everyone that no smoking should be allowed.
j) As I arrived at the conference a note was handed to me by one of the delegates.

5) Rewrite each sentence, so that the meaning stays the same:

a)A friend lent George the motorbike he rode in the race.

b) The motorbike George rode in the race –
c)At the time, my aunt was looking after the children for us.
d) At the time our children ---
e)The police have issued a description of the wanted man.
f) A description –
g) It was a mistake to enter Brian for the exam.
h) Brian should not ---
i) My legal advisers have told me not to say any more at this time.
j) I have –
k) Nobody had invited Jean to the party, which annoyed her.
l) As she ---
m) There is no definite decision yet about the venue of the next Olympic Games.
n) Nothing ---

6) Rewrite each sentence so that it does not contain the words underlined and so that it
contains a passive form:

a) Someone left the phone off the hook all night.

b) ---------------
c) A burglar broke into our house last week.
d) ---------------
e) People asked me the way three times.
f) ---------------
g) It’s time the authorities did something about this problem.
h) ---------------
i) They don’t know what happened to the ship.
j) ---------------

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k) You have to fill in an application form.
l) ---------------

7) Rewrite each sentence so that it ends with the word underlined:

a) Another company has taken over our company.

b) We are dealing with your complaint.
c) Someone had tampered with the lock of the front door.
d) We don’t know how they disposed of the body.
e) I must insist that you keep to the rules.
f) The youngest complained that people were picking on him.
g) Ann was well provided for in her husband’s will.

8) Rewrite each sentence, beginning as shown, so that the meaning stays the same:

a) People think that neither side wanted war.

a`) Neither side is thought to have wanted war.
b) Everyone knows that eating fruit is good for you.
b`) Eating fruit ---
c) Everyone thought the painting had been destroyed.
c`) The painting ---
d) People say that the company bid fifty million pounds for the shares.
d`) The company ---
e) People say the late Mr. Johnson was difficult to work with.
e`) The late ---
f) People think the jewels were stolen by one of the guests.
f`) One of the guests ---
g) It is believed that the Chinese invented gunpowder.
g`) The Chinese ---
h) It is thought that the two injured men were repairing high-tension cables.
h`) The ship ---
i) There is a rumour that the escaped prisoner is living in Spain.
i`) The escaped prisoner –

9) Decide whether sentences in each pair have the same meaning:

a) Someone is painting our house at the moment.

a`) We are painting our house at the moment. (different)
b)The dentist is going to take out two of my teeth tomorrow.
b`)I’m having two teeth taken out tomorrow.(same)
c) Someone stole Mary’s motorbike last week.
c`) Mary had stolen her motorbike last week.
d) I’ve just been to the hairdresser’s. What do you think ?
d`) I’ve just cut my hair at the hairdresser’s. What do you think ?
e) Someone has broken into my car.
e`) My car have been broken.
f) Just a minute.I’ll ask someone to wrap this for you.
f`) Just a minute. I’ll have to wrap this up for you.
g) The car hasn’t been serviced for a long time.
g`) We haven’t had the car serviced for a long time.
h) They’re coming to put in a new water-heater next week.
h`) We’re putting in a new water-heater next week.
i) Would you consider having plastic surgery to alter your nose?

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i`) Would you consider having your nose altered by plastic surgery?

10) Decide in each sentence whether only one or both verbs underlined are suitable:

a) Jean had/got her handbag snatched.

b) Unfortunately my uncle was/got killed in the war.
c) I work slowly, but I have/get my jobs done in the end.
d) I must have/get these trousers altered.
e) It took all day, but I eventually had/got the washing-machine repaired.
f) Several people were/got left behind when the bus drove off.
g) We have had/got all our money stolen, so we need help.
h) Why don’t you have/get the cooker seen to ?
i) Paul was/got injured after he had been playing for only five minutes.
j) Helen had/got her house painted last year as usual.

11) Rewrite each sentence so that it contains the word in capitals:

a) We believe that the government have prepared a plan. (HAVE)

a`) The government is believed to have prepared a plan.
b) We are thinking of getting someone to paint the outside of the house. (PAINTED)
c) In the end I was unable to find a garage to service my car. (GET)
d) People say that Mrs. Turner was having business difficulties. (BEEN)
e) The treasure is thought to date from the thirteen century. (IT)
f) The police towed away Alan’s car. (GOT)
g) Your hair needs cutting. (GET)
h) The police believed that a professional thief stole the statue. (BEEN)
i) Jill’s parents are making her study hard. (MADE)
j) Everyone thought that Helen had missed the train. (TO)

12) Choose the most appropriate word underlined:

a) The busy shopping street was thronged by/with people.

b) The emergency exit was concealed by/from a red curtain.
c) The price of excursions is included in/with the cost of the holiday.
d) All through January, the fields were covered by/from snow.
e) The room was crammed by/with furniture of all descriptions.
f) Two of the climbers were injured by/with falling rocks.
g) The island is inhabited by/from people of mainly Chinese origin.
h) The bank was quickly surrounded from/with armed police.
i) The window had been smashed from/with a hammer taken from the tool-shed.
j) The stadium was packed from/with cheering fans.

13) Translate into English using the verb in the passive voice in each of the following
sentences:

a) Nu se ştie dacă pacientul va trăi sau nu.

b) S-a raportat că planul a fost îndeplinit.
c) Li s-a explicat ce trebuie să facă.
d) L-au ales căpitan al echipei de rugbi.
e) Au fost luate drept studente.
f) Se crede că vom avea o iarnă grea.
g) Nu se ştia unde plecase.
h) Se spune că de obicei totul este greu înainte de a fi uşor.

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 14) Translate into English the following sentences using the verbs in the passive voice:

a) Instrucţiunile dumneavoastră vor fi respectate.

b) Câinele a fost călcat de o maşină.
c) Se spune că nu-i pasă ce cred alţii despre el.
d) Se vorbeşte mult despre ultimul său roman.
e) Uşa se deschise şi în cameră intră un străin.
f) Grădina şi casa erau luminate de o lună superbă.
g) S-a renunţat la fumat în acest birou.

15) Change the following sentences from the active voice into the passive voice:

a) She is serving me.

b) They showed me the way.
c) They never found out what he did.
d) They had informed us about their plan.
e) I congratulated them on their wedding anniversary.
f) They accused her of telling lies.
g) They told me that the child was ill.
h) The police found the garage empty.

16) Translate into English by using passive voice:

a) Li s-au arătat planurile şi li s-au dat toate explicaţiile necesare.

b) Poţi să-i pui orice întrebare.
c) L-am găsit dormind.
d) Este regretabil că ele n-au putut veni.
e) “Baltagul” a fost scris de M. Sadoveanu.
f) S-au căsătorit abia anul trecut.
g) Şedinta s-a terminat; nu s-au făcut nici un fel de propuneri.
h) Poţi găsi tot felul de reviste la chioşcul de la gară.
i) Sper să fiu consultat în această problemă.
j) Doctorul era aşteptat cu nerăbdare.
k) Fumatul ar trebui interzis.
l) Au fost văzuţi apropiindu-se de s t a ţ i a de benzină.
m) Nu li s-a permis să ia bagaje multe.
n) Nu le plăcea să fie a j u t a ţ i .
o) Sunt sigură că această investigaţie a fost făcută cu cea mai mare grijă.
p) Se ştie că el are o slăbiciune pentru ea.
q) Se crede că ei nu mai sunt în oraş.

17) Replace the infinitive with the correct tense, using the passive voice:

a) These goods (to sell) at the departament store round the corner.
b) Customers (to offer) a wide range of goods.
c) As we entered the house we (to meet) by Jane.
d) The letter (to sign) by the manager after it (to type) by the typist.
e) When i sent the parcel i (to hand) a receipt.
f) New blocks of flats (to build) in our district next year.
g) This museum always (to visit) by many tourists.
h) The meeting (to hold) yesterday.

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i) These paintings (to exhibit) in the Art Museum in our city.
j) All the mistakes made by the students (to correct) by the teacher after the test papers (to hand
over)

18) Change the following sentences from the active voice into the passive voice:

a) They will invite us to the theatre.

b) They are building a new block of flats in our residential district.
c) The great variety of goods on display will always attracts me.
d) They haven’t lived in this house for a year.
e) They took us sightseeing about the town.
f) We showed the tourist the way to the hotel.

19) Change the following sentences from active voice into the passive voice omitting the
agent:
a) (Somebody) has stolen my watch.
b) For God’s sake, will (someone) ever open that door for the dog to come in ?
c) (No one) had answered the girl’s advertisement.
d) (Everybody) knew the star to be quite an eccentric.
e) (They) put the advertisement in the local paper only last week.
f) (Nobody) ever found the treasure.
g) In this business (you) have to start work at five in the morning.
h) I’m sure (anyone) can do it without any effort.
i) (Nobody) had ever seen the man in the neighbourhood.
j) (They) haven’t manufactured this type of printing press for ten years now.
k) (We) often do foolish things out of fear.
l) (One) often does foolish things out of fear.
m) (The jury) found him guilty of first degree murder.
n)(They) used the limousine only for special guests.
o)(People) are spending far much money on food.
p)(They) feed the animals only once a day.
q)(No one) can do anything about it.
r)(People) say that he had married for money.
s)(Somebody) has slept in my bed.

20) Change the following sentences from passive voice into the active voice using the
indefinite agents (SOMEBODY, EVERYBODY, NOBODY, ONE, WE, YOU):

a) Drinks will be served soon.

b) Their house has been broken into and their jewellery has been stolen.
c) Jack’s new thriller was advertised as “a marvellous read” even before it was published.
d) Evening dress will be worn on such occasion.
e) In the circumstances roses should be chosen.
f) The children ought to be looked after all day long.
g) The meeting was put off till late in the afternoon.
h) In the Middle Ages the earth used to be believed to be flat.
i) The professor will be waited for at the airport.
j) He was asked to show his ID card.
k) He is believed to have been a great painter.
l) He is known to be a good eye specialist.
m) Old Harry was seen hobbling across the street with the aid of a stick.

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 21) Change the following sentences into passive voice transforming the object into doer:
E.g.: They offered her flowers.
She was offered flowers.
a) The guide is showing them the museum.
b) They have appointed Aim president.
c) The teacher asked the pupils several questions.
d) The captain ordered the soldiers to stand to attention.
e) She has given me a good dictionary.
f)They will tell you what time the bus leaves.
g) I’ll pay the carpenter for his work.
h) He promised them new bicycles.
i) The form teacher has lent me this book.
j) We shall offer the singer flowers.

22) Translate the following sentences into English, using verbs in the passive voice:
a) Această problemă trebuie analizată.
b) Nu s-a dormit în acest pat.
c) Copiii au fost bine îngrijiţi.
d) Câinele a fost călcat de un autobuz.
e) Vor râde de tine dacă vei purta rochia asta.
f)Sticlele goale nu trebuie aruncate.
g) Nu s-a băut din acest pahar.
h) M-a păcălit purtarea lui.
i) Trebuie să dai socoteală pentru fiecare moment.
j)Nu-i place să se holbeze lumea la ea.

23) Use corresponding passive constructions:

a) We met the delegation at the airport.
b) They have built excellent hotels in the mountains.
c) You should give an answer.
d) They are building a new school in this district.
e) She had to repeat the rules once more.
f) Can’t you forgive her ?
g) We shall not discuss this subject today.
h) I advise you to read this book.
i) They gave him details of how to get there.
j) A friend of mine has illustrated this book.
k) They provide a large range of services.
l) Supply and demand build up the price of goods and services.
m) Consumers, producers and government make economic decisions on a daily basis.

24) Replace the infinitive in brackets by the correct tense of the Passive Voice:
a. If you visit the exhibition you (to impress) by the variety of exhibits.
b. We (to advise) to spend the week-end here.

211
 c. They (to accompany) by their friends.
d. She (to tell) to write the exercise again.
e. You (to give) all the necessary assistance.
f. The factory (to build) recently.
g. You (to give) the opportunity to study a foreign language.
h. He (to interrupt) while he tried to explain.
i. This book (to refer to) often.
j. He (to ask) to give them a hand.

25) COMPLETE EACH SPACE IN THIS PASSAGE WITH “IS” OR “ARE” AND ONE OF
THE VERBS FROM THE BOX. THE FIRST ONE IS DONE FOR YOU.

WATCHED

TAKEN

LOOK AFTER

RAISED

EXAMINED

HATCHED
FED

NOT ALLOWED
CONTROLLED
REMOVED

Once a year, a new cormorant (1) is raised by Ben. A male and female cormorant breed and produce several
eggs. The eggs (2) – by Ben, and the best one (3) – from the nest. After 25 days, it (4) – by a chicken on Ben’s
houseboat where he lives with his family. At this time it (5) – very carefully by the fisherman. As soon as he
sees the cormorant breaking the egg, he takes it away from the chicken. Then the baby cormorant (6) – by Ben
himself. For 10 days it (7) – every hour. The temperature (8) – to keep the baby warm. The other family
members (9) – to go near the baby. Gradually, the baby bird grows stronger. After two months it (10) – to join
the other birds on the raft, although it will not learn to catch fish for another year or more.

26) Change the following sentences into passive voice mentioning the agent where is
necessary:

a) Who wrote it ?
b) Did her proposal attract you ?
c) My assistant is dealing with this matter.
d) You needn’t think your joke took me in !
e) Lightning has struck the Jones’s cabin.
f) A mad dog bit him in the leg and they gave him ten injections afterwards.
g) It was assumed that she had left the country under a false name.
h) It seems that they don’t need any help today.
i) One might have accidentally lost your friend Dan’s most valuable art book.
j) They gave me to understand that they would require my services if they needed them.
k) When men have betrayed you as often as they have Ann, you can say that chance has abandoned you.

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27) In this exercise, most of the sentences contain a verb + preposition / adverb combination. The
preposition or adverb must be retained when the combination is put into the passive.

a) The government has called out troops.

b) Fog held up the trains.
c) You are to leave this here. Someone will call for it la t er on.
d) We called in the police.
e) They didn’t look after the children properly.
f) They are flying in reinforcements.
g) Then they called up men of 28.
h) Every one looked up to him.
i) All the ministers will see him off at the airport.
j) He hasn’t slept in his bed.
k) We can build on more rooms.
l) They threw him out.
m) They will have to adopt a different attitude.
n) He’s a dangerous maniac. They ought to lock him up.
o) Her story didn’t take them in.
p) Burglars broke into the house.
q) The manufacturers are giving away an artificial rose with each packet of cereal.
r) They took down the notice.
28) Transform the following sentences using passive constructions:
MODEL:
1) They saw the boy leaving the building.
1`) The boy was seen leaving the building.
a) They must finish the work by seven o’clock.
b) People will soon forgive him.
c) The police arrested the thief a week ago.
d) Fred has written a letter to Dick.
e) Miss Attley asked Peter a difficult question.
f) Columbus discovered America in 1492.
g) Dickens wrote “Hard Times” in the 19th century.
h) We had to send for the doctor.
i) One must not laugh at children.
j) We might build more blocks-of-flats next year.
k) They could have discovered his secret sooner.
l) You should asked the Secretary’s advice.
m) Do you know that somebody is waiting for you ?
29) Translate into English, using passive constructions:
a) O mare parte din oraşul Berlin a fost distrusă în timpul celui de-al Doilea
Război Mondial.
b) În multe din oraşele ţării noastre se construiesc biblioteci.
c) S-au făcut multe cercetări pentru a se descoperi cauzele cancerului.
d) Publicului nu i se spusese ceea ce se întâmplă în spatele cortinei.
e) E rândul lui să fie interogat.
f) Bunicul era supărat că nu-l ascultă copiii.
g) Publicul ar trebui informat că s-a schimbat filmul.
h) Mi s-a spus că eşti bolnav.

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i) Fiind considerat un om înţelept, domnul Todd a fost rugat să calmeze
pacientul.
j) S-a hotărât să părăsească oraşul pentru totdeauna, fiind rugat să facă aceasta
chiar de femeia pe care o iubise.
30) Transform the following passive constructions into active constructions, adding the new
subject where necessary:
a) He has been run over by a train.
b) The bone of his head has been broken.
c) From the first Danny and his friends realized that their invitation to the Pirate
had been inspired by that weary and anxious angel who guarded their destinies.
d) The Pirate arose from his corner, and was followed by his dogs, while he made
the rounds of the restaurants.
e) If the Armistice had not already been signed, Big Joe would probably have
been shot.
f) Monterey had been invaded many times in two hundred years, and each time
valuables had been hidden in the earth.
g) For a long time they sat in the house. No words were spoken.

31) Put the following into the passive. Mention the agent each time:

a) Lightning struck the old oak.

b) Thirst and fatigue overcame the explorers.
c) Edison invented the electric bulb.
d) The B.B.C. will broadcast this play again next week.
e) Falling rocks killed two of the climbers.
f) Last night’s storm blew those telephone poles down.
g) Mr. West pinned up the notice.
h) A policeman called Steward caught the thief.

EXERCISES:
I. Find all the irregular verbs in the text bellow; translate it into Romanian:

I begin to learn English because I say I want to become a teacher (to teach).
I hear that I most do many exercises and speak much, to keep in mind and not to forget
what I know.
I go to school; I leave home at 7 o’clock; I catch the bus; the driver gives me a ticket
(to drive); I pay the ticket; I put the ticket in my pocket but I lose it; I don’t find it; I sit down
and I shut the window; I think that I must buy another ticket; I stand up and I come to the driver
but I see my ticket on the floor; It flew (to fly) from my hand.
I come home at noon; I ring the bell; I eat (I cut bread), I drink water; I sleep an hour; I
wake up; I write my homework; I tell mother that I want to send a letter; the stamps cost 50 lei;
I stick the stamps; I meet a friend in the park; I shake hands with him; he lands me a book made
(to make) in Romania; I bring the book home; I read it; I understand everything; I lay the book
on the table.
I feel tired; I let my brother come into my room and I bind myself to build him a house;
I must choose the toys; I draw him a scenery;: the flowers grow in the garden, the wind blows,
the birds fly and sing, a boy throws a stone into the window, he breaks it; he wears long
trousers; a dog lies in the garden, then it runs away and bites the boy; the sun shines; the fish
swims in the lake; My brother shows the picture to my mother; I get a good mark!
Then I watch T.V. Our football team wants to win the match; They want much but they
lose. I spend my evening at home. I say ‘Good night’. I go to bed.

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II. Change the first person singular by the third person singular; rewrite the text.
III. Change the simple present tense by the simple past tense; say the text then write it.
IV. Change the simple present tense into present perfect tense (pay attention to the subject).

EXERCISES
Translate into English:

1. Ne spuseseră că vor da examen la facultatea de drept, dar s-au răzgândit.

2. Când m–am întâlnit cu el pe stradă mi-a spus că va pleca în Marea Britanie pentru
trei luni.
4. Nu ţi-a spus că va pleca la mare săptămâna viitoare?
5. Ştiai că o să mergi acolo a doua zi, nu-i aşa?
6. Ieri mi-au spus că vor merge cu noi la teatru duminică.

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