CHAPTER 4

THE PROGRESSIVE AND PERFECTIVE ASPECT

NOTES:

Aspect reflects the status of the action denoted by a verb (whether an action is
durative/permanent or transitory, finished or unfinished, implies or not a result, etc.).
English has two sets of aspectual contrasts:
 progressive (continuous) / non-progressive (non-continuous) and
 perfective (perfect) / non-perfective (indefinite).
 The progressive aspect indicates that an action or a series of actions is in progress (it
has already begun but is not yet completed), and that the duration of the action is
limited, temporary.
 Usually dynamic verbs may occur in the progressive aspect.
 Stative verbs may not usually occur in the progressive aspect. They are: verbs of
perception, verbs denoting emotional states, relational verbs, verbs of mental states
and processes. Still, there are special uses of these verbs in the progressive aspect.
 The perfective aspect implies two ideas:
 That an action or event occurred before the time indicated by the context or situation:
it has happened before now, it had happened before a certain time in the past, or it
will have happened before a certain time in the future.
 That this action or event has produced, had produced, or will have produced a result
or state of affairs that is/was/will be relevant to the present/past/future situation.
 An important characteristic of perfect forms is, therefore, that they explicitly link an
earlier action or event with the current situation; the time of the action or event is
irrelevant, or is at least disregarded. The important elements are the occurrence of
the action itself and the current results produced by it. Consequently, we cannot
combine a specific reference to the time of a past event with a perfect verb form.
 Perfect verb forms are usually associated with unfinished time units.

EXERCISES

I. Choose between Present Simple and Present Continuous:

1) I (think) you are aware of my opinion in this respect.

2) “What are you doing?” “I (smell) Jane’s perfumes; they all (smell) wonderful”.
3) “You (see) that man over there? No, not that one! You (not look) where my
finger (point)”.
4) I’m tired of living in a flat; I (think) of moving into a house.
5) “I (not hear) a word of what he (say)” “You (not hear) because you (not listen)
carefully”.
6) I just (taste) the milk. Here! How it (taste) to you?
7) Our country (have) a population of 22 million this year.
8) I (think) that you (see) too much of that snob and I (not approve) of it.
9) The court (hear) this particular part of the evidence in private.
10) We’ll come later, because we (have) a wonderful time at the party.
11) “You (remember) the name of the woman who (sit) next to Mary?”
12) She (feel) the silk in order to see how soft it is.
II. Choose between Past Simple and Present Perfect:

1) They (meet) for the first time the day before yesterday.
2) I (attend) two important meetings this week.
3) When you (be) invited to that dinner party?
4) John (call) just now and (leave) a message for you.
5) It seems that he (place) the money in a Swiss bank.
6) We all (sit) in silence for a few minutes; the teacher (start) speaking at last.
7) She (call on) me several times earlier this week.
8) You (listen) to Placido Domingo singing? You (listen) to him when he was in
Romania?
9) “You (be) to Spain before?” “Yes, we (spend) our honeymoon here last year.”
“You (have) good weather?” “No, it never (stop) raining.”
10) “I (visit) my grandparents last week.” “You (happen) to see uncle Frank, too?”
“I (not see) him for many years. I wonder where he is.”
11) William Shakespeare (write) a lot of famous plays.
12) George (be) a professional boxer for six years. Then he gave up sports and
became a businessman.

III. Identify any possible errors in the following sentences and correct
them:

1) I’m depending on you, so, please, don’t let me down!

2) The meat is tasting a bit funny.
3) I have the feeling that something goes wrong in their marriage.
4) What’s the book you’re reading?
5) It’s autumn. The leaves turn yellow and fall down.
6) I understand that you work late every day! But what are you doing at
weekends?
7) I think you’re being rather foolish about this.
8) I sell this car. Do you want to buy it?
9) He holds a bottle in his hand.
10) “How is your sister feeling now” “Much better”.

IV. Decide whether the tense underlined is suitable or not in the context
given. If you decide it is not suitable, write a correction:

a) The strangest thing about my old aunt was that she (1) was never coming to see
us if we (2) had other guests. She (3) used to call whenever she (4) was
intending to pay us a visit. And when she (5) heard that a colleague of mine or
some friends of my parents (6) promised to stop by, she (7) was making a silly
excuse and (8) was saying that we would meet some other time. Unfortunately,
 all our attempts to convince her to come (9) were useless once she (10) made
her decision.

b) We (1) were in touch with the Blue River Police several weeks before detective
Brown (2) was coming here, because they (3) contacted our department, asking
us to send a criminologist. However, now it was us who (4) needed their help,
because, in the meantime, one of our colleagues (5) disappeared. Detective
Brown (6) considered what we should do next when we heard a knock at the
door. It was our colleague’s wife. She (7) told us that she (8) got a phone call a
few minutes earlier and a strange voice (9) announced her that her husband (10)
lay on a Hawaian beach with a superb blonde.

V. Translate into English using Present Simple/Continuous and Present

Perfect Simple/Continuous:

1) Copiii mei învaţă engleza de doi ani şi acum o ştiu destul de bine.
2) Arde ceva în bucătăria vecinilor; văd că iese fum pe fereastra lor.
3) Săptămâna trecută l-am întâlnit la Universitate, dar de atunci nu mai ştiu nimic
de el.
4) – De când plouă?
– A început să plouă în urmă cu două zile şi nu s-a mai oprit de atunci.
5) De când s-a întors, stă în casă şi nu vorbeşte cu nimeni.
6) Fratele meu stă cu noi luna aceasta, fiindcă şi-a vândut casa.
7) Sunt trei săptămâni de când am avut acea discuţie serioasă şi eu mă gândesc
întruna la propunerea lui.
8) Toată ziua a învăţat pentru examen şi acum se odihneşte.
9) – Auzi? Parcă vorbeşte cineva în camera alăturată!
– Da, aud, dar nu înţeleg ce spune.
10) Sunt doi ani de când nu l-am mai văzut şi, în tot acest timp, n-am primit nici
o scrisoare de la el.

VI. Put the verbs in brackets into a perfect tense in order to suggest what
has occurred, had occurred, or will have occurred to produce the
situation described in each sentence:

1) “Do you have any idea what the film is about?” “No, I (not see) it”.
2) If we don’t buy the tickets now, tomorrow we will no longer find any. All of
them (be sold).
3) That’s the second time that someone (break) into our flat.
4) I went to see a dentist because I (have) an aching tooth for some time.
5) We (finish) your dress by tomorrow evening. It will be ready for you at 8
o’clock.
6) When she first went there, she was not able to utter a single word, because she
(not study) any foreign language at school.
 7) I know Bucharest very well, as I (spend) a lot of time there.
8) Then he told me that he needed my help. It was the first time that he (ask) me to
do something for him.

VII. Rephrase the following sentences:

1) The last time I was abroad was in 2000.

I haven’t…………………………………
2) We’ll have to leave immediately at the end of the lecture.
The moment………………………………………….
3) The cat keeps sleeping in our bed!
The cat is………………………
4) There will be someone to meet Professor Jones on arrival.
When………………………………………..
5) This will be our first match with a foreign team.
This will be the first time………………………….
6) The house will take us two years to complete.
In two years’ time we…………………………
7) The number of people who buy books is decreasing.
Fewer………………………………………………..
8) After returning from the spa, my grandmother began to feel much better.
Since my grandmother…………………………………………………..
9) I didn’t receive an answer from him for more than two months.
It was…………………………………………….
10) There will be a committee members’ meeting tomorrow.
The committee members……………………………….

VIII. Put the verbs in brackets into an appropriate tense:

1) I really (not understand) what you (do) here.
2) Anyone (see) my pen? I (put) it on this table when I (arrive).
3) When they (not call) us by 6, I (know) they (miss) the train.
4) You (go) to the seaside this weekend? Or you (run) out of money?
5) What you (think) we all (do) in ten years’ time?
6) Something (tell) me that the students (not listen) to a single word the teacher
(say) in the last half an hour!
7) Ann (not receive) our gift the last time she (write) me.
8) I (consider) buying a house, but now I (change) my mind.
9) What’s the matter? You (break) your leg? How it (happen)?
10) By the time we (get) there, the play (start).

IX. Translate into English using the appropriate simple, progressive or

perfect tenses:

1) Ai citit ceva de Mark Twain? Care dintre romanele lui le-ai studiat la şcoală?
2) Am fost foarte supărat când mi s-a spus că spectacolul s-a terminat deja şi le-am
reproşat prietenilor mei că nu m-au anunţat să vin mai devreme.
3) Îl aşteptam de mai bine de o oră când un poliţist apăru la uşă şi ne spuse că Tom
a fost arestat.
4) – Ai mai fost vreodată la acest muzeu?
– Da, l-am mai vizitat o dată când eram copil şi am fost foarte impresionat de
sala armelor. De atunci nu am mai fost aici.
5) Ai terminat cartea ca să mi-o poţi da şi mie? Când ai terminat-o? Cât timp ţi-a
luat să o citeşti?
6) Nu scriam la compunere de multă vreme când am aflat că, între timp, primisem
o altă temă.
7) Când s-a făcut ora zece şi ea nu a venit încă am început să mă întreb dacă nu
cumva m-a înţeles greşit şi mă aşteaptă în altă parte.
8) Acest dramaturg a scris şi câteva poezii foarte bune. Le-a scris în tinereţe.
9) Citeam cartea de câteva săptămâni, dar nu o terminasem încă.
10) Nu intra în clasă. Profesorul de franceză are oră acolo şi nu-i place să fie
deranjat. El predă de la ora zece şi încă nu a făcut pauză.