Time Tense Aspect and Mood Objective To help

Time , Tense , Aspect and Mood

Objective • To help the students to identify the different tenses and use them appropriately • To sensitise student teachers about time , aspect and mood Key ideas • Tense is a grammatical catagory usually referring to the time of a situation • Aspect is a grammatical catagory referring to the way that time is viewed by the speaker or the writer

Content Tense is a grammatical catagory usually referring to the time of a situation. English has two tense catagories indicated by the form of the verb that is present and past. We use a number of auxiliary verbs in combination with main verb to indicate time. The tense distinction is made on the first or only verb in the verb phrase. Present : speak , is speaking, has spoken, has been speaking Past : spoke, was speaking , had spoken , had been speaking We also use auxiliaries for the distinction of time. Eg: ‘will’ and ‘going to’ to refer to future time.

Aspect is a grammatical catagory referring to the way that time is viewed by the speaker or the writer. English language has two aspects called perfect and progressive. Aspect is indicated by a combination of auxiliary and a following verb form. Perfect aspect requires the perfect auxiliary ‘have’ and a following participle form. has called, may have called, could have been called had written, will have written , should have been written. Progressive aspect requires the progressive auxiliary ‘be’ and following ‘ing’ participle. is calling, may be calling, is being called was writing, will be writing , was being written.

Simple present tense • Simple present tense is used to show habits or regular actions. Eg: I leave for school by 7’O clock every morning. • It is used to refer to general truth and permanent facts. Eg: My daughter lives in Germany. Two plus two makes four. Present progressive tense The present progressive is used to refer an event situation or action which are in progress at the moment of speaking. Eg: We are discussing the subject with the staff. It is also used to refer situations which are temporary or actions that are planned for the future. Eg: Simi is working at a restaurant. Until the college reopens. We are leaving for London next week.

Tasks 1. Teacher educator distributes simple short stories to groups. Let them change the tense to present and present it in the class. Similarly good ‘narratives’ (present form) can be changed into stories and narrated in class. Other group can evaluate the narration. Strike out the incorrect verb forms to complete the sentences. • The students are assembling/assemble in the school hall on Mondays before classes begin. • Janet is organizing/organize a dance programme this Friday night. Would you like to come? • The women are selling/sell flowers in the corner stall every morning. • The committee members disagree/are disagreeing with the chairman on several matters. • I am hearing/hear that you are getting married next month.

Past tense Simple past tense is used for an action that occurred in the past and is finished at the time of speaking. Eg: Sudha taught English at our school last year. It also refers to an action which took place over a period of time in the past and is finished. It is used to report past events. Eg: When I was a little boy, I often followed my brother to the play ground. Task Rewrite the following passage in the simple past tense. Each morning Ravi reports for work at school before 8’O clock. Then he goes to his classroom and make sure that everything is in order. He arranges books, pictures and crayons on his table for the days activities. For the Lunch, Ravi helps to prepare meals and curries. At 9’O clock, he joins the other teachers to welcome the small ones as they arrive.

Past progressive/continuous tense Past continuous tense is used to show an action that was going in a definite time in the past or action continuous for a period of time in the past. It is also used for two actions that were giving on at the same time in the past. Eg: My father and mother were discussing my science project before dinner last night. We were keeping score while others were playing cricket. Past continuous tense is used to show longer action. When something happened while larger action is going on in the past. Eg: I was reading a novel when Geetha came to see me yesterday evening.

Task Underline the correct verbs in the bracket. Sonu: Hallo Monu: Sonu, Its has been a while since I last heard from you. Sonu: Yes, Do you know why I (am calling/call)? I suddenly (remember/remembered) what crazy football fan you are! I manage/managed to get two complimentary tickets for the finals on Friday. Would you like to come? Monu: What a coincidence! I suddenly (think/thought) of you. I (want/wanted) to surprise you I (am going/was going) to buy us two tickets. Sonu: I am glad you (are coming/come) but promise to behave! I can’t forget the last football match we watched together. You (shout/were shouting) terrible things at the referee while he was handling our striker a yellow card. Monu: And you were trying to cover my mouth. I always (laugh/laughed) when I think of that. Sonu: You (are/were) behaving better now. Monu: Thank you.

Present perfect tense is used to talk about an event completed action in the recent past. (No exact time is mentioned). I finished my homework at 10 AM (Past tense). I have finished my homework (Present perfect). I reported the accident an hour ago (Past tense). I have reported the accident (Present perfect tense). We use Present Perfect tense with words like since and for to refer an action that began in the past and is still going on at the point of speaking. Eg: Mr. Soman has been in this school since 1990. Mr Soman has been in this school for 20 years. We use the present perfect tense with adverbs of indefinite time such as already and just to show completed action. Eg: The mechanic has already repaired the car. Father has just come home. They have never been to Dream land. We haven’t received your letter yet.

Task Fill in the blanks with the simple present, simple past, or present perfect tense form of the words in the bracket. My family _____ (live) in this town for more than 30 years in the beginning it _____ (be) a peaceful place with lot of greenery. Later however things changed when developers and their machines moved in. They _____ (cut) into the hillsides, _____ (widen) roads and _____ (build) hotels and office complexes. Since then the traffic passing through the town _____ (increase) greatly and multi storey shopping malls _____ (replace) the old shops. Our town _____ (become) crowded and dirty.

Past perfect tense: Refers to two completed actions in the past. Eg: When we arrived, they had left. When we reached auditorium, the talk had begun. We use past perfect tense with words like already, before and just. Eg: By the time I went to the airport, the plane had already left. Underline the mistakes in verb forms in the passage. Provide correct answer. Sudha asked me to go with her to a show in town and I accept the invitation. By 6’O clock yesterday evening, I dressed and was ready to go when Sudha called me. She said that he have had a small accident on the way. She promised to come soon. By the time Sudha arrived, I waited for more than one hour. When we had walked into the hall, the show had already begun. I almost fall over someone’s feet when I tried to get to my seat in the dark. I was very embarrassed.

Simple future tense is used for actions or events that will happen in future. Eg: We will meet James at the library after work today. I am sure it will rain this afternoon. We use simple future tense to refer to something which we decide to do at the time of speaking or actions which we have already planned. We are going to spend holidays in America. The price of cars is going to rise in January.

Task Cross out the incorrect verb forms to complete the sentence. 1. Are those parcel heavy? I am helping/will help you to unload them. 2. The club is going to elect/going to elect a president soon. 3. Tomorrow, my parents is celebrating/will celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. 4. From the beginning of next month, I drive/am going to drive in my new car. 5. You look very tired. I am ironing/will iron the clothes for you.

Strategy • Student teachers prepare a write up on time , tense , aspect and mood. They present in the form of symposium. • Teacher educator distributes newspaper reports of any corrent events in the group and asks them to present the running commentry of the event in the class. Evaluation Which are the commonly used tense forms used in media interaction? (Student teachers watch an English programme on television and prepare an analatycal report. )

Reflective question English language has only two tenses. Do you agree ?