Tense & Time

A clear distinction should be made between ‘tense’ and ‘time’. The notion of time indicates present time, past time, and future time. Tense, on the other hand, is a linguistic device. It means a verb-form or forms used to express certain time relations. Thus, one form,e .g .‘I write’ indicates present time, another form,’ I wrote’ past time still another form ‘I shall/will write’ indicates the future time.

Students, however, should not confuse the word ‘tense~ with ‘time.’ Tense indicates sense rather than time. The tense we use depends on the sense we wish to give our sentence. A Present Tense does not necessarily express an action taking place in the present time, nor does a past tense necessarily express an action taking place in the past time. For example, the Present Simple can be used to indicate the future: He leaves for Damascus Tomorrow.

In the sentence:           George teaches English at R.L.C.

The verb ‘teaches’ is in the Present Tense. But the sentence does not mean that the action of teaching takes place only in the present. George has taught for some years in the past, is teaching, and will teach for some years in the future. Thus the Present Tense can express actions taking place in the present, the past, or the future.

Here are two other sentences
             (a) If he left now, he would arrive before time.
             (b) George wishes he lived in a castle.

In both sentences the verbs have a Past Tense form. In (a), the verb ‘left’, although it is Past Simple of ‘to leave’, does not refer to past event at all. It expresses a present time. And though ‘lived’, in (b), is a Past Tense form, the time is not past. Both sentences talk about things that wanted to be true now, but are not true. George does not live in a castle, but he wants to live in one.

Grammar books tell us that the Present Progressive expresses an activity that is in progress at the moment of speaking. But what about sentences like:
             (a) I am meeting a friend of mine tomorrow.
             (b)Susan is writing another book this year.

As a matter of fact, sentence (a) expresses future time. Sentence (b) does not mean that at the moment of speaking Susan is sitting at the desk writing a book.

Similarly, the Present Perfect does not necessarily express a present action, e.g.:
             Sally cannot go for the picnic because she has caught a cold.

The action of catching the cold happened in the past, but the writer uses the Present Perfect Tense . This is due to the fact that he/she wants to emphasize the connection between the past action of catching the cold and the present time. In other words, Sally cannot go for the picnic because her cold prevents her of doing so. It is important to know that it is incorrect to say, “Sally cannot go for the picnic because she caught a cold.”

Modals, grammar or books tell us, have two forms : past and present

• Can could

• Will would

• Shall should

• May might

• Must

• Ought to

But a detailed discussion of the uses of these modals reveals that ‘could’ does not express the past:

Can you open the door for me?
Could you open the door for me?

Both modals express a present time . Their use depends on the degrees of politeness. Furthermore , their use depends on the relationship between the speaker and the listener. The use of modals gives considerable difficulty because students look upon:

could, would, should and might as past form: can, will, shall, and may. For example:

George could come tomorrow.

The speaker uses could instead can because he! she connects the action of coming with the wish of the listener .In other words, George can come tomorrow if he wants to.
The same is applied to all modals because you can use the past forms of modals in the present and the future. 

Students are sometimes not aware that shall and should have meanings as separate modals and are not simply the present and the past forms of one modals should + 0 form has a present! future meaning. Should does not represent the past forms of shall (which makes it curious for me that some teachers define should as a past form of shall.

Time is not the only concept expressed by the tense of the verb. Tense may also indicate the completeness or incompleteness of an action-whether it is or was still continuing, whether it took place within a time that began in the past but extends to and includes the present and so on.

Of course , there is much more to be said about time and tense In brief, tense and time are certainly very dynamic ideas the full discussion of which lies beyond the scope and time of this paper/lecture.

Lattakia, February 2001.

Khalid Kurr

MA (Lecturer in English,R.L.C.)