26) The category of tense of the verb. The problem of perfect forms.

Ilyish: The tense category is universally recognized. The category of tense is a verbal

category which reflects the objective category of time and expresses on this

background the relations between the time of the action and the time of the utterance.

à Past, Present and Future. Some doubts have been expressed about the existence

of a future tense in English. O.Jespersen believes that shall and will preserve some

of their original meaning à English has no means of expressing “pure futurity”,

free from modal shades of meaning, i.e. it has no form standing on the same

grammatical level as the forms of the past and present tenses. It is also well known

that a present tense form and present continuous may also be used when the action

belongs to the future (as planned action). Besides the 6 forms of the English verb

there are 2 more, namely, the future-in-the-past and the future-continuous-in-the-past.

These forms are used chiefly in subordinate clauses depending on a main clause

having its predicate verb in one of the past tense, however they can be found in

independent clauses as well. The future-in-the-past and future-continuous-in-the-past

do not easily fit into a system of tenses represented by a straight line running out of

the past into the future. They are a deviation from this straight line: their starting point

is not the present, from which the past and the future are reckoned, but the past itself.

With reference to these tenses it may be said that the past is a new center of the system.

Blokh: 2 stages of the grammatical expression of verbal time: I.Absolutive stage:

Category of primary time (present & past) II. Relative stage:category of prospective

time (non-future(non-afteraction) & future (afteraction)

The problem of the perfect forms.

Ilyish: The ME perfect forms have been the subject of a lengthy discussion which has

not so far brought about a definite result.

1.The category of perfect is a peculiar tense category, i.e. a category which should be

classed in the same list as the categories “present” and “past” (O.Jespersen).

2.The category of perfect is a peculiar aspect category, i.e. one which should be

given a place in the list comprising “common aspect” and “continuous aspect”

(prof. G.Vorontsova) à “retrospective”, “resultative”, “successive’.

1)The category of perfect is neither one of tense, nor one of aspect but a specific

category different from both (prof. A.Smirnitsky). He took the perfect to be

a means of expressing the category of “time relation”.

??? TENSE CATEGORY. If we consider perfect to be a tense category, then the

present perfect would be a union of 2 different tenses (present and perfect), which

is impossible. If a form already belongs to a tense category it cannot simultaneously

belong to another tense category à the category of perfect cannot be a tense category.

??? ASPECT CATEGORY.

Is writing – has been writing

Will be writing – will have been writing

All these forms belong to the continuous aspect, they cannot be said to differ from

each other on an aspect line à perfect is not an aspect.

è Prof. Smirnitsky: perfect is “the category of time relation” à “correlation”

(to eliminate the undesirable term “time”).

à Opposition: Perfect (marked)/Non-Perfect (unmarked).

USES OF THE PERFECT FORMS.

1.The lexical meaning of the verb.

He has broken the cup (change in the state of the object à result).

He has lived in this city since 1945 (process).

2)The tense category of the form, i.e. whether it is the present perfect, past perfect,

or future perfect. The present perfect form may produce the meaning of a result to be

seen at the very moment the sentence is uttered. The past perfect would mean that the

result was there at a certain moment in the past. 3)The syntactical context, i.e.

whether the perfect form is used in a simple sentence, or the main clause, or in a

subordinate clause of a complex sentence. The syntactical context in which the perfect

form is used is occasionally a factor of the highest importance in determining the

ultimate meaning of the sentence. -The action denoted by the past perfect in this

sentence is not thought of as preceding the action denoted by the past tense.

e.g. But before he had answered, she made a grimace which Mark understood.

-The difference does not lie in the meanings of the perfect form, but depends on the

situation in which the sentence is used:

e.g. How long have you been here? à “Present (past) perfect inclusive)”

Where have you been, Vivie? à “Present (past) perfect exclusive)”

4.The situation in which the perfect form is used.