Other ways of referring to the future
We can use a range of verbs and expressions to show that we are talking about the future. These verbs and expressions are often more precise than a future tense and they are used widely, particularly in written English.
Be to + infinitive is used for formal plans, official arrangements, instructions and prohibitions.
The British Ambassador is to meet the President at the White House on Friday.
Be due + to-infinitive is used for arrangements that are to take place at a fixed time. often used with time-tables and official itineraries.
The plane’s due to arrive in half an hour.
Be about + to-infinitive / on the point of + gerund are used to refer to something that will happen very soon, in the immediate future.
It is understood that the chancellor is on the point of announcing his resignation.
Unit4 talking about the past
An action in the past may be seen:
as having taken place at a particular point of time
Past Present
___________x________________v___________ Past Simple
I wrote my letter of June 16, 1972 with a special pen.
over a period
the period may be seen as:
extending up to the present
_________I/////////////////////////////I v____________ Present Perfect
I have written with a special pen since 1972.
relating only to the past
having been completed
__________I/////////////////I________v____________ Past Simple
I wrote with a special pen from 1969 to 1972.
not having been completed
_________-------//////////-----_______v____________ Past Continuous
I was writing poetry with a special pen.
as having taken place before a particular point of time in the past
Past Past (relevant point) Present
______x_______________x________________v________ Past Perfect
I had written my letter when he asked me to give him a pen.
In relation to (2a), we use the Present Perfect tense to relate the past to the present.
John lived in Paris for ten years. (the period is over)
John has lived in Paris for ten years. (which entails that John is still alive and permits the residence in Paris to extend to the present)
The perfective aspect has an indefiniteness which makes it appropriate for introducing a topic of discourse. As the topic is narrowed down, the emerging definiteness is marked by the Simple Past.
He says that he has seen a meteor at some time. (between earliest memory and the present)
He says that he saw the meteor last night that everyone is so excited about.
For generations, Nepal has produced brilliant mountaineers.
For
generations, Sparta produced fearless warriors.
was producing
Did you know that John has painted a portrait of Mary?
Did you know that John painted this portrait of Mary?
The Past Indefinite tense is used when the past happening is related to a definite time in the past which we may call ‘then’. It implies a gap between the time referred to and the present moment. In contrast, the perfect aspect is used for a past happening which is seen in relation to a later event or time. thus the Present Perfect means ‘past-time-related-to-present-time’.
It all applies to the Past Perfect with the complication that the point of current relevance to which the Past Perfect extends is a point in the past.
(I saw now [present] that) when I met him [relevant point in the past] John had lived in Paris for ten years.
In some contexts, the Simple Past and the Past Perfect are interchangeable:
I ate my lunch after my wife came / had come home from her shopping.
Here the conjunction after is specification so that the extra time indication by means of the Past Perfect becomes redundant.
The Past Progressive specifies the limited duration of an action.
I was writing with a special pen for a period last time but my hand grew tired.
As it refers to activity in progress it suggests not only that the activity is temporary but that it does not need to be complete.
He wrote a novel several years ago. (i.e. he finished it)
He was writing a novel several years ago. (but I don’t know whether he finished it)
I have mended the car this morning. (i.e. the job is finished)
I have been mending the car this morning. (but the job may not be finished)
When linked to a non-progressive event verb, or to a point of time, the progressive indicates that at that point the activity or situation (denoted by the verb) is still in progress.
At
8 o’clock they were (already) eating
When I went downstairs breakfast.
In consequence, it is a convenient device to indicate a time span within which another event (indicated by the Simple Past) can be seen as taking place.
While I was writing, the phone rang.
The ability to express incomplete action with the progressive is illustrated by the contrasting pairs:
The girl was drowning in the lake. (will permit "but someone dived in and rescued her")
The girl drowned in the lake.
He read a book that evening.
He was reading a book that evening.
Limited duration (or incompleteness) and current relevance can be jointly expressed with the Perfect Progressive:
He has eaten my chocolates. (they are all gone)
He was eating my chocolates. (but I stopped him)
He has been eating my chocolates. (but there are some left)