The difference between times and tenses
Time is a concept which is related to our perception of reality. There are three times: past, present and future. Tense is a grammatical category which is marked by verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. inflectionA change in or addition to the form of a word that shows a change in the way it is used in sentences. E.g.: He likes what you cooked. ("-s", "-ed") and expresses when an eventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head. or actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something happens in the flow of time.
Strictly speaking, only two English tenses are marked by the inflection of the verb:
- past (talked)
- present (talks)
Other tenses are marked by auxiliariesA helping verb used with main verbs to express mood, voice and tense. E.g.: I can't stand when I am disturbed. ("can", "am") (be, have):
- past continuousThe aspect expressing duration, formed with be + verb-ing. E.g.: What are you doing? (was/were talking)
- past perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. (had talked)
- past perfect continuous (had been talking)
- present continuous (am/are/is talking)
- present perfect (have/has talked)
- present perfect continuous (have/has been talking)
As future time is expressed with the modal will + infinitive and not with inflection, the forms with will (will talk, will be talking, will have talked, will have been talking) are not considered to be tenses. However, for the sake of convenience, we refer to them as such throughout this book.
Therefore, the twelve basic tenses of English are:
| simple | continuous | perfect | perfect continuous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| past | past simple | past continuous | past perfect | past perfect continuous |
| present | present simple | present continuous | present perfect | present perfect continuous |
| future | future simple | future continuous | future perfect | future perfect continuous |
Note that certain tenses in English may refer to a different time than that expressed by their names. For example, the present continuous tense may refer to either present or future time:
"What are you doing?" "I'm reading." (present reference)
"What are you doing on Wednesday evening?" "I'm visiting my grandma." (future reference)
Topics with similar tags
- Second conditional in indirect speech
- Inversion in conditional sentences
- Second conditional
- Modals expressing present and future unlikelihood
- Past subjunctive
- Third conditional in indirect speech
- First conditional in indirect speech
- Less likely conditions in second conditional
- Modals in second conditional
- Mixed conditional: past condition with a result in the present
Comments and questions
Thank you
Thanks for this information. I'm preparing a class about Stylistics and I didn't know how to explain the difference between timeA concept which is related to our perception of reality; that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc.s and tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses.s to my students. Thank you for your help:)
Убиться веником!
Things can be more complicated than it's shown here.
I mean REAL things:) But for linguistic purposes it's useful and true - and such a distinction has sprung quite new for me I must say;)
thanks
thanks a lot 4 this.i've 2 prepare a project on it...
thnx
i m preparing my asinments and feeling difficulty in writing difference but now there's no difficulty.
Thanks alot.
Iam writing my term paper and I didn't know how to go about it.Now the haze i s cleared.
big thanX!
a big big thanks... now i'm cleared with the concept.
Post new comment