TANGENTS: TENSE, ASPECT, VOICE &
MOOD
Lec. 7
OBJECTIVES
Learn to distinguish the various tense, aspect, voice, and mood properties of English.
Learn to identify the modals and auxiliaries that represent these distinctions.
1. TENSE
Tense refers to the time of an event relative to the time at which the sentence is
either spoken or written.
E.g.
John left
The act that John left happened before the time of writing or saying this sentence
TENSE
E = the time at which the event occurred
U = the time of the utterance or writing
a. Past tense: E < U
John danced
b. Present tense: E = U
He likes ice cream
c. Future tense: U < E
He will eat dinner
TENSE
In English, tense is marked with an –ed suffix or the verb comes with a special past
tense form. The present tense is either unmarked (for first or second person or plural
subjects) or marked with an –s suffix.
In formal speech, the future is marked with the modal auxiliary will. In less formal
speech, the auxiliary gonna (or going to) is used.
EXERCISE I
Identify whether the following sentences are in the past, present, or future tense by
circling the correct answer:
Past
The parakeet flew home
Calvin loves snow cones
Otto drank the tuna juice
Reggie will wake everyone up
Andrew brushed the cat
I eat too much
Present
Future
NOTATION
TENSE itself is a value of the feature SEM (for semantics). We use the following
features to represent the following tenses:
1. [SEM [TENSE past]]
2. [SEM [TENSE present ]]
3. [SEM [ TENSE future]]
2. PERFECT ASPECT
While TESNE is defined by looking at the relationship between the time of the event
and the time of the utterance or writing, ASPECT is defined by making reference to
some other point, typically other than the speech time, then looking at when the event
happens relative to that reference point.
E.g.
John had eaten his sandwich before I could get him his pickle.

reference point
The perfect happens when the time of the event (E) occurs before some referent point
(R). So the perfect E < R
DEFINITION
The perfect is always indicated in English by using the auxiliary or helping verb have
(has or had) combined with a special form of the main verb known as the participle .
The participle in English can be formed four ways:
1. By attaching an –en or –n suffix: eat → eaten, fall → fallen
2. By attaching an –ed suffix: dance → danced, love → loved
3. By using a special participle form: drink → drunk, sing → sung
4. By making no change at all: hit → hit
DEFINITION
We can tell the difference between a participle and a past tense by the fact that
the participle always appears with an auxiliary verb like be, have or their variants
E.g.
He danced → past
He has danced → participle / perfect aspect
To identify the perfect, we need to look for two things
1.
an auxiliary has/ have/ had
2.
a participle
The Perfect Formula = HAVE + PARTICPLE
EXERCISE II
Underline the verb & auxiliary marking the perfect
I was driving into Tuscon to buy some tortillas, when I noticed that my car was nearly
out of gas. I was surprised because I had filled the tank yesterday. I had driven all
over town. However, I hadn’t gone that far.
DISCUSSION
THE PERFECT ASPECT CAN BE COMBINED WITH EACH OF THE TENSES
E.g.
I had eaten the beef waffles
ASPECT: perfect (had + eaten)
TENSE: past (had)
Past perfect: E < R < U
DISCUSSION
THE PERFECT ASPECT CAN BE COMBINED WITH EACH OF THE TENSES
E.g.
I have eaten the beef waffles
ASPECT: perfect (has + eaten)
TENSE: present (have)
Present perfect: E < R=U
DISCUSSION
THE PERFECT ASPECT CAN BE COMBINED WITH EACH OF THE TENSES
E.g.
I will have eaten the beef waffles
ASPECT: future perfect (will + have + eaten)
TENSE: future (will)
Present perfect: U < E=R
DEFINITION
The opposite of perfect is imperfect
EXERCISE III
TENSE
ASPECT
1
Susan has danced already
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
2
Calvin will have slept already
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
3
Heidi danced yesterday
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
4
Art had danced yesterday
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
5
Calvin will sleep all day
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
6
Art drinks virgin Margarita
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
7
Dave will drink virgin margarita
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
8
Dan had drunk virgin Margareta
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
I have never eaten beef waffles
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / imperfect
9
3. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
The progressive aspect indicates an on-going event relative to the reference time.
E.g.
Jeff was dancing with Sylvia, while Amy sat angrily at their table.
There is co-occurrence between the reference time & and the time of dancing
• In English, the progressive aspect is always indicated by combining what is
traditionally called the present participle form of the verb with some version of the
auxiliary verb be.
• Present participles in English are always marked with –ing.
• Present participles will be referred to as gerunds
3. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
FORM
TRADITIONAL NAME
NAME USED IN THIS BOOK
ends in -ing
Present participle
gerund
ends in -en
Past participle
Participle
3. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
PAST
singular
1st
was
2nd
were
3rd
was
PRESENT
plural
were
FUTURE
singular
plural
am
are
are
is
will be
3. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
Like the perfect, the tense marking in progressive is typically indicated on the
auxiliary. The progressive aspect is always presented in English by the pairing of
the gerund with be.
The Progressive Formula = BE+ GERUND
DISCUSSION
E.g.
1.
I was eating the beef waffles
ASPECT: progressive (was + eating)
TENSE: past (was)
2. I am eating the beef waffles
ASPECT: progressive (am + eating)
TENSE: present (am)
3. I will be eating beef waffles
ASPECT: progressive (be + eating)
TENSE: future (will)
EXERCISE IV
TENSE
ASPECT
1 Calvin is sleeping on the top of the
fridge
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
2
Otto grabbed at the passing stick
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
3
Heidi will be grading her papers
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
4
Art has pulled the outer wall
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
5
Andrew will eat the beef waffles
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
6 Jean was driving to her daughter’s
house
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
7
Past – Present – Future
Perfect / Imp.
Prog. / Non-Prog.
Jean had driven to her daughter’s
house
4. VOICE
Voice refers to a phenomenon that changes the number of participants that are
described in an event.
E.g. Eat
Calvin ate the beef waffles
Calvin  eater DP / External Feature
The beef waffles  the eatee DP / Internal Feature
In a passive
The beef waffles were eaten
EXERCISE 5
Active
1
Calvin ate the mouse
2
The retaining wall was torn down
3
Otto drank the tuna juice
4
Dave played the game
5
Arte tore doen the retaining wall
6
The game will be played
Passive
5. COMBINED TENSE, ASPECT & VOICE
Perfect aspect
have
Participle (-en)
Progressive aspect
be
Gerund (-ing)
Passive voice
be
Participle (-en)
5. COMBINED TENSE, ASPECT & VOICE
It is possible to combine the three rows to form complex verb forms
E.g.
The soup had been being eaten
PAST:
PERFCET:
PROGRESSIVE:
PASSIVE:
past perfect progressive passive
5. COMBINED TENSE, ASPECT & VOICE
E.g.
The soup will have been being eaten
PAST:
PERFCET:
PROGRESSIVE:
PASSIVE:
EXERCISE 8
Tense
Past /Present / Future
Aspect 1
Perfect / Imperfect
Aspect 2
Progressive / nonprogressive
Voice
Active – Passive
Pangur was being
massaged
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
Surrey will have
been adopted
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
Calvin is eating the
tune
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
The tuna has been
eaten
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
Calvin has been
eating the tuna
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
The wall had been
torn down
Past /Present / Future
Perfect /
Imperfect
Progressive / nonprogressive
Active – Passive
NOTATION
Feature
Possible Values
SEM
Tense
Aspect
Voice
TENSE
Past
Present
Future
ASPECT
+Perfect
+Progressive
VOICE
+ passive
MOOD
Possibility
Probability
Necessity
Obligation
9. MOOD
Mood refers to the speaker’s perspective on the event; whether the event is a
possibility, a probability, a necessity, or an obligation .
Mood is expressed through modal auxiliary verbs
Mood can also be expressed through adjectives (it is possible that), other auxiliaries or
verbs (Calivn has to eat his tune), or adverbs (possibly John will leave)
The modals of English: can, could, may, might, would, shall, should, must
NOTATION
We use one more SEM feature to indicate MOOD.
MOOD has the following values:
Possibility
Probability
Necessity
Obligation
CONVERGENCE OF TENSE WITH SEMANTIC
FEATURES
ASPECT
VOICE
MOOD
TENSE