Tense in English Grammar
In English Grammar Tense is considered to be the most vital
factor or element. I like to torch upon illogical thinking of Tense in English
Grammar.
From the very beginning of learning English, a learner had to know that Tense is the main factor of English Grammar and if any one knows the
twelve forms of Tense, he is good at English. For this reason, it is
often found that all the learners of English try to memorize the twelve forms
of Tense. They never learn Tenses logically. So often they dose different kinds of
mistakes in using Tense in a Sentence. We should remember that Tense is a Tool
of English Grammar. I like to call it one of the Language Tools.
But, practically, Tense is nothing but the pragmatic use of
different forms of Verb to indicate the time of an action and the condition of
the action simultaneously. In different Tenses we use different forms of verb.
With the variation of Tenses, the verb always varies and all other elements
like Subject and Object remain the same. With the variation of Tenses, always
the form of Verb is changed but the Subject and Object or any other Elements of
the Sentence are never changed. So Tenses and Forms of Verb are inter-related.
We can say that before learning Tenses it is obligatory to
have a good knowledge about different forms of Verb. In my observation I found
that most learners do not learn the forms of Verb well and properly. As a
result they cannot earn skill in using Tense. They only memorize the form of
Tenses and use them illogically.
Most learners know that in Future Indefinite Tense the
Present form of Verb is used with an Auxiliary Verb like ‘shall’ or ‘will’. Or,
they learn the structure of the Future Indefinite Tense as: Subject + Shall/Will + Present form or (1st form or base form) of the Verb.
(Maybe 1st form or base form a ridiculous form. There are six forms of verb but among them none of them is 1st form or base form)
We know Present form is used in Present Tense because
Present form always indicates the present time of the action. How can we indicate
futurity with the Present form of the Verb? On asking such types of questions
they probably have the answer that ‘shall’ or ‘will’ here indicates futurity of
the action.
‘Shall’ and ‘Will’ are Modal Auxiliaries. We know modals
always take the infinitive form of a Verb. So the Verb after ‘shall or will’ must
be an Infinitive. How can we call the Verb after ‘shall or will’ a Present
form? It’s not logical at all.
On the other hand, we know that what is not definite is
Indefinite. And we can say if there is an Indefinite Tense, consequently there
should be a Definite Tense. Learners are not aware of Definite Tenses. So there
must be a big gap in learning Tense.
Of course, some grammarians, now-a-days, prefer to call it Simple
Future instead of Future Indefinite. In that case, there shall rise another
controversy like what they will explain abut Complex Future and Compound
Future. If there is a Simple Tense, there must, also, be Complex Tense as well
as Compound Tense and that is logical consequence.
So if a learner, so long, does not know or understand the
logic of using any grammatical tool, he can’t be able to use that tool properly
and confidently. English will be difficult to learn well for him. But if he
knows every thing logically, English will be very much easy to him to learn and
also will be very much interesting.
Most learners can’t distinguish the Present Perfect Tense
and the Past Indefinite Tense properly. To do that they, often, become very much
confused because they can’t recognize even the Present Tense well. They don’t
have the clear and logical concept about Present Time or Present Tense.
In fact, Present time is too little to count. Maybe it is a
fraction of a moment. In respect of vast span of time present moment is quite
negligible. Practically there’s no existence of Present Tense. Despite, in
Grammar, Tense has a class of Present Tense. Tense is divided into three classes
according to the time of an action, e.g. 1. Present Tense, 2. Past Tense and 3.
Future Tense.
We can experience the Past and The Future well and vividly
because they exist in vast spans but what about the Present?
We can define the Past as the time already passed across the
Present time and the Future can be defined as the time that is yet to be
Present. Which is now Present was Future few minutes ago and will be
Past after few moments because time is not still rather a constantly changing
procedure.
We detect Past and Future in respect to or in comparison to
Present but we are often confused of Present. Time is a relative factor, never
constant or still. So we must be confused of Past and Future too.
In Grammar when we study Tense, we see that Present Tense
also include past time too. In the Sentence: ‘He has been reading for three hours’ the action of the verb
‘to read’ happened to start in a past time that means three hours ago. But still the
Sentence is in Present Perfect Continuous Tense. So Present Tense does not
always indicate present time but also includes past time. So Present Tense is
confusing to the learners and very much difficult to define for them.
But in reality, we can define Present time as the moment when Futurity ends and Past gets started, a junction between the Past
and Future.
But still there is a class of Present Tense and it includes
Past time as well as Future time. However past it may be but if it is linked to
the present moment with no break, or however future it may be but it is linked
to the present moment without happening any break, the wide span of time is
treated as Present Tense. In fact, it is imaginary.
That is why we consider the above mentioned Sentence is in
Present Tense. A portion of the action is already finished and that’s why the condition
of the action is perfect and the rest of the action is still continuing and
that’s why the condition of the action is Continuous. As a result the Sentence
is in Present Perfect Continuous Tense.
So the Tense of a Verb mainly depends upon two factors.
Firstly, the time when the action is performed and secondly, the state or phase
condition of the action. Condition of an action may be either Perfect or
Continuous, or may be both or may be none. It seems to be funny but it’s very
much logical.
In the Sentence: ‘I
drink tea’ the time of the action is Present but the condition of the action is
not definite. So it is in Present Indefinite Tense.
In the Sentence: ‘I’m drinking tea’ the time of the action
is Present and the condition of the action is still continuing. So it is in the
form of Present Continuous Tense.
In the Sentence: ‘I’ve drunk tea’ the time of action is
Present because Present includes past time too without any break and the
condition of the action is perfect because the action is already finished. So
it is in the form of Present Perfect Tense.
On the other hand, in the sentence: ‘I drank tea’ the time
of action is past and not linked to present time. So it is in the Past Tense.
So Tense must be decided judging two factors such as the
time of an action and the other is the condition of the action.
Thanks all.
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