Limba Engleza - Popescu Floriana

Universitatea Dunrea de Jos din Galai

Facultatea de Litere

Specializarea:Limba i literatura romn Limba i literatura englez

Limba englez

Prof.univ.dr. Floriana Popescu

Anul I, Semestrul II

D.I.D.F.R.

UDJG

Faculty of Letters

CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE. MORPHOLOGY

The Verb

(for 1st Year Students)

Course tutor:Professor FLORIANA POPESCU

Contents

Contemporary English Language. Morphology 3

CONTENTS

Introduction 5

1. Chapter 1. The verb as a lexical class 7

2. Chapter 2. The structure of verb phrases 22

3. Chapter 3. Tense and Aspect 27

Revision exercises 51

Annexes 53

Introduction


Introduction

This is an instrument for individual study, tailored to meet the needs of the first year undergraduates who attend distance-learning courses. Its main aim is render grammar problems as simply as possible. The verb is the backbone of any language and it will be the starting point in the study of English morphology.

Chapter 1.The Verb as a Lexical Class, creates the terminological and taxonomic background necessary for the acquisition of the basic directions in the study of English verb phrases. The classes of verbs as grouped within this chapter will reveal their utility when you study major grammatical categories such as mood, voice, aspect and tense.

Chapter 2.The Structure of Verb Phrases, considers the possible structures of verb phrases in English. The section also considers a division of verb phrases into finite and non-finite, giving details regarding their characteristics, as well as their possible distributions behaving as main, auxiliary, catenative or link and last but not least as modal verbs.

Chapter 3. Tense and Aspect. This chapter suggests a background with a parallel description of the temporal and aspectual systems of the two languages. Tenses and aspect forms are portrayed from Romanian to English so as to be more accessible to distance learners who have to do the learning almost all of the time on their own.

The final section, Revision exercises, is devised to provide a useful instrument for individual study.

Chapter 1 - The Verb as a Lexical Class


Chapter 1. The Verb as a Lexical Class

Main issues:A. Introduction and definition;B. Verb classification criteria:

the criterion of (basic) form; the criterion of function; the criterion of structure; the criterion of distribution; the criterion of meaning.

C. Particular classes of verbs: auxiliary verbs

Learning objectives By the end of this chapter you will be able to: give a complete definition of verbs classify verbs based on diverse criteria make a morphological description of various classes of verbs

A. Introduction

All branches of linguistics have accumulated a huge amount of terminology, which imposes it on students to acquire and get familiar with a considerable set of metalanguage.

Metaphorically, the verb is the backbone of the English language, while the rest of the parts of speech would stand for its ribs, or the bricks of the language and the other lexical classes to be its mortar.

Since verbs play such an important role in the study of grammar, our approach to verbs consists of two major directions, (a) an inquiry into the types of definitions provided for the English verb, and (b) the criteria according to which verbs are more easily described in terms of common features (be they formal or semantic).

Definition

The definitions given to the verb vary both from one school of grammar to another and, quite often from one linguist to another. Jespersen ( 1966: 66), the Danish linguist, does not explicitly define verbs, but exemplifies them using the terms activity, state and process:

[I] go, take, fight, surprise, eat, breathe, speak, walk, clean, play, call([I am in] activity)[I] sleep, remain, wait, live, suffer ([I am in] a state)[I] become, grow, lose, die, dry, rise, turn ([I am in] a process)

Schibsbye (1970:1) defines English verbs taking into consideration the function and the content of the verb. In his system of reference, the verb is the sentence-forming element of a word-group.

Twenty years later, grammarians of the mid-1990s still define verbs in relation to clauses, and by analogy to noun groups. For example, they say that a clause which is used to make a statement contains a noun group, which refers to the person or thing that you are talking about, and a verb group, which indicates what sort of action, process, or state you are talking about. (CollinsCobuild 1994:137)


Contemporary English Language. Morphology8

B. Verb Classification CriteriaVerbs may be assigned to various groups depending upon the criteria, which may consider their form, structure, role within the verb phrase or interrelationships with other elements in the sentence.

1) Basic formsFormally, the English verbs are regular (i.e. they form the past tense, the past participle and the indefinite participle according to several spelling and pronunciation rules) or irregular (where such rules are not applicable).

Irregular verbs lists are usually attached to English coursebooks. A pioneer grammar of English published in our country to describe irregular verbs is that of Levitchi & Preda (1967: 110-118), who group them on the basis of phonetic and spelling alterations which distinguish between past tense and past participle forms. Out of their numerous examples, we shall present only two groups, intended to incent your interests and intellectual curiosity:

[i: e e ]to bleed a sngera bled bledto breed a crete bred bred

[ ei ]to become a deveni became becometo come a veni came come

2) Functional interpretationFunctionally, English verbs fall into: full meaning, main or notional verbs and the (semi-)auxiliaries.

2.1. Main verbs The English verbs are defined considering their form and function. Thus, verbs may have a full meaning and play the key role to the whole sentence, which is the case with the lexical, main, principal or full verbs.

Very numerous, they represent the larger group of verbs in English and they were denominated differently by the authors dealing with them. These main, lexical or principal verbs (or full verbs) have an independent meaning and function in the sentence. They form the simple verbal predicate and express an action, a state, an event of or about the person or the thing denoted by the subject.

2.2. Auxiliary verbs They are used as marks of grammatical categories, and quite often as modals,copulatives, catenatives or as parts of compound predicates.

As marks of grammatical categories they will help the speakers chronologically order the events they are talking about, to describe the phase of a process or activity or even a state, to underline who is doing something for someone else, to ask questions or to give negative answers.

2.2.1. Link or copulative verbs

As link or copulative verbs they are followed by a predicative to make up the nominal predicate. Out of these link verbs mention shall be made only of: to be, to become, to get, to remain, to appear, and to grow.

They represent a syntactical category for they link the subject with the predicative and represent a morphological category similar to but not identical with that of the auxiliary verbs in that they preserve some of their lexical value.



2.2.2. Catenative verbsThey represent a special group of verbs, which also have a dual character, sharing the position of auxiliaries but the morpho-syntactical patterns of the main verbs.

According to Huddleston (1984:142), catenatives are main verbs like keep, promise, seem, want and numerous others that take non-tensed clauses as complement, as in They keep laughing, I promise to tell her, She seemed to lose her balance.

Some grammarians accept to appear, to carry (on), to come, to fail, to get, to happen, to manage, to seem, to start out, to tend, to turn out and to keep (on) to be catenatives and to be always followed by non-finites, such as the infinitive.

Your brother wishes to marry my daughter, and I wish to find out what sort of a young man he is. A good way to do so seemed to be to come amd ask you, which I have proceeded to do. (H. James. Washington Square)

A large group of verbs which follow this pattern is concerned with letting or making people do things suation (Broughton 1990: 64), that is why the objects following these patterns are usually animate:

The teacher advised the students to keep on with their study.Mary encouraged her son to go skating more often.

Verbs connected with thoughts and opinions may be used as catenative verbs:

Doris expected Malcom to come back sooner.They understood him to be in need of money.

Emotive verbs play the part of catenatives, as in the examples below:

I wished the truth to come to light.

Used as catenatives, to carry on, to go on, to keep (on) and to start out may be followed by the present participle (in progressive constructions) or by the past participle (in passive constructions):

The gardener started out/kept (on)/went on working in the garden.Our team got beaten by the visitors. (Quirk et al. 1985: 147)

Catenative verbs followed by present or past participle include verbs of perception (see example A) and mental state-verbs of opinion and assumption (see examples B and C below):

A. Grandmother heard the car engine starting and thought I should leave.B. The doctor considered the patient to be out of danger.C. They discovered their house turned to ashes when they came back from the New

Years Eve party.

For a rather comprehensive list of catenatives, see Annex 1, at the end of the coursebook.

3) Structural interpretationStructurally, the verbs divide into single-word verbs and multi-word verbs. The first category represents the considerable majority of the English verbs.

3.1. Single-word verbs The single-word verbs are simple (i.e., made up of one word which cannot be further decomposed into other lmorphemes, do, go, ask, look, take, etc.) and



compound (i.e., which even if made up of more morphemes, they are always spelt in one word).

The compounding elements are parts of speech belonging to the same or to different sets: adjective + noun/verb: to whitewash, to highlight, to lowrate noun+ noun/verb: to pinpoint, to spotlight preposition + verb: to understand, to undertake, to undergo, to overestimate, withdraw, withstand. adverb + verb: to broadcast, to outcast, understaff.

3.2. Multi-word verbs The multi-word verbs are not so numerous, but they are very frequently used due to their simple structure, which makes them more practical for the economic, pragmatic and well-calculated native speaker of English.

Semantically, this label accounts for the so-called complex verbs, which like the simple-word verbs further separate into four different subgroups, as follows: type A combinations, or completive intensives are those complex verbs where the particle does not change the meaning of the verb but it is used to suggest that the action described by the verb is performed thoroughly, completely or continuously.

For example, in the case of spread out to, the basic meaning of the verb to spread adds the ideas of direction and thoroughness; in the case of to link up, the particle up adds the suggestion of completeness to the initial meaning of connection.

Finally, in the case of to slave away and to slog away, the element, which is common to the two examples, away, adds an idea of continuousness to the basic idea of hard work suggested by the verbs to slave and to slog. type B combinations, or literal phrasal verbs are the combinations where both the verb and the particle have meanings which may be found in other combinations and uses, but there is overwhelming evidence that they (may) occur together: to fight back, to sing back, to phone back, to strike back. type C combinations, traditionally these are the verbs with compulsory preposition these are the combinations where the verbs are always accompanied by a particular preposition and they are not normally found without it. Some of the verbs with compulsory preposition are to allude to, to aim at, to debate on/upon, to decide on/upon, to interfere with but their more comprehensive list may be found in Annex 2. type D combinations or phrasal verbs are more common in spoken or informal English but rarely used in formal or technical contexts.

Contrary to the verbs with compulsory preposition, the phrasal verbs share the following features:1. they may produce derived forms, i.e. nouns or adjectives:

If someone makes a getaway, they get away from a place in a hurry, perhaps after committing a crime.An off-putting person is someone who puts you off or causes you to dislike him.

The two examples illustrate individual situations where the derived form may or may not reverse the order of the compounding elements; there are cases where one combination may produce these two derived forms, the identical pattern is turned into the derived nouns or adjective but the newly formed derivative may also have the reversed order.

Nevertheless, the existence of two nouns derived from the same phrasal verb should draw the learners attention for, in some instances, they may mean different things. This case may be exemplified by the phrasal to break out, that is to begin suddenly:



A fire broke out on the 4th floor.War broke out in Europe on 4th of August.An outbreak is a sudden occurrence of something unpleasant: a severe outbreak of food poisoning.A break-out is an act of escaping from a place: we debated whether to make our break-out on Christmas Eve.

2. they accept a direct object between the verb proper and the particle:

to take off ones hat may also be expressed as a) Take your hat off! and b) Take it off!

3. they may consist of more than two elements, as to look forward to, to look down on, to put up with, etc.

Structurally, the complex or phrasal verbs may consist of word combinations (preferably verbs, prepositions, adverbs and very raraly adjectives) revealing four typical patterns, as follows:

verb + preposition this structure accounts both for verbs with compulsory preposition and for the phrasal verbs. We shall sustain the preceding statement with the example of the verbs to look after and to fall:

Verb with compulsory preposition

Phrasal verb

TO LOOK AFTER Im looking after the dog chasing the cat. (m uit dup...)

They look after their sons children. (ei au grij de)

TO LOOK OVER Dont look over the shoulder! (nu

privi peste umar, nu privi in urma)

Look over the report and correct the mistakes, if any, please. (examineaza, citeste cu atentie)

TO FALL ON My birthday falls on a Thursday

this year. (cade pe)Terrorist groups were falling indiscriminately on men and women in the street. (atacau fr discriminare)People were falling on each other in delight and tears. (se mbriau)

verb + adverb the meaning of the phrasal verbs cannot be inferred from its compounding elements. Thus, there are some verbs which are accompanied by meaningfully opposite particles but their new patterns do not convey the sum of the meanings of the compounding elements. This is the case of the verb to lead: to lead in means to start a formal discussion or meeting by making a short speech and to lead out means to connect directly (used about buildings/ rooms, etc)

Two tiny rooms led off the living room.

Some other examples of patterns of this kind are included in Annex 3.

verb + adjective this structure is not so very actively used; for instance to fall flat.

verb + adverb + preposition this pattern will be exemplified with:

- to lead up to to gradually guide the conversation to a point when they can introduce the subject:



Elspeth succeeded in leading up to her favourite topic, jewels.

- to hedge around with: to cause something to be very difficult or complicated :

Her freedom was hedged around with duties and restrictions.

- to fall in wih: to accept (a plan, idea, system) and not to try to change it:

I didnt know whether to fall in with this management

- to live up to/ match up to = to be as (good as ) the subject expects you to be.

The film didnt live up to my expectations. She succeeded in living up to her extraordinary reputation.

4) DistributionDistribution could provide a new way of classifying the English verb, which considers the elements connected to the verb, particularly those following the verb in focus. Thus, the distribution of verbs as analyzed within larger contexts reveals six types of verbs:

intransitive verbs: they may be accompanied by adverbials only: to arrive, to die, to come, to fall, to go

I lay there for hours.

link verbs: they take a complement

He looked trained and respectable.She seemed a child.

mono-transitive verbs: they take a direct object

I lost my suitcase.

di-transitive verbs: they may take both a direct and an indirect object

They kept the pie for me.They had to give the key to the landowner.

complex transitive verbs: they take both objects and complements

I considered it too large for my room.I shall make my position perfectly clear.

catenatives: they are ordinary verbs which are followed by non-finite forms of other ordinary verbs (Broughton 1990: 59)

The cars began climbing through wooded countryside.1

5) MeaningAlthough most of the English verbs bear more than meaning, it is convenient for the Romanian learner to have them classified into seven major semantic domains, as: activity, communication, mental, causative, aspectual, of simple occurrence and of existence or relationship.

Biber et al. (1999) distinguish two kinds of meanings, the core meaning (the meaning the speakers tend to think of when they first hear the word as a part of the communication process) and the non-core meanings.

Many verbs have multiple meanings, which derive from different semantic

1 For further information on the catenatives see Geoffrey Broughton, 1990, Penguin English Grammar. A Z for Advanced Students, Penguin Books



domains. A verb is most coming with a non-core meaning.

5.1. Activity verbsThey denote actions and events that could be associated with choice: bring, buy, carry, come, give, go, leave, move, open, run, sell, make, participate, produce, debate, present, show, take, and work.

The airline had opened the route on the basis that it would be the first of many.

They can be used transitively, for example:

Even the smallest boys bought little pieces of wood and threw them in.

or intransitively:

From Haworth they went to Holyhead and to Dublin.

5.2. Communication verbsThese can be considered a special category of activity verbs that involve communication activities: ask, announce, call, communicate, chat, let know, discuss, explain, report, confess, claim, say, shout, speak, state, suggest, talk, tell, write.

You said you didnt have it.I would shout my love to you.

5.3. Mental verbsThey denote a wide range of activities and states experienced by humans; they do not involve physical action and do not necessarily entail volition.

This category includes: cognitive meanings (think, know), and emotional meanings (love, want), perception (see, taste), receipt of communication (read, hear).

Many mental verbs describe cognitive activities that are relatively dynamic in meaning, for example calculate, consider, decide, discover, examine, learn, solve, study.

More stative in meaning (describing cognitive states) believe, doubt, know, remember, understand and emotional and attitudinal states (enjoy, fear, feel, hate, like, love, prefer, suspect, want).

The cognitive states:

We all believe that. I somehow doubt it.

Emotional or attitudinal states:

I feel very sorry for you.As a child he hated his weekly ritual of bathing. I preferred life as it was.

5.4. Verbs of facilitation or causationThey are exemplified by allow, cause, enable, force, help, let, require, permit. They indicate that some person or inanimate entity brings about a new state of affairs.

Distributionally, these verbs often occur together with a nominalized direct object or complement clause, which reports the action that was facilitated.

From a distributional point of view, the causatives are followed by

a nominalized direct object:Still other rules cause the deletion of elements from the structure.This information enables the formulation of precise questions.

or by complement clauses:Police and council leaders agreed to let a court decide the fate of the trees.



This law enables the volume of gas to be calculated.

5.5. Verbs of simple occurrenceThey primarily report events (typically physical events) that occur apart from any volitional activity; they are also called occurrence verbs and are exemplified through become, change, happen, develop, grow, increase, occur.

The word of adults has once again became law.The lights changed.

5.6. Verbs of existence or relationshipThese are the verbs which report a state that exists between entities (most of these verbs are link or copular verbs), which is the case of be, seem and appear. Some of them report a particular state of existence (exist, live, stay) or a particular relationship between entities (contain, include, involve, represent).

The state of existence is illustrated by:

I go and stay with them.She had gone to live there during this summer holiday.

Relationship will be expressed by:

The exercise will include random stop checks by police, and involve special constables and traffic wardens.

5.7. Aspectual verbsAspectual verbs concern the features which describe an activity, event or process, namely stage, duration, attitude of the subject, the (non)repeated character of an activity or event and, last but not least the natural end or limit of a process or an activity.

The stage of progress of any event/activity is typically reported in complement clauses following the verb phrase. Examples of such aspectual verbs are: begin, continue, finish, keep, start, stop, cease, and end.

She kept running out of the garden.He couldnt stop talking about me.

The duration of an activity or a process or even a state is the feature according to which verbs may be considered durative and time-point verbs.

Durative verbs express actions, processes, and states that last in time. They include: to work, to exist, to fly, to run, to sleep, to read, to study.Time-point or momentary verbs, expressing actions and states spanning a very short interval of time include: to come across, to run into, to start, to enter, to get out, to win.

The attitude of the subject group of aspectual verbs denominate voluntary or involuntary actions, voluntarity thus becoming a selecting feature in the case of these aspectual verbs. Voluntary actions are expressed by verbs of active perception as to watch, to look at, to contemplate, to listen to. The verbs expressing involuntary actions or inert perception are to see and to hear.

Iteration or frequency, divides the verbs into semelfactives and iteratives. Semelfactives are those verbs expressing an event or activity that lasts an extremely short time interval, such as to hit, to knock, to cough, to jump.

The boy hit the ball and the ball hit the window, which broke instantly.

Iteratives are the verbs whose meaning is that of underlying the fact that the activity expressed by any of the semelfactives and many other verbs keeps repeating for a



specified moment or interval.

The boy was hitting the ball insistently because he was trying to concentrate on the game.

Telicity (or the reaching of a natural end, or limit or boundary or the feature of boundness) divides verbs into telic and atelic verbs. The former group is represented by those verbs whose activity or process reaches a natural end:

She is smoking a cigarette.He is making a chair.

The latter group of verbs is outlined by those verbs whose contextual meaning shows that no end will ever be reached:

She smokes (implicature she belongs to the category of smokers) They make chairs (possible meaning to earn their living)

This is a controversial criterion because there may also exist situations where the sentence subject is an inanimate entity, which cannot be said to intervene and produce a natural end to the action expressed by the verb:

The stone was rolling to the riverbank,

is the example Charlotta Smith provides in order to sustain a statement similar to the preceding statement.

C. Particular classes of verbs. Auxiliary verbs.The few English auxiliaries have no lexical meaning, they are simply instruments by means of which grammatical or stylistic shades of meaning are implied. They build up the analytical forms of the English verb, such as: tense (perfect tenses), aspect (the progressive), tempo-aspectuality (perfective and imperfective progressivity), mood (subjunctive, conditional and imperative), voice (active, passive or causative patterns) and verbal forms (interrogative, negative and interrogative negative). The only auxiliary carrying out a stylistic function is do, when it is used emphatically. Even if these primary auxiliaries are mainly described for their use as marks of the grammatical categories of tense, aspect and voice, they may frequently play the part of the verbal predicate of any sentence.

1. To BeAs a main verb, be expresses existence, and displays a copular function:

Jimmy is in his room.That is the Empire State Building.Mary is a beautiful girl.

As an auxiliary it can occur in two different patterns: with the present participle of the full verbs to express aspectuality, i.e. progressivity or perfective progressivity:

Miriam is learning Arabian.Her behaviour has been improving lately.

or to express agentivity, with a main verb in the past participle:

Madonna has been awarded lots and lots of prizes.

Unlike the rest of the auxiliaries be has a very high frequency of occurrence due to its flexibility in being both a mark of aspectual forms as well as an auxiliary for



passive constructions.

2. To HaveHave displays two different functions in the grammar of the English language, acting either as a main/full verb or as an auxiliary. In its full meaning value, have may be: statively used it expresses possession and may be replaced by the verbs to ownand to possess or by the informal construction to have got:

They have (got)/possess an impressive house.He does not have (own/possess) a ship but a fleet.I have (got) a splitting headache.

dynamically used to subsume the senses of the verbs to receive, to take, to experience and of many other verbs, which may result from the combination have + eventive object as in to have a shower/dream/walk/ talk/chat, etc. Dynamically used the verb to have normally expresses the interrogative and the negative with the help of the verb to do:

Does she have eggs with her breakfast?Did you have a good time on your holidays?

With the same meaning, the verb may be followed by an object and a past participle in order to express the fact that the grammatical subject of a sentence causes someone else to carry out an action for him/her. The causal meaning of the verb to have is obvious in a context as:

They had their house redecorated last year.

subject causal

haveobject past participle time

adverbial

Quirk et al. (1985:132) include this pattern among the uses of the verb to have as a main verb.

As an auxiliary the verb to have is the mark of perfectivity (either simply used or in combination with progressivity or modality):

She has just finished the translation.They had already translated the poem when the teacher entered the classroom.He will have been working in this shop for two years by the end of this month.You must have been working very hard for the last eight hours since you look exhausted.She may have said the truth but I doubt it.

The Romanian equivalent of this verb also displays values of a main verb, stativelyused to express possession:

Eu am trei case.

dynamically used to assume meanings of main verbs in the supine:

Secretara are multe pagini de copiat.Grdinarul are de plantat multe flori.

The causative meaning of to have is either not expressed in Romanian, as in

i-au construit casa cu o firm din Bucureti. (They had their house buit by a Bucharest building company.)



or expressed by means of a different verb to involve the fact that somebody else carried out the action expressed by the logical predicate of the sentence:

L-am pus s-mi spele maina. (I had my car washed by him.)

As a mark of perfectivity, a avea, is also part of the some verbal patterns suggesting perfectivity, as is the case with Perfect Compus, Mai Mult Ca Perfect and Viitor Anterior.

3. To Do This is the last verb of the current section to exemplify the double status of some verbs, that of auxiliaries and full meaning/lexical verbs. As a main verb, do may be used: transitively

She has done her homework and now she will go out for a walk.

intransitively, as a verbal predicate:

What have you been doing lately?Nothing of importance, Im afraid.

as a pro-predication:

I cannot work as hard as I did when I was younger.

Like the verb to have, do may acquire various meanings depending on the object following it:

Ben has always done my old alarm clock. (to repair)Bernadette has done really good essays this term. (to write)Have you done the silver, Maureen? (to polish)Betsy, do these potatoes, will you? (to peel or to cook)

As an auxiliary, do is the mark of the interrogative and in association with the negation not, the mark of the negative. Thus, with its auxiliary role it is used in: yes/no questions:

Do they work hard?

special questions (in the present/past tense simple):

How did they start their business?When do they usually meet to discuss the further steps of their business?

in negations (in the present or past tense simple):

They dont earn as much as they dreamt they would.You didnt meet John yesterday.

in question tags (when the verb in the assertive is in the present or past tense simple):

Thomas does not understand Italian, does he?He stole his parents savings, didnt he?

in reduced clauses where do is the dummy operator preceding the ellipsis of a predication:



Emily runs faster than I do.I did not watch TV but my sister did.

unlike the other verbs do is used emphatically (when the verb to be emphasized is in the present or past tense simple):

in emphatic positive constructions:

I do love my children.Miriam did say she would help you, didnt she?

in persuasive imperatives:

Do come and have a coffee with us tomorrow!May I use your phone? Yes, by all means, do.

As an auxiliary, the verb to do is understood as not to have any Romanian equivalent, for neither interrogative nor negative forms rely on the use of an auxiliary verb, but on other linguistic means. To sum up, auxiliary verbs should be understood to have a dual character for it was shown in the foregoing section, they behave both as main and as auxiliary verbs.

Conclusions

The chapter focuses on those classification criteria necessary for learners to create possible analogies between the different linguistic disciplines and verbs themselves, on the one hand and between English and Romanian on the other.

The chapter final part describes the uses and meanings of the auxiliary verbs to highlight the flexibility of English words at the sentence level. Several remarks were made with a view to showing possibly similar conceptual situations which exist in both languages but which make use of language-specific instruments (see the causative to have and a pune pe cineva s).

To find a perfect correspondence between the English and Romanian verb phrases is an impossible thing to do, if considering language-specific elements such as phrasal verbs, catenatives, modals or aspectual verbs.

Nevertheless, some of the English groups of verbs are to be found in the Romanian grammar (as it is the case with the primary auxiliaries be and have, or with the classification into transitive and intransitive, as well as with the semantic classification of verbs, which at least partially, shows some common elements). The cases of concept or linguistic- pattern similarity in the two languages facilitate the acquisition of the theoretical aspects in the grammar of the English verb phrase and reinforce the conviction that learning English is not an overwhelming task.



EXERCISES

1. Fill in the blanks with the right form of the irregular verbs below and give their Romanian meaning:

write - __________ - _________ =think - __________ - _________ =teach - __________ - _________ =buy - __________ - _________ =

2. Fill in the blanks to provide the correct answers:

1. Forward-looking verbs include:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

2. Starting and stopping verbs include:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

3. Emotive verbs include:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

3. Fill in the blanks to give examples of verbs with compulsory preposition:

1. Verb + ON/UPON

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

2. Verb +FOR

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

3. Verb + TO

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

4. Verb + IN

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

4. Fill in the blanks to give answers to the following questions:

1. In terms of transitivity, verbs may be:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

2. In terms of their function at the sentence/verb phrase level, verbs may be:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

3. In terms of their structure, multi-word verbs may be:

A._____________ B. ____________ C. __________ D._____________

5. Choose A or B for the communication verbs in the chains below:

A. think, know, believe, doubt, understand

B. communicate, explain, discuss, say, speak



6. Fill in the brackets with a phrasal verb to substitute the words or phrases in bold:

He has to give an explanation to his behaviour. [ __________________ ]

The manager had to cancel the briefing. [__________________]

People have to learn to tolerate both their better and their worse

companions. [____________________]

Only the ill educated disconsider everybody. [ __________________ ]

This paper studies manifestations of public discourse. [ _____________ ]

7. Put in the correct prepositions/adverbs to provide the right phrasal verb:

You can throw the box; its empty.

Paul, please do not slave there is no deadline for this work.

If you want to feel better listen nice music every morning!

I shall congratulate you your promotion.

8. Fill in the blanks to illustrate the meaning of the verb to have as:

a causative verb:a dynamic verb :

9. Fill in the blanks to illustrate the meanings of the verb to do as:

a. transitive verb

b. intransitive verb

10. Put in the correct preposition or adverb:

1. Pioneers in the Gold Rush went . many hardships.

2. Even a child wouldnt be taken .. by such an obvious lie.

3. This blouse need taking , it is too large.

4. Modest people never show . Even if they are very rich.

5. This famous novel consists three volumes.

6. Professional success consists hard work, study and determination.

7. The cellar gave an unpleasant smell.

8. The teacher broke in the middle of the sentence: she was too thirsty to utter

one word more.

Chapter 2 - The Structure of Verb Phrases


Chapter 2. The Structure of Verb Phrases

Main issues:An introductionA. Verb phrases. StructuresB. Finite verb phrases. C. Non-finite verb phrases

Learning objectives By the end of this chapter, you will be able to: Define verb phrases distinguish between finite and non-finite verb phrases describe the structure of verb phrases characterize (non-)finite verb phrases

Introduction From descriptions and various presentations and interpretations of the verb, it is obvious that the word or group of words unit which express the action, the process or the state of a subject forms the verb phrase. The verb phrase may be structurally analyzed in terms of the number and function of auxiliaries accompanying the main/lexical verb which stand together meaningfully to carry out a specific role at the sentence level. It may also be considered through the perspective of the moodcharacterizing the main-lexical verb within the verb phrase.

A. Verb phrases. StructuresThe verb phrase may be structurally analyzed in terms of the number and

function of auxiliaries accompanying the main/lexical verb which stand together meaningfully to carry out a specific role at the sentence level. It may also be considered through the perspective of the mood characterizing the main-lexical verb within the verb phrase.

Describing the structure of phrases, Leech et al. (2006: 44-5) distinguish two elements of a phrase, the HEAD (H) and the MODIFIER (M), structure which does not apply in the case of the verb phrase. The head is the word which cannot be omitted from a phrase, whereas modifiers are optional (Leech et al. 2006: 44). The relation between the constituents of a verb phrase is not expressed by HEAD or MODIFIER but by the MAIN verb and the AUXILIARY verb. Leech et al. (2006: 45) synthesize these statements in a tabular form:

Auxiliaries Main verbVerb phrase (VP) is

had receivedmust be working

may have been brokenTable 1. Verb phrase structuresStructurally, verb phrases illustrate a wide range of possible combinations,

which are the results of the grammatical categories peculiar to verbs. Leech et al. (2006: 77) give the examples below:

SNP

PVP

AAvP

No.

Modal Perfect aspect

Progressive aspect

Passive voice

Main verb

Modm

Perfhv

Progbe

Passbe

MvV Av



The branch shook violently. 1The branch might shake violently. 2The branch had shaken violently. 3The branch was shaking violently. 4The branch was shaken violently. 5The branch might have shaken violently. 6The branch might be shaking violently. 7The branch might be shaken violently. 8The branch had been shaking violently. 9The branch had been shaken violently. 10The branch was being shaken violently. 11The branch might have been shaking violently. 12The branch might have been shaken violently. 13The branch might be being shaken violently. 14The branch had been being shaken violently. 15The branch might have been being shaken violently. 16

Table 2. Verb phrase patterns

To keep in mind:

1. Read the table above attentively and try to give the Romanian versions to the verb forms above! Think of other means of conveying the English verb semantic features into Romanian (adverbs or adverbials, etc.).

2. You will have to use all of the 16 verb phrase patterns in sentences of your own or in the translation exercises at the end of the chapter.

B. Finite Verb Phrases. Definition The finite verb phrase is that verbal pattern whose first or only component is a finite verb, the rest of the components (if any) being non-finites; a non-finite verb phrase consists of non-finites exclusively.

Some people work hard for their daily bread.Researchers have been making some progress lately.Ask them and they will be glad to help you!

The Structure of Finite Verb PhrasesStructurally, the finite verb phrase may consist of only one word or of more than two words.

Simple finite verb phrasesThe former set of finite verbs will illustrate the simple verb phrase and the latter is complex:

a) She reads a novel. She read a novel. Read more novels! It is important that she read more novels.

b) She can read a novel a week. Mary has read two letters so far. Elderly people can be reading for hours.

Complex finite verb phrases may consist of two or more words and their structure is described by Quirk et al. (1985:151) as falling into four types of patterns, which may enter into combination with each other.



Pattern type Structure ExampleA (modal) modal auxiliary + main verb may takeB (perfective) have + past participle of main verb have takenC (progressive)

be + present participle of main verb

is taking

D (passive) be + past participle of main verb is takenTable 3. Verb pattern typesSeveral combinations are active in contemporary English but only two will be exemplified in the following: type A + type B modal perfective

The strikers may have taken a decision, but they havent transmitted it yet.

or type A + type C modal progressiveThe strikers may be taking a decision now, that is why they invited the press to leave the meeting hall.

Characteristics of Finite Verb PhrasesFinite verb phrases have the following characteristics: they function as predicates of independent clauses:

Nick plays in the park every day.

they are marked temporally:

They are in the garden now.They spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday.

they show the subject predicate concord:

Jeremy goes to church every Sunday.Jeremy and Mary go to church every Sunday.

finite verb phrases have mood, the grammatical category which indicates the factual, non-factual, or counterfactual status of the predication (Quirk et al. 1985:149)

He is the way he is, you cannot change him. [indicative]He would change for the better but he is afraid of changing. [conditional]Let him be the way he is! [imperative]If I were you I wouldnt consent to his porposal. [subjunctive]

C. Non-finite Verb PhrasesThe verb phrases whose first or unique element is a form of the infinitive, present or past participles are non-finite verb phrases.

To drive without a licence may cause you trouble.Products sold in this supermarket are cheaper than those sold in shops.That was the last sentence to have been pronounced by me on that occasion.

The Structure of Non-Finite Verb PhrasesThe non-finite verb phrases may be structurally classified into simple and complex.

Simple non-finite verb phrasesThe simple non-finite verb phrases may be easily exemplified by an infinitive or a present participle:



Taken from one museum to another the exhibit could be seen by an impressive number of visitors.Joinig such a project is not his main goal.

Compound non-finite verb phrasesThe table below is extracted from the Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language [Quirk et al. (1985:153)] and presents both compound (type B,C,D) and complex (type BC, BD, CD, BCD) non-finite verb phrases:

PATTERN TYPE INFINITIVES PARTICIPLES

simple to examine examiningcomplex B to have examined having examined

C to be examining [being] examiningD to be examined [being] examinedBC to have been examining having been examiningBD to have been examined having been examinedCD to be being examined [being] being examinedBCD to have been being

examinedhaving been being examined

Characteristics of Non-finite Verb PhrasesThe verb phrases which are construed around the non-finite forms of the verb will share the same features as the verb forms they originate in. Thus:

they cannot express the predicate of a main clause:

Finite : they are debating on the main issue: to drop or not to drop the plan.* Non-finite: they debating on the main issue: to drop or not to drop the plan. (ungrammatical)

they do not make up patterns including modals:

Finite : He must be dreaming.* Non-finite: He XXX be dreaming.

they are marked for aspectuality and agentivity:

Being taken by surprise, he had to admit he had been wrong.Having learned the truth, he had to apologize.

CONCLUSIONSThe structural description of the verb phrase is one of the many possible ways of making things look orderly and clear.

There have also been expressed many other viewpoints interpreting verb phrases. Simply, the verb phrase, like the noun phrase, consists of a head and modifiers. The head is expressed by a main or full meaning verb while the auxiliaries play the role of modifiers.

Therefore, Quirks perspective on the verb phrase was preferred due to its clarity, accuracy and completeness. According to him, verb phrases are divided into finite and non-finite and they are construed around a finite or non-finite verb form, respectively. Each category may further be subdivided into simple and complex verb phrases.



QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is a verb phrase?2. How many types of verb phrases do you know?3. What are the characteristics of finite verb phrases?4. What are the characteristics of non-finite verb phrases?5. Which of the following are finite verb phrases?

He sees, he can see, he may be taken, considering, to be, not to see, they will make

6. Which of the following are non-finite verb phrases?

You speak, they presume, to understand, you mean, to be understood, to be being processed, they are collecting

EXERCISES1. Analyze the following verb phrases paying attention to all the details you know about verbs and their characteristics (structure, function, distribution, predication, auxiliarity and modality); you are encouraged to revise chapter 1 to give correct answers:

(a) I left Moor House at three oclock p.m. and soon after four I stood at the foot of the sign-post of Whitcross, waiting for the arrival of the coach which was to take me to distant Thornfield. (Ch. Bront - 1994)

(b) With some difficulty, I got him to make the tour of the house. He just looked in at the doors I opened, and when he had wandered upstairs and downstairs, he said I must have gone through a great deal of fatigue and trouble to have effected such considerable changes in so short a time (Ch. Bront - 1994)

(c) Mr Williams, Mrs Jewkes, and I, have been all three walking together in the garden; and she pulled out her key to the back-door, and opening it, we walked a little way in the pasture. (S. Richardson - 1980)

2. Read the sentences below and decide what type of verb phrase they exemplify:

A. simple verbal predicate B. compound verbal predicate C. compound nominal predicate

1. The little boy might have been being operated on for two hours when his family arrived at the hospital.

2. Morris was a little vague about this. 3. He had slightly misinterpreted the matter.

4. Well, what do you advise me now? To be very patient; to watch and wait. And is that bad advise or good?This is not for me to say. (H. James, Washington Square)

5. I may come to you next week and tell you that I am in the streets. In the streets? I have had a terrible scene with my brother and he threatens if anything happens, to turn me out of the house. You know I am a poor woman.

(H. James, Washington Square)



3. Translate into English, paying attention to the use and the structure of the verb phrases:

1. Managerul firmei pentru care lucrez i-a construit, undeva pe malul Siretului, o cas care mie mi se pare nereuit.

2. Autorului i s-a corectat ediia mai devreme dect credea el.

3. Oamenii au venit de diminea pe malul lacului, au petrecut o duminic linitit i seara au plecat acas fr a lsa nimic n urma lor.

4. Paris Hilton a fost fotografiat de paparazzi, iar avocaii ei vor rezolva problema n justiie.

5. Poate c grdinarul nc mai muncete n grdin pentru c nu a venit nc la mas, dei este deja sear.

6. Trebuie s fi plecat deja, este ora 8.30, iar el trebuie s fie la birou la 8.00.

7. Vocaia lui este aceea de a rezolva numai cazurile cele mai complicate i nu situaiile banale; m ateptam s fi observat observat lucrul acesta.

8. Mi se pare c arat mult mai bine acum dect zilele trecute.

9. Soldailor care au fost adui la spital li s-au tratat rnile i li s-au administrat medicamentele necesare pentru a fi vindecai n foarte scurt timp.

10. Pentru prieteni, tinerii cstorii preau fericii i convini c fcuser cea mai bun alegere a vieii lor.

11. Dup cteva minute, studentul ceru s i se repete primul subiect al testului.

12. Musafirului i se aduse o cafea din care ncepu s soarb pe ndelete, ateptnd ca gazda s termine ce avea de fcut i s-l asculte cu ce avea s-i spun.

13. nainte de a intra n examenul final studenilor de la politehnic trebuie, mai nti s li se accepte i s li se noteze proiectele.

14. Bunicii ne-au pus, pe mine i pe fratele meu mai mare, s aducem ap de la ru.

15. L-am fcut s atepte mai mult de o or i asta pentru c nu a fost politicos, atunci cnd ar fi trebuit; i-am dat astfel o lecie!

Chapter 3 - Tense and Aspect


Chapter 3. Tense and Aspect

Main issues:A. Temporal domainsB. The domain of the presentC. The domain of the pastD. The domain of the future

Learning objectivesBy the end of this chapter, you will:

- know about the distribution of tenses on the each of the time axes;- recognize the semantic features of the verb forms which enable you to find

proper equivalents for each of the tenses;- realize both similarities and dissimilarities between English and Romanian

verbs- be able to account for the choices you make in the process of translating

when either language is both source and target language.

IntroductionThis chapter describes, in general terms, the features of Romanian tenses providing English versions for each of the suggested instances. Comments will argue for the choices to be made and for the criteria applied in the semantic interpretations. It unfolds a description of the tenses of the indicative and lists temporal values of the tenses distributed on the present time, past time and future time axes of orientation. Examples will include tenses in simple and complex sentences, pointing to tense constraints, wherever the case is.

A. Temporal Domains

This chapter briefly presented some views on time and tense put forward by philosophers, linguists, grammarians and logicians, whose ideas point to a nearly the same conclusion according to which people probably feel that they share the same idea of time. (Lewis 1994: 48) Time is not the same thing as tense. (Lewis 1994: 47) Time is an element of human experience of reality whereas tense is a purely grammatical idea and a technical term pointing to a morphological change in the base form of verbs. Since people normally perceive time to be divided into Past, Present and Future, we shall assume that these three segments cover the three temporal domains. Therefore, the approach will consist of three major sections, each assigned to a particular temporal domain. The chapter will consider tenses and aspectual forms as representations of time points or intervals placed on each of the time segments to describe various types of situations (which happened in the past and have no consequence at the SM, or which have consequences, etc.).

For practical purposes, we shall adopt the view according to which linguists divide the English tense system into three domains, the present, the past and the future. The tempo-aspectual forms of the present domain are:

- present tense simple / present tense continuous- present perfect simple / present perfect continuous

The tempo-aspectual forms of the past domain are:- past tense simple / past tense continuous- past perfect simple / past perfect continuous

The constructions which express future situations and cover the future domain are:



- traditional simple / continuous future- traditional simple / continuous future perfect- traditional simple / continuous future-in-the-past- traditional simple / continuous future perfect-in-the-pastSince this has been announced to look like a parallel approach, the

Romanian tempo-aspectual forms to be considered will also be grouped on the basis of the temporal domains into forms of the non-past and forms of the past as follows:

- prezent- trecut (generic denomination, which consists of imperfect, perfect simplu,

perfect compus, mai mult ca perfect)- viitor (with its representations, viitor simplu or viitor I, and viitor anterior or

viitor II)

1.1 Timeless vs real time situationsWhen speakers build up their sentences, they may refer to real time moments/intervals or may make statements not referring to a particular time interval or time point. This is the case with what grammars call timeless situations. Do not confuse timeless for tenseless or vice versa, for each word refers to a specific situation; the former focuses on the generic meaning of the sentence tense, while the second characterizes those sentences which do not have a tense in their structure.

a. Timeless situationsThey represent a particular case in the semantics of temporality. This is because sentences may be constructed around any of the three absolute tenses in both Romanian and English, but they do not refer or relate to a specific moment/interval. Comrie (1985a: 8) calls these situations timeless for they have universal validity.

Based on the tense of the sentence predicate, they include:

1. Timeless situations built with Prezent, and its English equivalent Simple Present Tense, include:

a) sentences expressing sayings and proverbs:

1a. Prietenul bun la nevoie se cunoate.1b. A friend in need is a friend indeed.2a. Sngele ap nu se face. 2b. Blood is thicker than water.

b) sentences expressing truths (universal and general truths):

3a. Oxigenul se poate combina cu toate elementele, cu excepia gazelor inerte.3b. Oxygen is capable of combining with all elements except the inert gases.4a. Turcii beau mult cafea.4b.Turks drink a lot of coffee.

2. Timeless situations built with the Perfect Compus or Past Tense Simple are sayings or proverbs:

5. A tunat i i-a adunat. 6. Domnul a dat, Domnul a luat.7. Men were deceiving ever.

3. Timeless situations involving futurity are built with the Prezent or under the form of tenseless sentences which are, in fact, sayings or proverbs and with English patterns expressing futurity:



8a. Timpul le rezolv pe toate.8b. Time will bring all to light.

9a. Copiii tot copii. (tenseless sentence there is no predicate in this proverb)9b. Children will be children.9c. Boys will be boys.

10a. Cnd o face plopul mere i rchita micunele.

10b. When hell freezes over./When pigs fly.

b. Real time situations

Unlike timeless situations, where the tense form means at all times or no particular time (Downing and Locke 1900: 354), most of sentences do refer to either a certain time point or time interval which is expressed within a smaller or larger context (sentence or paragraph). The syntagm real time in the section title was chosen for the sake of contrast with the preceding section, timeless situations.

Therefore, the rest of the chapter will further on those situations which are related to a specific time interval or time point and whose relationship may be supported either by an adverb or an adverbial of time.

Check time!

1. Answer the following questions:

1. How many temporal domains characterize the English verb system?.2. How many temporal domains characterize the Romanian verb system?.3. Is there any difference between time and tense?4. Which are the English tenses of the present domain? ....

5. Which are the English tenses of the past domain?....

6. What is a timeless situation?.

7. What tenses may express timeless situations?..

2. Find the Romanian equivalents of the following proverbs:

1. You remember that you scratch my back Ill scratch your back routine, dont you?

..

2. This reminds me of that proverb A stitch in time saves nine.



..

3. I am very peaky with sweets; to me The proof of the cook is in the pudding is false.

..

4. Electoral campaigns may be summed up with the saying Its the same old wine in a new bottle.

..

5. Children feel at ease when parents are away, you know When the cats away the mice will play.

.

6. I know you are always exaggerating things; every time you make a mountain out of a mole.

..

7. I love my house, you know, My home is my palace..

B. The domain of the present

The tense and the aspectual forms which are the core of this book were selected to belong exclusively to the indicative, for this is the only mood showing that a verb situation really happens, has happened or did happen in some (more or less remote) past. There do exist slight references to temporality with subjunctives and conditionals, but most of the grammarians share the opinion that many other features and shades of meaning are involved with these forms than that of temporality.

We shall start from the Romanian absolute tenses in our endeavour to provide practical solutions, clear distinctions and specifications regarding the choices of the proper English equivalents.

a. The Romanian Prezent and the English Present TensesMeaningfully opposed to timeless present, which refers to situations not involving the SM, the temporal present makes reference to those instances which do involve the SM, be it a moment proper or an instant (now, as a rule) or an interval.

The temporal present is the time axis segment where the EM (event moment) coincides with the RM (reference moment) and the SM (speech moment).

The segment on the time axis in the close vicinity of the now moment on a small portion both before and after it, shows the multitude of English tempo-aspectual forms which convey semantic features expressed by four grammatical instruments. The simple present tense, the continuous / progressive present tense, the simple present perfect and the continuous / progressive present perfect are all possible versions for the one and only version of Prezent.

i. Prezent and Present Tense SimpleThe now moment/interval focuses on a situation which happens or is said to happen at the speech moment, under the speakers eyes; nevertheless, the present moment/interval should not be literally understood to refer exclusively to the speech moment, but it should be interpreted in a general sense to refer to situations which hold true or remain valid, no matter the speech moment.



Romanian Prezent forms will always be translated with Simple Present equivalents, in the following instances:

a) when formulating sentences which express habits or situations so frequently repeated that they may be accepted as habits:

11a. Totdeauna bunicul citete ziare dimineaa.11b.Grandfather always reads papers in the morning.12a. n fiecare diminea ploioas merge la birou cu maina lui. 12b. Every rainy morning he goes to his office by his own car.13a. Philip i Margreet merg n croazier cu brcua lor, Suzanna, n fiecare var.13b. Every summer, Philip and Margreet go on a cruise by their little boat

Suzanna.

NOTE:

Indefinite adverbs of frequency such as: always, n/ever, often, occasionally, generally, frequently, sometimes, rarely, seldom and usually when used in sentences suggesting a neutral tone will always be accompanied by Simple Present.

b) with situations happening at the SM and by means of which the sentence subject begs, offers or accepts something:14a. Cele dou pri accept continuarea discuiilor sptmna urmtoare.

14b. The two parties agree on continuing the discussions next week.15a. Te implor s reflectezi ndelung asupra acestei decizii.15b. I implore you to ponder this decision.

c) in newspaper headlines

Romnia intr n UE prin cultur, UE schimb regulile (Jurnalul Naional)Billie Holiday Dies, (Herald Tribune)

d) with certain expressions focusing on a situation in full progress, such as here comes , and there goes:

16a. Iat vine taxiul, deci vom ajunge la timp la gar.16b. Look, here comes the taxi so we shall reach the railway station in time.17a. Se duce i dicionarul pe care voiam s-l cumpr; va trebui s-mi command unul prin internet.17b. There goes the dictionary I was going to buy; I shall have to order one via the Internet.

e) in practical usage, in expressions like its (a long time/five weeks/years/months) since:

18a. A trecut mult vreme de cnd au pierdut legtura.18b. Its a long time since they lost contact.19a. Au trecut dou luni de cnd a plecat n State.19b. Its two months since she left for the United States.

f) In stage directions

20. devine ridiculos fa cu tiina i merit ghespreluit. (colarii rd, Ionescu mai tare ca toi.)Profesorul : nlesu-m-ai?(Copiii devin din ce n ce mai impacieni i mi zgomotoi.)

(Caragiale Despre comet Prelegere popular)



21. BRANT (grabbing her by the arm tauntingly) Youre a coward, are you, like all Mannons, when it comes to facing the truth about themselves? (She turns on him defiantly. He drops her arm and goes on harshly) Ill bet he never told your grandfather, Aba Mannon, as well as his brother, loved my mother!

(ONeil Mourning Becomes Electra)

g) when a situation is to happen in the future, the Prezent and Simple Present will assume future meanings:

when they express an official timetable or programme

22a. Cursa pentru New York decoleaz n jumtate de or22b. The flight to New York takes off in half an hour.

when they are accompanied by an adverb or an adverbial expressing futurity:

23a. Expoziia se deschide mine la prnz.23b. The exhibition opens at noon tomorrow.

ii. Prezent and Present Tense ContinuousRomanian sentences whose Prezent verb form refers to a specific now moment/interval, will be translated by means of the Continuous Present forms only:

a) when situations are in full progress at the speech moment:

24a. Copiii mei se uit la desene animate acum.24b. My children are watching cartoons now.25a. Lidia este n pat i servete micul dejun.25b. Lidia is in bed having her breakfast. 26a. Managerul citete scrisorile n biroul su acum.26b. The manager is in his office reading the letters.

NOTEExpression of place can sometimes be placed between the auxiliary and the ing verb in continuous tenses, as in examples 25b and 26b.

b) when situations have a temporary character: (these days/weeks/months/years, this term, this week/ month/ season/ year suggest the temporary character of a situation)

27a. Zilele acestea muncete mai mult fiindc vrea s-i termine proiectul nainte de sfritul sptamnii.27b. These days he is working harder because he wants to finish his project before the week-end.28a. Vara aceasta locuiete n Egipt pentru c soul ei viziteaz un sit arheologic acolo.28b. This summer she is living in Egypt for her husband is visiting an archaeological site there.

c) when situations may be going on at any time:

29a. Nu m deranja niciodat cnd vorbesc la telefon, te rog.29b. Please, never disturb me when I am talking on the telephone.30a.Nu vorbi cu bieelul cnd numr.30b. Dont talk to the little boy while he is counting.

d) when situations reveal a developing or changing character:



31a. S ne grbim, se face din ce n ce mai ntuneric.31b. Lets hurry up, it is getting darker and darker.32a. Msurile propuse arat c lucrurile se nrutesc.32b. The measures, which have been proposed, show that things are changing for the worse.

e) when situations described in the sentence suggest admiration, annoyance, disapproval, irritation, reproach:

33a. Totdeauna uit unde-mi las ochelarii i, dac am nevoie de ei, nu tiu de unde s-i iau.33b. I am always forgetting where I leave my glasses and if I need them I dont know where to take them from.34a. Rareori uit s precizeze ct de mult i-a ajutat pe vecinii ei.34b. She is rarely forgetting to mention how much she has helped her neighbours.

f) when situations described in the sentence will happen in the future and they suggest personal arrangement:

35a. Trec pe la tine ntr-una din zilele acestea.35b. I am calling on you one of these days.36a. Am aranjat deja totul aa c te atept n faa teatrului.36b.I have already made all the arrangements so I am waiting for you in front of the theater.

iii. Prezent and Simple or Continuous PresentRomanian sentences whose Prezent refers to a specific now moment/interval, will be translated by means of either Simple or Continuous Present. When the situation expressed by a Prezent involving a temporal background, will have to be translated into English, the following distinctions will be considered at the sentence meaning level:

a) permanent vs temporary features of the sentence subject:

37a. Dorina este o persoan neleapt. 37b. Doris is a wise person. (permanent feature- Simple Present)38a. Nu tiu ce e cu tine, Dorina, eti cu adevrat ilogic!38b. I dont know whats wrong with you, Dorina, you are being illogical!

(temporary feature - Continuous Present)

b) in commenting quicker vs slower sports:

39a. Beckham marcheaz primul gol.39b. Beckham shoots the first goal.40a. Juctorul de golf i alege crosa cu grij.40b. The golfer is choosing the club carefully.

c) verbs expressing mental activities/attitudes - as verbs of communication vs verbs expressing mental activities - as verbs describing processes. (verbs expressing mental activities/attitudes include agree, believe, consider, doubt, expect, forget, guess, imagine, note, realize, remember, suspect, think, understand, wonder)

41a. Consider c este o persoan cinstit. (opinia mea este )41b. I consider him to be a fair person.42a. M gndesc la propunerea lui. (reflectez la, analizez, ntorc pe toate prile...)42b. I am considering his proposition.



43a. Cred c va cumpra maina aceasta, n cele din urm. (opinia mea este )43b. I think he will eventually buy this car.44a. Spune-mi la ce te gndeti. (la ce reflectezi, asupra crui subiect meditezi...)44b. Tell me what you are thinking of.45a. neleg limba englez. (opinia mea este )45b. I understand English. 46a. neleg limba englez din ce n ce mai bine. (din ce n ce mai bine -

intensifying pattern involving process)46b. I am understanding English better and better.

d) verbs of perception: denoting inert vs volition or purposeful perception on the part of the sentence subject (verbs of perception: feel, smell, taste, touch, see, hear, sound)

47a. Laptele acesta are gust acru. (inert perception)47b. This milk tastes sour.48a. Gust laptele copilului ca s vd dac este suficient de cald. (purposeful perception)48b. I am tasting the babys milk to see whether it is warm enough.49a. Crinii miros/au un parfum minunat. (inert perception)49b. Lilies smell wonderful.50a. Miros crinii i trandafirii ca s m decid ce flori s cumpr pentru evenimentul de mine. (purposeful perception)50b. I am smelling lilies and roses to decide which flowers to buy for

tomorrows event.

NOTE:In distinguishing between inert and purposeful perception with the verbs to see and to hear, remember that they are used differently. When involving purposeful perception to see is replaced by to look at, to watch, etc., and to hear is substituted by to listen to.

51a. Vezi pasrea aceea de sub salcie? (inert perception)51b. Do/Can you see that little bird under the willow? 52a. M uit la furnica aceasta care car un grunte ct ea de mare.

(purposeful perception)52b. I am looking at this ant carrying a grain which is as big as it is.53a. Ana o ascult pe soprana ei preferat.53b. Ann is listening to her favourite soprano.

NOTE:to see in the Continuous Present is not a verb of inert perception since it may mean

(1) to accompany/escort somebody to; (2) to date; (3) to have hallucinations

54a. Te conduc numai pn la poart.54b. I am seeing you only to the gate.55a. Ne vedem mai des sptmna vitoare.55b. We are seeing each other more often next week.

NOTE:to hear in the Continuous Present is not a verb of inert perception since it means to have an audition.

56a. D-l profesor nu poate rspunde la telefon; acum audiaz candidaii pentru postul vacant de violonist.



56b. The professor cannot answer the phone; now he is hearing the applicants for the vacant position of violonist.

e) verbs of positive or negative attitudes emphasizing a neutral tone vs a polite tone or a tentative meaning (verbs of positive/negative attitudes: bear, care, like, dislike, enjoy, forgive, hate, hope, prefer, refuse, stand, want):

57a. Te iubesc, Paul.57b. I love you, Paul.58a. mi place McDonalds din ce n ce mai mult.58b. I am loving McDonalds more and more.59a. Sper c tu vei fi numit manager general.59b. I hope you will be appointed general manager.60a. Sper c dumneavoastr vei fi numit manager general.60b. I am hoping you will be appointed general manager.

f) with be and have as stative vs non-stative verbs:

61a. Ceretorul acesta este beat mort. (stative meaning)61b. This beggar is dead drunk.62a. Victor Popa este un inginer de succes. (stative meaning)62b. Victor Popa is a successful engineer.63a. Ioana i Bogdan au o cas foarte frumos. (stative meaning)63b.Ioana and Bogdan have a very nice house. 64a. Reacia ta m face s cred c eti ciudat. (non-stative meaning)64b. Your reaction makes me believe you are being awkward.65a. Discutm despre consecinele unei asemenea decizii. (non-stative

meaning)65b. We are having a talk on the consequences of such a decision.

Check time!

1. Read the sentences below and fill in the blanks with the type of situation the present tense expresses:

2. U.S. and Romanian soldiers train every day. [.]

3. Test drivers risk their lives with every driving test they take.

[.]

4. My gardener waters and weeds my vegetables garden twice a week.

[.]

5. They publish our works in the conference proceedings volume before

Christmas. [.]

6. They bring our new computer before the end of October.

[.]

7. My aunt writes novel but she prefers reading S.F. short stories.

[.]

8. She is a happy person, but today she seems rather sad.

[.]

9. I spend a lot of money on sweets. [.]

10. They go hiking once a month in summer, and sometimes in autumn as well.

[.]



2. Explain the differences between the following pairs of sentences:

I am leaving for Bucharest tomorrow. The Dutch delegation leaves for Bucharest tomorrow.[..]The flight for Amsterdam takes off at 12.45. They are flying to Amsterdam to go shopping this week-end.[..]

The patient feels much better today. The nurse is feeling the patients pulse. [..]

They have a lot of backlog to carry out this week-end. They are having a nice walk on the bank of the Danube. [..]Danone Yoghurt tastes very sweet. The cook is tasting the chocolate cake, maybe he thinks it is rather stale.

b. Present time relevance situationsPresent time relevance situations are those actions or events which:

(a) started or happened in a past moment/interval and develop up to the SM to include it

(b) have consequences in the SM which are expressed at the sentence level;(c) the speaker/sentence subject considers or knows they may eventually

happen in the future. In instances of the kind, the Prezent will have as meaningfully equivalent forms in Simple or Continuous Present Perfect forms. Therefore, even if the EM precedes the SM and the RM, the possibility of the situation expressed by the verb in focus to happen at the SM or afterwards, makes it possible for Prezent to be rendered by Present Perfect.

i. Prezent and Present Perfect Simple or Continuousa) simultaneous situations which began in the past, continue up to the SM and

are connected by means of since: (since Present Perfect)

66a. Arat mult mai bine de cnd lucreaz n aceast firm.66b. She has looked much better since she has worked in this company.67a. Sunt mai fericii de cnd au doi copii.67b. They have been happier since they have had two children.

NOTEAs far as tense choice is concerned, since may be followed either by the Present Perfect or the Past Tense, depending on the emphasis laid on the initial moment or the duration of the situation in point.

68a. Este mai puin stresat de cnd i-a cumprat main.68b. He has been less stressed since he bought himself a car.69a. Este mai puin stresat de cnd are un ef nou.69b. He has been less stressed since he has got a new boss.70a. Sunt mai fericii de cnd s-au mutat n aceast cas.70b. They have been happier since they moved into this house.

b) situations which began in the past and continue up to the SM: (continuity Present Perfect)



71a. Plou de dou zile, de luni, adic. 71b. It has rained for two days, I mean since Monday.72a. Plou de dou zile fr ntrerupere,de dou zile.72b. It has been raining continuously for two days.73a. Lucreaz pentru o companie de transporturi de aproape doi ani.73b. He has worked for a shipping company for almost two years.74a. Lucreaz pentru o companie de transporturi de aproape doi ani, de doi ani.74b. He has been working for a shipping company for almost two years.

NOTEPresent Perfect Continuous may be used in any of the above situations when the speaker wants to lay a special emphasis on duration.

Check time!

1. Translate into Romanian:I have had, said she, a world of talk with my master about you.I have just received a letter from my friend and I am eager to read it.

2. Translate into English. Pay attention to the use of simple or continuous present tense forms.

1. Un tat are dou viei, pe a sa i pe a fiului su.2. Orice lucru are clipa lui prielnic i este vreme pentru toate ndeletnicirile din

lume.3. Cine face ntotdeauna ce vrea, face rareori ce trebuie.4. Se nnopteaz i, n plus, este i foarte inorat de aceea cred c e bine s

plecm napoi spre cas. Mama ne pregtete o surpriz dulce i mie deje mi este destul de foame.

5. Merg s-mi petrec prima sptmn de vacan la casa lor de la ar. Femeile de acolo reuesc ntotdeauna s fac mncruri foarte gustoase i simt minunat mpreun cu toat familia lui.

6. Ramurile cireului din faa casei noastre se mic la cea mai mic adiere de vnt.

7. Secretara nu face cafeaua; ea listeaz scrisorile pe care managerul le semneaz, de obicei, nainte de pauza de prnz.

8. n acest moment, turitii nu vizitez muzeul, ei ascult explicaiile ghidului.9. De regul, studenii i fotocopiaz cursurile, nu mai pierd timpul copiind-le.10. i transmit informaiile de care ai nevoie prin e-mail, fii linitit11. Prezentm fabrica naostr delegaiei unei firm interesat s fac afaceri cu

noi.12. Elena i d mamei sale un frumos buchet de trandafiri..

3. Translate into English, paying attention to the right English tense corresponding to Romanian Prezent.

1. De la ce or citete bunica?2. Shakespeare ne sftuiete s nu lum cu mrpumut i s nu dm cu

mrpumut.3. Semnul acesta ne avertizeaz s nu traversm strada prin aceast zon.4. Mama gtete de azi diminea; pare foarte obosit i nici nu a terminat

treaba. Mergei i voi s vedei ce mai este de fcut pe acolo.5. Programul lor este acelai de mai muli ani: n timp ce oferul verific atent,

pe rnd, mainile noastre, soia lui gtete, iar veriorii lui ngrijesc poneiul



meu i caii prinilor mei.6. Stiu c au aprut mai multe dicionare n ultima vreme, dar nu am vzut nc

dect unul sau dou.7. Sptmna viitoare se deschide la Muzeul de Art Contemporan din Galai

o expoziie de pictur, unde expun pictori ai locului. Expoziia rmne deschis n fiecare zi, ntre orele 10.00 i 17.00, pn la sfritul acestei luni.

8. Lucreaz de ceva timp n firma aceasta ns nu are noi prieteni pentru are foarte mult de lucru n fiecare zi, iar n week-end pleac din Galai.

9. Motivul dispariiei lui nu este nc elucidat.10. De diminea prinii mei i tot fac bagajele; este prima oar cnd pleac n

strintate i cred c sunt puin cam emoionai, de aceea tot mpacheteaz i despacheteaz tot felul de lucruri.

11. i unchiul lui Vlad pretinde c este scriitor ; de doi ani tot scrie la un roman, dar nc nu l-a terminat.

12. Te atept de douzeci de minute, n ploaia asta rece de toamn i cred c i filmul a nceput deja.

C. The domain of the pastPast situations are described in terms of temporal coordinates as follows: the situation expressed by the verb took place in the past, that is, before or more precisely preceding the SM and the RM. The temporal domain of the past is a bit richer in Romanian, as compared to the domain of the present; that means that Romanian learners should make choices for four past tenses out of its English counterpart.

Thus, the domain of the past includes Imperfect, Perfect Simplu, Perfect Compus and Mai Mult ca Perfect, while English relies on Simple Past Tense, Continuous Past Tense, Simple Past Perfect and Continuous Past Perfect, Simple Future in the Past, Continuous Future in the Past. Therefore, the four Romanian past tenses will have to find their corresponding tense out of the practically two tenses and two aspectual forms. In addition to that, Romanian lacks specific forms to express futurity seen from the past reference, even if it suggests this idea, but with forms peculiar to the system involving futurity.

a. The Romanian ImperfectThe Romanian Imperfect conceals temporal, aspectual and modal values, which make it meaningfully complex and difficult to render in English correctly unless able to instantly understand its context-bound sense. As an absolute tense it expresses (a) a durative situation which happened in the past, or a situation which was in full progress in the past, (b) a situation repeated in the past (a past iteration) and (c) a situation which happened and ended in the past (the value of a perfect) (GA 1963: 236).

The Romanian Imperfect may find four English equivalents, as shown through the example of the form lucram which is translated through I worked, I was working, I had worked and I had been working (Preda i Spriosu 1972: 187). In addition, the authors mentioned in the foregoing sentence, complete the portrait of the Imperfect for they reveal the possibility of this tense to be used as an alternative to the Condiional trecut in the example Dac m ntrebai i rspundeam Id have told you if you had asked me (Preda i Spriosu 1972: 187), where one and the same Romanian verb form has two English solutions, Past Conditional and Past Subjunctive 2, respectively.

In what follows, the Imperfect will be interpreted through the semantic features of aspectuality, which consider the non-/perfective character of a situation or its completion vs incompletion. The presentation will start from Romanian since the book addresses Romanian learners who may face difficulties in choosing the



proper equivalent for this complex verb form which contains both temporal and aspectual features.

Depending on the broad or restricted context, the Romanian Imperfect is translated into English through Past Tense Simple, Past Tense Continuous, Past Perfect Simple, Past Perfect Continuous, Past Conditional and Past Subjunctive 2. Each of the equivalents will be described in the subsequent divisions, with exemplifications and some grammatical tips completing the instruments which enable Romanian learners to make the right choice.

A. Romanian Imperfect and Past Tense SimpleRomanian sentences whose Imperfect may be translated through the Past Tense Simple express:

a) an action, state or quality which is relevant in relation to a moment/interval in the past.

75a. Cunoteam foarte bine oraul pentru c locuisem acolo cu ceva timp n urm.75b. I knew the town very well for I had lived there some time ago.76a. Pe atunci via aparinea C.A.P.-ului, adic tuturor i nimnui.76b. At that time the vineyard belonged to the Agricultural Cooperative, meaning to everybody and to nobody.77a. Cnd chirurgul l-a vzut, la cteva zile dup operaie, arta mult mai bine.77b. When the surgeon saw him a few days after the surgery, he looked much better.78a. Biroul lui ddea spre malul stng al Dunrii.78b. His office looked over the left bank of the Danube.79a. Ua din spate ducea spre pivnia cu vinuri.79b. The back door led to the wine cellar.

Past Tense Simple is the equivalent of Imperfect forms when they are set against a larger temporal framework narrating situations which happened and finished in the past and when this temporal framework is completed by time words (phrases or clauses).

80a. Au ajuns acas seara trziu; era cald n toat casa, camera erapregtit pentru musafiri i masa era aezat pentru cin.80b. They reached home late in the evening; it was warm in the house, the room was prepared for the guests and the table was laid for dinner.

NOTEverbs as to open, to come out, to start, to write, when used as predicates in the Imperfect and having an inanimate subject, they may involve failure of the predication they express and they will always be translated by would not + infinitive

81a. Cu toate c foloseam cheia ncuietorii, ua nu se deschidea.81b. Although I was using the proper key of the locker, the door would not open.

b) past ability

82a. Bieii mei patinau foarte bine.82b. My boys could skate very well. 83a. Nu vedeam nimic din cauza ploii dese.83b. We could not see a thing because of the heavy rain.

c) a repeated past action or event



84a. n zilele clduroase de var udam florile de dou ori pe zi.84b. On hot summer days I watered (would/ used to water) the flowers twice a day.85a. De obicei purta haine elegante numai n zilele de srbtoare. 85b. She usually wore (would/used to wear) fancy clothes only on holidays.86a. Sttea ore n ir pe terasa din faa casei i citea reviste de mod.86b. She would sit on the front porch for hours reading fashion magazines.87a. n zilele fierbini de var, ne duceam la plaj n fiecare zi, cnd eram copii. 87b. On hot summer days we went (would/used to go) to the beach every day, when children.

NOTEThe repetitive character of a situation happening in the past is completed by indefinite (a) adverbs of frequency, (b) adverbial phrases or even (c) adverbial clauses of frequency. Just to revise, remember the examples below:

(a) often, seldom, rarely, usually, always, frequently, n/ever, constantly (b) every time, time and again, again and again, now and then (c) whenever/every time we met/ we talked to each other/we spent time

together, etc.

b. Romanian Imperfect and Past Tense ContinuousThe Imperfect is translated through the Past Tense continuous when:

a) it expresses an action which began at some point in the past and continued for some time after the moment or period indicated or involved by the context, its lower and upper limits being unknown and unimportant, save in some of its uses (Preda i Spriosu 1972: 189).

88a. Ieri la ora asta cltoream de la Galai spre Focani.88b. This time yesterday I was travelling from Galai to Focani.89a. n timp ce luam prnzul ne uitam cu toii la tiri.89b. While we were having lunch we were watching the news.

NOTEAdverbs/adverbials requiring Past Tense Continuous focus on a certain past moment/interval, such as: two days ago, yesterday from 10 to 12, etc.

b) it expressed a future situation which is related to a past reference:

90a. Trebuia s m grbesc, fiindc m ntlneam cu prietenii mei peste cteva minute. 90b. I had to make haste as I was meeting my friends in a matter of minutes. 91a. Biatul de la FanCurier m anunase c venea n cel mult o jumtate de or.91b. The FanCurier boy had let me know that he was coming in at most half an hour.

c. Romanian Imperfect and Past Perfect SimpleThe Romanian Imperfect is rendered in English by means of the Past Perfect Simple when it

a) expresses a situation which, having begun before a certain point in the past, was still continuing at that point (Preda i Spriosu 1972: 196), but which is neutral in its tone.

92a. Lucram la o carte de istorie a limbii engleze de mai muli ani.92b. I had worked on a history of the English language for several years.

b) expresses a situation which began before a certain point in the past and is



relevant to that point (Preda i Spriosu 1972: 197)

93a. Se plimba prin parc de ceva vreme cnd, pe neateptate, ntlni o veche prieten. 93b. She had been walking in the park for some time when she suddenly came into an old friend.

NOTEAdverbs and adverbials suggesting the meaning of anteriority to be read in the above situations consist of those involving duration, such as for some time, for two wee

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