CURS ENGLEZA: THE VERB (TENSES AND MOODS)

label Cursuri autorenew 2025-09-29, 16:55 history_edu blanche
ENGLISH COURSETHE VERB (TENSES AND MOODS)It is generally accepted that the word TIME stands for the concept with which allmankind is familiar, divided into past, present and future. And, one must also underlinethat it is something independent from language.By TENSE we understand that correspondence between the form of the verb and ourconcept of time.ASPECT is the manner in which a verbal action is experienced or regarded. If the actionis complete, the simple/common/indefinite aspect is used. If it is in progress at a givenmoment, the continuous/progressive/expanded aspect is used.It must be shown that TIME is not the only concept rendered by the tense of the verb.TENSE may also express the completeness or incompleteness of an action which is orwas still on its way.1. THE SIMPLE PRESENTFORM:Affirmative: Interrogative:I/you/we/they read Do I/you/we/they read?He/she/it reads Does he/she/it read?Negative:I/you/we/they do not read/don't readHe/she/it does not/doesn't readUSE:1. to express eternal/general truths, or to make statements of general validity:e.g. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.Wood floats on water.2. to express repeated/habitual/permanent actions. Such actions are usually accompaniedby the adverbs: every day/week/month/year, ever, never, always, often, sometimes,seldom, occasionally, usually, twice a week, etc.e.g. The solicitor always helps a person who needs the assistance of a law for a certainproblem. (Avocatul nepledant intotdeauna il ajuta pe cel ce are nevoie de asistentajuridica pentru o anumita problema.)The exit polls suggest that the president faces a Congress with a narrow but hostileRepublican majority in both House and Senate. (Sondajul la urne arata ca presedintele seconfrunta cu un Congres republican nemajoritar, dar ostil, in Camera si in Senat.)At every trial, the judge conducts the proceedings and points out the matters. (Lafiecare proces, judecatorul conduce actiunea si puncteaza problemele.)I find it hard to believe that he does not want to appeal to the High Court of Justice.(Imi vine greu sa cred ca nu vrea sa apeleze la Inalta Curte de Justitie.What do you think of this barrister? (Ce crezi despre acest avocet pledant?)3. in step-by-step instructions or demonstrations:e.g. First, you listen to the prosecutor, then you cross-examine the witnesses(Maiintai, il asculti pe procurer, apoi audiezi martorii)2. THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSEFORM: the verb "to be"+VERB +ingAffirmative: Interrogative:I am reading Am I reading?You/we/they are reading Are you/we/they reading?He/she/it is reading Is he/she/it reading?Negative:I am not/I'm not readingYou/we/they are not/aren't readingHe/she/it is not/isn't readingUSE:1. to express an action started before the present moment, which is in progress at themoment of speaking and which will terminate in the future. This form of the verbindicates that the duration of the action is limited. The feeling of immediate present isoften emphasized by "just" and "now":e.g. Now, we are learning for our advanced civil law exam. (Acum, noi invatam pentruexamenul de drept civil aprofundat)At this moment, The Court of Assizes is considering the facts which have beenpresented. (In acest moment, Curtea cu Juri analizeaza faptele ce au fost prezentate.)2. to express temporary actions: today, this week/month/yeare.g. This month she is taking legal action against two persons. (Luna aceasta ea da injudecata doua personae.)We always watch quiz games, but this week we are watching variety shows. (Noiintotdeauna privim jocuri televizate, dar saptamana aceasta privim spectacole devarietati.)Verbs not used in their continuous aspect:1. Verbs of feeling:. feel, hear, notice, see, smell, tastee.g. The soup tastes delicious.I can see the plane now.This bar of soap smells wonderful.However, the verbs "to smell", "to taste", "to feel" may be found in the continuous aspectwhen they imply a voluntary action on the part of the subject:e.g. I am smelling this bar of soap.She is tasting the soup now.Besides, the verb "to see" may also be used in the continuous aspect, but with differentmeanings: to meet by appointment, to visit, to have hallucinations.2. Verbs of mental activity: to agree, distrust, doubt, find, foresee, forget, guess, imagine,know, mean, mind, remember, recognize, recollect, regard, suppose, trust, understand,etc.3. Verbs expressing wish: to desire, intend, want, wish.4. Verbs expressing attitudes, feelings, emotional states: to abhor, adore, detest, dislike,displease, like, love, hate, please, prefer etc.5. Verbs expressing possession: belong, have, hold, keep, owe, own, possess.6. Verbs expressing a state, a condition: to appear, to be, consist of, contain, differ,deserve, equal, exist, resemble, seem, suit, etc.7. Miscellaneous verbs: to compare, expect, matter, sufficeIt is important to mention that the adverbs of frequency and indefinite time (always,often, seldom, generally, ever, never, etc.) may be used with the continuous aspect,denoting a modal charge, i.e. emotional charge (joy, admiration, irritation). Therefore,MODALITY is the attitude of the speaker towards the communication.e.g. You are always drinking and driving! ( I am angry at that person) = Intotdeaunaconduci in stare de ebrietate!The Home Secretary is always buying old books and paintings! (Ministrul de Interneintotdeauna cumpara carti si tablouri vechi!)3. THE PAST TENSE SIMPLEAccording to the way in which they form the Past Tense and the Past Participle, Englishverbs are divided into regular and irregular.Regular verbs are all those verbs that make the Past Tense and the Past Participle byadding the suffix -ed to their Short Infinitives. This ending may be pronounced either /d/after vowels and /b/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /v/, /z/, or /t/ after /k/, /p/, /s/, or /id/ after /t/ or /d/.Irregular verbs are all those verbs that do not make the Past Tense and the Past Participleby adding the suffix -ed, but have their own forms: to begin-began-begun; to give-gavegiven;etc.FORM:Affirmative: Interrogative:I/you/he/she/it/we/they thought Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they think?Negative:I/you/he/shoe/it/we/they did not/didn't thinkUSE:1.To express an action or state wholly completed at some moment or during some periodin the past. In fact, the Simple Past Tense is a narrative tense. In this case, a past tenseadverbial such as when, then, yesterday, last week, last month, last year, that day, theother day, once, in 2005, ago, etc. occurs in the sentence:e.g. Yesterday, she told us about the hereditary peerage during the course. (Ieri, la curs,ne-a povestit despre aristocratia ereditara)The mission turned out to be more difficult than expected. (Misiunea s-a dovedit a fimai dificila decat ne asteptam)I read about this legislative body last year. (Anul trecut am citit despre acest organlegislativ.)Did you try to talk to the plaintiff? (Ai incercat sa vorbesti cu reclamantul?It is very important to point out that, if there is a past tense in the main clause, we have touse a past tense in the main clause, too:e.g. How did you know I was here? (Cum ai stiut ca sunt aici?)The Counsel for the Prosecution tried to prove in court that the accused was lying.(Avocatul acuzarii a incercat sa dovedeasca in fata curtii ca acuzatul minte.)2. to express a past habit or a repeated action in the past;e.g. Groups of neighbouring states often seemed to vote the same way. (Grupuri desatate invecinate pareau adesea ca voteaza in acelasi fel.)4. THE PAST TENSE CONTINUOUSFORM: was/were + VERB + ingAffirmative: Interrogative:I/he/she/it was thinking Was I/he/she/it thinking?We/you/they were thinking Were we/you/they thinking?Negative:I/he/she/it was not/ wasn't thinkingYou/we/they were not/ weren't thinkingUSE:1. To express an action in progress at a certain moment in the past: at this timeyesterday/last year, by 5 o'clock yesterday, etce.g. The President of the House of Commons was speaking in front of the 630 membersat this time yesterday. (Presedintele Camerei Comunelor vorbea in fata celor 630 demembri ieri,pe vremea aceasta)He was hoping to be the first American re-elected president since the war. (Spera sa fieprimul presedinte american reales de la razboi si pana acum.)2. to indicate that an action was going on (like a background) at a time when somethingelse, more important or more dramatic (the foreground) took place:e.g. When I called her, she told me that she was talking to the defendant.(Cand am sunato,mi-a spus ca vorbea cu inculpatul.)3. to show that two or more actions were going on at the same time in the past:e.g. The Public Prosecutor was presenting the facts while the two detectives werelistening very carefully. (Procurorul Public prezenta faptele, in timp ce cei doi detectiviascultau foarte atent.)5. THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLEFORM: have/has + Past Participle (the 3rd form of the verb)Affirmative: Interrogative;I/you/we/they have thought Have I/you/we/they thought?He/she/it has thought Has he/she/it thought?Negative:I/you/we/they have not/haven't thoughtHe/she/it has not/ hasn't thoughtUSE:An action or state prior to the moment of speaking may be expressed both by the PastTense and by the Present Perfect. But, while the Past Tense presents the action withoutreferring to the present moment, the Present Perfect links that past action with thepresent. This means that when we have the Past Tense, we think of the time whensomething happened or we narrate a sequence of events at a given time. Therefore, thePresent Perfect is used:1. when there is a result/consequence into the present:e.g. I have not won the case and that is why I will not have too many clients from nowon. (Nu am castigat cazul si de aceea nu voi avea prea multi clienti de acum inainte)It must be mentioned that the actions expressed by Past Tense Simple generally haveno any consequence into the present.e.g. I did not win the case yesterday. (Nu am castigat cazul ieri)2. when the action continues in the present and, perhaps, it will go on in the future:e.g. Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales have had limited civil jurisdiction formany years. (Curtile Magistratilor din Anglia si Tara Galilor au jurisdictie limitata demulti ani.)3.when we are not interested in the moment of the action, but in the action proper:e.g.The two voting systems in the American presidential election have been alluded to.(S-a facut aluzie la cele doua sisteme de votare de la alegerile prezidentiale americane.)They have been at the Claims Department. (Au fost la Biroul de Reclamatii.)Generally, when the moment is mentioned, Past Tense Simple is used:e.g. They were at the Claims Department when they worked at that company.4. with uncompleted periods of time: today, this week/month/year:e.g.The employer has filed a claim today. (Angajatorul a depus o reclamatie astazi)It should be noted that Past Tense Simple always expresses completed periods of time:e.g. I always read many plays when I was a student. (Intotdeauna am citit multe piesecand eram student)The adverbs used with The Present Perfect Simple are: just, already, always, yet, lately,recently, up to now=so far=till now=until now, how long, today, this week/month etc.6. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUSFORM:Affirmative: Interrogative:I/you/we/they have been writing Have I/you/we/they been writing?He/she/it has been writing Has he/she/it been writing?Negative:I/you/we/they have not/haven't been writingHe/she/it has not/hasn't been writingUSE:1. While the Present Perfect Simple implies that the attention is focused on the repetitionor on the completion of an action, the Present Perfect Continuous emphasizes theduration, the continuity of the action in the present:e.g. The employee has been waiting for the manager since 10 o'clock. (Angajatul ilasteapta pe patron de la ora 10.00.)The Bosnian Muslims have been operating inside Sarajevo for a few months.(Musulmanii bosniaci opereaza in interiorul Sarajevo-ului de cateva luni.)2. Since the Present Perfect Continuous describes an action which is apparentlyuninterrupted, it will not be employed when we mention the number of times a thing hasbeen done or the number of things that have been done:e.g. He has been talking about his creditworthiness since 2 o'clock. (Vorbeste desprecredibilitatea sa de la ora 2.00.)But:He has talked about his creditworthiness three times since 2 o'clock. ( A vorbit desprecredibilitatea sa de trei ori de la ora 2.00)EXERCISES AND TEXTS:Insert the correct tense of the verbs in brackets:The closest most of us (1 - to get) to a daring dream is the one when we suddenly(2 - to realise) that we (3 - to stand) stark naked in a crowded shopping-centre. So it (4- to seem) rather unjust that some people can apparently will themselves into dreams ofbreathtaking high adventure. The phenomenon (5 - to know) as lucid sleeping and (6 -to mean) the sleeper (7 - to become) aware that he (8 - to dream) and can consciously(9 - to participate) in and control his dream. It (10 - to compare) to (11 - to have) yourvery own virtual reality in your head."People typically lucid-dream about things that they always (12 - to want) to do aschildren, like flying," (13 - to say) Charles McCreery from the Psychophysical Institutein Oxford, which (14 - to research) lucid dreams for thirty years.Other favourite lucid dreams are (15 - to have) sex with a beautiful lover or (16 - toperform) outrageous stunts, such as (17 - to leap) off cliffs for a thrill, safe in theknowledge that you can come to no harm.Aside from (18 - to be) a secret recreation, some argue that lucid dreaming can havean impact in waking life. It even (19 - to creep) into therapists work. The theory is that,(20 - to train) to lucid dreams, people who have self-confidence problems or phobiascan practice difficult situations in the safety of a lucid dream.It also (21 - to use) to help alleviate nightmares, which (22 - to plague) one millionpeople in Britain. Dr. Delia Cushway, a clinical psychologist, (23 - to recount) the caseof one women she (24 - to see) who (25 - to become) lucid when she had a nightmare inwhich two ferocious growling Doberman dogs (26 - to bar) her way and (27 - tothreaten) to attack. She simply (28 - to say) to herself: "This is OK, this is only adream!," and (29 - to push) past the dogs, (30 - to let) herself out of the door. In asubsequent dream, one of the dogs (31 - to lie) down beside her and (32 - to put) itshead in her lap.Some psychotherapists (33 - to warn) that (34 - to interfere) with a dream narrativemight rob you of the clues that dreams (35 - to throw) up, about what or who (36 - totrouble) you in your life.Interest in lucid dreaming as a subject of research (37 - to start) (38 - to grow) in thelast 15 or 20 years and scientists (39 - to develop) machines which allegedly (40 - totrigger) lucid dreams.(The Independent on Sunday)