TAM 3Tense

Part I

1. Define the following terms: verb paradigm, primary forms/secondary forms, preterite, finite/non-finite. 2. Explain why tense is defined as a deictic category. (Baciu 1999, curs)3. Is temporal interpretation dependent only on tense morphemes? Provide arguments in favour of your answer.4. Time adverbials have often been defined as specifying RT in a sentence. Do they specify only RT? Provide arguments to

substantiate your claim. (Baciu 1999, curs)5. Point out the difference between anchored (deictic) and unanchored adverbials; provide examples.6. Discuss the role of the time adverbial in the temporal interpretation of the following sentences/sets of sentences:

a. They begin work next Monday. b. It was 1812, just before the battle of Borodino. The anticipation of the coming struggle is palpable. Napoleon

has just woken. He is getting ready to inspect the troops and see that they are ready for the battle that will determine the fate of Europe.

c. From 2.00 to 3.00, Mary played the piano. / Mary played the piano from 2.00 to 3.00./ From May to August, Mary played the piano every day.

d. John left before he hit someone./ John had left the house before he hit someone. e. John left the party before he stole the silverware./John had left the party before he stole the silverware. f. Mary spoke on the phone for three hours./ For three hours, Mary tried to speak on the phone.g. John had e-mailed the message at 2.00.h. At 2.00, John had e-mailed the message. (Avram 2007, curs)

7. Identify the grammatical sentences below. Explain the grammaticality/ungrammaticality of each sentence. Focus on the temporal/aspectual value of the adverbial:

a. He fell asleep from 1 to 2.oo.b. She slept in an hour. c. He was running to the station in an hour.d. In an hour, he was running to the station. e. He was tall every month.

a. f. He was polite every time the boss was around. (Avram 2007, curs)

7. Account for the interpretation of the following sentences. Focus on the temporal/aspectual value of the adverbial:(I)We arrived at noon (II) We were walking at noon (III) We read the newspaper yesterday (IV) We moved last year (V) ? She slept in an hour (VI) Mary wrote a sonnet in five minutes (VII) She fell asleep in five minutes. (VIII) (?) Bill was walking to school in an hour/ In an hour, Bill was walking to school. (IX) Harry wrote for two hours ( X) ? Harry wrote the report for two hours (XI) Mary knocked on the door for an hour (XII) Mary discovered fleas on his dog all that winter. (Baciu, 1999, curs)

8.(I) State the three times required to temporally locate a sentence. (II) Define them. (III) Discuss the role of the adverbial in the temporal interpretation of the following sentences:

(a) The bus leaves tomorrow at noon. (b) I have breakfast at seven every morning(c) Last week, Tom had already been to London. (d) I heard last night that the show was opening in three days. (e) Mary is leaving tomorrow.

9. Discuss the relations that obtain between ST, RT and ET in the following: (a) He spoke to his brother last night. (b) I have never done this before (c) We repaired the car before he left (d) She was cooking a meal when he arrived (e) The children will be here next week.

10. Specify the value of each tense form:(1) Honesty is the best policy. Rome stands on the river Tiber. (2) In chess, bishops move diagonally (3) Twelve pence go to a shilling and twenty shillings go to a pound, but where pounds go, I have never been able to discover. (4) The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones (5) Our children eat very little bread (6) The milkman calls on Sundays (7) I usually take sugar in tea (8) I buy my shirts at Harrod’s (9) Mary gets up every morning at 7. (10)Walker swings right at the West Indian-he ducks and it glances harmlessly off his shoulder (11)Look, the swallows fly higher than the doves (12). Pink Satin is coming up on the rails, he’s overtaking Rover Boy, but Little Nell is pulling away… (13). He passes the ball to Clark, he swerves, aims and scores. (14). Bush Visits Romania. (15). This man goes to the restaurant and says: ‘Do you serve

frogs?’ The waiter says, ‘Yes,’ so he says, ‘Right, I’ll have a coffee myself and some flies for my frog.’ (16). My bus leaves at three. (17). When you heat ice, it melts. The train leaves at 7.30 this evening (18) I hear you’ve been busy. (19) Joan tells me you’re getting a new car

Part II

A.Comment on the use of the simple present tense in the sentences below: 1. The Atlantic Ocean separates the New World from the Old. 2. War solves no problem. 3.A rolling stone gathers no moss. 4. …his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful. 5. Walker swings a right at the West Indian – he ducks and glances harmlessly off his shoulder. 6. I say that you are wrong. 7. Last week, I’m in the sitting room with my wife, when this chap next door staggers past and in a drunken fit throws a brick through our window. 8. The ten o’clock news says that it’s going to be cold. 9. There goes our bus! 10. Mr. Tulkinghorn takes out his papers, asks permission to place them on a golden talisman of a table at my Lady’s elbow, puts on his spectacles and begins to read by the light of a shaded lamp (Dickens, Bleak House). 11. Oxford are drawing slightly ahead of Cambridge now; Cambridge are looking a little disorganized. 12. The troops leave tomorrow. 13. ??? The general is angry tomorrow. (Cornilescu 1997, curs)

B State the values of the Past Tenses in the sentences below:1. Haydn was born in 1732.// Once this town was a beauty spot. //We visited Selfridges last week.// He arrived an hour ago.// When did he come? //Last year it rained for two weeks. 2. He often visited us. In those days he enjoyed a game of tennis. He always brought flowers when he came to dinner. // He would drop in on us of an evening. She would often walk in the park at this time. There used to be a shop on the corner. He used to love her. He used to visit her. 3. He enjoyed and admired the sonnets of Petrarch. Vs. He addressed and sealed the envelope. // I didn’t know him at the time. vs. I knew it for a lie at once.4. William Barnes was born, lived and died in his beloved country of Dorset. 5.Did you want me? Yes, I hoped you’d give me a hand with the painting. I wondered if you’d look after my dog while I go shopping. 6. At that time he didn’t come until tomorrow. Yesterday the fish was four feet long, now it’s five feet long. 7. At two o’clock we were just having dinner, as I recall it. I saw at once that the man was drowning. (Cf. The man drowned). I was reading from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. (cf. I read from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.). I was picking flowers all day today. // He was knocking on my door. He was merrily twinkling his eye.8. When I saw him, he was running away. vs. When I saw him, he ran away. When he arrived she was making some coffee/ made some fresh coffee. I asked him what he was thinking about/ While she was working hard in the kitchen, her husband was sitting in front of the television set. 9. In those days I was getting up at 6 every morning. I was meeting him every day.10. My father was forever getting into trouble with the law. He was always falling in love.11. I was wondering whether you could help me. (Cornilescu 1997, curs)

C. a. Comment on the possible readings of the following perfect sentences: 1. Peggy has been in Asia since January. 2. Peggy has rehearsed since noon vs. Peggy has been rehearsing since noon 3. She has been in Paris for 3 days. 4. ???He has built a house for 2 years.

b. Consider the following instances of Present Perfect. Try to identify the values of Present Perfect used in each of these sentences:

1. I have loved him all my life. 2. Where have I seen him before? 3. For all that you’ve suffered I beg your pardon most humbly. 4. I hope I have made enough tuna salad. 5. I have fixed the fuse, so there won’t be any more light problems. 6. I have fixed the fuse at least twice these days. 7. She has cooked a lavish meal for the newlyweds. 8. The steak has been cooking for an hour. 9. She has never cooked a meal like that before. 10. I have called her my dear auntie since I was a little boy. (Vișan and Vișan 2009)

c. Try to explain the difference in meaning between the following pairs of sentences:1. Sorry about the mess, I have been painting the house. / I have painted two rooms since lunchtime.2. Who has slept in my bed? / Who’s been sleeping in my bed?3. My parents have lived here ever since they got married./ We have been living here for six days.4. I have used the corkscrew to make holes in this skin./ I’ve been using the corkscrew to make holes in this skin.5. Everybody has worked bloody hard this morning./ Everybody has been working bloody hard this morning.

(Vișan and Vișan 2009)

D. Explain why the present perfect continuous has been used in the following sentences1. They’ve been studying French for two years. 3 I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes. 4 I’ have been working in the garden, that’s why I am so dirty. 4, The patient has been eating well since his surgery. 5. We’ve been getting up early this week.

E. .Explain the ungrammaticality of the starred sentences:

I’ve been thinking for several minutes now//*I’ve thought for several minutes now2. I’ve been lying here for hours.//??? I have lain here for hours. 3. I have been building this house for the last two years.//*I’ve built this house for the last two years.4. You’ve both been hiding this all along//*You’ve both hidden this all along. 5. He has always smoked in the morning// *He has smoked in the morning. 6. I haven’t seen him recently/I didn’t see him recently// I haven’t seen him lately//* I didn’t see him lately.7. I haven’t understood that so far.//*I didn’t understand that so far. 8. I certainly have had my share of happiness during these five years past.//* I certainly had my share of happiness during these five years past. It was a cathedral once//*It has been a cathedral once. 10. I have seen it once.

F. Discuss the use of the present perfect and past tense in the examples below. Discuss the tenses in relation to the time adverbials they co-occur with/:

1) I haven’t seen her since she left town. 2. She’s been a teacher for five years and for two years she also attended the Art School in her hometown. 3.She has known him only a fortnight. She danced four dances with him at M; she saw him one morning at his own house, and has since dined in his company four times. 4. I have worked hard today/ I saw him today engaged in an animated contest. 5. I’m very glad you came tonight. You have seen for yourself. “Yes, I have, Harold, there have been moments this evening when I could have screamed’. 6. I never saw such an important person before I met him./I have never seen her before./ I never learned how to swim in my youth. 7. I certainly have had my share of happiness during these five years past. I always said he would end up in jail, and so he did. 8. I lived in Italy for 10 years, then I came to Bucharest. 9. Once, this town was a beauty spot./ I have been there once. 10. For years, after it occurred, I dreamt of it often. 11. He dropped the letter before he went away. 12. Did you want to see me now? / I thought I might come and see you later this evening. 13. Few people passed. The man out of the last house passed on his way home; she heard his footsteps along the concrete pavement. 14. Joan has received a proposal of marriage. It took us completely by surprise.. 15. London is not what it was. 16. Last week, I open the window, look out into the garden and what do I see but a man wearing a pink shirt and a policeman helmet. (Cornilescu 1997, curs)

G.Discuss the use of the present/past prefect versus the use of the simple present/past tense: 1.Come over and see us when our children leave./Come over and see us when our guests have left. 2. You‘ll feel a lot

better when/after you’ve had a rest/ *You’ll feel a lot better when/after you have a rest. 3. We can go as soon as we’ve had dinner/ *We can go as soon as we have dinner. 4. When he came/had come back from India, he was made a member of Parliament./ When he had read the letter he burned it /*When he read the letter he burned it. 5.As soon as he discovered/had discovered them he ran away. /After she had listened to the radio she turned it off./*After she listened to the radio she turned it off.

H a) Comment on the following means of expressing future time :

Next year the George Enescu Festival takes place in September. Tomorrow is Thursday./Dennis is buying me a mink coat for my birthday / Dennis is going to buy me a mink coat for my birthday/./There’s going to be a storm in a minute./ You will feel better after this medicine. Tomorrow’s weather will be cold and cloudy./ The sun sets at 7:45 tomorrow. I’ll drive to Brasov next week.//I’ll be driving to Brasov next week.

b) Why are some of the sentences below odd?(i) The kettle is boiling. I’ll go and make some tea//?? I’m going to make some tea(ii) What time does the train leave?//?? What time is the next train leaving for Brasov?

(i) This time next week I’ll be travelling to Rome//?? This time next week I will travel to Rome(ii) ???The sun is rising at 5 o’clock tomorrow(iii) Our neighbour is pregnant. ?? She is having a boy

c) Explain the difference between (i) and (ii) and (iii)-(iv)(i) Will you put on another play soon? (ii) Will you be putting on another play soon?(iii) Will you join us?(iv) Are you going to join us?

I. Translate into Romanian:

a. They went up to Central Park by the elevated railway, and Verena reflected, as they proceeded, that anyway Olive was probably disposing of her somehow at Mrs Burrage’s, and that therefore there wasn’t much harm in her taking this little turn on her own responsibility, especially as she should only be about an hour- which would be just the duration of Olive’s absence. The beauty of the “elevated” was that it took you up to the Park and brought you back in a few minutes, and you had all the rest of the hour to walk about and see the place. It was so pleasant now that one was glad to see it twice over. The long, narrow enclosure, across which the houses in the streets that border it look at each other with their glittering windows, bristled in the raw delicacy of April (H. James).

b. By the end of February the packages had ceased arriving, and he was a changed man. No one would have mistaken him for what he had been. In five months he had become lean and strong. He did two hundred and fifty sequential pushups at least four times a day. For the sheer pleasure of it, he would do a hundred and fifty pushups at least four times a day. His midnight run, sometimes in snow which had accumulated up to his knees, was four hours long. The packages had contained books on climbing, and equipment. At first the books had been terribly discouraging. Every elementary text had bold warnings in red and green ink: “It is extremely dangerous to attempt genuine ascents without proper training. This volume should be used in conjunction with a certified course on climbing, or with the advice of a registered guide. A book itself will not do!” (M. Helprin)

c. ‘Now, please, Valentina, give my father back the key to his room and try to behave in a calm and civilized manner’, she says in a clear dictating voice. She is taller than Valentina, but Valentina has the advantage of heels. She grabs for the Dictaphone, and would have got it, but her attention is distracted, as at that moment Father makes a snatch at the key in her other hand. Attacked on both fronts, she shrieks and jumps into the air [..] and comes down with a crash, the stiletto heel of one shoe landing on Vera’s slippered foot. The Dictaphone falls and skids across the floor under the cooker. Vera makes a dive for the Dictaphone. Valentina pushes Father through the door of his room, wrestles the key out of his hand and locks the door. (Marina Lewycka – A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian)

J. Translate into English:

a. Antipa rîde şi Felicia la fel. Am o groază de treburi, spune […]. El îşi aprinde o ţigară. Apa mai curge pe geamuri dar pe alocuri sticla începe să se usuce fiindcă dincolo de norii scămoşi (ploaia va înceta curînd, sînt semne) soarele arde cu o putere nouă. Ceasul din turnul catedralei bate de unsprezece ori. Astăzi în casa lor se plămădeşte aluatul, se bagă la cuptor friptura şi se fierb sarmalele

b. Îmi aduc aminte că spre sfârșit vorbea în mare grabă. Îmi amintesc că senzația de violență și grabă tot mai mare mă afectau în același timp: ca și cum el trebuia să plece – de fapt a și plecat peste câteva zile - și eu nu voiam să plece fără să ne fi insultat; ca și cum, neputând să exprime ceea ce voia fără să se ostenească și să ne insultăm reciproc, natura lui indolentă trebuia să facă un efort ciudat, iar strădania îi era însoțită de teama că nicicând nu va mai fi în stare să repete acel lucru; parcă știa că numai la vârsta pe care o aveam eu atunci, și unul ori doi ani mai târziu, putea cineva vorbi despre mama în fața mea cu un asemenea dispreț. Poate l-a îngrozit propria-i vehemență. Ori poate, văzând cum mă făceam albă ca varul, ascultându-l, și-a găsit chiar în teama pe care o simțea energia necesară ca să fie și mai brutal.

c. Abia în pădure, oamenii încetară goana. O mare nedumerire, amestecată cu groază şi mânie, se citea pe chipurile lor. Această nedumerire, această groază şi mânie îl făcu pe căpitan să-i regăsească stăpânirea de sine. Auzi murmure, simţi îndreptate asupra lui priviri întunecate. Îşi dădu seama că soldaţii înţeleg ceva care lui îi scapă şi că în lucrul acela pe care ei îl înţeleg stă ascuns ceva în strânsă legătură cu el, cu comandantul lor, căpitanul Ioan; acel ceva nu era bun, lucra împotriva lui, şi ceea ce însemna căpitanul Ioan pentru soldaţi avea să se prăbuşească curând, chiar acum, dacă el nu va înţelege la timp ceea ce înţeleg ei şi nu va lua măsuri împotriva lucrului acela primejdios.