Tense in English • Conceptually, we have three tenses, but,

grammatically, English has only two different tense marking strategies: Past:Past: the event happened before now. Non-past:Non-past: the event happens now or whatever time

period that includes now. It encompasses both “present” and “future”.

• Past tense: tells us that the event or state described by a sentence occurred sometime before the speech time. It is usually marked by -ed on the verb (but also irregularly as in give/gave, bring/brought, sing/sang, etc.)

• I climbed the mountain. • I spoke before the jury.

• I could talk to him last week.

Tense in English • Non-Past tense tells us that the event or state,

described by a sentence holds true of the speech time, i.e., now. In some cases, non-past tensed sentence describes actions that may be re-occurring or about to occur.

Ali works in a multi-national company. Khaled runs a factory. Gold is a shining metal. The Earth revolves around the sun.

Aspect in English• What is Aspect? What is Aspect?

It is a term used to describe the state of verb action as beginning, in progress, or completed.

• In many languages, aspect and tense are closely interwoven with each other.

• English has two main aspects: 1.1. The perfectThe perfect2.2. The progressiveThe progressive

Aspect … cont’d • Perfect Aspect: Perfect Aspect:

It describes an action that started and completed sometime before topic time (e.g. now) and still has a relevance to it. It is marked by the combination of the auxiliary "have" and the past participle morpheme “ –en ” occurring on the verb that follows “have”.

a. Students have expressed to me their love for linguistics.

b. You have been great, good night!

c. Martha has reportedly driven him crazy.

d. She had known him for a year when he died.

Aspect … cont’d • Progressive Aspect: Progressive Aspect:

It describes an ongoing action, or an eventuality in progress, especially one that is continuous or repetitive. It is marked by the combination of the auxiliary “ be ” + the present participle “-ing” on the main verb.

a. Sally Johns is speaking is speaking again.

b. While you were sleepingwere sleeping, I ate the cake.

c. You are being are being childish.

d. He was thinking was thinking of Janine.

Tense and Aspect in Arabic • Arabic has two tenses: past and present.

• Future tense is indicated by means of future particles (ســــ ) or (سوف )

• Arabic has two aspects:

1- The perfect refers to a past time or completed action.

2- The imperfect refers to present or non-past time

Tense and Aspect in Arabic PerfectImperfect

كتُب� أُت�كتبأناكتُبن ناكتبنحن كتُب�تُت�كتبانُت

كتبين�تُت�كتبانُت�كتُبيُبكتهو كتُبتُتكتبهيكتبونيوكتبهم كتبنينكتبهن

1- Man is mortal 2- Abdullah left for Cairo yesterday 3- I walk for two kilometers every day 4- I lived in New York for one year5- Maha is going to finish her report tonight6- Don’t worry! I’ll help you with this

7- George is writing a book on literature these days 8- The exhibition is starting next week.9- Ali was listening to music at 8pm yesterday evening10- Mona was cooking when the telephone rang11. When I entered the room, the speaker was already giving

his speech.

Activity 1: Translate the following into Arabic

Activity 2: Translate the following into English:

11- I will be sitting in class at this time tomorrow12- John and Mary have moved into a new apartment 13- I have lived in Amman for two years14- I have been playing basketball since 10 o’clock 15- Huda has been thinking about changing her major16- The rain had stopped before the time class was over17- The police had been looking for the thief for 3 months18- My parents will have gone to sleep by the time I get

home.19. I will have been watching the film for two hours before

I go to bed. 20. He will be working on the experiment for three months

Activity 3: Translate the following into English:

االن 1. لحد ارها لم

االن 2. لحد دول عشرة زرت لقد

شركتنا 3. في وظيفته ترك ان منذ جديدة وظيفة على يعثر لم

ساعتين 4. من اكثر منذ المشكلة يناقشون انهم

يستقل 5. ان قبل ساعات ثالثة مدة المطار في والدي انتظر لقداخرى رحلة

الهاتف 6. جرس يرن ان قبل المنزل الى للذهاب يستعد كان

فجأة 7. الغرفة دخل عندما ننتظره لتونا كنا لقد

الذي 8. الوقُت في الليلة، هذه متأخر وقُت في عملي سأغادرفراشهم الى اووا قد االوالد سيكون البيُت الى فيه اصل

في 9. عملي في أمضيُت قد سأكون الشهر، هذا نهاية معسنوات عشر الجامعة

.10 . البالد غادر قد سيكون القاتل البوليسعلى رجال يعثر ان قبل

.1 . التفاصيل أعرفكل عندما لندن إلى سأسافر

في 2. تدميرا أكثر أسلحة الجيشاالسرائيلي سيستخدم . الفلسطينيين مع القادمة الحرب

سبتمبر 3. فيشهر البرلمانية االنتخابات ستعقدالقادم.

الدوليحول 4. المؤتمر في فلسطين ستشارك . المقبل العام الفلسطينيين الالجئين

االستقصائية 5. الصحافة مساق اإلعالم سيدرسطالب . الفصل هذا

الطلبة 6. مشاكل عن لرئيسالجامعة التحدث سنحاول. واالعالم الصحافة فيقسم

.7. بإسرائيل أبدا الفلسطيني الشعب يعترف لن

االحتالل 8. الفلسطينيمن الشعب يتحرر سوف. ألرضه الصهيوني

Activity 4: Translate the following sentences into English: