ch07.htm
by U Kyaw Tun (UKT), M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.),
and staff of TIL (Tun Institute of Learning).
Based on Barron’s Educational Series,
Grammar In Plain English, by Diamond, H.
and Dutwin, P., Barron’s Educational Series,
Inc., Woodbury, New York. Copyright 1977. Not for sale. No copyright. Free for
everyone. Prepared for students and
staff of TIL Research Station, Yangon, MYANMAR :
http://www.tuninst.net ,
www.romabama.blogspot.com
Time: Special Problems
01. Tense or Time
02. Past action continues into present
03. Past action before another past action
04. Future action before another future action
05. Two actions occur simultaneously
In one of the previous chapters, we have seen that many action words undergo simple changes to show changes in time. Here "time" is used in a special sense to show whether the action is (was/will be) taking place in the present, or past, or even in the future.
You know that sentences express time:
Present Action: I commute to work each day.
Past Action: I commuted to work each day.
Future Action: I will commute to work each day.
Occasionally, time is more complicated than the simple expression of past or future.
08.01. Past action continues into present
Sometimes an action which began in the past continues into the present. Examples:
I have commuted to work for six years.
Marie has commuted to work for five years.
The addition of the helping word have or has expresses the idea of an action which began in the past, but is continuing into the present. In the above examples, the helping words, have and has, are in the present and the action word, commuted, is in the past.
08.02. Past action before another past action
Sometimes a past action has occurred before another past action. Example:
I had commuted for two hours each way before I moved
to the city.
The addition of the helping word had shows that the commuting occurred in the past before the moving occurred.
08.03. Future action before another future action
Sometimes a future action can occur before another future action. Example:
I will have commuted four million miles by the time I
retire.
08.04. Two actions occur simultaneously
When two actions occur simultaneously, their time must be the same. Example:
As the curtain rises, the audience applauds.
As the curtain rose, the audience applauded.
End of TIL file