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Unit 1 Perfect Aspect

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Unit 1 Perfect Aspect

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mariaelena.estremsballester
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE PERFECT ASPECT

UNIT 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 7
DR. ANTHONY NUCKOLS
TENSE VS ASPECT
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ TENSE à way grammar marks time the verb took place


TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ TENSE à way grammar marks time the verb took place


¡ English à present & past inflection; future no
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ TENSE à way grammar marks time the verb took place


¡ English à present & past inflection; future no
¡ David walks to school.
¡ David walked to school.
¡ David will walk to school.
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ TENSE à way grammar marks time the verb took place


¡ English à present & past inflection; future no
¡ David walks to school.
¡ David walked to school.
¡ David will walk to school.
TENSE VS ASPECT
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ ASPECT à way grammar marks duration or type of activity of


verb with respect to time
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ ASPECT à way grammar marks duration or type of activity of


verb with respect to time
¡ Perfect vs Imperfect
¡ Progressive/Continuous vs Non-Progressive/Simple
TENSE VS ASPECT

¡ David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday [SIMPLE]


¡ David has fallen in love [PERFECT]
¡ David is falling in love [CONTINUOUS]
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about events or situation that started in the past


and are still true
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about events or situation that started in the past


and are still true
¡ Amelia Kenton has lived in the same house all her life.
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about events or situation that started in the past


and are still true
¡ Amelia Kenton has lived in the same house all her life.
¡ When thinking about the present effects of something that
happened in the past
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about events or situation that started in the past


and are still true
¡ Amelia Kenton has lived in the same house all her life.
¡ When thinking about the present effects of something that
happened in the past
¡ I’ve lost my purse, so I need some money for the bus.
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about a recent event or situation


PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about a recent event or situation


¡ Jack has just phoned to wish you good luck
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about a recent event or situation


¡ Jack has just phoned to wish you good luck
¡ When referring to something that will happen at some time in
the future
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ When talking about a recent event or situation


¡ Jack has just phoned to wish you good luck
¡ When referring to something that will happen at some time in
the future
¡ As soon as I have settled in, come and stay!***
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Difference between British English (BE) and American English


(AmE)
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Difference between British English (BE) and American English


(AmE)
¡ AmE speakers often give preference to PAST SIMPLE where BE
speakers will use the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Mary feels ill. She’s eaten too much. (BE)


¡ Mary feels ill. She ate too much. (AmE)
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Mary feels ill. She’s eaten too much. (BE)


¡ Mary feels ill. She ate too much. (AmE)

¡ -Are they going to the show tonight?


¡ -No, they’ve already seen it. (BE)
¡ - No, they already saw it. (AmE)
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Saeed, John I., Semantics, Fourth Edition. Blackwell, 2016, p. 118


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Saeed, John I., Semantics, Fourth Edition. Blackwell, 2016, p. 118


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ NB: stative verbs (be, know, seem) are not usually used in
continuous tenses
¡ I’ve known John since he was 15.
¡ *I’ve been knowing John since he was 15.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Ikuerowo, Francis. “Stative Verbs I,” Pre-Varsity English, 7 June 2022, https://francisikuerowo.substack.com/p/stative-verbs-i. Accessed
18 September 2024.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ *Often there is NO difference between the simple and the


continuous:
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ *Often there is NO difference between the simple and the


continuous:
¡ I’ve worked here for two years. vs I’ve been working here for two years.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ *Often there is NO difference between the simple and the


continuous:
¡ I’ve worked here for two years. vs I’ve been working here for two years.
• When there is no difference, native speakers often tend to prefer
the continuous
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ *Often there is NO difference between the simple and the


continuous:
¡ I’ve worked here for two years. vs I’ve been working here for two years.
• When there is no difference, native speakers often tend to prefer
the continuous
• I’ve been listening to classical music lately
• I’ve listened to classical musical lately
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ However, often there IS a difference in meaning


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ However, often there IS a difference in meaning


¡ Difference comes from context or meaning coded semantically in
verb
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ Compare:
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ Compare:
¡ - You’re bleeding!
¡ - I’ve just cut my finger.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ Compare:
¡ - You’re bleeding!
¡ - I’ve just cut my finger.

¡ - You’re bleeding!
¡ - I’ve just been cutting my finger.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Saeed, John I., Semantics, Fourth Edition. Blackwell, 2016, p. 118


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the period of time involved in an action


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the period of time involved in an action


¡ I’ve been sitting at this computer all day
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the period of time involved in an action


¡ I’ve been sitting at this computer all day
¡ To refer to a situation that continues
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the period of time involved in an action


¡ I’ve been sitting at this computer all day
¡ To refer to a situation that continues
¡ Membership numbers at this club have been falling year by year
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To focus on the present effects of a recent event


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To focus on the present effects of a recent event


¡ You can tell it’s been raining – the seats are still damp
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To focus on the present effects of a recent event


¡ You can tell it’s been raining – the seats are still damp
¡ To refer to something that has recently stopped
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To focus on the present effects of a recent event


¡ You can tell it’s been raining – the seats are still damp
¡ To refer to something that has recently stopped
¡ Have you been crying?
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Also known as pluperfect


PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Also known as pluperfect


¡ To refer to an event which took place before something else
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ Also known as pluperfect


¡ To refer to an event which took place before something else
¡ Sailing towards the harbor, I remembered how it had looked on my first
visit, ten years earlier.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the continuity of an event at an earlier point in time


PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To stress the continuity of an event at an earlier point in time


¡ Their cat had been missing for over a week when a neighbor spotted it
in the local park
FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE
FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ To refer to events which have no yet happened but will definitely


do so at a given time in the future
FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE

¡ To refer to events which have no yet happened but will definitely


do so at a given time in the future
¡ By the end of September, I will have started that course in London.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To indicate duration at a specified time in the future


FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

¡ To indicate duration at a specified time in the future


¡ Come next Saturday, we’ll have been going out together for a whole
year.
OTHER USES OF PERFECT ASPECT
OTHER USES OF PERFECT ASPECT

¡ The perfect is used to express the PAST tense with modal verbs
OTHER USES OF PERFECT ASPECT

¡ The perfect is used to express the PAST tense with modal verbs
¡ You should study more.
¡ You should have studied more.
OTHER USES OF PERFECT ASPECT

¡ The perfect is used to express the PAST tense with modal verbs
¡ You should study more.
¡ You should have studied more.

¡ The infinitive can be used with the perfect aspect


OTHER USES OF PERFECT ASPECT

¡ The perfect is used to express the PAST tense with modal verbs
¡ You should study more.
¡ You should have studied more.

¡ The infinitive can be used with the perfect aspect


¡ I hope to finish by Monday.
¡ I hope to have finished by Monday.
THE PERFECT ASPECT
UNIT 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 7
DR. ANTHONY NUCKOLS

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