TOPIC 18

LOCATION IN TIME:
TEMPORAL
RELATIONSHIPS.
FREQUENCY
OVERVIEW

TIME-WHEN
DURATION
FREQUENCY
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
 TIME-WHEN

We can express the notion of “time-when” by means of tense, aspect, auxiliaries in the verb phrase
and adverbials.

Adverbials can combine a number of sentence elements: adverbs, prepositional

phrases, noun phrases and adverbial phrases.

John went home yesterday. (adverb) on Monday. (prepositional phrase) last month. (noun phrase)
two days ago. (noun phrase + ago), whenever he felt sick. (adverbial phrase).

These time expressions normally take an adverbial position in the sentence, but
other positions are also possible and they can act as subject, complement or post-
modifier of a noun phrase.
Prepositional phrases At, On, In,

AT -To give the time of an event, an appointment or an exact time. - -To talk
about the whole of the public holidays: at Christmas/ Easter, etc Are you going away at Easter? -For periods identified
vaguely by phrases such as at the time, at lunch time, at night.

ON- days as periods of time: On Monday, on the following day, - to talk about
particular days: Come back on Thursday. - With parts of the
day if we say it with morning, afternoon etc. we are thinking of, or we describe that part of the day: On a cold
afternoon in January

IN- Parts of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon -Think of or

describing part of the day: -When we talk
about weeks, months, seasons, years and centuries: It happened in Easter week. It would be nice to visit Spain in
the summer. - When saying exactly when something
happens, to say in this period and not in that one No, it was in 1972, not in 1969. We usually go on holiday in
July, but last year we went in September.
 Prep. Phrases:During & Omission of the Preposition
DURING -
to talk about something that happens either right through a particular period of time We’ll be
on holiday in/during August or at some point(or at several points) between the beginning and the end of the period: I woke up
in/during the night. -To STRESS DURATION;
( period of a certain length) The shops closed during (the whole of) August. -TO REFER TO AN ACTIVITY only
during can be used: He had an amazing time during his military service. -Verb phrase denotes a STATE OR
HABIT I had a lot of fun during the summer.

AT / ON / IN , NOT USED Expressions with :

NEXT / LAST We’re meeting next Thursday. He stayed with us last Easter. THIS /
THAT (soMetimes) I didn’t feel very well that week. (at this/that time, on this/that occasion.) BEFORE tomorrow
and yesterday, also the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday.
Prepositional Phrases, Omission of the preposition

-Before ONE, ANY, EACH, EVERY, SOME & ALL with EXPRESSIONS OF TIME

Let’s have a party one evening next week.

You can come any day. We
meet every Saturday. Some day we’ll meet again.
I was ill all summer.

-In American English and informal British English”ON” can be dropped before the
names of the days of the week: See you (on) Monday.
 TIME RELATIONSHIPS

BEFORE & AFTER- as prepositions,adverbs & conjunctions.

-They connect two time events
-Followed by either a TEMPORAL PHRASE, a SUBJECT-LESS gerund clause or a NOUN PHRASE+ De-
verbal noun. The house was built after the revolution

BY One meaning IS “not later than”. For instance, by 5 o’clock means at or before 5,: - By-phrases
do not occur with verbs of durative meaning: He lay there until midnight.
used with MOMENTARY VERBS She arrived by Christmas. -TO
TALK ABOUT AN ACTION THAT WILL HAPPEN AT or BEFORE a FUTURE
MOMENT. Can you repair my watch by Tuesday? No, I’ll need to keep it until Saturday.

UNTIL a CONTINUING SITU. or STATE will stop at a certain moment in the future. Until- Positive . We
slept until midnight;
Until-Negative. We didn’t sleep until midnight. (midnight as the starting point)
Already, Still, Yet, By now, Any(more), No(more)
DURATION UP TO or BEFORE A GIVEN TIME & are related by ASSERTIVE / NON- ASSERTIVE CONTRAST

ASSERTIVE FORMS : already, still, by now; Non-Assertive forms: yet, any more, any longer; NEGATIVE
FORMS: no more, no longer.

-Still, yet and already actions & events that are going on around the present. USE DIFFERS
in DECLARATIVE & INTERROGATIVE sentences , POSITIVE or NEGATIVE STILL something is
continuing, and has not stopped; YET something
EXPECTED; it may obtain either a negative or an affirmative answer.
ALREADY something has happened early, or earlier. In interrogative sentences it expects an
affirmative answer.

+ AN EVENT VERB “Already & “Yet” require the PERFECT ASPECT.

“BY NOW” preferred to already when WE ARE NOT CERTAIN THE EVENT TOOK PLACE
He should have finished by now. (Perhaps he has not) He has already finished. (for sure).
IN, WITHIN In or more formally within can mean “before the end of”: I’ll see
you in a week. The Congress will meet within a week.

MEASURING TIME
FROM PRESENT TO A POINT IN THE PAST PHRASE of TIME MEASURE + AGO
She graduated 3 years ago.

-Measuring time from the present moment to a point in the future 3 WAYS i)The
house will be finished two months from now.ii) The house will be finished in two months iii) The
house will be finished in two months’ time.
-Measuring time forwards from a point in the past ( only 1 POSSIBILITY) He completed the journey in
three days.

Before,” after” and the ADVERBS: beforehand, afterwards, earlier and later
I had seen my parents six months before(hand). Two
days after the concert, he received a strange message.
Time When” Adverbs and Conjunctions”
“Time-When” ADVERBS- 2 GROUPS
- Denoting a point or period of time directly: again, just (at this very moment), now,
nowadays, then, at that time, today, yesterday, tomorrow, etc.
Nowadays, people prefer violent films. The telephone has just rung.

- Denoting a point of time, but also imply the point from which that time is
measured:afterwards, before(hand), first, formerly, just, a very short time ago/before, later, lately, next,
previously, recently, since, soon, subsequently, then, after that, ultimately, etc.: Have you heard from your
brother recently? He called in August, but I haven’t heard from him since.
CONJUNCTIONS
-Most common when, after, while, as soon as, once, now (that) “The
money arrived when we most needed it. Once you pick
up the phone, wait for the dialling tone”.
DURATION. How long? For …

FOR - Length of action OR situation. PAST, PRESENT or FUTURE.

I once studied the guitar for two years

-Used to say how long something has been going on; it is followed by a reference to a period of
time FOR is
usually dropped in the expression for how long ?? How long
have you been waiting(for)?
Also ommited , When PRECEDING “ALL” He’s been working all night.

DISTINGUISHING FOR & DURING

DURING is used to say when something happened

FOR to say how long it took: There was a storm during the night; it rained for 3 or 4 hours.
DURATION. … How long? For, Over, From-To, While, Since, Until

3 Situations not possible to omit “FOR”

i)-With dynamic verbs: I taught her for 3 years.

ii) in front position: For all my life, I have been a solitary person.
iii)After a negative: I haven’t read a novel for two years.

OVER Normally accompanies noun phrases denoting special occasions, holidays and festivals, a short
period of time. The children came back home over the weekend.
OVER, ALL THROUGH & THROUGHOUT have a durational meaning, parallel to their pervasive
meaning in reference to place).
 DURATION. How long?From, Up to, While, Since, Until
…

FROM-TO gives the beginning and end of a period. In American English (from) –THROUGH is used to state
that the period includes the second item in the phrase.

UP TO means that the time covered by the second item is not included.
I went
to school from December to March. We
work up to seven hours a day.

-WHILE meaning VARIES according to the kind of verb that it accompanies . With state verbs it implies
duration. With event verbs it means time :
I was living in England while Mrs. Thatcher was Prime Minister.(state verb)
I visited the British Museum while Mrs. Thatcher was Prime Minister. (event verb)
 DURATION. How long? Since, Until +ADVERBS & IDIOMS

SINCE is affected by the same changes in meaning:

They’ve come here for their holidays (ever) since 1975.(from 1975 until now)
They have had two children since 1975.(between 1975 and now)
-UNTIL points to the end of the period, and is normally used with state verbs They
plan to stay in the hotel until next week. (from now to next week)

ADVERBS & IDIOMS OF DURATION

DURATION Always, For ever, For all time, Since, Since then, Recently, Lately, For Ages, For a
long time.
TIME-WHEN or DURATION depending on the type of verb meaning: Since, Lately, Recently

Time-duration expressions normally take a final position, except for the adverbs
momentarily,permanently, temporarily , placed before the lexical part of the verb.
FREQUENCY ..How often ? How many times?

DEFINITE frequency.-definite frequency adverbials. They take final position ,divided into TWO
SUBGROUPS

PERIOD FREQUENCY- Which can also function as ADJECTIVES as well as ADVERBS

Daily, Hourly, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly.
NUMBER FREQUENCY- Once, Once a minute, Twice an hour, Three times a day, Several
times a week, Every month, Every two years , Again.

NOTE Number frequency adverbials usually precede period frequency adverbials when they co-occur
FREQUENCY ..How often ? How many times?
INDEFINITE frequencyThe upper and lower limits of frequency are expressed by always, &
never. Between both extremes, we have the following categories…..

Usual Frequency: Normally, Commonly, Generally, Invariably, Usually. English

people usually have lunch atnoon.

Continuous/Continual Frequency: Always, Constantly, Continually, Continuously. My boss

always wears a tie.

High Frequency: Often, Many times, Frequently, Regularly, Repeatedly. Mrs.

White often goes to church.

Low or Zero Frequency: Sometimes, On several occasions, Infrequently, Rarely, Seldom,

Never, Hardly ever.
We sometimes have fish for dinner.
FREQUENCY ..How often ? How many times?
Frequency expressions are normally used without a preposition . HOWEVER…...,

On + occasion: On occasions, I have to go to the dentist. With + adjective + frequency: With regular frequency...

At + adjective + interval: At irregular intervals, From

time to time: We see each other from time to time.

Normally positioned before the lexical part of the verb, but medial position is also possible.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.
Relative Position of Time Adverbials :
Expressions from the 3 MAJOR SUB-CLASSES that can co-occur in final position (time
when, time duration and time frequency), tend to occur in this order: I
lived there for a month :
Time duration(d); every summer:
Time frequency (f); in the 1980’s: Time when (w).
Coordination:
In the same subclass they can be coordinated.
Time when: today and tomorrow, now or later.
Time duration: permanently or temporarily; for the day or for the week.
Time frequency: two or three times, every day and weekend.
Time Expressions and Time Reference:
Time expressions play an important role in specifying the time reference.
Thus, at the moment determines a present reference:
He is working at the moment.
Next week determines a future reference He is
leaving next week.
Certain time expressions cannot co-occur with particular
forms of the verb phrases, as the
meaning could be absurd.
*He came to London next summer.