Re: Tense & meaning

CalifJim — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 05:21:17 GMT

The most natural are 1a, 2a, 3b, 4a, 5a. 2b is incorrect. An adverbial indicating a point in time ("when I was cutting onions") is incompatible with the perfect aspect. ["while I was cutting onions" is more idiomatic, but also impossible in this sentence.]

With the past tense ( Example 1 ) adverbials of duration (all night, all day, all morning, for a long time) are most natural with the non-progressive of a verb which expresses an activity. [All your examples are examples of activities.] On the other hand, adverbials of a point in time are most natural with the progressive.

We watched TV all night. We were watching TV at 10 o'clock last night.
It rained all day. It was raining when I went to bed. When I woke up it was raining.
I wrote letters all morning. I was writing letters when the phone rang.

With perfect aspect (All but Example 1) the non-progressive focuses on achievement rather than activity. To retain the idea of activity, the progressive is applied. The progressive aspect in this context is more compatible with adverbials of duration. The present perfect progressive is typically used when some activity has been taking place up to the present moment and the focus is on the current relevance of that activity.

It's been raining all night. (That's why the pavement is wet this morning.)
It has rained twice this week. (That's the current state of the weather for this week. In a strange way, this is an "achievement" for nature, I suppose! In any case the focus is not on the "activity" of raining in this sentence.)

I've been writing letters all morning. [It must still be morning to say this! Note the focus on activity.]
I've already written three letters this morning. [It must still be morning to say this. Note the focus on achievement.]
I was writing letters at 10:30 this morning. [It need not still be morning to say this. Typically it is not still morning when this is said.]
I wrote letters all morning. [In the typical use it is not still morning when this is said.]
I wrote a letter this morning. [Here the change to singular changes an activity (letter writing) into an achievement (the completion of the writing of a single letter).]

I've been cutting onions ("continuously until now" implied). That's why my eyes are red ("now" implied). I have cut the onions ("sometime before now" implied; "they are currently in the state of being cut" implied). (They are ready to add to the stew.("now" implied.))

In the paper reading example, the speaker questions what activity caused the current state of affairs, namely, that the newspaper is messed up. The focus would not normally be on the "achievement" of messing up the paper, nor on the "achievement" of reading the paper, but rather on the "activities" of reading, and consequently messing up, the paper.

CJ

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Re: Tense &amp; meaning

Re: Tense & meaning