e. Referring to a conditional time in the subordinate clauses 35 If
you have done your homework, you can watch TV.
A present tense can also be combined with the combination of progressive aspect and also a perfective aspect. According to Murcia freeman 1983: 65, the
form of present perfect progressive is used for; a. Describing a situation or habit that began in the past recent or distant
and that continues up to present. 36 I
have been living in Seattle for 7 years. b. Describing the incompleteness of an action in progress
37 I
have been reading a book. According to Quirk 1985: 47, there is no obvious future tense in English
corresponding to the time tense relation for present and past. The expression of the future is closely bound up with mood. Instead there are several possibilities for
denoting future time. It is rendered by means of modal auxiliaries or semi- auxiliaries, or by simple present forms or progressive forms.
Quirk 1985:47 also mentioned that the patterns of simple future will and shall is used to:
a. Refer to an action which takes place at some definite future time 38 He
will walk to school tomorrow. b. Refer to a future habitual action or future state
39 Joel will take the bus to work next year.
c. Refer to a situation that may obtain in the present and will obtain in the future but with some future termination in the sight
40 Nora will live in Caracas until she finishes school.
d. Refer to the main clause in the future conditional sentence 41
If you go, you’ll be sorry. The form of progressive aspect can also be used to indicate the future time
in present tense. The term of future progressive indicates: a. An action that will be in progress at a specific time in the near future
42 He
will be walking to school at 9 a.m. tomorrow. b. Duration of some specific future action
43 Mavis will be working on her thesis for the next ten years.
The perfective aspect can also be combined to describe a future time. The form of future perfect is giving information about:
a. A future action that will be completed prior to a specific future time 44 I
will have finished all this typing by 5 p.m. b. A state or action that will be completed in the future prior to some other
future time or event near or distant 45 He
will have walked to school before you finish your breakfast. Both of the perfective and progressive aspects can also be combined in the
same time to denote the future meaning. This pattern can be used for referring a durative or a habitual action that is taking place in the present and that will
continue into the future up until or through a specific future time. 46
On Christmas Eve our family will have been living in Chicago for 20
years. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
b. Past Tense
Past tense has a simple form which can express a habitual activity sentence 47 and also can be used to convey an action which takes place at a
particular point of time in the past Quirk, 1985: 42, like in the sentence 48, 47 He
always wrote with a special pen.
48 I wrote my letter of 16 June 1972 with a special pen.
Past tense form can also indicate an action which takes place over a period of time. And later the period may be seen as extending up to the present sentence
49 or relating only to the past which can be viewed as having been completed sentence 50 or as not having been completed sentence 51.
49 I have written with a special pen since 1972.
50 I wrote with a special pen from 1969 to 1972.
51 I was writing poetry with a special pen.
Like present tense, past tense can also be combined with progressive aspect or perfective aspect. The choice of perfective aspect is associated with
time-orientation and consequently also with various time-indicators such as lately, since, so far, etc. In here, the point of current relevance to which the past perfect
extends is a point in the past. Like in the following example, 52 When I met him, John had lived in Paris for ten years.
According to Murcia Freeman 1983:65, the form of past perfect can also be used to explain a past conditional of imaginative events in the subordinate clause
53 If Sally
had studied harder, she would have passed the exam. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The combination of past tense and the progressive aspect specifies the limited duration of an action like in the present. It can be seen in the sentence 43
54 I was writing with a special pen for a period last night but my hand
grew tired.
In consequence, past progressive can also indicate a past action which is simultaneous with some other event.
55 While I
was writing, the phone rang. The progressive aspect can also express incomplete action by contrasting pair like
in the illustrated examples 56 He read a book that evening implies that he finished it
57 He was reading a book that evening implies that he did not finish
it According to Quirk 1985: 46 habitual activity may be expressed by the
progressive aspect but it entails that the habit is temporary like in sentence 47, but the past progressive may also refer to pejorative habits like in sentence 48
58 At that
time, we
were bathing every day. 59 My
brother was always losing his keys.
The past perfect progressive tense is a combination of the perfective and also progressive aspect with the past tense. Based on Murcia Freeman
1983:65, it has functions to: a. Describe an action or habit which is taking place over a period of time in
the past prior to some other past event PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
60 Carol had been working very hard, so her doctor told her to take a
vacation. b. Describe a past action that is in progress but interrupted by another past
action. 61 We
had been planning to vacation in Nevada but changed our minds when so much it got badly flooded.
Some of the future construction can be used in the past tense to express time which is in the future when seen from a view point in the past Quirk, 1985:
50. Some terms in past tense which indicate the future are: a. Auxiliary verb construction with would
62 The time was not far off when he would regret this decision. b. Be going to-infinitive often with the sense of unfulfilled intention
63 You were going to give me your address.
c. Past
progressive 64
I was meeting him in Bordeaux in the next day.
d. Be + to-infinitive 65 The
meeting was to be held the following week
e. Be about to-infinitive 66
He was about to hit me.
Besides the using of verb, there is also modal auxiliary in English sentences. According to Halliday 1994: 75, modal auxiliaries are the speakers
judgments of the probability or the obligation involved in what he is saying. Modal auxiliaries doesn’t have –s forms, -ing forms or –ed participles, but can,
may, shall and will have special past forms could, might, should and would respectively. Furthermore the modal auxiliaries have close relations with English
moods. As stated by Curme 1966:235, there is a tendency to use the modal s in expressing the mood because they have more shades of meanings and are more
effective in expressing moods. According to Quirk et al 1985: 52-57, modal auxiliaries contain different
meanings. Can expresses ability be able to, be capable of, know how to, permission be allowed to, be permitted to and possibility it is possible thatto,
while could expresses past ability, present or future permission, present possibility, and contingent possibility or ability in unreal condition. Both of may
and might shows permission and possibility factual and theoretical. Quirk et al note that shall and will are used to show willingness, intention of the part of the
speaker only for the first person like in the I shan’t be long, insistence like in the You do as I say, and legal and quasi legal like in the The vendor shall maintain the
equipment in good repair. Will may also show predictions specific prediction like in The game will be finished by now, timeless prediction like in oil will float in the
water, and habitual predictions like in he’ll always talk for hours if you give him the chance.
Modal auxiliary would is also used to show willingness, insistence, characteristic activity in the past, contingent use in the main clause of a
conditional sentence and probability. Should is used to indicate the obligation and logical necessity You should do as he says, “putative” use after certain
expressions, eg: it is a pity that, I am surprised that, hypothetical used in the main
