changing the verb e.g know, knew; work, worked,or by adding auxiliry verbs e.g will know; had worked
”.
21
In Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, tense is defined as a form taken by a verb to indicate the time at which the action or state is viewed as
accruing.
22
In another source it is said that “tense is the form of a verb that
shows us when the action or state happens past, present or future. The name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The present
continuous tense, for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.
23
Tense refers to the indication of time by the form of the verb or verb phrase, ie whether an action is a present, past or future one.
24
Based on the definitions above, the writer concludes that tense is a verb-form that is
indicates the time at which a state happens or the action.
2. Types of Tense
Tense is used to show the relation between the action or state described by the verb and the time, which is reflected in the form of the verb.
There are two basic tenses in English; the present tense and the past tense.
25
The present is like the base form, although the verb of the third person
singular is added -s. Regular verbs are added -ed or -d to show the past tense,
while irregular verbs change in many different ways, or not at all in some cases.
The time that a verb shows is usually called tense. The most common tenses are the simple present, past and future. In addition, there are nine other
21
Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980, p.604
22
Silvia Chalker and Admund Weiner, The Oxford of English Grammar, NY: OUP, 1998, P.395
23
http:www.englishclub.comgrammargrammar-glossary.htm,16 th of November,2009
24
Kam Chuan Aik and Kam Kai Hui, Longman Dictionary of Grammar and Usage, Singapore: Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd, 1992, p.294
25
Http:Www.Usingenglish.ComGlossaryTense.Html,3
rd
of ,Desember ,
2009
tenses, that enable to express more specific ideas about the time.
26
Furthermore, Azar stated in more detailed overview the English verb tenses as the simple tense, the progressive tenses, the perfect tenses and the perfect
progressive tenses.
27
There are four types of verb tense in English: the Simple, the Continuous, the Perfect, and the Perfect Continuous. Each type of tense has a
Present, a Past, and a Future form, as well as other modal forms. Thus, just as there are four present tenses in English, there are also
four past tenses: the Simple Past, the Past Continuous, the Past Perfect, and the Past Perfect Continuous.
28
Based on the explanation above, the writer agrees with the statement of John Langan. So, the writer concludes that there are twelve verb tenses,
and examples of each tense. They are :
Tense Examples
Present
I work
Past Howard worked on the lawn
Future You will work overtime this week
Present perfect
Gail has worked hard on the puzzle They have worked well together
Past perfect They had worked eight hours before their
shift ended
Future perfect The volunteers will have worked many
unpaid hours
Present progressive I am not working today, you are working the
second shift
Past progressive She was working outside
26
John Langan, Sentence Skills, form A, New York: Mc. Graw Hill Companies, Inc, 2003, 7ed, pp. 188-189
27
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989, pp.2-7
28
http:www.fortunecity.comballydurrus153gramch06.html,16th of November, 2009
The plumbers were working here this morning
Future progressive
The sound system will be working by
tonight Present perfect progressive
Married life has not been working out for that couple
Past perfect progressive I had been working overtime until recently
Future perfect progressive My sister will have been working at that
store for eleven straight months by the time she takes a vocation next week.
The perfect tenses are formed by adding have, has, or had to the past participle the form of the verb that ends, usually, in
–ed. The progressive tenses are formed by adding am, is, are, was, or were to the present participle
the form of the verb that ends in –ing. The perfect progressive tense are
formed by adding have been, has been, or had been to the present participle.
C. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
1.
The Understanding of Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is one of the more difficult English tenses to use well or even correctly. However, it is not as difficult as it is often made,
and many of the problems students have with it are the result of the inadequate explanations usually given in material books.
In linguistics, the perfect tense is the past tense used to describe completed thus perfect actions in the past.
29
According to Betty Azar stated that ”the present perfect expresses the idea that something happened
or never happened before now at an unspecified time in the past. The exact time it happened is not important. It also, expresses the repetition of an
activity before now. It also when used for and since, expresses a situation that began in the past and continuous to the present.
30
29
http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiPerfect_tense
30
Betty Schampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, ... P.29
The present perfect simple tense is used to talk about a past time, which has very strong meaning for the present.
31
Figure 2.1
Present Perfect Simple Timeline Present
Perfect Simple
Used to
show unfinished time
I have studied English twice this week.
For example: Q Wheres Jane?
A She has gone out. She should be back in an hour. The present perfect tense expresses an action that began in the past
and has recently been completed or is continuing in the present.
32
The present perfect tense is a perfect tense used to express action that has been completed
with respect to the present. The word perfect in its name refers to the idea of completion
—of being now finished—rather than to perfection in the sense of no flaws..
33
I have finished is an example of the present perfect. The present perfect is a compound tense in English and in many other languages,
meaning that it is formed by combining an auxiliary verb with the main verb. For example, in modern English, it is formed by combining a present-tense
form of the auxiliary verb to have with the past participle of the main verb.
31
http:www.learnenglish.degrammartensepresperfsim.htm,thrusday,18 th of Juni 2009
32
John Langan, Sentence Skill form A ..., p.190
33
http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiPresent_perfect_tense
18th of June 2009
In the above example, have is the auxiliary verb, whereas the past participle finished is the main verb. Another example:
The boy took an English test. Emphasis is on the fact that the boy took an English test. The boy has taken an English test. Emphasis is on the present
state of the boy, resulting from the fact that he saw the car. Actually, the present perfect tense and simple past tense are used for
past actions or states, but the present perfect describes the present state of the subject as a result of a past action or state i.e., the subject is being talked
about in the present, whereas the simple past describes solely a past action or state of the subject i.e., the subject is being talked about in the past.
From the definitions above the writer concludes that the present perfect tense is used to expresses a situation began in the past and continued
to the present or it designates action which began in the past but which continues into the present or the effect of which still continues.
2. The Form of Present Perfect Tense
