THE VALUES OF THE PAST SIMPLE

AND OF THE PAST CONTINUOUS

THE PAST SIMPLE
DEFINITE PAST EVENT
Sam drank a bottle of gin (yesterday).
Sam a băut o sticlă de gin (ieri).
NARRATIVE VALUE
A guy went to the pub and drank a glass
of gin. He then started to sing loud.
Un tip s-a dus la o cârciumă şi a băut
un pahar de gin. Apoi a început să cânte
tare.
HABITUAL VALUE
Sam drank a bottle of gin every day.
Sam bea o o sticlă de gin zilnic.
FUTURE VALUE (mainly in time and
condition clauses)
He would sail away [when the time
THE PAST
CONTINUOUS
SITUATION UNFOLDING AT A
CERTAIN POINT IN THE PAST
Sam was drinking gin at the pub
yesterday.
Sam bea gin la cârciumă ieri.
FRAME VALUE (past)
I came in the pub while they were
drinking
gin.
Am intrat în cârciumă în timp ce ei
beau gin.
EMOTIONAL VALUE (past habit +
excitement, annoyance)
He was always falling in love with the
wrong person!
Mereu se îndrăgostea de cine nu
trebuie!
FUTURE VALUE ( personal plan)
We were sailing for Liverpool the next
day.
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• When they lived in their grandmother’s house, they were
allowed to sleep late, spend time watching TV and eat all the
sweets they wanted. Their grandmother indulged every whim
they had. They would go to fairs, visit the Zoo, they were even
allowed to talk to the strange monkey that sat on an old man’s
shoulder in the large square of the city. One day, however,
their visits were discontinued and they never went back to
that wonderful place. They left the city and were driven to a
lonely place in the forest. They entered a large gloomy
cottage, where a fire was burning in a small fireplace. Then
they were left completely alone after they were told that they
could no longer leave that forest again....
 HABITUAL versus NARRATIVE
• State versus Dynamic
• Stories might start with passages in which a description is made (about
the setting, about the characters, about the habits of the characters). You
would expect to see a lot of Past
• Simple forms that would be either forms of state verbs (be, love, feel,
stand, stay, etc.) or forms of dynamic verbs (run, write, jump, work, etc.)
used with a habitual value. Such descriptions are
• followed by passages where a series of events are presented: sequences
of events that create a story line. In these narrative, dynamic passages,
the frame is set by one or two Past Continuous
• forms and then strings of Past Simple verbs forms are employed to build
the narrative. So, in a way, a story is often made up of a paragraph where
a generalization is made and then more paragraphs follow in which events
take place: this means that at least two values of the Simple Past are
joined in the story: the habitual (static) value and the narrative (dynamic)
value.
 SIMPLE versus CONTINUOUS
NOTA BENE! A Habitual Past Simple form may
be replaced by a Past Continuous form when
the person uttering the sentence containing it
needs to imply a feeling of excitement or
annoyance regarding the habit of the subject in
the sentence.
 THE POLITE USE OF THE PAST
TENSE
NOTA BENE! Past Tense Simple and Past Tense
Continous are also used when one wants to express a
polite request. This is the so-called ‘polite’ use of the
Past Tense.
• a. Go fetch my slippers!
• b. Will you (please) go and fetch my slippers?
• c. Could you go and fetch my slippers?
• d. Would you be so kind as to go and fetch my
slippers?
• e. I was wondering if you could go and fetch my
slippers.
 THE PRESENT PERFECT
In English, Present Perfect is the tense employed
to refer to events directly connected to the
present moment (‘now’).The events are said to
have ‘current relevance’.
VALUES OF THE PRESENT PERFECT

• RESULTATIVE
• CONTINUATIVE
• EXPERIENTIAL
• “HOT NEWS”
 RESULTATIVE
• 1)Oops, you’ve spilt the wine on your new dress! [Your
dress is stained.]
• (2)(Irritable Mother): Now you’ve done it! You’ve woken
him up! [The baby is crying.]
• (3)The elevator has broken down. [It doesn’t work any
more.]
• (4)What’s happened to Jim? [Jim looks ill.]
• (5)Congratulations, you’ve done a great job. [We can use
your work.]
• (6)Look at him, he’s been drinking! [His speech is slurred,
he is staggering.]
• (7)I’ve been sleeping badly. [I look awful, I am tired.]
 RESULTATIVE

• The result is implied and can be

easily inferred about the events
expressed.
• Types of situations: achievements
and accomplishments
 CONTINUATIVE
• They have been married for 20 years.
• Sunt căsătoriţi de douăzeci de ani.
• I haven’t been myself since he left me.
• Nu mai sunt om de când m-a părăsit.
• He’s been writing at his novel since morning.
• Scrie la roman de dimineaţă.
• The baby has been crying for an hour.
• Bebeluşul plânge de un ceas.
• She’s been trying to contact you all morning.
• Toată dimineaţa a încercat să ia legătura cu tine.
• The patient hasn’t left her bed for a week now.
• Bolnavul nu s-a mai ridicat din pat de o săptămână
 CONTINUATIVE
• All these sentences express the
continuation of a state or activity up to
the present moment. It is important to
notice that the continuative
interpretation is provided by the
presence of the durative time adverbials
(for a week, since 1985, all this time,
etc.).
 CONTINUATIVE
• The patient hasn’t left the bed. (= he’s
been behaving himself, he’s been good,
he is here, ready for treatment, etc.)
• Let’s generalize!
• It is the combination between a Present
Perfect form and a durative adverbial
that provides the continuative
interpretation.
 EXPERIENTIAL
• (1) I have seen Avatar at least ten times.
• Am văzut Avatar de cel puţin zece ori.
• (2) I’ve never shirked duty myself.
• Eu unul n-am dat niciodată bir cu fugiţii de la datorie.
• (3) We’ve met John before.
• Îl cunoşti pe John.
• (4) I’ve always preferred to do the chores first thing in the morning.
• Întotdeauna am preferat să îmi termin toate treburile dimineaţa.
• (5) I haven’t met anyone as stubborn as you.
• N-am mai întâlnit om aşa de încăpăţânat ca tine.
• (6) I’ve been to The Tower of London and, let me tell you, it is quite an experience.
• Am fost la Turnul Londrei şi nu greşesc când spun că a fost o adevărată
experienţă.
• (7) Where have I heard this song before?
• Oare unde am mai auzit cântecul ăsta?
 EXPERIENTIAL
• These sentences have some important points in
common:
• a) They refer to past events.
• b) These past events are presented as past
experience that has some influence over the
• present moment.
• c) Frequency is implied (how many times the subject
has had the experience, how often,
• if at all, etc.) or overtly stated (by means of time
adverbials of frequency such as
• never, ever, always, often, rarely, etc.)
 EXPERIENTIAL
• SITUATION TYPES:

• Dynamic situations: activities,

accomplishments, achievements
 A Stylistic Use: The ‘Hot News’
Present Perfect
• Jamaican Authorities Seize 3, 300 Warheads
• KINGSTON, Jamaica) — Police in Jamaica say authorities have
seized 3,300 missile warheads and a machine to make missiles
and bullets. Deputy Police Superintendent Steve Brown said
Friday that custom officials discovered the weapons late
Thursday aboard a ship at Kingston Wharf. He declined to say
where the shipment originated from or its
• destination. No one has been arrested.
• Brown told reporters that police are seeking helping from
international agencies after their findings. He said it was the
first time authorities had made such a discovery.
• (http://world.time.com/2013/11/29/jamaican-authorities-
seize-3300-warheads/)
 A Stylistic Use: The ‘Hot News’
Present Perfect
• Two important items of news are discussed in the text above: the
apprehension of a
• number of missile warheads and the fact that no arrests were made. The
author chooses to
• make use of the ‘Hot News’ Present Perfect to emphasise upon the fact
that this is the most
• recent information he has on the subject. The text is otherwise built in a
narrative style, by
• means of Past Simple forms (see the words in italics). We might conclude
that the ‘Hot News’
• Present Perfect appears as a sort of a stylistic device, embedded in a
narrative so as to
• buttonhole the reader and give him the impression that he is in possession
of the latest news.
• The literature treats this value of Present Perfect as derived from the
Resultative one.
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• Consider the following texts and comment upon
the values of the underlined forms:
• This is how Buddhist temples have tested
applicants going back for bahzillion years, Tyler
says. You tell the applicant to go away, and if his
resolve is so strong that he waits at the
entrance without food or shelter or
encouragement for three days, then and only
then can he enter and begin the training.
• (Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk)
 GENERALIZATION
• NOTA BENE!
• CONTEXT IS CRUCIAL WHEN
INTERPRETING PRESENT PERFECT
FORMS!
• TO USE PRESENT PERFECT
CORRECTLY YOU NEED TO IDENTIFY
THE CLUES IN THE CONTEXT.
 THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
• I have written a novel.
• Am scris un roman.
• (36) I have been writing a novel (for a year).
• Scriu la un roman (de un an).
• She has read the Harry Potter books.
• A citit cărţile cu Harry Potter.
• She’s been reading the Harry Potter books (for some time now).
• Citeşte cărţile cu Harry Potter (de ceva vreme).
• I’ve received threat letters.
• Am primit (nişte) scrisori de ameninţare.
• I’ve been receiving threat letters (lately).
• Am tot primit scrisori de ameninţare. /În ultima vreme primesc scrisori de
ameninţare.
• It’s snowed.
• A nins.
• (42) It’s been snowing (for some time now).
• S-a pornit să ningă (şi încă ninge).
THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
• Present Perfect Continuous
sentences are often
continuative in meaning.
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• (1) ?She has drunk.
• (2) She has been drinking.
• (3) ?Bill has fought.
• (4) Bill has been fighting.
• (5) ?They haven’t slept.
• (6) They haven’t been sleeping.
 RESULTATIVE
• The sentences above may be
interpreted as resultative with an
emphasis on the results. The effects
are still very visibile/have a major
impact on the speaker.
 GENERALIZATION
• NOTA BENE!
• THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS IS
MAINLY INTERPRETED AS
• CONTINUATIVE. HOWEVER, CONTEXT
IS CRUCIAL IN INTERPRETING THE
• TENSE FORM CORRECTLY!
• SOMETIMES THE VALUE IS RESULTATIVE
 A CLUSTER OF VALUES
PRESENT PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Resultative Resultative (rare)

They have cut off the electricity in the They’ve been drinking.
building!

Continuative Continuative (frequent)

They have been here all day/ for three They have been rehearsing all day/ for
hours. three
hours.

Experiential
They have visited London many times.

Hot News (in the media)

A bomb has been dropped over a village
and
has killed thirty people. The authorities
have
sent soldiers to surround the area.
A great puzzle: Present Perfect or Past
Simple?
• She has won first prize! (Present
Perfect)
• A luat premiul întâi!
• She won first prize in 2010. (Past
Simple)
• A luat premiul întâi în 2010.
A great puzzle: Present Perfect or Past
Simple?
• I played tennis with Elvis Presley.
• Am jucat tennis cu Elvis Presley.
• *I have played tennis with Elvis
Presley.
A great puzzle: Present Perfect or Past
Simple?
• Let’s generalize!
• The Past Adverb Constraint
• Present Perfect is not to be
combined with a [+THEN]
adverbial.
 ADVERBIALS
• [+THEN] adverbials: co-occur
• with Past Tense (then, yesterday, long ago)
• [±THEN] adverbials:
• co-occur with both
• Past Tense and
• Present Perfect (today, recently, for two
years)
• [-THEN] adverbials:
• co-occur with Present
• Perfect (at present, up till now, lately)
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• We met at a restaurant on Monday.
• Luni ne-am întâlnit la un restaurant.
• * We have met at a restaurant on
Monday.
 GENERALIZATION
• NOTA BENE!
• IN ENGLISH, PRESENT PERFECT CANNOT
OCCUR WITH [+ THEN]
• ADVERBIALS OF TIME AND CANNOT BE
USED TO NARRATE PAST EVENTS.