Time And Tense Flashcards
What is tense in English grammar?
A fundamental grammatical category indicating the temporal location of actions, events, or states expressed by verbs.
How many morphological tenses does English primarily distinguish?
Two: present and past.
Does English have a morphological future tense?
No, it expresses future meanings through modal verbs and auxiliary constructions.
What is the difference between real time and verbal tense?
Real time is a semantic concept visualized as a continuous timeline, while verbal tense is language-specific and grammatical.
What does real time consist of?
A timeline divided into past, present, and future.
What does the present tense typically situate?
Actions or states within the present temporal context.
How is the present simple tense formed?
The verb remains in its base form except for the third person singular, which adds an –s or –es.
What auxiliary verbs are used for negations and questions in the present tense?
Do or does.
What are the uses of the present tense? (List at least three)
- General truths or universally accepted facts
- Habits or routines
- Events happening precisely at the moment of speech
What is the present continuous tense formed with?
The present tense of the verb ‘to be’ followed by the present participle.
What does the past tense locate?
Actions or states in the past.
How do regular verbs form the past simple?
By adding –ed to the base form.
What auxiliary verb is required for negations and questions in the past tense?
Did.
What are common uses of the past tense? (List at least three)
- Completed past events with specified times
- Past habitual actions
- Politeness or indirectness in present-time requests
How does English indicate future meanings?
Through various structures rather than morphological markers.
What structure expresses predictions and spontaneous decisions for the future?
Future with ‘will + infinitive.’
What is the future perfect tense used for?
To indicate actions completed by a specific future point.
What does the future perfect continuous tense highlight?
The duration of an action continuing until a certain point in the future.
True or False: English uses morphological tense to indicate future events.
False.
Fill in the blank: The present continuous can describe _______ situations.
[evolving]
What is a notable feature of how English expresses future events?
It allows nuanced expressions of certainty, intention, planning, and prediction.
