Past time expressions in english and their equivalents in vietnamese đặc ngữ chỉ thời điểm ở quá khứ trong tiếng anh và yếu tố tương đương trong tiếng việt (2017)

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY

ĐỖ THỊ LAN HƯƠNG

PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH
AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN VIETNAMESE
(ĐẶC NGỮ CHỈ THỜI ĐIỂM Ở QUÁ KHỨ TRONG TIẾNG
ANH VÀ YẾU TỐ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)
(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ART OF ENGLISH)

BA THESIS IN ENGLISH

SUPERVISOR: ĐỖ TIẾN ĐỨC, MA

HANOI, 2017


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the process of implementing my graduation paper, I have received lots
of help, encouragement and experiences from my teachers and friends.
Especially, my graduation paper has now been completed successfully thanks to
all teachers‟ support in the Faculty of Foreign Language of Hanoi Pedagogical
University Nº2.
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Do
Tien Duc, who has generously given me invaluable assistance and guidance.
Without his help, my research would have never been successfully done.
Besides, my sincere thank is also extended to the other of English for their
lectures supporting this study. Simultaneously, I would like to thank all the

students who have participated in my study. Their contributions are highly
appreciated.
Last but not least, I am grateful to my family and friends who have given
me a lot of encouragement during the time I carried out this paper.

i


TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP....................................................................... v
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1. Rationale of the study........................................................................................ 1
2. Aims of the study .............................................................................................. 1
3. Scope and design of the study ........................................................................... 2
4. Methods of the study ......................................................................................... 2
5. Participants of the study………………………………………………………3
6. Data collection and analysis…..........................................................................3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 1: GENERALIZATION ABOUT TIME EXPRESSIONS IN
ENGLISH .............................................................................................................. 4
1.1. The concept of time ........................................................................................ 4
1.2. Time expressions in English .......................................................................... 4
1.2.1. Timing by tenses ......................................................................................... 5
1.2.1.1. Definition of tenses .................................................................................. 5
1.2.1.2. Tense and reference points ....................................................................... 5
1.2.1.3. Verb forms and time reference................................................................. 7
1.2.1.4. Time-aspect expressions .......................................................................... 9
1.2.2. Timing by adjuncts .................................................................................... 10

1.2.2.1. Definition of time adjuncts..................................................................... 10
1.2.2.2. Timing by adjuncts ................................................................................. 10
1.2.3. Timing by subordinate clauses .................................................................. 14
1.2.3.1. Definition of subordinate time clauses................................................... 14
1.2.3.2. Timing by subordinate clauses ............................................................... 14
CHAPTER 2: PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH .............................. 16
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2.1. Timing by the past tenses ............................................................................. 16
2.1.1. Stating a definite time in the past: the simple past.................................... 16
2.1.2. Accent on the past: the past continuous .................................................... 17
2.1.3. The past in relation to the present: the present perfect ............................. 18
2.1.4. Events before a particular time in the past: the past perfect ..................... 20
2.1.5. Other uses of the past tenses ..................................................................... 21
2.2. Timing by adjuncts ....................................................................................... 23
2.2.1. Time adjuncts referring to a specific time ................................................ 24
2.2.2. Time adjuncts referring to a non-specific time in the past ....................... 29
2.2.3. Time adjuncts used for emphasis .............................................................. 32
2.3. Timing by subordinate clauses ..................................................................... 33
2.3.1. Events in sequence .................................................................................... 34
2.3.2. Repeated events ......................................................................................... 34
2.3.3. Indicating when a situation began. ............................................................ 35
2.3.4. Indicating when a situation ended ............................................................. 35
CHAPTER 3: A COMPARISON BETWEEN PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS IN
ENGLISH AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN VIETNAMESE AND SOME
IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION. .......................................................... 37
3.1. Past time expressions in Vietnamese ........................................................... 37
3.1.1. Time expressions in Vietnamese............................................................... 37
3.1.2. Past time expressions in Vietnamese ........................................................ 39

3.1.2.1. By formal words ..................................................................................... 39
3.1.2.2. By adverbs of time ................................................................................. 41
3.1.2.3. By subordinate clauses of time .............................................................. 42
3.2.A comparison between past time expressions in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese. .................................................................................. 42
3.3. Some common problems facing Vietnamese learners and suggested
solutions............................................................................................................... 45
3.3.1. Some problems facing Vietnamese learners of English ........................... 46
3.3.1.1. In English – Vietnamese translation ...................................................... 46
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3.3.1.2. In Vietnamese – English translation. ..................................................... 49
3.3.2. Suggested solutions ................................................................................... 50
PART III: CONCLUSION..................................................................................51
1. Review of the study ......................................................................................... 52
2. Suggested for further studies ........................................................................... 52
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 54
APPENDIX ......................................................................................................... 55

iv


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that no part of the thesis entitled:
PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH
AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN VIETNAMESE
has been copied and reproduced from any other person‟s work without
acknowledgements and this study is originally done by me under the serious

guidance from my supervisor.
Date submitted: April, 2017

Student

Supervisor

Đỗ Thị Lan Hương

Đỗ Tiến Đức, M.A

v


ABSTRACT

This paper is a linguistic study on past time expressions in English and
some implications for translation. More specifically, this study will be
developed based on the overview of translation theories and methods written by
famous authors.
Vietnamese learners of English face a lot of difficulties in the translation
process, since the two languages belong to different families of language.
Moreover, when we are making a statement, we usually need ways to indicate
whether we are referring to a situation or event which exists now, existed in the
past, or is likely to exist in the future. The two languages, in fact, have different
ways to refer to time.
Thus, the translation of time expressions in English into Vietnamese in
general and that of past time ones in particular needs to be dealt with flexibly,
depending on the time of an action or event in the past is expressed in each
situation. This can be done by using “formal words” or adding adverbs of time

referring to the past in the target language.
By suggesting some implications for translating past time expressions, the
study aims to help Vietnamese learners avoid making some common mistakes in
their translation issue from English into Vietnamese and vice versa due to the
interference of their mother tongue upon the source language.

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Past time expressions in English and Vietnamese ................................ 42
Table 2: The differences between past time expressions in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese. .................................................................................. 45
Table 3: Common mistakes in translating past time expressions by Vietnamese
learners of English ............................................................................................... 46

vii


PART I
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
In recent years, Vietnam‟s open – door policy has brought about
considerable achievements and enhanced the role of English language as an
important means for professional and occupational promotion. English is
increasingly becoming a principal foreign language in Vietnam. Apart from its
predominance as an International language in finance and business, politics and
arts, English language serves as a working language in ASEAN (the Association
of South East Asian Nations that Vietnam joined in 1995). English language
skills are also more required to give greater access to foreign business and

investment that Vietnam is badly in need.
This situation has given rise to a demand for learning English. Vietnamese
learners of English, however, face a lot of difficulties in learning process since
the two languages belong to different families of language. Moreover, when we
are making a statement, we usually need ways to indicate whether we are
referring to a situation or an event which exists now, existed in the past, or is
likely to exist in the future, and the two languages, in fact, have different ways
to refer to time. In addition, I have been allowed to make a study for the
graduation course of English, among many difficulties I find myself that it is a
great problem facing most Vietnamese learners of English due to interference of
their mother tongue when marking past time reference.
2. Aims of the study
The study on past time expressions in English and some implications for
translation is designed to:
+ Enable students to understand how past time is expressed in English
that will help them mark past time reference.

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+ Make an initial step in drawing out some similarities and differences
between the past time expressions in English and their equivalents in
Vietnamese.
+ Give some implications for indicating and translating past time
expressions in English into Vietnamese and vice versa.
3. Research questions
The research aims to answer the following questions:
- How are past time expressions formed in English and Vietnamese?
- How can past time expressions be transferred from English into Vietnamese
and vice versa. So that their meanings are preserved and they can still sound

natural in the source language?
4. Scope and design of the study
Due to the limitation of time and other resources as well as lack of
experience in doing research, I can‟t cover all things concerning time
expressions in English. So I only focus on past time expressions in English. The
study is carried out with three chapters.
Chapter 1 is the generalization about time expressions in English. Chapter
2 deals with the ways of expressing past time in English. Chapter 3 is composed
of a comparison between the past time expression in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese and some implications for translating them into
Vietnamese.
5. Methods of the study
To carry out the study I have adopted the following methods:
+ Synthesizing and analyzing both theoretical and empirical materials
related to the subject matter.
+ Comparing and contrasting past time expressions in English and their
equivalents in Vietnamese to find out some major similarities and differences
between the two languages.
+ Conducting a survey on past time expressions in English and in
Vietnamese, then collecting and analyzing the data to find out some related
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problems facing Vietnamese learners of English as well as some implications for
translation.
+ Consulting experts, writing and presenting the thesis.
6. Participants of the study
This study is based on the data that is collected from 80 English language
students in Foreign Languages Faculty at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 to
find out some problems related to the transference of past time expressions

facing Vietnamese learners of English. The participant‟s selection is at random
with no regards to their age, gender, or social status and also without taking any
consideration of their knowledge about translational skills.
6. Data collection and analysis
The survey includes two exercises: Exercise I consist of ten sentences using past
time expressions in English and participants are asked translate them into
Vietnamese. Exercise II include ten sentences in Vietnamese, also with the use
of past time expressions and require students to translate them into English.
After the survey, the data (the questionnaires collected from the participants)
was analyzed to compare the structures of past time expressions in the two
languages, based on which some implications for finding their equivalents in the
target language have been given.

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PART II
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1
GENERALIZATION ABOUT TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH
1.1. The concept of time

To better understand time expressions in English, the concept of time
should be worked out first.
Time is a broad concept and there are, in fact, several notions about time.
In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, time is defined as something
that is measured in minutes, hours, years, etc. using clocks.
E.g. It takes you two hours to travel to Hanoi by bus.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1987:40) state that time is a universal, nonlinguistic concept with three divisions: past, present, and future.
Though the definitions vary, they together can tell what time is.

Accordingly, it is profitable to combine them in a semblance of a definition. In
this sense, time should be seen as something that is measured in minutes, hours,
years, etc. using clocks with three divisions: past, present, and future.
1.2. Time expressions in English
Languages need ways to refer to time. Events and situations are located in
time, perhaps prior to our speaking about them, perhaps while we are speaking
about them, perhaps at some time later. Moreover, we may need to locate
situations and events relative not just to the time of speaking but also to some
other reference point. In fact, different languages have different ways to refer to
time. Some languages use a tense system, adverbs and so forth for marking time
reference whereas some others have no tense (language of this type is called
tenseless language). However, it is important to emphasize that the fact that a
language does not have tense does not mean that speakers of such languages
cannot distinguish linguistically between present and past events or between
present and future events.
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English itself has various ways to refer to time.
Cobuild (1990: 245-246) indicates that the point in time that a statement
relates to is usually indicated in part by the verb group used in the clause. A set
of verb forms that indicate a particular point in time or period of time in the past,
present or future is called a tense. Sometimes, the point in time that a statement
relates to is shown by an adjunct of time. And sometimes, the point in time that
a clause relates to is not indicated by an adjunct, but by a subordinate time
clause. In conclusion, the point in time that a statement relates to is indicated by:
1. The tense of the verb group.
2. Adjuncts of time.
3. Subordinate time clause.
1.2.1. Timing by tenses

1.2.1.1. Definition of tenses
Grammarians have various notions of tense depending on their own angle.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1987) point out that tense indicates the
correspondence between the verb form and the time concept. In other words,
tense suggests the verb‟s time frame or through tenses we can know what time
the mentioned action happens. For instance, we use present tenses to express
repetitive or constant events, past tenses to point out that actions happens in the
past and future tenses to refer to actions that are likely to happen in the future.
And Jacobs (1995:187) describes tense as “the grammatical marking on
verbs that usually indicates time reference relative to either the time of speaking
or the time at which some other situation was in force”.
Although tense is given various definitions, they are, to some extent,
described as a grammatical category indicating the relation between the form of
a verb and the time to which it refers. It shows verb form that indicates whether
we are referring to the past, present, or future time.
1.2.1.2. Tense and reference points
The major function of tense is to locate situations and events in time
relative to some fixed reference point. Typically, this reference point is “now” –
5


the time at which the sentences are uttered. This kind of time reference is named
absolute time reference. When the reference point is some other time, perhaps
some time prior to the time of speaking or perhaps some time after the time of
speaking, the term used is relative time reference. Basing on the time reference
points, we can easily define which tense of the verb should be used to refer to
past, present, or future events (Jacobs, 1995: 194).
 Absolute Time Reference ( relative to now)
E.g. John met Ann yesterday
Lan was doing homework all last night.

Here, the two examples are both referring to a time past relative to now,
the interrogation time.
 Relative Time Reference (relative to some time prior to now).
E.g. Jane had already left when Susan telephoned.
As “already” indicates, Jane‟s departure occurred in a past prior to the
past time of Susan‟s telephone call, the reference point.
 Relative Time Reference (relative to some time after now).
E.g. The house will have been completed when the raining season comes
next month.
Here, the completion of the house will have occurred prior to the time of
the raining season‟s coming next month.
English is a tensed language and tense is defined as the grammatical
location of an event in time. In other words, through tense we can know the time
when actions or events happen. In the sentence: “John bought the book”, the
verb used in the sentence is in the simple past tense, so that the event of buying
the book is located in the past time. Chung and Timberlake (1985) call this an
“event frame”. This event frame is defined by a reference point and the two
authors (Chung & Timberlake) describe the reference point as a “tense locus”.
The past tense used in the sentence means that the event frame stands before the
tense locus. If it is the present tense (John buys the book) the event frame
coincides with the tense locus. And if it is the future tense (John will buy the
6


book), the event frame is likely to follow the tense locus. This may be expressed
by the following diagram.
The simple past tense:

E

R

The simple present tense:

E, R

(The event frame coincides with the reference point or the tense locus)
The future tense:

R

E

(E stands for the event frame; R stands for the tense locus or the reference point).
1.2.1.3. Verb forms and time reference
Verb forms
As we see in 1.2.1.1 in Chapter 1, tense is defined as the relationship
between the form of a verb and the time to which it refers. Therefore, to better
understand how time is expressed through the form of a verb, we should study
verb forms in English first. As Quirk and Greenbaum (1980: 70) point out that
normal English verbs have five forms:
The base form

(verb),

The “S” form

(Vs),

E.g. Speak

E.g. Speaks

The “-ing” participle

(V-ing),

E.g. Speaking

The past form

(Ved1),

E.g. Spoke

The “-ed” form

(Ved2),

E.g. Spoken

With the regular lexical verbs, the past and the “ed” participle have the
same forms, but with the irregular lexical verbs, their forms vary from three to
eight.
E.g. put, puts, putting
give, gives, giving, gave, given.
be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been.
The auxiliary verbs have different forms
have, has, having, had.
do, does, doing, did, done.
be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been.

7


The modal auxiliaries are defective in not having infinitive, -ing
participle, -ed participle or imperative.
Verb forms in reference to time
English is a variant language, so both the lexical meaning and the
grammatical meaning can be found in a single word.
E.g. worked
Its lexical meaning is to do something that involves physical or mental
activity.
Its grammatical meaning expresses the past time of the action, and it is
used in the past tense to refer to a past event, or situation.
This characteristic of English distinguishes English as a variant language
from those that are invariant languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese (this will
be discussed in more detail in chapter 3).
For this very reason, forms of the verb vary greatly when they are used
with different tenses to refer to past, present or future time. The different forms
of auxiliaries in the verb group used in the clause are chosen according to factors
relating to your message, for example whether you are talking about the past or
the present.
The base form is used for all the present tenses except the third person
singular.
E.g. I/You/We/They learn English.
The “s” form is used for the third person singular of the present tense.
E.g. He/She learns English.
The past form is used for the simple past tense.
E.g. I/You/She/They learned English.
The “-ing” participle is used for continuous tenses.

E.g. He/She is learning English.
They were learning English.
The “-ed” participle is used for perfect tenses.
E.g. They had done everything when I arrived
8


She/He has learnt English for 5 years.
Note: Students should note, in any case, that the terms “verb form” and
“time” are not always to be regarded as synonymous in English. Verb forms
indicated by tenses refer to time, frequently but not always. This will be
discussed in some detail in 2.1.5 Chapter 2.
1.2.1.4. Time-aspect expressions
According to Quirk and Greenbaum (1987) in the most extreme, tense
and aspect impinge on each other. In other words, the expression of the time past
and present can‟t be considered separately from aspect.
Jacobs (1995:187) emphasizes that aspect is the grammatical marking on
verbs of the internal time structure of a situation. Aspect is a grammatical
category describing the nature an action. Aspect is a term given to verb forms
used to signify certain ways in which an event is described as a completed
whole, as in progressive, or as being repeated intermittently
E.g. I have been in the army for five years.
She was working all last night.
English has two aspects: perfect and progressive aspect.
Perfect aspect characteristically presents an event as a completed action.
Perfect aspect indicates either a single, stationary state of affairs that last
from an earlier time to the time being focused on or a relation between the two
situations that occurred at different times. In both, two times are referred to.
E.g. They have lived here for 5 years.

(1)

John was surprised when he checked his money on 15th may 1995.
Someone had stolen it.

(2)

In the first example it is clear that the situation of their living here began
in the past and continues up to present. In the second one, two times, both past
are involved – the time of the stealing of his money and the time when he
checked his money. The use of perfect aspect in the second sentence marks the
past stealing event as being prior in time to the money checking event, even
though the later is reported first.
9


Unlike perfect aspect, progress aspect presents an event as an activity in
progress rather than being bounded by a starting point and an end point.
E.g. When I arrived, she was singing.
In this example no starting point or end point is indicated for the singing
activity in the second sentence, the singing activity was in progress. The two
situations - her singing and my arrival - overlap in time. The duration of the
singing activity was from before my arrival until some unspecified time after my
arrival.
1.2.2. Timing by adjuncts
Sometimes, the point in time that the clause relates to is indicated not only
by the tense of the verb group but also by an adjunct of time. We can also use an
adjunct of time to draw attention to the time of the action.
1.2.2.1. Definition of time adjuncts
According to Cobuild (1990), an adjunct of time is a word or group of

words added to a clause or sentence to say something about the circumstances of
a situation or event, for example when it occurs, how much it occurs, or how
long it lasts.
E.g. He stayed up late last night.
She was awarded her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990.
An adjunct of time can be an adverb, a noun group, or a prepositional
phrase.
E.g. He recently had an accident.

(An adverb as a time adjunct)

Shakespeare died in 1616.

(A prepositional phrase)

He bought the book last year.

(A noun phrase)

1.2.2.2. Timing by adjuncts
With regard to timing by adjuncts, Cobuild (1990: 258) asserts that it is
the adjunct of time rather than the tense of the verb group, which carries the time
reference. For this reason, many adjuncts of time can be used with more than
one set of tenses, because they refer to time but not to tense.

10


For example, a common use is to put adjuncts of time, which normally
refer to future time with present tense when it used to refer to future actions,

including habitual actions. They can also be used with references to the future
that are made in the past.
E.g. He celebrates his 20th birthday tomorrow. (Future time)
We arranged to meet in two weeks’ time. (The future made in the past)
The adjuncts of time such as “now”, “today”, “tonight” are usually used
with the present tense to refer to present time. However, they are also used fairly
commonly with all tenses. This is because an event can be located before,
during, or after the time indicated by the tense of the verb.
E.g. She wrote to me today.
He will now have no choice but to go to the police station to tell the truth.
She is having a party tonight.
 Relative time:
If we want to refer to a period of time in relation to another period of
time, or in relation to an event, we can use an adverb such as “soon” or “later” to
refer to time, which follows a particular event or period of time. And we can use
an adverb such as “beforehand” or “earlier” to refer to time preceded particular
period of time or an event.
E.g. He came back home and soon started working.
She was very nervous beforehand.
Here is a list of adjuncts which are used to refer to time in a relative way.
afterwards

later

the next month

at once

later on

the next year

beforehand

before long

presently

the following day

early

eventually

shortly

the following week

earlier

finally

soon

the following month

in advance

immediately

suddenly

the following year

later

in a moment

the next day the day after

11

the year after

one day


 Necessary time:
If we want to refer to a “necessary time” beyond which an event will no
longer be relevant, useful, or successful, we can use “in time” as an adjuncts of
time or a complement.
E.g. He leaps back, in time to dodge the lashing hooves.
If something happens before, after the necessary time, we can use “too
early”, “too late” respectively.
E.g. It is too late to change the situation.
It is too early to talk about that problem.
 Emphasizing the unexpected: continuing, stopping, or not happen
If we want to comment on the existence of the relationship between past,
present, and future situations, we can use one of the following adjuncts.
already

as yet

still

any longer

no longer

up to now

any more

so far

up till now

yet

“Still” for existing situations
If we want to say that a situation exists up to the present time, we use
“still”.
E.g. She still doesn’t know what to do.
“Still” for expected situations
If we want to say that something has not happened yet, although it is
expected to, or we feel that it should, we can also use “still” in front of a “to” –
infinitive.
E.g. There are many problems still to be solved.
“Yet” for expected situations
If we want to say that something has not happened up to the present time,

but it is likely to happen in the future, we use “yet” with a negative.
E.g. She has not found out the answer yet.

12


We can also use “yet” in affirmative statements to stay that something is
expected has not happened up to the present time. However, in this case “yet” is
followed by a “to” – infinitive clause.
E.g. A house for orphans in the city is yet to be built.
“Yet” is also used in affirmative statements with superlatives to indicate
that the statement is relevant up to the present time, but may not be relevant in
the future.
E.g. This is the most violent scene I have witnessed yet.
If we want to say a situation which has existed up to the present time may
change in the future, we can use “as yet”, “so far”, “up till now”, “up to now”.
E.g. You have done well up to now / so far, John.
If we want to say that a past situation does not exist in the present, we can
use “no longer”, or a negative with “any longer”, “any more”.
E.g. I no longer smoke.
“Already” for emphasizing occurrence
If we want to say that a situation exists, rather than not yet having
occurred, we use “already”.
E.g. She had looked better already.
Adjuncts of duration and frequency.
Some verb forms are used to say that an event takes place continuously, or
is repeated several times. We may also want to say how long something lasts, or
how often it happens. To do this adjuncts of duration and adjuncts of frequency
are used (Cobuild, 1990).
E.g. She has always lived here.

He is temporarily out of work.
He insulted me last month and I have not spoken to him since.
Committee meetings take place monthly.
Nam phoned twice today.
He normally got up before six.

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1.2.3. Timing by subordinate clauses
The point in time that a statement relates to is indicated not only by the tense
of the verb group, an adjunct of time but also by a subordinate clause of time.
1.2.3.1. Definition of subordinate time clauses
As Quirk and Greenbaum (1980) state that a subordinate clause is a group
of words which contains a finite verb or non-finite verb but is not “a complete or
independent human utterance” and can‟t stand alone. Sometimes, the clause has
no verb at all, it is verbless clause. The subordinate clause usually does the work
of adjective, adverb, or noun.
E.g. He said that he would come to the party.
When tired of overworking, she goes to bed early.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1980) also point out that subordinate clauses are
classified according to the functions they do in the sentence. We have adjective
clauses, noun clauses, adverb clauses and so on. Each class of subordinate
clauses is subdivided into many types, for example adverbial clauses are
subdivided into time clauses, place clauses, etc. However, due to the scope of
the study, adverbial clauses of time are focused on in this section.
Subordinate clauses of time are those which indicate when something
happens by referring to a period of time or to another event (Cobuild, 1990:344).
E.g. After leaving school, he joined the army.
John met Ann when he was in London.

1.2.3.2. Timing by subordinate clauses
When we want to indicate when something happens by relating it to a
period of time or to another event, we use subordinate time clauses, if finite,
starting in one of subordinators in the list below.
after

before

no sooner…than

when (ever)

as

directly (that)

once

while

as long as

immediately (that)

since

as soon as

now (that)

till/until

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E.g. He could not read and write until he was ten.
When I arrived, she was singing.
Subordinate time clauses are common in initial position. In addition, -ing
clauses without a subject are also used to express a temporal link.
E.g. Reaching the river, we pitched camp for the night.
(When/as we reached the river, we pitched camp for the night).
When we want to express a temporal connection, we can use –ing clauses
(non-finite) which may follow “after”, “before”, “since”, “when (ever)”, “while”.
E.g. We sometimes don’t realize our strength when dealing with children.
They had not spoken a word since leaving the party.
We also use –ed clauses (non-finite) that may follow “once”, “until”,
“when(ever)”, “while”:
E.g. Once published, the book caused a remarkable stir.
Whenever punished, he asked his father for help.
For some statements about time also, we can use verbless clauses
preceded with one of the following subordinators: “as soon as”, “once”, “while”,
“when (ever)”.
E.g He had known her while at Oxford.
When ripe, these apples will be delicious.

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CHAPTER 2
PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH

2.1. Timing by the past tenses
As discussed in the chapter 1, the point in time that a statement relates to
is usually in part indicated by the tense of the verb group used in the clause. The
past time expressions in English, as Alexander (1988), Cobuild (1990), Swan
(1986), Thomson et al (1986) point out, are shown frequently by the past tenses.
In other words, we use the past tenses for marking past time reference.
2.1.1. Stating a definite time in the past: the simple past
When we talk about an event or action that happened at a particular time
in the past, we use the simple past.
E.g. I received her letter yesterday.

(1)

She met him last week.

(2)

He didn’t go to work the day after yesterday.

(3)

Tense is defined in chapter 1, as the relationship between the form of a
verb and the time to which it refers. The simple past tense uses the past form of
the verb. The past forms of the verbs used in three examples above, including
the past forms of the regular lexical verb “to receive”, the irregular lexical verb
“to meet”, and the auxiliary “do” in the negative sentence all refer to past time
at which the events and actions mentioned above occurred.
Note: There are, however, some exceptional cases in which the past tense
with the past form of a verb does not refer to past time. This will be discussed in
some detail in 2.1.5, chapter 2.

If we want to say that a situation or an action that existed over a period of
time in the past, we can also use the simple past. This can be expressed
diagrammatically.
Past

Present

E.g. He worked in the bank for two years.
They lived in London for a long time.
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Future


The two examples both suggest that the period of working in the bank and
the period of living in London have come to an end and which admit the
possibility that he might be dead or they might be dead.
If we are talking about something happening in the past, and we mention a
situation that existed at the time, we use the simple past. We can do this whether
the situation still exists or not.
E.g. When I was Sydney, people there were very friendly.
About twenty miles from the university, there was a church.
When we talk about an activity that took place regularly or repeatedly in
the past, but which no longer exists, we use the simple past.
E.g. I always got up early in the morning.
I swam a lot in my boy hood.
“Would” and “used to” can also be used to indicate someone‟s behavior
or something that occurred regularly in the past but no longer does so.
E.g. He used to smoke a lot (but now he no longer smokes).
He would drink much.

2.1.2 Accent on the past: the past continuous
When we talk about a past situation or activity which was in progress at
some time in the past, we use the past continuous. This may be expressed
diagrammatically.
Past

Present

Future

E.g. She was doing homework all last night.
She was wearing a blue shirt.
The past form of “be” combined with the –ing form of a verb is used to
form the past continuous referring some time in the past at which past situations
or actions were in progress. Often we do not know whether the actions were
completed or not.
If we want to talk about repeated actions which occurred in the past, we
also use the past continuous.
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