Tense, aspect,

mood

Ways of expressing time

reference.
Present tense. Past tense.

There are several ways of expressing time in speech. One

of the grammatical expressions of time is tense. Tense is
the subject of the following chapter. The famous British
linguist Bernard S. Comrie defines tenses as
grammaticalised expressions of time. However, there are
languages that did not grammaticalize time as tenses, such
as Chinese, Mandarin. These languages are called
tenseless.
There are many sources that affirm the fact English has
three tenses but there are a lot of opinions that English has
got only two. In this chapter we are going to focus on the
version that English has got two tenses. These tenses are
past and present tense.

The grammatical means of expressing

present, past and future events in both
Polish and English.
Tenses generally express time relative to the
moment of speaking. Tense is expressed by
inflections, by particles, or by auxiliaries in
construction with the verb.
It is important to distinguish four types of verbs:
a. Stative verbs
b. Action verbs
c. Telic verbs
d. Atelic verbs

All verbs can be divided into two groups: action

verbs (verb expresses an action) and stative
verbs (verb expresses a state). Similarly, all verbs
can be divided into telic and atelic verbs (verbs
which denote actions not implying any goal). All
state verbs are atelic verbs (dream, love, believe,
understand). Among action verbs, some verbs are
telic (write, come, buy) and some are atelic (sing,
walk, talk).

Next thing which is very significant are the

following classes of the specifiers:
a. Frequency specifiers
b. Point specifiers
c. Length specifiers

We distinguish two types of frequency specifiers. Indefinite

and definite frequency specifiers. Definite frequency specifiers:
everyday (= kadego dnia), sometimes (= czasami), frequently
(= czsto). Indefinite frequently specifiers: never (= nigdy),
already (= ju), always (= zawsze).
We have got two types of point specifiers, according to tenses.
We can distinguish: present, past time point specifiers.
Present time point specifiers: now (= teraz), just (= wanie), at
this moment (= w tej chwili). Past time point specifiers:
yesterday (= wczoraj), in 2015 (= w 2015), a month ago (=
miesic temu).

The last class of the specifiers- length specifiers. This one

is the most complex. First of all, we have got two
boundary length specifiers. In this case two boundaries
of a period of time are specified: the whole year (= przez
cay rok), for 10 years (= przez 10 lat). Then we have got
one boundary length specifiers and it consists of two
cases. In one case the initial boundary of the period of time
is specified: since 2001 (= od 2001 roku), since her visit (=
od jej wizyty). And then we have second case when final
boundary of the period of time is specified: until 2001 (=do
2001 roku), before Sunday (= przed niedziel). The last,
third type of length specifiers is indefinite near past
specifiers: recently, lately (= ostatnio).

We have to consider some situation when we

talk about ways of expressing events in the
past time.
The event occurred in some specified time in the past which

is viewed as detached from the present moment.

Adverbial collocability: past time point specifiers.
The activity is viewed as completed.
Verbal restrictions: only telic verbs.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Past Simple
Polish: Past Perfective

John wrote that book in 2001.

Janek napisa t ksik w 2001 roku.

 The activity is viewed as not completed.

Tense/ Aspect: English: Past progressive for telic action verbs
Past progressive or Past Simple for atelic action verbs
Past Simple for state verbs
Polish: Past Imperfective

(TELIC ACTION VERB) I was writing an article in 2001.

Pisaem artyku w 2001 roku.

(ATELIC ACTION VERBS) I worked / was working there in 2001.

Pracowaem tam w 2001 roku.
(STATE VERB) Kate believed in ghosts in her youth.
Kasia wierzya w duchy gdy bya moda.

 The past event is viewed as having relevance for the present time.

Adverbial collocability: no time specifiers.

The activity is completed.
Verbal restrictions: only telic verbs.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Perfect
Polish: Past Perfective
She has written a good article.
Ona napisaa dobry artyku.
The activity is not completed.

Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Perfect Progressive

Polish: Past Imperfective
Someone has been eating my pizza. (Piece of it is missing)
Kto jad moj pizze.

Duration of the past event is stressed.

Adverbial collocability: two boundary length

specifiers.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Past Progressive for action
verbs
Polish: Past Simple for state verbs
(ACTION VERB) I was working hard the whole year.
Pracowaem ciko cay rok.
(STATE VERB) I loved him for twenty years.
Kochaam go przez 20 lat.

The event occured in the past and still continues.

Adverbial collocability: definite length specifiers

with initial boundary or near past specifiers.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Perfect or Present Perfect Progressive for atelic
verbs

Present Perfect Progressive for telic verbs

Polish: Present

(ATELIC VERBS) I have been living / lived in this house since 2001.
Mieszkam w tym domu od 2001 roku.
(TELIC VERBS) I have been writing a book since 2001.
Pisz ksik od 2001 roku.

 The past acivity was repeated or habitual.

Adverbial collocability: Frequency specifiers .

Tense/ Aspect: English: Used to + Infinitive
Would + Infinitive
Past Progressive for atelic action verbs
Polish: Past Imperfective
He used to call me every day.
On kiedy dzwoni do mnie codziennie.
In those days we would go to bed earlier.
W tamtych czasach chodzilimy spa wczeniej.
Greg was jumping.
Grze podskakiwa.

One event in the past occured during another event in the past.

Adverbial collocability: temporal clauses with subordinators-while/when (podczas

gdy, kiedy)
Tense/ Aspect: English: Past Simple for E1, Past Progressive for E2.
Polish: Past Imperfective for E1, Past Perfective for E2
When I was opening the window, someone closed the door.
Kiedy otwieraem okno, kto zamkn drzwi.
Two past events (E1,E2) occured in the same time.
Adverbial collocability: temporal clauses with subordinators- While/ when.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Past Progressive
Polish: Past Imperfective

While Kate was watching TV, John was reading a book.

Podczas gdy Kasia ogldaa Tv, Janek czyta ksik.

One past event occured earlier than another past

event.
Adverbial collocability: temporal clauses with subordinatorsbefore, after, when.
(zanim), (po), (kiedy)
Verbal restrictions: only telic verbs.
Tense/ Aspect: English: Past Perfect for E1, Past Simple for E2
Polish: Past Perfective for both

John ate lunch after his wife came back home.

Janek zjad obiad, po tym jak jego ona wrcia do
domu.

WAYS OF EXPRESSING
EVENTS IN THE PRESENT
TIME

 We use the present tense to talk about:

1. Eternal truths, laws, proverbs:

Adverbial collocability: No time specifier

Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Simple
Polish: Present
Examples:
.London is a large city.
Londyn jest ogromnym miastem.
.Water freezes at zero degrees.

Woda zamarza w temperaturze 0 stopni

 Unrestricted time:

The activity or state occurs in the present but it began in the past
and will
continue in the (near) future.
Adverbial collocability: No time specifier
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Simple
Polish: Present
Examples:
He writes a new song.

On pisze now piosenk.

He owns a big company.

On posiada du firm.

 Unrestricted time:

The action is habitual or repeated in the present.

Adverbial collocability: No time specifiers or frequency
specifiers
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Simple
Polish: Present, often Frequentative
Examples:
The train to Berlin leaves every hour.

Pocig do Berlina odjeda co godzin.

She always forgets her purse.

Ona zawsze zapomina o swojej torebce.

 Commentaries on present activities. Performative

declarations
Adverbial collocability: No time specifiers or present time point
specifiers
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Simple
Polish: Present
Examples:
Now she mixes the sand with the water.

Teraz ona miesza piasek z wod.

Im nineteen years old.

Mam 19 lat.

 The action or sensation in simultaneous with the

moment of speaking.
Adverbial collocability: No time specifiers or present time point
specifiers
Tense/ Aspect: English: Present Progressive for action verbs
Present Simple for state verbs
Polish: Present
Examples:
Monika is singing on the stage now.

Monika piewa teraz na scenie.

I (can) smell this perfume here.

Czuj tutaj te perfumy.

 Limited duration:

The event occurs exceptionally in the present. It did not occur in

the past
and is not predicted to occur in the future.
Adverbial collocability: length specifiers reffering to present time
Verbal restrictions: only action verbs.
Tense/Aspect: English: Present Progressive
Polish: Present
Example:
He is also washing her aunties car this month.

On take myje samochd swojej ciotki w tym miesicu.

Aspect

General
Aspect is the grammatical category associated with
verbs. In English we could distinguish two types of
aspectual contrast- Aspect1 (perfective,
imperfective, progressive, etc.) and Aspect2
(stative, dynamic, punctual, etc.). The English
Aspect1 'category of correlation' deals mainly with
semantic distinction between synchroneity and
priority of two events. The primary function of
English Aspect2 is to express the distinction between
the speaker's viewing a given action in its duration
or without the focus on the course of the action.

Polish language in comparison to English language

has only two types of aspectual opposition; it is a
perfective vs. imperfective. Verbs in Polish could
only have a pefective or imperfective form (with
some exceptions)
In the imperfective form we have words such as:
robi, pisa, mruga, opracowywa
In the imperfecctive form we have words such as
(they are different in the use of prefixes, suffixes,
etc.):
zrobi, napisa, mrugn, opracowa


The English perfect
In English the perfect aspect is marked by auxiliary
verb have which is connected with the verb in its
past participle form. The auxiliary have is marked
for present or past tense and may perform with the
indicator of future shall/will or with a modal auxiliary
Unmarked forms: Perfect forms:
I read I have read
I read I had read
I will read I will have read
I may read I may have read

The English perfectmeaning

Perfect means that something is accomplished. However, this
situation do not have to be from the past, it could happen in
the future, eg:
I'll let you know as soon as I have returned from Greece.
Perfect is focused mainly on the point of reference, not on
time sphere. With respect to it, three types of perfect
constructions are known: Present Perfect (point of reference is
in the present), Past Perfect (point of reference is in the past)
and Future Perfect (point of reference is in the future). The
main meaning of the perfect (as an finished fact) has two
variants: resultative and continuative meaning, from which the
first one is more frequent.
Resultative meaning points out the effects of the action,
e.g:
I have read that book. (means: I know the book now)

THE ENGLISH
PROGRESSIVE
The progressive aspect in English is marked by the
auxiliary be which occurs with the verb in its Present
Participle form. It could also be connected with the futurity
marker shall/will or with a modal auxiliary. The progressive
aspect could co-occur with the perfect aspect.

Progressive forms: Non-progressive forms:

I am writing I write
I was writing I wrote
I will be writing I will write
I may be writing
I may write
I have been writingI have written

Progressive forms mean mainly that activity is

still in progress at some temporal point of reference,
e.g:
I am writing a letter (at the moment of speaking).
In the English there are two types of verbs:
action (drink, listen to, look out) and state
(understand, won, seem) verbs. The main
difference is that in the progressive aspect could
not occur state verbs while action verbs could.
He is drinking tea./ He is listening to the radio./ He
is looking at the picture.
He is understanding the problem./ He is owning a
house./ He is seeming funny.


Aspect in Polish

Perfective and imperfective forms are main

forms for almost all Polish verbs. They are
different not only in category but also in lexical
terms. In Polish prefixes marks the perfectivity
and could also give the new meaning to the
word if they functions as word-forming prefixes.

Telic verbs: the semantic opposition between

imperfective and perfective forms is the opposition
between an action which tends toward some goal
and an action which has reached that goal:
imperfective: pisa, czyta
perfective: napisa, przeczyta
Atelic verbs: the opposition between
imperfective and perfective verbs is the opposition
between action which has a durative character or
occurs more than once, and an action which has
momentary character or occurs only once:
imperfective: krzyczy, bucha
perfective: krzykn, buchn

There are also a semantic differences

between imperfective and perfective forms:
'pure' aspectual opposition:
imperfective: czyta
perfective: przeczyta
aspectual and lexical differences:
imperfective: czyta
perfective: odczyta, doczyta, wyczyta,
poczyta

Prefixation and suffixation are the basic means of creativing

perfective and imperfective forms of the verbs from the
same roots; very rarely suppletion is used. This is possible
that some verbs could have the same form for both
imperfective and perfective aspect; and other verbs could
be only in one form with imperfective meaning (imperfectiva
tantum) or with perfective meaning (perfectiva tantum)
1) In both aspect the following verbs occur in the same form:
mianowa, ofiarowa, aresztowa, proklamowa, inspirowa,
kanonizowa, imitowa, rzutowa, etc.
2) Imperfectiva tantum
Obowizywa, polega, rozmawia, uczszcza, ssiadowa,
etc.
3) Perfectiva tantum
Osierocie, owdowie, oniemie, osupie, etc.

Morphological types of aspectual oppositions:

Suffixation
da dawa (to give) , rzuci rzuca (to throw) ,
nazwa nazywa (to name)
Prefixation
pisa napisa (to write), robi zrobi (to do),
czyta przeczyta (to read)
Suppletion
oglda obejrze (to look at), bra wzi (to take)
Prefixation and suffixation
stawia postawi (to set up), kania si ukoni
si (to bow)

Polish verbs in the perfective form could have meaning

described in this way:
a) imperfective forms indicate that the action is in progress
b) perfective forms indicate that the action reached some
goal (telic verbs)

Additionally, contrast between the perfective and

imperfective aspect could carry the supplementary
meaning such as in the examples below:
a)the action which happened only once is represented by
perfective form; the action which happened more than
once is represented by imperfective form:
Imperfective
Perfective
gry (bite)
ugry
skaka (jump) skoczy

2) the beginning of the action is signalized by

perfective form while imperfective form do not
signalize that:
Imperfective Perfective
czai si (to lurk) zaczai si
grzmie (to thunder) zagrzmie

3) the additional function of the perfective form is

to stresses the final phase of the action:
Imperfective Perfective
mwi (speak) domwi
spa (sleep) dospa
pi (drink) dopi

Mood

According to Geert Booij mood

describes actuality of the event.
The category of mood expresses the speakers attitude
towards what he is saying. If the speaker is sure that
something is true, the indicative mood should be used to
state that fact. To announce commands, the imperative
mood is used. The subjunctive mood is used to show that
the speaker is not completely confident the content of
questions and statements. Finally the conditional mood
used for hypothetical propositions.
Both compared language have the same two grammatical
mood: indicative - used to present events as facts, and
conditional used in conditional clauses. English has also
the third mood the subjunctive. However, this mood is
rarely used nowadays.

Form
English

English has two marked moods: subjunctive

and conditional. The subjunctive mood is no
often used. It is reserved for formal style. Both
moods appear in two tense forms: present and
past. The difference in meaning between the
present and past forms lies not only in time
reference but also in different modal meaning:
the present form refers to more real than the
past form.

Subjunctive mood

Present tense: base form-all persons

(I be, you be, he be, etc.)

Past tense: the past form-all persons

(I went, you went, he went, etc.)

Conditional mood
The auxiliary SHOULD/WOULD is the marker

of the conditional mood

Conditional I: SHOULD/WOULD + INFINITIVE

(he would die if)

Conditional II: SHOULD/WOULD + PERFECT

INFINITIVE
(he would have died if)

Form
Polish

The marker of the conditional mood is the suffix -by.

This suffix is movable. It can be attached to the verb
itself, the auxiliary by or to the subordinator. The
personal endings are always attached to the suffix
-by, no matter where it is. In colloquial Polish only one
tense variant of conditional mood exists. In formal and
literary style sometimes there is a distinction between
conditional I and conditional II. There are also some
formal differences between conditional mood used in
the main clause and in the subordinate clause.

Conditional I: PAST PRINCIPLE + -BY

Main clause: -by is attached the verb or

precedes the verb

(kupibym, kupiby)
(bym kupi, by kupi)
Subordinate clause: -by is attached to the

subordinator
(gdybym kocha, gdyby kocha..)

Conditional II: AUXILIARY BY +

PAST PARTICIPLE + BY
Main clause: -by is attached to the auxiliary

or precedes the auxiliary

(bybym kocha or bym by kocha)
Subordinate clause: -by is attached to the

subordinator
(gdybym by kocha)

Expression of
modal meanings

Factual meaning (positive truth

commitment)
In English and Polish factual meaning is
expressed by means of modally unmarked
forms of verbs, i.e. indicative mood, in both
main and subordinate clauses.
Example:
E. I know that John likes you.
o P. Wiem e Jan ci lubi.
E. No one knows why he left.
o P. Nikt nie wiem dlaczego on wyjecha.

Theoretical meaning (neutral

truth commitment)
Nonconditional clauses

Clauses which have neutral truth value occur after

verbs with neutral presuppositions such as demand,
require, insist, suggest, ask. These verbs do not imply
the truth of the subordinate clauses following them.
Theoretical meaning in these cases is marked in
English only in formal style by means of subjunctive
mood. In colloquial style the indicative mood is
used. In Polish theoretical meaning in non-conditional
clauses is always marked: conditional mood I is
used. The conditional marker by is obligatory
attached to the subordinator e.

Examples:

Formal:

E. There was a suggestion that Brown should be dropped from the team.

Colloquial:
E. There was a suggestion to drop Brown from the team.
P. Sugerowano, eby wyrzucic Browna z druyny.

Formal:
E. We ask that every citizen should watch closely any developments in
this matter.

Colloquial:
E. We ask every citizen to watch closely any developments in this
matter.
P. Prosimy kadego obywatela, eby ledzi wszelkie posunicia w tej
sprawie.

Conditional clauses
Theoretical meaning is expressed in
conditional sentences if the speaker has a real
condition in his mind, i.e. if he does not know
whether the event of the subordinate if-clause
occurred, occurs, will occur or not. The time
reference can be to past, present or future. In
both English and Polish real condition is
expressed by means of the indicative mood in
both the main and subordinate clauses.

Reference to past time:

English: Past tense is used in both clauses
Polish: Past tense is used in both clauses

Examples:
E. If John went to school, he met my sister.
P. Jeeli Jacek poszed do szkoy, to spotka
moj siostr.

Reference to present time:

English: Present tense in both clauses
Polish: Present tense in both clauses

Examples:
E. If Jane goes to school every day, she has
little time for babysitting.
P. Jeeli Janka chodzi do szkoy codziennie, to
ma niewiele czasu na opiek nad dzieckiem.

Reference to future time:

English: Shall/will + infinitive in the main clause,

Present Simple in the subordinate clause

Polish: Future tense in both clauses
Examples:
E. If Jane goes to school every day next year,
she will have little time for babysitting.
P. Jeeli Janka bdzie chodzia do szkoy
codziennie w przyszym roku, to bdzie miaa
niewiele czasu na opiek nad dzieckiem.

Hypothetical meaning (negative

truth commitment)
Unreal condition may be expressed with
reference to the event in the present time or in
the past time. In both cases the meaning of the
conditional clause is that the event described in
this clause is not true. There is a difference,
however, between unreal condition in the past
and in the present. In the former case the
meaning expressed is contrary to fact,
whereas in the latter, the meaning is contrary
to assumption. Two different modal forms are
used in both English and Polish to express
these meanings.

Events contrary to assumption

(concern the present time)
In English in the main clause Conditional
Mood I is used and in the subordinate clause
the verb is in Simple Past. In Polish the verbs in
both clauses have the form of Conditional Mood
I:
E. If you really loved me, youd buy me
everything I want. (I assume you dont love
me)
P. Gdyby mnie kocha naprawd, kupibys mi
wszystko czego zapragn.

Events contrary to facts (concern

the past time)
In English the verb in the main clause is in
conditional mood II. The verb in the subordinate
clause is in Past Perfect. In Polish in colloquial
speech the meaning of contrary to fact is
expressed in the same way as the meaning
contrary to assumption, i.e. Conditional Mood
I is used in both clauses. In literary style
Conditional Mood II is used.

Examples:
E. If I had met him, I would have mentioned

that to John. (but I did not meet him)

With inversion:
Had I met him, I would have mentioned that to
John.
P. Colloquial: Gdybym go spotka,
wspomniabym o tym Jankowi.
Literary: Gdybym go by spotka, bybym o
tym
wspomnia Jankowi.

Bibliography:
1. A. Bas, M. April, The Handbook of English
2.
3.

4.
5.

Linguistics, Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006.

G. Booji, The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to
linguistic Morphology, Oxford University Press 2005.
J. Fisiak, M. Lipiska-Grzegorek, T. Zabrocki, An
Introductory English-Polish Contrastive Grammar,
Pastwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe 1978.
R, Huddleston, A Student's Introduction to English
Grammar, Cambridge University Press 2005.
J. R. Taylor, Cognitive Grammar, Oxford Linguistics
2002.