tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 12 16:12:16 1993

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Reposted English verb tense list

MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO'VE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST!
Quick list of (my count of) English verb tenses.
(For more and excruciating detail, please check my article "Translating
Latin Tenses into English," in the journal _Classical World_, vol. 85.6
(July-August 1992), pp. 675-686.  I can fax this to anyone who's
interested.)

I count at least 22 regularly used time-aspect combinations ("tenses")
in English, rather contrary to the traditional modern English grammar.

The traditional modern grammarian usually counts 12 English time-aspect
combinations (tenses), a combination of six "times" and two "aspects":
present                           present progressive
past                              past progressive
future                            future progressive
perfect (a.k.a. present perfect)  perfect progressive
pluperfect (a.k.a. past perfect)  pluperfect progressive
future perfect                    future perfect progressive

My count (please do not refer to it as my "system"...I merely counted -- I did
not invent!) of 22 tenses includes the canonical 12 but takes account of
several others, in particular several additional past-time and future-time
forms that are in common use.  I am inserting sporadic examples below to help
distinguish the tenses that are normally not clear by the brief description.

1.  I SPEAK:  present (repeated or single present event, or state of being, or
        state of mind)
2.  I AM SPEAKING: present progressive (ongoing or immediate action)
        NOTE:  "I speak Klingon" can be true simultaneously with "I am not
        speaking Klingon," as can "This ship fires torpedoes" with "This ship
        isn't firing torpedoes."
3.  I DO SPEAK:  present asseverative (present, contradictory to expressed/
        implied/suspected doubt)
        NOTE:  Negative and interrogative of #1 use this #3 form but with
        the normal #1 meaning.
4.  I SPOKE:  past  (repeated or single past event, or past state)
5.  I WAS SPEAKING:  past progressive (ongoing past event, event defining a
        past-time range in which another past event occurs), e.g., "They were
        orbiting the planet when the war started."
6.  I DID SPEAK:  past asseverative (past, contradictory to expressed/implied/
        suspected doubt)
        NOTE:  Negative and interrogative of #4 use this #6 form but with
        the normal #4 meaning.
7.  I USED TO SPEAK:  past exclusive (past time only, excluding the present,
        for repeated events)
8.  I USED TO BE SPEAKING:  past exclusive progressive (past time only,        
        excluding the present for instances of ongoing past actions)
        NOTE:  "I used to eat that stuff" (repeated); versus "I used to
        be standing whenever he arrived."  Not a terribly common tense.
9.  I WOULD SPEAK:  past habitual (repeated or habitual past or remote past),
        e.g., "In my youth I would read any sci-fi book around."
10. I WOULD BE SPEAKING:  past habitual progressive (habitual or repeated
        instances of ongoing past actions), e.g., "They would be holding
        their ears whenever I was speaking Klingon."
11. I HAVE SPOKEN:  perfect (completed past with impact in the present)
12. I HAVE BEEN SPEAKING:  perfect progressive (past time and present time
        combined), e.g., "I have been fighting them for years, since day one."
        NOTE:  perfects of #11 form often behave with #12 meaning, e.g.,
        "I have fought them for years."
        NOTE:  European languages mostly use the simple present for this
        dual-time effect, and such usage is a hallmark of a "foreign accent."
13. I HAD SPOKEN:  pluperfect (completed remoter past with impact on the
        nearer past), e.g., "By the time she arrived he had wrecked the
        place."
14. I HAD BEEN SPEAKING:  pluperfect progressive (remoter past time and
        nearer past time combined), e.g., "I had been doing that long before
        you showed up."
        NOTE:  pluperfects of #13 form often behave with #14 meaning, e.g.,
        "I had done that long before you showed up."
15. I WILL SPEAK:  future with "will" (future single or repeated action agreed
        upon by multiple parties, or general future)
16. I WILL BE SPEAKING:  future progressive with "will" (future progressive
        action agreed upon by multiple parties, or general future)
17. I AM GOING TO SPEAK:  future with "am going to" (future single or repeated
        action of unilateral intent, of uncontrollable events, or of imminent
        events)
        NOTE:  "I will obey" expresses some agreement or submission, but "I am
        not going to obey" is unilateral; "It will impact on the surface" is
        general and factual, agreed upon by everyone, but "It's going to
        impact on the surface" is immediate and out-of-control.
18. I AM GOING TO BE SPEAKING:  future progressive with "am going to" (future
        progressive action of unilateral intent, of uncontrollable or of
        imminent events)
19. I AM TO SPEAK:  future obligation (varying mixes of externally imposed
        obligation plus future time, repeated or single event)
20. I AM TO BE SPEAKING:  future obligation progressive (varying mixes of
        externally imposed obligation plus future time, progressive action)
21. I WILL HAVE SPOKEN:  future perfect (action completed before a future
        moment with impact on that future moment), e.g., "They will have
        exhausted all their fuel by the half-way point."
22. I WILL HAVE BEEN SPEAKING: future perfect progressive (prior-to-the-
        future plus future time combined), e.g., "I will have been polishing
        the blade for hours by the time your carcass cools."
        NOTE:  future perfects of #21 form often behave with #22 meaning,
        e.g., "I will polished the blade...."

There are obviously places for even more exotic forms ("I used to have spoken"
? perhaps?), but I know that I have actually encountered at least these 22 in
casual speech, broadcast news, movie and television dialogue, and newspaper-
level writing, all of which would doubtless count as average USA-English
usage.

With tenses like these, who needs enemies?  M. O. did all Klingonophiles a
great service by NOT patterning the verb system of tlhIngan-Hol on English.

Please send all further correspondence on this matter to me off-list, so as
note to obtrude too much upon the more diligent faithful, who spend less time
on how one constructs a language than on actually using the constructed
tongue.

--David N. WIGTIL.  ER Network Support.  U. S. Department of Energy.
Polla ta deina, k'ouden anthropou deinoteron pelei.  (Sophokles)
(There are many strange things, but none is stranger than man.)

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