1. Introduction: Tense and aspect
A foreign learner of the English language has to struggle with many tasks concerning vocabulary and grammar. Especially the correct usage of the verb phrase includes a highly difficult problem and has to be analysed very detailed. It includes not only the grammatical category of tense but as well the category of aspect, mood and voice.
This paper is supposed to concentrate on the grammatical categories tense and aspect.
Tense is used to express the location of an event or state in time. It can be divided into future, present and past tense. By contrast to that “aspect” expresses the way in which the action or the state is experienced. It reflects the meaning of the verb in relation to time. That means it shows whether the action is finished or is still in progress. The English verb system includes the perfective aspect, the progressive aspect, the simple aspect and the perfect-progressive aspect. (Quirk et al. 1979: 40)
In the following an overview of the tense past combined with the perfective aspect will be given. First of all the definitions of this tense and aspect will be compared in three different grammars: “Meaning and the English Verb” by Leech, “A Student’s Grammar of the English Language” by Quirk and Greenbaum and “Longman Student Grammar of spoken and written English” by Biber et al.. In the second part of the paper the application of the past perfect will be analysed in an excerpt of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” written by Joanne K. Rowling.
Table of Contents
- Introduction: Tense and aspect
- Theories of the Past Perfect
- Meaning and the English Verb
- A Student's Grammar of the English Language
- Longman Student Grammar
- Comparison
- Application of the Past Perfect
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Analyse of text excerpt
- Conclusion
Objectives and Key Themes
This paper examines the grammatical categories of tense and aspect, specifically focusing on the past perfect tense. The objective is to analyze the definition and application of the past perfect by comparing three different English grammars and exploring its usage in a literary excerpt. Key themes include: * Understanding the past perfect tense and its relationship to past and present time. * Comparing different grammatical explanations of the past perfect tense from various sources. * Analyzing the past perfect tense in a literary excerpt to demonstrate its real-world application. * Exploring the relationship between the past perfect tense and other grammatical categories, such as aspect and mood.Chapter Summaries
The first chapter provides an introduction to the grammatical categories of tense and aspect, specifically focusing on the past perfect tense. It outlines the challenges faced by foreign learners of English, particularly with verb phrases and the complex interplay of tense, aspect, mood, and voice. The chapter also introduces the basic definitions of tense and aspect and sets the stage for the subsequent analysis of the past perfect. The second chapter delves into the theories of the past perfect tense as presented in three different grammar books: "Meaning and the English Verb" by Leech, "A Student's Grammar of the English Language" by Quirk and Greenbaum, and "Longman Student Grammar of spoken and written English" by Biber et al. It analyzes and compares their definitions, focusing on the past perfect's function in conveying a past event in relation to a previous point in time. The third chapter explores the application of the past perfect in a literary excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by Joanne K. Rowling. It analyzes the usage of the past perfect in the context of the narrative, demonstrating how the tense contributes to the overall meaning and understanding of the text.Keywords
This paper focuses on the grammatical categories of tense and aspect, particularly the past perfect tense, its function in relation to time, and its application in literary texts. It examines different grammatical theories presented in renowned English grammar books and analyzes the past perfect's role in conveying past events and their impact on later events.- Arbeit zitieren
- Sandra Schwesinger (Autor:in), 2011, Tense and Aspect - The Past Perfect, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/200156
