 Welcome, this e-lecture is the first of a series of e-lectures that investigate the function or meaning of the verb group, in particular of the finite verb group. Several functional categories can be associated with the verb group, tense, aspect, voice, mood and various types of modality. The focus of this first e-lecture is on tense, but what exactly is tense? Well, as we will see later, tense is the grammatical realisation of time by means of verbal inflection. So let us look at time first. There are three manifestations of time, the present time, the past time and the future time. However, there are different views as to how to define their exact relationship. One view says that time can be thought of as a simple line with a fixed point for the present moment. In reality, this point is moving though. Anything ahead of that point is in the future, anything behind it is in the past. In relating this referential view of time to language and in particular to the meaning of verbs, however, it turns out to be too simple. It seems most suitable to extend the view of the present as existing at the present moment, extending into the past and stretching into the future. On this more semantic level, the present is the unmarked and most general time category. Let us now look at tense. As we already said, tense is the grammatical realisation of time by means of verbal inflection. Thus, a language can theoretically have up to three tenses. Let's take Latin as an example. Here are the three tenses of Latin. The present tense, amas, you love. The past tense, amabas, you loved. And the future tense, amabis, you will love. For each tense, we have a well-defined morpheme. We have bar for the past tense, b for the future tense, well, and a zero marker for the present tense. Thus, Latin has one specific tense for each time category. In present-day English, the situation is different. Since English has no inflected future form of the verb, this three-fold opposition is reduced to two tenses. The present tense and the past tense. Remember, tense is an inflectional category, but there is no inflectional marker in present-day English to denote future time. Of course, present-day English has options to refer to future time events. However, not by means of inflection and thus not by using a special tense. Thus, present-day English has only two tenses, the present tense and the past tense. But how are they used? Well, let us start with the present tense. There is some morphological justification for treating the present tense as the unmarked tense, since it is mostly realized by the base or the uninflected form of the verb. The exception may be the third-person singular s, which is also used for marking the present tense. So, here are the options, either the base form, nothing is added, or the third-person singular. These are the morphological options of marking present time. However, the use of the present tense is not confined to the denotion of present time. It can be used to mark, well, present, the first option, or non-present time events. Let us look at those cases where the present tense denotes the present time first. The simple present tense states three different kinds for present time. The first is referred to as the state present, as in Margaret is Tall or we live near Chicago. The state present is used with stative verb senses to refer to a single unbroken state of affair, existed in the past, exists in the present, and is likely to continue to exist in the future. So Mary was Tall, she is Tall, and she will be Tall. The habitual present, as in we go to London every year or John drinks heavily, is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to events that repeatedly occur without limitation in the past or the future. We go to London every year. Well, this is a repetitive event and John drinks heavily. Well, it simply means John is an alcoholic. He drinks all the time and he does so heavily. The instantaneous present, as in Messi passes the ball to Neymar or I apologize for my behavior. Well, the instantaneous present is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to a single event with little or no duration. It is used only in certain restricted situations, for example in sports commentaries, and with performative verbs that refer to speech acts such as I apologize for my behavior and they refer to speech acts performed by uttering the sentences. Three kinds of uses of the simple present exist concerning its use for past and future time. For example, we have the historic present, as in just as we arrived, up comes Ben and slaps me. This refers to pastime and is characteristic of popular narrative style. The simple present is optionally used with pastime reference, as in Jack tells me that the position is still vacant or I understand that the game has been postponed. Well, here it refers to the past with verbs of communication to suggest that the information is still valid. The simple present also refers to future time events, typically in main clauses with time position adverbials such as the plane leaves at eight tonight at eight tonight. So examples are the plane leaves at eight tonight or he'll do if you pay him or I'll let you know as soon as I hear from him. Now, here the use of the simple present suggests that a future event is certain to take place. However, its use for future time is much more common in subordinate clauses. Let's now look at the past tense. The simple past is used to refer to a situation set at a definite time in the past. It is formed by the following morphological operations. The most common one is affixation as in loved kissed or hated. And well, let's include here zero affixation as in hit or put. Then we have the possibility of changing the base as in take took sits at meet Matt or have had where we have a continental base change. Or supletion as in go went or be was. And then, of course, we can have a combination of them as in said, for example, where we have affixation plus base change. The past tense combines two features of meaning. On the one hand, the speaker must have in mind a definite time at which the event or state took place. And then we have a second meaning where the event must have taken place in the past with a gap between its completion and the present time. So an extension, an extended line within the past. Like the present tense, the past tense can be used in several ways. Typically it is used for past time events. The state past, for example, as in I once liked reading novels, archery was a popular sport for the Victorians. The state past is used with stative verb senses to refer to a single unbroken state of affairs in the past. Then there is the habitual past as in we spent our holidays in Italy when we were young. In ancient times, the Olympic games were held in Greece. This habitual past is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to past events that repeatedly occurred. Well, and the last example here, the event past as in the Normans invaded England in 1066. The plane left at 9am. The event past is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to a single definite event in the past. This event may take place over an extended period or at a particular point in time. Like the present tense, the past tense can also be used in contexts that do not refer to the past time. So let us look at these contexts next. There are three special uses of the simple past in this respect. One use refers to indirect speech as in I thought you were in London. She said that she knew you. In indirect speech or indirect thought, the simple past in the reporting verb may cause the verb in the subordinate reported clause to be backshifted into the simple past. The attitudinal past as in did you want to see me now or I wondered whether you were free tomorrow. The attitudinal past is optionally used to refer more tentatively to a present state of mind. Well, and then there is the hypothetical past as in if you knew him, you wouldn't say that or I wish I had a memory like yours. The hypothetical past is used in certain subordinate clauses, especially in if clauses to convey what is contrary to the belief or expectation of the speaker. So much for the present and the past tense. Let's now return to the notion of a future tense in present day English. Is there really no future tense in present day English? Well, let's finally tackle this question in more detail. Generally, linguists do not talk about future tense as a formal category in present day English. For this reason, there is no particular inflectional marker for denoting future time. We have several options go will go may go so we can use an optional auxiliary. We have verb forms such as go versus going will be going and so on and so forth. So there are several possibilities of expressing future time. Let's illustrate this on the basis of a general context. The following syntactic options that are summarized over here exist in present day English to denote future time. The plane. Well, let's use the verb leave. The plane will leave now will leave at eight. The plane is going to leave at eight. The plane is about to leave so we can use the base form of the verb plus particular forms either in a modal auxiliary will or forms such as is going to is about to. We could also just use the present tense, the plane leaves at eight. We can use forms such as the planes plane will be leaving. Well, and quite interestingly, we could even use the past tense in context such as he said the plane was going to leave at eight. You remember the subordinate clause option of the past tense use. Thus, there is no standard way of denoting future time. But isn't there a future marker? Couldn't we say that will is the standard or default option of denoting future time in present day English? Well, we only have to collect context where will is used in other interpretations than denoting the future time. Here are some examples that realize different modalities. For example, in the first case, that'll be the postman. We have an epistemic modality that tells us that we have to interpret the sentence in a particular way. Will you come is a realization of the deontic modality which involves some sort of willingness. And John will keep an eye on Jane is clearly the dynamic modality. So we have three different interpretations of will already in applying different modalities. Further uses of will include the habitual use. For example, she will sit for hours and watch the TV or a generic interpretation such as oil will float on water. In all these cases will does not denote future time. Thus it does not act as a future marking element only. So clearly present day English neither has a standard way of denoting future time nor does it have an element that is solely used for this purpose. Let us summarize. This e-lecture looked at one essential function of the verb the grammatical realization of time linguistically defined as tense. It should be clear now that present day English has two tenses only the present tense and the past tense. Both tenses can be used to denote a variety of senses ranging from one to one tense time relations to interpretations that are beyond their typical uses. Furthermore, we showed that there is no such thing as the future tense in present day English. However, there are several options of denoting future time. Among them even past tense sentences such as I told you I was going to produce more e-lectures. Well, and among these e-lectures you will find the function of the verb part two and three. Until then, see you there.