English Tense Application Guide

Author: Xi Baofen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-09-01
Features: In English, to express whether an event occurs in the present, past, or future, or whether it is completed or still ongoing, primarily relies on verb inflection (e.g., speak, spoke; smile, smiled) and the use of specific verb phrases (e.g., will speak, is smiling, has spoken, has been smiling). Chinese, however, is different. Chinese words do not change in form, meaning there are no verb tenses in Chinese. When speaking Chinese, time is expressed mainly through adverbs or adverbial phrases (e.g., will speak, have already spoken, are smiling). For this reason, native Chinese speakers often make errors in tense when learning English, as they tend to use Chinese ways of expressing time when speaking English. Over the years, the author has taught basic English at universities and guided adult learners of English, deeply understanding that tense is one of the difficulties in learning the English language. Learners may believe they have mastered the different concepts and usage rules of different tenses, but they repeatedly make mistakes when applying them. For example, they confuse different verb forms across tenses, or mix up the usage of various tenses in different time contexts, especially when speaking or writing longer English passages. This reflects:
1. Students' weak grasp of the basic concepts of tense, even if they have only a superficial understanding, making it difficult for them to distinguish and use tenses correctly;
2. Students' insufficient experience in applying tenses in different time contexts, failing to form logical and structured principles, thus hindering their ability to generalize and move from intuitive understanding to rational knowledge, let alone develop their own ingrained habits.
Through years of teaching, the author has found that most first-year university students studied tenses in high school in a rushed manner, primarily memorizing ready-made examples to prepare for the college entrance exam, neglecting solid grammar training, especially in tense usage. To fundamentally improve students' foundational skills, the author has long been contemplating and planning to write a book on English tenses for students with some English foundation and self-learners. Broadening readers' English foundation while helping them master tenses is the dual purpose of this book. Therefore, it is both a summary of the author's years of teaching experience and a systematic guide to the key points where students often make mistakes, supplemented by numerous exercises to reinforce tense knowledge.
Because "tense" refers to the morphological variations of verbs that indicate time, some newly revised English grammar textbooks, both domestically and internationally, consider that English has only two tenses—past and present (also known as "nonpast"—because the future tense, though it can indicate future time, is formed by the present forms of shall and will). Consequently, traditional perfect tenses and progressive tenses are uniformly referred to as "aspect." This is quite reasonable. However, for the convenience of current students, this book still retains the traditional terminology. For the same reason, it uses the terms "present participle" and "past participle" instead of "-ing participle" and "-ed participle."
The content of this book has the following features:
1. The arrangement of tenses highlights key points, and some easily confused tenses are comparatively placed in the same lesson. For example, Lesson 1 covers the simple present tense and present continuous tense; Lesson 2 covers the simple past tense and past continuous tense; Lessons 3 and 4 cover the present perfect tense and present perfect continuous tense; and Lesson 5 covers the past perfect tense and simple past tense. Through comparative learning and exercises, readers can better grasp easily confused tenses.
2. The grammar theory and rules are explained concisely and clearly, emphasizing key points while remaining easy to understand and memorize.
3. Important grammar theory sections are accompanied by Chinese translations to help self-learners grasp the original meaning.
4. Emphasis on both theory and practice. Each lesson includes extensive exercises to deepen understanding. The exercises vary in format, progressing from simple sentences to longer passages, and from single-topic to comprehensive exercises.
This book can serve as a textbook for lower-level university students of English to study tenses in their grammar courses. When using this book, please note the following points:
1. The book consists of 12 lessons, with one lesson per week, requiring 2–3 hours per lesson. However, Lesson 12 on the subjunctive mood requires two weeks, totaling 4–6 hours. After completing Lessons 3 and 4 (present perfect tense and present perfect continuous tense) and Lessons 8, 9, and 10 (infinitives, participles, and gerunds), one week should be allocated for comprehensive review.
2. Diversify teaching methods. When explaining theoretical concepts, teachers should avoid lecturing at length and instead adopt a collaborative discussion approach. Exercises can be assigned as homework, followed by in-class discussions to further review and reinforce grammar and tense theory, which is more effective. In class, group discussions can precede a larger group discussion on key points and exercises with questions. During group discussions, teachers should move between groups to participate in discussions, identify issues, and provide guidance.
3. Select specific exercises for short quizzes in class to assess students' mastery of the tenses they have learned.