1. How many tenses does English hold? Theoretically, there are two obvious tenses known in the English Language, this being present and past. There are of class others that could be considered as tenses nevertheless due to controversy and debate they are alternatively known as ‘aspects ‘ ( this being future ) . Besides tense analysis is non rather clear when it comes to categorizing it between semantics and pragmatics as it seems to borderline both in certain state of affairss.

“ There are absolute and comparative tenses. An absolute tense relates a state of affairs straight to temporal zero-point, i.e. it establishes a temporal sphere in one of the four absolute sectors. The four tenses that can be used in this manner are the preterit, the present perfect, the present and the hereafter. A comparative tense expresses a relation inside a temporal sphere. If the sphere is located in the past time-sphere the tenses used for anteriority, simultaneousness and posteriority are the past perfect, the preterit and the conditional tense, severally ” ( R. Declerck 1991:388 ) .

There is a difference between tense and clip, this being taking the semantic class into context ; a class of past clip and past tense signifiers. “ These must be kept apart when sing the significances of the signifiers, since a past tense need non associate squarely to past clip ” ( P. Bennett 2002: 78 ) .

A manner to put these English tense signifiers can be done with a simple tabular array, explicating the tense system:

Tense-name

Example

Present

John chows beef

Past

John Ate beef

Future

John will eat beef

Perfective

John has eaten beef

Past perfect

John had eaten beef

Future perfect

John will hold eaten beef

Future-in-the-past

John would eat beef

Future-perfect-in-the-past

John would hold eaten beef

Figure above ( P. Bennett 2002:79 )

“ One definition of tense is ‘grammaticalised look of location in clip ‘ ” ( P. Bennett 2002: 78 ) . There is nevertheless contention within this tabular array refering that of will as a hereafter tense, this will be looked at in more item subsequently within this essay. The contrast between the past and present is reasonably straightforward, as it depends on the state of affairss described and the clip that the sentences have been uttered by the talker for illustration ; Mary is doing dinner and Mary was doing dinner. The first sentence describes the individual ‘s actions at the really clip the sentence itself was uttered where as the 2nd illustration is depicting an event that happened some clip ago before it was uttered.

“ Reichenbach ( 1947: 288-98 ) developed a system in which there are three elements ( primitives ) involved in the descriptions of tenses: a address act, an ‘event ‘ and a ‘reference point ‘ ” ( R. Declerck 1991:224 ) .

Although theoretically there are two tenses considered to be more obvious than others, there are still 4 groups of tenses that all hold significances irrespective of aspect contention. These being simple tenses ; regular actions sing to something that is true e.g. I read the paper every twenty-four hours. Continuous tenses ; an action that is in gesture and uttered at the minute of the action e.g. I am reading the paper now. Perfect tenses ; an action that has consequences e.g. I have read the paper every twenty-four hours this month, and the last group is the perfect uninterrupted tense ; an action that consists of both a consequence and an action e.g. I have been reading the paper every bit shortly as I got place from work. Not merely do English tenses locate specific state of affairss in relation to clip but besides in relation to the minute of the sentence vocalization. These characteristics of tense significance can be confounding and somewhat deceptive as there are sometimes possibilities where one tense can make more than what it appears to make for illustration “ It is a good known fact that, for case, that the English Present Tense, although it refers chiefly to the present clip zone, can besides mention to past and future clip as good ” . ( G. N. Leech 2004:2 )

Tense should non merely be looked at through chief classs but through sub-categories besides when analyzing sentences as they are non ever what they foremost appear to be, other sub-categories are the past-progressive tenses and besides the present perfect tense. When looking at future tenses a manner of depicting its location in clip would be a “ state of affairs retention after speech clip ” ( P. Bennett 2002:81 ) At the minute, the thought of future tense is considered to be more of an facet, as it can be considered to be both depending on its context. Some illustrations of what is an ‘aspect ‘ of the hereafter are seen in the same was as past and present ( utilizing simple, uninterrupted and perfect ) ; Future simple – I will read ( this includes the ‘be traveling to and the infinitive signifier ) I am traveling to read ; Future uninterrupted – I will be reading ; Future perfect – I will hold read. More elaborate illustrations are the Future perfect uninterrupted – I will hold been reading ; the Future simple in the past – I would read ; Future continuous in the past – I would be reading ; Future perfect in the past – I would hold read and the Future perfect uninterrupted in the past – I would hold been reading. “ A tense like the hereafter perfect, which both establishes a sphere and indicates a relation in it, is an ‘absolute-relative ‘ tense. The conditional perfect, by contrast, has no absolute clip mention as portion of its significance. It expresses a dual temporal relation inside a past sphere ” ( R. Declerck 1991:388 ) .

An on-going treatment is sing future as a tense, as there are legion linguists who are diffident whether the inquiry of “ is future a tense in English? ” is the right manner of looking at it, Raphael Salkie says “ I have argued that this is the incorrect inquiry, both for “ normal people ” and linguistics specializers, if we try to reply it straight, but that it is a utile exercising to expose the premises about linguistic communication which lie behind the inquiry. ” ( R. Salkie 2002:13 ) “ There is no grounds that the present perfect and the future tense should non be considered as tenses. On the contrary, both locate state of affairss in clip in a peculiar manner and recognize a peculiar temporal scheme, so that there is every ground to see them as tenses ” ( R. Declerck 1991:388 ) .

Another factor of English tenses and facets besides depend on the clip and location ( events and provinces ) and one manner some linguists have portrayed a manner to specify what falls under certain countries of tense is by trusting on clip line diagrams, non merely does it demo the advancement in clip but besides the wonts and sequence of the events go oning at the clip of address ( whether it is earlier, during or after ) . This consists of a line with pointers symbolizing minutes in clip, the more recent in clip it is, the farther into the clip line diagram it is. “ The present minute of clip or a past minute of clip as a point of mention is shown as a perpendicular line crossing the clip line as follows ” . ( G.N. Leech 2004: 4 )

Earlier Subsequently

Then Now

Figure above: ( G.N. Leech 2004: 4 )

The potency of present clip is non every bit limited as that of past clip, as it can be extended into the past whereas the same can non be done for that of the past clip ( it ca n’t be extended to the present ) . The same can be said for the future clip, like past clip it is unable to be extended back to the present minute “ nevertheless, in English the major formal differentiation of Present and Past tenses can be associated with two major clip zones, ‘past ‘ and ‘non-past ‘ , so that future clip is subsumed under ‘non-past ‘ ” . ( G.N. Leech 2004: 4 ) This differentiation is a manner to explicate why the present tense takes the topographic point of future tense when looking at future-time as it is non confirmed whether English has a future tense ; this includes aides like ‘is traveling to ‘ , ‘will ‘ and sometimes ‘shall ‘ nevertheless it is non every bit common as the other two aides.

“ In amount, there are many instances in which different tenses do non imply different truth conditions. This necessarily leads to the decision that a semantics that is based on truth conditions is ill-equipped to depict the different significances of tenses ” . ( R. Declerck 1991:396 )

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2. Analysis of Modal auxiliary verbs and Tenses in a text.

Analysis of ‘have suggested ‘

The full sentence as a whole is based on possibility, as at the get downing it states that “ Exam consequences could transport… ” the usage of the modal could suggests that it is of strong possibility so the if-clause could come into function as information has been produced by the caputs of the exam board for people to read and what has been suggested is the possibility of informing universities and employees about the truth of tests. ‘Have suggested ‘ is besides a present perfect tense as it is mentioning to a current sentiment suggested by the caputs of exam boards. Overall the sentence appears to be epistemological, as it is based on associating to the talkers attitude to the “ truth of the proposition ; whether it is likely or needfully true, whether it has been inferred or personally witnessed ” . ( P. Bennett, 2002: 206 )

Analysis of ‘should

Groefsema ( 1995 ) suggests that the “ basic significances of can, may, must and should show dealingss between the proposition expressed by the remainder of an vocalization incorporating them and a set of background premises, while seting restraints on what sets of premises are recovered during the reading procedure ” . ( M. Groefsema 1995:61 ) The overall suggestion of this sentence is that it is epistemological possibility as the sense of should could be replaced with possibility ‘if ‘ nevertheless at the same clip if there has been permission given for a ‘health warning ‘ to be attached so it could besides fall under that class every bit good as possibility. This could be replaced with modal will, “ A wellness warning will be attached to assist the users ” , at the same clip it could be replaced with an epistemological ‘may ‘ “ A wellness warning may be attached to assist the users ” . This version of should is polite and used in a formal written manner as it refers to a suggestion by “ Ofqual ” . Another modal that can be used due to the if-clause is average ‘would ‘ , “ A wellness warning would be attached to assist users ” ; this could besides propose the ability of the result if a wellness warning were to be attached for users. As would is more common in modern spoken English it seems that this would be more likely to be used alternatively of the if-clause in order to maintain its context formality. In relation to strain, this address appears to be direct, as it is citing the original talkers exact words for the study on tests.

Analysis of ‘was ‘

At the clip the vocalization of was, is past uninterrupted ; “ a physician ‘s diagnosing was non straightforward ” and will most go on to stay that manner, it is considered a fact instead than an sentiment ; if it was non straightforward so, it will non be straightforward now. The state of affairs is in relation to the physician ‘s diagnosing and its deficiency of understanding non being portrayed to pupils decently. It is nevertheless possible to replace ‘was ‘ with ‘is non expected to be ‘ doing “ a physicians diagnosing is non expected to be straightforward ” trusting on the verb ‘to be ‘ and the negative ‘not ‘ . The modal should in this paragraph suggest that the full sentence is based on likely-hood “ pupils on their exam consequences should take on board the… ” This paragraph as a whole is rather complicated as without the influence of a average analysis ( should ) on this makes it rather complicated ; nevertheless it is simple to recognize that the two chief presentments within this sentence is that there are facets of fact and possibility, proposing that this is more epistemological than deontic ; based upon the attitudes between the public pupils and the test markers. However this subdivision of the text rather equivocal as there is more to the text that meets the oculus.

Analysis of ‘would ‘

This modal appears to be the chief clause of a conditional sentence ( Exams would be more accurate if they were longer, but this would be more, they said ) The significance is that if the truth were longer throughout an test so the consequences would be positive, nevertheless due to fiscal costs it seems improbable. This sentence seems far from possible, and hence has a conjectural sense instead than seen in a realistic point of position. With this in head the sentence itself is rather basic and can besides hold a alteration in the usage of modal, instead than utilizing ‘would ‘ it could be replaced with ‘could ‘ and still have the same significance as they in this sense, average conjectural possibility. This modal ‘would ‘ could besides be seen as a manner to demo continuity when taking an activity into consideration ; the modal ‘would ‘ appears to sound as if it is stressed when spoken out loud. As this sentence refers to certain fortunes it could be changed to an if-clause “ Is exams were longer, they would be more accurate ” , demoing the talkers belief in making this action would ensue in something positive.

Analysis of ‘can ‘

Ability ‘can ‘ “ here focuses the attending of the addressee on all the relevant grounds – all the conditions are met ” ( M. Groefsema, 1995:61 ) . The ability sense of can in this sentence is the ability of the people of Edexcel tests, as they province that “ what we are making is the best that we can make ” . This ability ‘can ‘ indicates that this sentence overall is a much more stronger version of the modal could, as the suggestion of their ability can non be extended as they are “ making the best that we can make ” , demoing restriction, it ‘s the best they could make, ( “ the best we could perchance make ” ) nevertheless proposing an implicit in restriction that if something were to alter they could make better nevertheless the populace are satisfied therefore they feel no demand to change what they are making – this gives an indicant of actuality ( world that there is adequate attempt being given from Edexcel ) . Groefsema ( 1995:61 ) would propose this as “ relevant grounds ” due to a compatible sum of grounds associating to the statement about the public positions and their ability to keep religion in the quality of Edexcel exams. One known statement by Groefsema and her position that modals are non polysemantic is due to the average ‘can ‘ as Groefsema ( 1995 ) argues that modals are non polysemantic for the undermentioned ground ; there are utilizations of can which are non clearly ability, possibility, permission, but are undetermined ” ( Palmer 1979, cited in Groefsema 1995:55 ) . ‘Can ‘ in this sentence is besides ( harmonizing to Groefsema ) “ compatible with all propositions which have a bearing on P ” ( M. Groefsema 1995: 62 )

Analysis of ‘had made ‘

The first noticeable point about ‘had made ‘ in this paragraph is that it is a past perfect tense ( past perfect ) , of the verb ‘to brand ‘ with the subsidiary verb being ‘had ‘ . Therefore it can non be extended to show or future tense as it is an event that took topographic point in the yesteryear, it is besides followed by the negative modal ‘could n’t ‘ .

Analysis of ‘must ‘

Overall this paragraph and context seems rather complex and debatable as through analysis there have been a twosome of possible results for the thought whether ‘must ‘ is deontic or epistemological. This analysis of must is a deontic look of duty instead than merely advice or a recommendation ; it firmly gives orders with respects to the consequences of an test. The necessity is being imposed by non merely those who take these tests, but those who grade them. A back uping illustration can be used with Groefsema, whose statement is that ‘must ‘ has a individual sense, as the modal can be replaced with ‘have to ‘ and ‘need ‘ . Therefore doing the sentence “ Exam classs are non prophets of truth and have to be used sagely ” or “ necessitate to be used sagely ” , this context therefore determines that this is the beginning of the necessity. As this modal ‘must ‘ is demanding, it fits good with an analysis of will, “ must be used sagely ” ; this demand makes it look as “ will be used sagely by people taking the test ” . This usage above though distinguishes a significance between the two provinces as ‘must ‘ implies a mention to an event ( the test ) , although this could besides connote that ‘must ‘ is in fact epistemic instead than deontic as has ‘will ‘ as a consequence in the event ( what must be done, will be done so to talk ) nevertheless traveling back to the simple analysis of deontic being based upon an action whilst epistemological focal points on an emotion, it is straightforward to propose that this modal ‘must ‘ is deontic. ( Antinucci & A ; Parisi, 1971 ; citied in Michael R. Perkins 1980: 261 )