Unit 4: Function of tenses

Activity 1: Contextualized meaning

Read this brief explanation of contextualised meaning.

The meaning of a word can be looked up in a dictionary. However, the meaning that a speaker or writer assigns to a word or expression may differ. The meaning of a sentence can be deduced from its component words, e.g. "I do." Here, we can guess that the the grammatical subject "I" refers to the person doing the action, and that the verb "do" is the action that the person does. Present simple tense is used, and so we guess that this is a regular action.

The problem with this analysis is that the context, cotext and participants are ignored. Context refers to the situation in which the language is used. The context can be described from general to specific, e.g. Japan-Aizu-wakamatsu-UoA-iLab-Lecture. The cotext is the words that occur before and after the expression. In written En glish this is easier to access. In recorded spoken communication, we can access this, but in general unrecorded conversation, we have to rely on memory. The participants are the people who are communicating or interacting. For exmple, when you greet someone with "hi" but he or she does not reply, there are two participants, namely a speaker (you) and a listener (the other person).

Over time some words change meaning. Many years ago, gay used to refer to happy, but now this usage has almost died out. Even the meaning of highly frequent words can change. Bad used to mean the opposite of good, but nowadays bad can mean either bad or even better than good! Similar changes happen in all languages, in Japanese the expression yabai (やばい) is used somewhat differently by youngsters compared to their grandparents. Thus, it is essential to understand the context to be able to assign meaning accurately.

Activity 2: Watching

Watch and listen to the context, cotext and participants and decide what the actual meaning of "I do." is in this video clip.

In fact, the very simple sentence "I do." has multiple meanings. To understand which meaning should be allocated, we need to know the words that have been said(the cotext) and the setting and people (the context).

Activity 3: Lexical meaning of verbs

Read:

When we ask about the meaning of a verb, typically we refer to the lexical meaning. This is the meaning that we can look up in a dictionary. Some verbs have more than one meaning. In those cases, the dictionary lists the meaning in terms of frequency with the most common meanings listed first and the least common meanings listed afterwards. Some of the most common verbs in English have multiple meanings. For example, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary the verb get has 82 meanings when used as a verb.

Identify the lexical meaning of the verbs highlighted in the following sentences. Make sure to select the lexical meaning that is appropriate for the context.

1. My car broke down, so I got the train this morning.
2. I think I see what you mean.
3. The picture is rather small can you blow it up?
4. The teacher handed her student the register.

Activity 4: Grammatical meaning of verbs

Read:

The grammatical meaning of a verb is determined by the tense of the verb and by the type of verb.

Read these example sentences and the grammatical meaning assigned to the sentence. Some of these sentences are decontextualised and so other meanings may be possible. Decide on the meanings for the last few sentences.

1. He eats breakfast.: habitual action
2. I am going to eat breakfast.: planned action
3. She had eaten breakfast: distant past action completed before another unstated action, which was also in the past
4. They have eaten breakfast: recent past action with effect on present, e.g. so they are not hungry now.
5. Timmy will eat breakfast.: ............
6. I can't. I'm eating breakfast with Joe at 10am tomorrow.: ............
7. I can't. I'm eating breakfast right now.: ............
8. She will have eaten breakfast: ............
9. Donald and Ivanka were eating breakfast.: ............

Can you name the tenses in all the sentences and identify the grammatical meanings in the final sentences? Feel free to comment on this activity in the discussion forum.

Activity 5: Functional meaning of verbs

Read:

The functional meaning of an expression is sometimes implied by context (setting and participants). For example, saying I am hot. can be used for the following functions

1. in a classroom: teacher, could you turn the aircon on?
2. at home: mum, can you bring me a cold drink like you usually do?
3. in a bar: My face is red, not because I drank beer.

When modal verbs (e.g. may, might, can, could, etc.) are used, they are often chosen for their functional meaning. Modal verbs may have one or more different meanings but the context should help disambiguate the intended meaning.

1. You should eat breakfast.: giving advice
2. Jane has to eat breakfast: obligation
3. The dog should have eaten breakfast: retrospective advice

One function, such as "giving advice" can be realized in many different ways. Read the following examples to see the different expressions that can be used for this one function.

1. You should eat breakfast.
2. You ought to eat breakfast.
3. If I were you, I would eat breakfast.
4. Why don't you eat breakfast?
5. I would suggest eating breakfast?
6. You had better eat breakfast.

There are slight meaning differences between each of the sentences, but all of them give advice. Some are formal, some informal, some stronger suggestions and some gentle suggestions.

Activity 6: One tense, many meanings

Read this link to Grammarly to find out their simplifed explanation of the grammatical meanings of present perfect simple tense. Note the four different meanings given in the first sentence?

The following sentences all use present perfect simple tense, but the grammatical meaning of each sentence is slightly different. A key difference is whether the verb refers to a state or an action(event). Another difference is whether the state or action happened at some time in the past and no longer happens, or whether the state or action continues until the present.

Consider carefully the meaning of each of these sentences. Note that in some cases other meanings may be possible.

1. I have been to Tokyo. - describing an experience
2. I have been a soldier. - describing an state in the past with a connection to the present (e.g. and so I understand how to operate guns safely)
3. I have been sick for a year. - describing a state continuing from past until now.
4. He has visited to the bank. - describing an action that happened in the past and emphasizing the connection to the present (e.g. He has got some money).
5. They have studied since 8am. - describing an action that happened in the past and emphasizing the connection to the present result (e.g. I now understand the subject).

Activity 7: Stative vs dynamic verb classes

Verbs that describe states are called stative. Verbs that describe actions or events are called dynamic. Stative verbs, in general, are not used in progressive aspect. Dynamic verbs, in general, are used in any aspect. The majority of verbs are dynamic, and so rather than learn those the simplest way is to learn the short list of stative verbs.

Check that you know this list of stative verbs.

agree, appear, believe, belong, concern, contain, depend, deserve, disagree, dislike, doubt, fit, hate, hear, imagine, impress, include, involve, know, like, matter, measure, mind, need, owe, prefer, promise, realize, recognize, remember, seem, sound, suppose, surprise, understand, want, weigh, wish

Check this list of verbs that are typically stative but also have a dynamic meaning.

be, feel, have, love, see, taste, think

The examples below show how the meaning of the verb changes when verbs that are usually stative are used with a dynamic meaning.

1. I am loving it. - describing enjoyment (cf. declaring affection)
2. I am thinking about it. - considering (cf. stating opinion)

Activity 8: Stative verbs in progressive aspect

Watch and listen to a short explanation of how the meaning of stative verbs may change when used in progressive aspect (3 min 45 seconds. If you don't laugh, it probably means your English needs to improve!