1. 3. THE VERB (TENSES AND MOODS)
3.1. Definitions: Tense and Aspect
3.2. Present Tense Simple
3.3. Present Tense Continuous
3.4. Past Tense Simple
3.5. Past Tense Continuous
3.6. Present Perfect Simple
3.7. Present Perfect Continuous
3.8. Past Perfect Simple
3.9. Past Perfect Continuous
Specific objectives
Summary
Self-evaluation tests
Bibliography
Specific objectives:
At the end of the chapter you will be able to:
• define the concepts of tense and aspect in English
• analyze each tense that has been approached, considering the aspect and
the type of action expressed
• find similarities and dissimilarities between the tenses in English and
Romanian
• correctly use these tenses in sentences and texts
Estimated time for individual study: 4 hours
2. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
3.1. Tense and Aspect
It is generally accepted that the word TIME stands for the concept with which
all mankind is familiar, divided into past, present and future. And, one must
also underline that it is something independent from language.
By TENSE we understand that correspondence between the form of the verb
and our concept of time.
ASPECT is the manner in which a verbal action is experienced or regarded. If
the action is complete, the simple/common/indefinite aspect is used. If it is in
progress at a given moment, the continuous/progressive/expanded aspect is
used.
It must be shown that TIME is not the only concept rendered by the tense of
the verb. TENSE may also express the completeness or incompleteness of an
action which is or was still on its way.
3.2. Present Tense Simple
FORM:
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/you/we/they read Do I/you/we/they read?
He/she/it reads Does he/she/it read?
Negative:
I/you/we/they do not read/don’t read
He/she/it does not/doesn’t read
USE:
1. to express eternal/general truths, or to make statements of general validity:
e.g. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
Wood floats on water.
2. to express repeated/habitual/permanent actions. Such actions are usually
accompanied by the adverbs: every day/week/month/year, ever, never, always,
often, sometimes, seldom, occasionally, usually, twice a week, etc.
e.g. The solicitor always helps a person who needs the assistance of a law for a
certain problem. (Avocatul nepledant intotdeauna il ajuta pe cel ce are nevoie
de asistenta juridica pentru o anumita problema.)
The exit polls suggest that the president faces a Congress with a narrow but
hostile Republican majority in both House and Senate. (Sondajul la urne arata
Limba engleză 2
3. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
ca presedintele se confrunta cu un Congres republican nemajoritar, dar ostil, in
Camera si in Senat.)
At every trial, the judge conducts the proceedings and points out the matters.
(La fiecare proces, judecatorul conduce actiunea si puncteaza problemele.)
I find it hard to believe that he does not want to appeal to the High Court of
Justice. (Imi vine greu sa cred ca nu vrea sa apeleze la Inalta Curte de Justitie.
What do you think of this barrister? (Ce crezi despre acest avocet pledant?)
3. in step-by-step instructions or demonstrations:
e.g. First, you listen to the prosecutor, then you cross-examine the witnesses.
(Mai intai, il asculti pe procurer, apoi audiezi martorii.)
3.3. Present Tense Continuous
FORM: the verb “to be” + VERB +ing
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I am reading Am I reading?
You/we/they are reading Are you/we/they reading?
He/she/it is reading Is he/she/it reading?
Negative:
I am not/I’m not reading
You/we/they are not/aren’t reading
He/she/it is not/isn’t reading
USE:
1. to express an action started before the present moment, which is in progress
at the moment of speaking and which will terminate in the future. This form of
the verb indicates that the duration of the action is limited. The feeling of
immediate present is often emphasized by “just” and “now”:
e.g. Now, we are learning for our advanced civil law exam. (Acum, noi
invatam pentru examenul de drept civil aprofundat)
At this moment, The Court of Assizes is considering the facts which have been
presented. (In acest moment, Curtea cu Juri analizeaza faptele ce au fost
prezentate.)
2. to express temporary actions: today, this week/month/year
Limba engleză 3
4. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
e.g. This month she is taking legal action against two persons. (Luna aceasta ea
da in judecata doua personae.)
We always watch quiz games, but this week we are watching variety shows.
(Noi intotdeauna privim jocuri televizate, dar saptamana aceasta privim
spectacole de varietati.)
Verbs not used in their continuous aspect:
1. Verbs of feeling:. feel, hear, notice, see, smell, taste
e.g. The soup tastes delicious.
I can see the plane now.
This bar of soap smells wonderful.
However, the verbs “to smell”, “to taste”, “to feel” may be found in the
continuous aspect when they imply a voluntary action on the part of the
subject:
e.g. I am smelling this bar of soap.
She is tasting the soup now.
Besides, the verb “to see” may also be used in the continuous aspect, but with
different meanings: to meet by appointment, to visit, to have hallucinations.
2. Verbs of mental activity: to agree, distrust, doubt, find, foresee, forget,
guess, imagine, know, mean, mind, remember, recognize, recollect, regard,
suppose, trust, understand, etc.
3. Verbs expressing wish: to desire, intend, want, wish.
4. Verbs expressing attitudes, feelings, emotional states: to abhor, adore,
detest, dislike, displease, like, love, hate, please, prefer etc.
5. Verbs expressing possession: belong, have, hold, keep, owe, own, possess.
6. Verbs expressing a state, a condition: to appear, to be, consist of, contain,
differ, deserve, equal, exist, resemble, seem, suit, etc.
7. Miscellaneous verbs: to compare, expect, matter, suffice
It is important to mention that the adverbs of frequency and indefinite time
(always, often, seldom, generally, ever, never, etc.) may be used with the
continuous aspect, denoting a modal charge, i.e. emotional charge (joy,
admiration, irritation). Therefore, MODALITY is the attitude of the speaker
towards the communication.
e.g. You are always drinking and driving! ( I am angry at that person) =
Intotdeauna conduci in stare de ebrietate!
Limba engleză 4
5. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
The Home Secretary is always buying old books and paintings! (Ministrul de
Interne intotdeauna cumpara carti si tablouri vechi!)
3.4. Past Tense Simple
According to the way in which they form the Past Tense and the Past
Participle, English verbs are divided into regular and irregular.
Regular verbs are all those verbs that make the Past Tense and the Past
Participle by adding the suffix –ed to their Short Infinitives. This ending may
be pronounced either /d/ after vowels and /b/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /v/, /z/, or /t/
after /k/, /p/, /s/, or /id/ after /t/ or /d/.
Irregular verbs are all those verbs that do not make the Past Tense and the Past
Participle by adding the suffix –ed, but have their own forms: to begin-began-
begun; to give-gave-given; etc.
FORM:
Affirmative:Interrogative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they thought Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they think?
Negative:
I/you/he/shoe/it/we/they did not/didn’t think
USE:
1. To express an action or state wholly completed at some moment or during
some period in the past. In fact, the Simple Past Tense is a narrative tense. In
this case, a past tense adverbial such as when, then, yesterday, last week, last
month, last year, that day, the other day, once, in 2005, ago, etc. occurs in the
sentence:
e.g. Yesterday, she told us about the hereditary peerage during the course. (Ieri,
la curs, ne-a povestit despre aristocratia ereditara)
The mission turned out to be more difficult than expected. (Misiunea s-a
dovedit a fi mai dificila decat ne asteptam)
I read about this legislative body last year. (Anul trecut am citit despre acest
organ legislativ.)
Did you try to talk to the plaintiff? (Ai incercat sa vorbesti cu reclamantul?
It is very important to point out that, if there is a past tense in the main clause,
we have to use a past tense in the main clause, too:
e.g. How did you know I was here? (Cum ai stiut ca sunt aici?)
Limba engleză 5
6. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
The Counsel for the Prosecution tried to prove in court that the accused was
lying. (Avocatul acuzarii a incercat sa dovedeasca in fata curtii ca acuzatul
minte.)
2. to express a past habit or a repeated action in the past;
e.g. Groups of neighbouring states often seemed to vote the same way.
(Grupuri de satate invecinate pareau adesea ca voteaza in acelasi fel.)
3.5. Past Tense Continuous
FORM:was/were + VERB + ing
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/he/she/it was thinking Was I/he/she/it thinking?
We/you/they were thinkingWere we/you/they thinking?
Negative:
I/he/she/it was not/ wasn’t thinking
You/we/they were not/ weren’t thinking
USE:
1. To express an action in progress at a certain moment in the past: at this time
yesterday/last year, by 5 o’clock yesterday, etc
e.g. The President of the House of Commons was speaking in front of the 630
members at this time yesterday. (Presedintele Camerei Comunelor vorbea in
fata celor 630 de membri ieri,pe vremea aceasta)
He was hoping to be the first American re-elected president since the war.
(Spera sa fie primul presedinte american reales de la razboi si pana acum.)
2. to indicate that an action was going on (like a background) at a time when
something else, more important or more dramatic (the foreground) took place:
e.g. When I called her, she told me that she was talking to the defendant.(Cand
am sunat-o, mi-a spus ca vorbea cu inculpatul.)
3. to show that two or more actions were going on at the same time in the past:
e.g. The Public Prosecutor was presenting the facts while the two detectives
were listening very carefully. (Procurorul Public prezenta faptele, in timp ce
cei doi detectivi ascultau foarte atent.)
Limba engleză 6
7. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
3.6. Present Perfect Simple
FORM: have/has + Past Participle (the 3rd form of the verb)
Affirmative:Interrogative;
I/you/we/they have thoughtHave I/you/we/they thought?
He/she/it has thought Has he/she/it thought?
Negative:
I/you/we/they have not/haven’t thought
He/she/it has not/ hasn’t thought
USE:
An action or state prior to the moment of speaking may be expressed both by
the Past Tense and by the Present Perfect. But, while the Past Tense presents
the action without referring to the present moment, the Present Perfect links
that past action with the present. This means that when we have the Past Tense,
we think of the time when something happened or we narrate a sequence of
events at a given time. Therefore, the Present Perfect is used:
1. when there is a result/consequence into the present:
e.g. I have not won the case and that is why I will not have too many clients
from nowon. (Nu am castigat cazul si de aceea nu voi avea prea multi clienti de
acum inainte)
It must be mentioned that the actions expressed by Past Tense Simple generally
have no any consequence into the present.
e.g. I did not win the case yesterday. (Nu am castigat cazul ieri)
2. when the action continues in the present and, perhaps, it will go on in the
future:
e.g. Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales have had limited civil
jurisdiction for many years. (Curtile Magistratilor din Anglia si Tara Galilor au
jurisdictie limitata de multi ani.)
3.when we are not interested in the moment of the action, but in the action
proper:
e.g.The two voting systems in the American presidential election have been
alluded to.
(S-a facut aluzie la cele doua sisteme de votare de la alegerile prezidentiale
americane.)
They have been at the Claims Department. (Au fost la Biroul de Reclamatii.)
Limba engleză 7
8. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
Generally, when the moment is mentioned, Past Tense Simple is used:
e.g. They were at the Claims Department when they worked at that company.
4. with uncompleted periods of time: today, this week/month/year:
e.g.The employer has filed a claim today. (Angajatorul a depus o reclamatie
astazi)
It should be noted that Past Tense Simple always expresses completed periods
of time:
e.g. I always read many plays when I was a student. (Intotdeauna am citit multe
piese cand eram student)
The adverbs used with The Present Perfect Simple are: just, already, always,
yet, lately, recently, up to now=so far=till now=until now, how long, today,
this week/month etc.
3.7. Present Perfect Continuous
FORM:
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/you/we/they have been writing Have I/you/we/they been writing?
He/she/it has been writing Has he/she/it been writing?
Negative:
I/you/we/they have not/haven’t been writing
He/she/it has not/hasn’t been writing
USE:
1. While the Present Perfect Simple implies that the attention is focused on the
repetition or on the completion of an action, the Present Perfect Continuous
emphasizes the duration, the continuity of the action in the present:
e.g. The employee has been waiting for the manager since 10 o’clock.
(Angajatul il asteapta pe patron de la ora 10.00.)
The Bosnian Muslims have been operating inside Sarajevo for a few months.
(Musulmanii bosniaci opereaza in interiorul Sarajevo-ului de cateva luni.)
2. Since the Present Perfect Continuous describes an action which is apparently
uninterrupted, it will not be employed when we mention the number of times a
thing has been done or the number of things that have been done:
Limba engleză 8
9. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
e.g. He has been talking about his creditworthiness since 2 o’clock. (Vorbeste
despre credibilitatea sa de la ora 2.00.)
But:
He has talked about his creditworthiness three times since 2 o’clock. ( A vorbit
despre credibilitatea sa de trei ori de la ora 2.00)
3.8. Past Perfect Simple
1. FORM:
Affirmative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had opened/seen
Negative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had not opened/seen.
I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn’t opened/seen.
Interrogative
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they opened/seen?
Negative-Interrogative
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they not opened/seen?
Hadn’t I/you/he/she/it/we/they opened/seen?
2. USE:
1. to express a past action that took place before a past moment or before
another action in the past. In fact it is the past equivalent of the Present Perfect.
Note the use of when, before, now that, as soon as, and after in some of these
sentences containing a Past Perfect:
• The boy explained that he had seen somebody in the garden.
• When father came home, Dick had done his homework.
• Father came after Dick had done his homework.
• Dick had done his homework before father came home.
2. to express duration up to a certain moment in the past:
3. with just, already, hardly/barely/scarcely and no sooner, to show that the
last action was finished a little time before another past action:
Mary told us that her brother had just left.
We did not know that he had already repaired his car.
Limba engleză 9
10. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
I had hardly/scarcely entered the room when somebody knocked at the door.
In the last case, another from may also occur, although it is considered to be
obsolete:
Hardly/scarcely had I entered the room when somebody knocked at the door.
No sooner had she seen the photos than she remembered everything about the
accident.
4. with since and for when the point of reference is past:
In 1980 I had been a teacher for ten years.
I knew she had not seen him since Christmas.
5. in Indirect Speech, to express a Past Tense or a Present Perfect from Direct
Speech:
“I saw this film last week,” Nick said.
Nick said he had seen that film a week before.
“I have never visited Madrid,” the boy explained.
The boy explained he had never visited Madrid.
3.9. Past Perfect Continuous
1. FORM:
Affirmative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they/had been speaking
Negative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had not speaking
I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn’t been speaking
Interrogative:
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they been speaking?
Negative-Interrogative:
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they not been speaking?
Hadn’t I/you/he/she/it/we/they been speaking?
2. USE:
Limba engleză 10
11. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
1. to underline the continuity of a past action up to a past moment or just
before it:
The pupils had been reading the lesson for five minutes when the school
master entered the classroom.
2. in Indirect Speech, to express a Past Tense Continuous or a Present Perfect
Continuous from Direct Speech:
“I was watching TV at seven o’clock,” Harry explained to his mother.
Harry explained to his mother that he had been watching TV at 7 o’clock.
“We have been learning English for two years,” the children told me.
Activity 1
Read and translate the following texts:
MAGNA CARTA
An island on the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been
chosen as the place of conference: the King encamped on one bank,
while the barons covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of
Runnymede, on the other. Their delegates met on the island between
them, but the negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's purpose
of unconditioned submission. The Great Charter was discussed, agreed
to and signed in a single day (1215, June 16).
One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured by age and
fire, but with the royal seal still hanging on the brown, shrivelled
parchment. It is impossible to gaze without reference on the earliest
monument of English freedom which we can see with our own eyes
and touch with our own hands, the Great Charter to which from age to
age patriots have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in
itself the Charter was no novelty, nor did it to establish any new
constitutional principles. The character of Henry the First formed the
basis of the whole and the additions to it are for the most part formal
recognition of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by
Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the other characters
were now changed for precise and elaborate provisions. The bounds of
unwritten custom, which the older grants did little more then recognise,
had proved too weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now
threw them aside for the restraints of written law.
It is in this way that the Great Charter marks the transition from the age
of traditional rights, preserved in the nation's memory and officially
declared by the Primate, to the age of written legislation, of
parliaments and statues, which was soon to come. The church had
shown its power of self-defence in the struggle over the interdict, and
the clause that recognised its rights alone retained the older and general
form. But all vagueness ceases when the Charter passes on to deal with
the rights of Englishmen at large, their right to justice, to security of
person, to good government. "No freeman", run the memorable article
that lies at the base of the whole judicial English system, "shall be
Limba engleză 11
12. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
seized or imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way
brought to ruin: we will not go against any man nor send against him,
save by legal judgement of his peers or by the law of the land". "To no
man will we sell", runs other, or "delay, right or justice".
(Adapted from "A Short History of the English People" by JR. Green)
SOLICITORS AND BARRISTERS
The legal profession in England and Wales is divided into solicitors
and barristers. The duty of the solicitor is to give advice and to lead the
business of the client. He will also have a barrister to care of a specific
matter of the client's business. The solicitors have the right to a brief
council, who will be called in if the situation requires, in order to give
specialist advice, to draft documents or to act as advocates in the
higher courts. He is the one who will entitle the barrister to act as an
advocate in the higher courts.
The solicitors have been usually considered the junior part of the legal
profession, but have increasingly become the dominant part of it. They
are only admitted for practice if they complete three stages of training:
the academic stage, the vocational stage and the apprenticeship. The
academic stage of training is satisfied by the completion of a qualifying
law degree containing the six core subjects or by passing the Common
Professional Examination. The six core subjects are Constitutional and
Administrative Law, Contract, Tort, Criminal Law, Land Law and
Equity and Trust. The last stage consists of a two years apprenticeship
to an established solicitor and can be regarded as the clinical stage of
training. In this stage, they learn various skills that are necessary for a
solicitor, like managing an office, interviewing clients, writing letters,
instructing counsel and handling money. Once admitted, the solicitor is
required to maintain a practising certificate, for which a substantial
annual fee is charged.
The governing bodies of the barristers are more complex then those of
solicitors. First of all, in order to become a barrister, it is necessary to
become a member of one of the Inns of Court, like the Inner Temple,
the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn or Gray's Inn. Though admission to
the Bar is still largely the domain of the individual Inns, the formal
education of a trainee barrister is centralised through the Inns of Court
School of Law, Another governing body for barristers is the Bad
Council, which is the barristers elected representative body.
Like in the case of solicitors, the training of barristers is divided into
three stages: academic, vocational and apprenticeship. The
requirements of the academic stage are the same with those of the
solicitors. Barristers work in office, in groups of between twelve and
twwenty sharing services notably of a clerk, but also secretarial and
other services. Each chamber is required to have at least one clerk, who
performs the functions of office administrator and accountant, business
manager and agent. After around ten to fifteen years in practice, a
successful barrister can consider applying for promotion to Queen's
Counsel known as "silk" from the material of which the Queen's
Counsel formal gown is made.
The distinction between the two branches of the legal profession is an
artificial one. In fact, there are no tasks exclusive to one branch.
Limba engleză 12
13. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
Solicitors regularly appear as advocates in the law courts and
sometimes in Crown Courts, which are geographically remote from
barristers' chambers. Equally, there are many barristers who very
seldom appear in the court, spending their time on written opinions on
the law. Over the years, there has been debate on the fusion of the two
branches of the profession.
Basic vocabulary. Idioms
fusion = the result of fusing; a coalition of ideas,
concepts, branches, parties etc.
advice = an opinion or recommendation offered as
guide to action, conduct etc.
to draft = to draw the outlines or plan of; to sketch;
to draw up in written form, to compose
circumstance = a condition, detail, part or attribute, with
respect to time, place, manner, agent etc.
which accompanies, determines, or modifies
a fact or event; a modifying or influencing
factor
senior = more advanced in age or older in standing,
superior in age or standing to, of higher or
highest degree
to carry out = to put (principles, instruction) in practice
task = piece of work imposed
to handle = to manage (thing, person)
(to) brief = 1. summary of facts and law points of a
case drawn up for counsel;
2. to instruct (barrister, solicitor) by brief,
employ
completion = the act of completing; fulfillment
apprenticeship = working for another in order to learn a
trade, for instruction, training
vocational stage = educational training that provides a
student with practical experience in a
particular occupational field
Inns of court = a legal society occupying such a building
sole = belonging or pertaining to one individual
or group to the exclusion of all others;
exclusive
practitioner = 1. one engaged in the practice of a
profession, occupation;
2. one who practices something specified
clinical = extremely objective and realistic
equity = 1. the application of the dictates of
conscience or the principles of natural
justice to the settlement of controversies;
2. a system of jurisprudence or a body of
doctrines and rules developed in England
and followed in the United States, serving
as supplement and remedy the limitations
and the inflexibility of the common law
trust = a fiduciary relationship in which one
Limba engleză 13
14. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
person (the trustee) holds the title to
property (the trust estate or trust property)
for the benefit of the other (the beneficiary)
gown = official or uniform robe of various shapes
worn by judge, lawyer, clergyman, college
tort = a wrongful act, not including a breach of
contract or trust, which results in injury to
another's person, property, reputation, or
the like, and for which the injured party is
entitled to compensation
Synonyms:
to divide = to separate
occasion = opportunity
to maintain = to keep up
artificial = synthetic
to spend = to disburse
Activity 2
1. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Tense (Simple or Continuous) :
1. I (to go) to school yesterday when (to see) a house on fire.
2. It (to snow) heavily when he (to wake) up.
3. He (to remember) that his friend (to come) for lunch and (to decide) to
prepare the meal.
4. He (to meet) her as he (to cross) the bridge.
5. He (to run) in the street when he (to fall) and (to break) his leg.
6. When I (to get up) this morning it (to be) so late that the sun (to shine)
high in the sky.
7. " What you (to do) between 9.00 and 10.00 yesterday?" (to ask) the
detective.
8. When I (to reach) the house my brothers (to discuss) about the holidays.
9. He (not to see) me as he (to read) a book when I (to come) into the room.
10. Somebody (to play) Paganini and all of us (to stop) to listen.
Limba engleză 14
15. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
11. A traffic warden (to stick) a parking ticket to my wind screen when I (to
come) back to the car.
12. We (to have) lunch when the telephone (to ring).
13. I (to learn) English when I (to live) in USA.
14. My cousins (to arrive) just as the train (to leave) the station.
15. Liam (to say) that he (to come) to see me the next day.
2. Translate into English:
1. Soarele strălucea puternic, păsările cântau, era o zi superbă de primăvară.
2. Cifra de afaceri a acestei companii anul trecut a fost de două ori mai mare
decât cea din anul precedent.
3. Cine era proprietarul fermei pe care aţi vizitat-o?
4. Ieri pe vremea aceasta mă duceam la birou.
5. A plouat mult anul trecut în Romania?
6. Era singură la ora aceea pentru că fratele ei era la şcoală, mama ei făcea
cumpărăturile iar tatăl ei lucra în gradină.
7. Cu cine vorbeai la telefon ieri când am intrat în cameră?
8. Ieri a plouat toată ziua aşa că am stat acasă şi m-am uitat la televizor.
3. Put the verbs in brackets in the Present Perfect (Simple or Continuous):
l. We (to walk) ten kilometres.
2. The police (to look) for Billy for three months.
3. We (to walk) for three hours.
4. Billy (to eat) ten ice-creams.
5. He (to sleep) since ten o'clock, I think it's time for him to wake up.
6. I (to work) for him for ten years.
7. It (to rain) for ten hours. I hope it will stop till everybody gets crazy!
8. He (to hope) for a rise in salary for six months but he (not to dare) to ask
for it yet.
9. I (to try) to open this door for half an hour.
10. My sister (to change) a lot lately.
11. We (to wait) for Susan since dawn, but she (not to come) home yet.
Limba engleză 15
16. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
12. He (to sleep) for three hours.
13. I (not to see) her for ages.
14. He (to throw) stones at the wrong windows. His friend lives next door.
15. He (to be) in prison for a year.
16. You (to stare) at me for 5 minutes!
17. He is not home, he just (to leave).
18. I never (to read) such a beautiful story. You should publish it!
19. My friend (to translate) legislation since 1998.
20. I (to try) to get in touch with him for a week.
4. Translate into English:
Planificarea mijloacelor de comunicare
Pentru a face publicitate în mod eficient, nu este suficientă creativitatea.
Pentru susţinerea unei campanii trebuie de asemenea selectate şi planificate
mijloacele de comunicare corespunzătoare. Pentru aceasta, trebuie ca în
primul rând să fie eliminate mijloacele de comunicare inadecvate, apoi
trebuie să fie selecţionate acelea care vor fi utilizate şi, în cele din urmă,
trebuie să fie evaluate diversele combinaţii între mijlocul de comunicare
principal al campaniei şi celelalte, cu scopul de a stabili combinaţia finală.
Prima etapă este relativ simplă: unele mijloace de comunicare nu sunt
adecvate în anumite cazuri (televiziunea sau posterele pentru o campanie
industrială) sau sunt interzise prin lege (televiziunea pentru băuturi alcoolice,
tutun, cărţi...).
Cea de-a doua este mai delicată, necesitând o cunoaştere aprofundată a
caracteristicilor şi posibilităţilor fiecărui mijloc de comunicare în parte.
Un anumit număr de criterii vor fi de ajutor în procesul de selecţie:
• Compatibilitatea cu publicul vizat: sunt indispensabile datele furnizate de
anchetele întocmite de organizaţiile de specialitate asupra structurii
cantitative şi calitative a publicului.
• Compatibilitatea cu produsul: fie pentru că sunt adaptate la marele public
(televiziunea) sau, dimpotrivă, la o piaţă „confidenţială" (superspecializată);
fie pentru că mesajul trebuie să ajungă la cumpărători la un anumit moment
(emisiuni difuzate la ore târzii de noapte pentru noctambulii consumatori de
alcool).
• Compatibilitatea cu tipul de comercializare: afişajul este foarte adecvat
pentru distribuţia în masă.
• Stilul mesajelor: dacă vrem să transmitem un mesaj conotativ, să sugerăm
o idee sau o stare de spirit, vom alege radioul, televiziunea sau chiar şi
afişajul. Dacă vrem, dimpotrivă, să convingem, să-i facem pe oameni să
Limba engleză 16
17. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
gândească, vom opta pentru un mesaj denotativ în presa scrisă.
• Timpul de reacţie preconizat: unele mijloace de comunicare provoacă o
reacţie mai rapidă decât altele, dar rapiditatea rimează adesea cu efemerul.
Key (exercise 4):
Media-planning
To advertise effectively, creativeness is not enough. To build up a campaign,
it is also necesţsary to select and plan the appropiate media. Accordingly,
one must fîrst eliminate irrelevant media, then select those one is going to
use, and lastly assess the various combinations that can be achieved between
the main campaign medium and the other media, so as to determine the final
mix.
The fîrst step is relatively easy: some media are not suitable in such or such a
case (TV, posters for an industrial campaign), or are legally banned (TV for
alcoholic drinks, tobacco, books...).
The second is more delicate, and requires an in-depth knowledge of each
medium's features and performances. Certain criteria will help in the
selection process:
• Compatibility with the target audience: the data obtained from surveys
conducted by professional organizations on the quantitative and qualitative
structure of the audience are indispensable.
• Compatibility with the product: either because they are geared to the
general public (TV), or on the contrary to a "confidenţial" market (hyper-
specialized market); or because purchasers have to be reached at specific
moments (night-programmes for alcohol-drinking night-owls).
• Compatibility with the type of commercialization: posters are eminently
suitable for mass distribution.
• Style of messages: if one wants to express connotative notions, to suggest
an idea or a mood one will select radio, the cinema, television or even
posters. If, on the contrary one wants to convince, to get people to think, one
will opt for a denotative message in the printed press.
• Expected response-time: some media generate faster reactions than others,
but fast is often synonymous with short-lived!
Limba engleză 17
18. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
Summary
This chapter has approached the Verb and a part of its tenses – Present Tense
Simple and Continuous, Past Tense Simple and Continuous, Present Perfect
Simple and Continuous, Past Perfect Simple and Continuous. You have been
given the definition of aspects and of each tense and also the similarities and
s
dissimilarities between these tenses in English and Romanian. Moreover, you
have read and translated various texts, thus learning new words and phrases, in
,
the same time practising the grammar notions that have been taught.
Self-assessment tests
assessment
1. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Tense (Simple or Continuous) or
Present Perfect (Simple or Continuous):
1. I (to leave) here since 1973 since my parents (to buy) this house.
2. He (to live) in Bucharest for two years and then he (to go) to Mangalia.
3. Shakespeare (to write) a lot of plays.
4. My secretary (to type) letters since 8 o'clock this morning but she (to finish)
only three of them so far.
5. My children (to go) to cinema three hours ago and they (not to come) back
they
yet.
6. I (not to see) him for twenty years, since we (to be) children.
7. I can't go home because I (not to finish) my work yet.
8. He (not to play) football since he (to break) his leg.
9. You (to see) the moon last night ?
10. They (to arrive) late last night, so I (not to tell) them the truth yet.
1 l. The Second World War (to last) for four years.
12. How long you (to know) your boss?
13. Where else (to be) since you (to arrive) in Bucharest?
14. I (to listen) to your speech on radio yesterday, and I have to confess that I
speech
never (to listen) to something like this in all my life.
15. You (to go) there last week?
19. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
2. Translate into English, using Present Tense Simple and Continuous, Past
Tense Simple and Continuous and Present Perfect Simple and Continuous:
l. Firma lui a dat faliment şi el nu şi-a găsit încă un alt post de contabil.
2. Unde ai fost?
3. De când eşti aici?
4. N-am mai văzut-o de trei ani.
5. Numeroase sucursale ale băncilor comerciale s-au deschis în ultimii doi ani.
6. Claudiu a venit de la şcoală la ora 12 şi de atunci vorbeşte la telefon cu
colegul lui de bancă.
7. Mama tocmai a plecat.
8. Am cumpărat maşina noastră cea nouă acum trei ani, dar de atunci am tot
reparat câte ceva la ea.
9. N-am văzut niciodată Jamaica.
10. Ieri pe când veneam acasă a început să plouă torenţial.
11. In cursul ultimului an profitul net al societăţii s-a dublat.
12. Vă cunoaşteţi ?
13. Am primit această carte când am împlinit zece ani.
14. Anul trecut ai vizitat Anglia, acum doi ani ai vizitat Franţa iar acum abia te-
ai întors din Germania. N-ai obosit să te tot plimbi ?
4. Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Perfect Continuous:
1. I (to work) for that company for a year when they merge with CMB in 1999.
2. They (to sail) for a fortnight when they finally saw an island.
3. By that time she (to play) the piano for two hours.
4. When she reached the office, the General manger and the American team (to
negotiate) for an hour without reaching an agreement.
5. After we (to run) for an hour we felt terribly hungry.
6. I wondered what she (to do) all that time.
7. In 1995 they (to live) in Romania for three years.
8. He (to watch) TV for an hour when you got home, hadn't he?
9. You (to sleep) for three hours when I came in.
Limba engleză 19
20. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
10. The manager (to wait) for you for half an hour when you finally arrived.
5. Read and translate the following texts:
A. Mohammed knocks at classroom door
Fran Abrams
Yusuf Islam, formerly the pop star Cat Stevens, has been trying for more than
10 years to get state funding for the Muslim school he founded. Now, at last, he
glimpses success. Tomorrow, architects from the official Funding Agency for
Schools visit the Islamia school in north London, to check whether its
buildings and facilities make it worthy of state support.
If the school is successful – the final decision rests with Gillian Shephard, the
Secretary of State for Education – Islamia, with 300 pupils and a waiting list of
1,000, will be the first state supported Muslim school, enjoying similar status
to hundreds of Church of England and Roman Catholic schools. For many
Muslim parents, the day when their right to such schools is accepted cannot
come soon enough, their growing assertiveness over how their children are
educated has stretched their relations with secular schools to breaking point.
As the new year began, 1,500 Muslims in West Yorkshire refused to send their
children to the Christian assemblies which the law demands. A few weeks later
it was revealed that a Birmingham primary school was offering Muslim
religious education after the withdrawal of most of its pupils from the
Christian-dominated lessons.
Conflicts such as these are bound to multiply. Britain has about 400,000
Muslim children of school age and, according to some estimates, there could be
a million by 2000. Today’s Muslim parents are demanding that school adapt to
accommodate their beliefs, and they are doing so with a force and a confidence
that their own parents lacked.
The Independent,
February 11th, 1996
B. Flooding out, trickling in
It’s impossible to underestimate the explosive impact within the Jewish
community of the survey this week showing that nearly half of British Jewish
men under 40 are marrying non-Jews. This is the statistical evidence which
proves the predictions of prominent Jewish academics such as Bernard
Wassertein and Norman Cantor that the Orthodox Jewish diaspora will be
reduced to a few pockets of Amish-style believers over the next century. (…)
The male intermarriage rate is the crucial statistic because the Orthodox Jewish
identity is passed exclusively through the maternal line. For the ultra-Orthodox,
Limba engleză 20
21. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
it doesn’t matter how Jewish your father or his family are, only one thing
counts, the blood of your mother, if a male Jew marries out, his children are
“lost”. These grim figures from the Institute of Church affairs will force the
mainstream Orthodox Jewish community to focus on something they have
stubbornly ducked: whether they want to draw back into the fold any of the
“lost Jews”, and do they want to convert the non-Jewish wives?
While Christians and Muslims have celebrated dramatic stories of conversion
with before and after comparisons, Jews never discuss the subject. It is
considered tactless to mention that someone has converted; as Ruth, a convert,
put it, it is like “reminding someone they used to be an alcoholic”. In Islam, the
process is simple, one statement and you’re a Muslim, but to become a Jew
takes years of examination by religious judges.
The Guardian,
February 17th, 1996
C. Customs team seizes £ 50 m cocaine cargo
by Stewart Tendle
Customs and police investigators yesterday seized 250 kg of cocaine worth £
50 million which was hidden in a consignment of fresh flowers.
In a classic «sting» operation, undercover officers posed as British buyers for
the drug and traveled to Colombia. The Colombians also sent negotiators to
meet them in Britain. According to one report, Greater Manchester police
borrowed £ 2 million to show the Colombians that the undercover men were
acting in good faith.
The cocaine arrived from Amsterdam last week and is the largest single
importation of the drug by air. Its seizure at Manchester airport marked the end
of a four-month customs operation codenamed Begonia. The haul was found in
six boxes among a cargo of flowers. Neither the exporter nor the importer of
the flowers knew what they concealed. Once the consignment landed, armed
police and customs officers moved in to a warehouse and arrested two
Colombians. A national intelligence drive is currently monitoring possible
Colombian drug infiltration. The national criminal intelligence service in
London has established a database of suspicious sightings in Britain with the
help of local police forces, immigration officials and customs officials.
Pat Cadogan, an assistant chief investigator, said yesterday: «We have broken
an attempt by a major cocaine importer to set up a distribution network in the
North West of England. We must have destroyed their credibility in the UK
and a seizure of this kind must be a major setback for them.»
The Times,
January 18th, 1994
Limba engleză 21
22. Alina Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)
Bibliography
Brookes, Michael, Horner, E. (2002) Business English. Engleza pentru afaceri
afaceri.
Bucureşti: Ed. Teora.
Brookes, Michael. (2003). Engleza pentru jurişti. Bucureşti: Ed. Teora.
ti:
Chifu, Iulian (2004). Identity Conflicts. Bucure Politeia-SNSPA.
Bucureşti: SNSPA.
Chirălescu, M., Paidos C. (2005). Proficiency in English. Institutul European.
lescu,
Cook, J., Gethin, A. (1995). A New Way to Proficiency in English Oxford.
English.
Dayan, A., Lindsay, W.H. (2000). Engleza pentru marketing si publicitate.
ngleza publicitate
Bucureşti: Editura Teora.
ti:
Delgiudice, Luminita (1999). Fifty Useful Tests in English Bucureşti: Ed.
English.
Aramis.
Demazet, Bertrand (1999). Engleza comertului exterior. Bucure
Bucureşti: Editura
Teora.
Gălăţeanu-Fârnoag G. (2000). Limba engleză în conversatie. Bucureşti: Ed.
Fârnoagă,
Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică.
Enciclopedic
Gheorghitoiu, Andreea. (1998). Dictionar englez-roman de verbe cu particula
roman
adverbiala. Bucureşti: Teora.
. Bucure
Hanga Calciu, Rodica (1996). Crestomatie de texte juridice engleze. Bucure
Bucureşti:
Ed. Lumina Lex.
Hanga, Vladimir (2000). Dictionar juridic englez-roman. Bucure
Bucureşti: Lumina
Lex.
Health, R.B. (2002). Impact Assignments in English. London: Longman.
Hulban H. (1997). English for You. Iaşi: Ed. Răzeşu.
Le Divenach, Eloi (2005). Engleza in presa. Bucureşti: Editura Teora.
ti:
Lupuleasa, R. (2004). Ready for Exams. Bucureşti: Editura Polirom.
ti:
Marie-Claude, Roland (2000). CV in limba engleza.Un pas spre angajare.
Claude, angajare
Bucureşti: Editura Teora.
ti:
Martin, M. Combe (2000). Listening and Comprehending. Macmillan.
Mihaescu, Alexandra (2007). Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucure
. Bucureşti: Editura
Niculescu.
Molnar Oprea, Nicoleta (2000). Curs de limba engleza pentru studentii
facultatilor cu profil juridic. Bucureşti: Ed. All Educational.
juridic
Oprescu, Simona (1999). Engleza pentru jurişti. Bucureşti: Ed. Oscar Print.
ti:
Peters, Jo-Ann (2004). Let’s Learn English. Metodă Larousse de înv
Ann învăţare a
limbii engleze. Bucureşti: Editura Teora.
.
Rusu, Liliana (2001). Limba engleza pentru studentii facultatii de drept.
drept
Bucureşti: Ed. Sylvi.
ti: