Tense and Voice(时态和语态)

Tense and Voice 时态和语态

I. Tense

By tense, we mean a grammatical category indicating when and how a stated action takes

place. In theories of modern linguistics, English has two tenses, present and past; and two aspects,

progressive and perfect. But more prevailing in China’s EFL teaching is a traditional view that the

tense contains two concepts, time and aspect. The former includes past, present, future, and past

future; while the latter covers simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. In consequence,

it is generally believed that there are sixteen tenses in the English language. Another important

point about tense in English is that different tenses are indicated by different verb forms, involving

the use of auxiliary verbs. In the Chinese language, however, there is no grammatical tense and the

time reference is expressed by adverbials, phrases of time, and so forth. The following table shows

clearly what verb form should be used for each tense. (The verb “write” is taken for example.)

time aspect simple

write/writes

wrote

shall/will

write

should/would

write

continuous

am/is/are writing

was/were writing

shall/will be

writing

should/would be

writing

perfect

have/has written

had written

shall/will have

written

should/would

have written

prefect continuous

have/has been writing

had been writing

shall/will have been

writing

should/would have

been writing

present

past

future

past future

After we know what verb forms are used for different tenses, a new question is facing us: in

what situations should we use each tense? This question is of great significance because only a

good understanding of it can lead language learners to proficiency in the use of verbs.

1.1 The Present Tenses

The Simple Present Tense is often used to denote an action which takes place frequently at

the present time, or a present existence or state of affairs that the subject is in. It should also be

borne in mind that a future action arranged according to the schedule and one in adverbial clauses

of time, condition, or concession both call for a verb in its simple present tense. Furthermore, this

tense can be used for scientific statements and proverbs, in which an eternal truth is illuminated, or

for sports commentaries, news titles, stage or picture descriptions, plot introductions, and so on.

(1) He often surfs on the Internet for a great variety of information.

(他经常上网获取各种各样的信息。)

There exist all kinds of lotteries in our society.

(我们的社会中有各种。)

It is easier to make a hundred watches agree than ten women.

(一百只手表易统一，十个女人难一致。)

Water boils at 100℃, and freezes at 0℃.

(水100摄氏度沸腾，0摄氏度结冰。)

Our trip starts from Taiyuan today and finishes up in Hong Kong in ten days.

(我们的旅程今天从太原出发，十天之后在香港结束。)

Chinese tennis faces uphill task at London Olympics.

(在伦敦奥运会上中国网球面对艰巨任务。)

In his play Shakespeare makes his characters live through their language.

(莎士比亚在话剧中通过语言使人物鲜活起来。)

Sam and Molly are a very happy couple and deeply in love. Walking back to their new

apartment after a night out at the theatre, they encounter a thief in a dark alley, and Sam is

murdered.

(山姆和莫莉是幸福的一对，彼此深爱对方。一天晚上，他们看戏归来，在回新公寓的路上遇到歹徒，山姆遇害了。)

The Present Continuous Tense is commonly used for an event that is taking place

simultaneously with the speech, or a repeated action that is in progress during the present period.

Another important use of this tense is that it can be used to express a plan in the near future. We

should also note that the use of adverbs of frequency in the Present Continuous Tense can indicate

a strong emotional feeling, such as compliment, anger, sympathy, dissatisfaction and curiosity.

(2) We are having a party to celebrate Jesse’s eighteenth birthday.

(我们正在举办一个派对为杰西庆祝十八岁生日。)

He is preparing for the coming examination these days.

(这些天他正在为即将来临的考试做准备。)

I am considering accepting your suggestion at present.

(我现在正考虑接受你的建议。)

I’m seeing my brother off at the station this afternoon.

(今天下午我要去车站为我哥哥送行。)

She is always borrowing money and forgetting to pay you back.

(她总是借钱，却忘了还。)

He is constantly disturbing me while I am at work.

(他不断地在我工作时打扰我。)

You are perpetually thinking of others first.

(你总是先考虑别人。)

The Present Perfect Tense basically refers to a past occurrence that has no specified time

indication but bears a relation with the present, or a state that started in the past, and continues up

to the present. It should be remembered all the time that a non-terminative verb is required for its

reference to a durative state.

(3) So far, our factory has produced about eighteen million cars.

(至今我们厂已生产了1800万辆汽车。)

In the past twelve months the research members have studied the effectiveness of many

materials in a home building.

(在最近十二个月以来，研究员们研究了众多家装材料的有效性。)

His first novel has received good reviews since it came out last month.

(他的首部小说自上月出版以来收到了好评。)

I have been and always will be conscious of my moral obligations as a citizen.

(我一直并将永远意识到作为一个公民的道德义务。)

The Present Perfect Tense is often meant to show a state that started in the past and continues

up to the present, which is similar to the Present Perfect Tense, but this tense has an implication

that the state will still go on or has just come to an end.

(4) Tom has been working in the library every night over the last three months.

(近三个月来，汤姆每天晚上都在图书馆工作。)

I have to see the doctor because I have been coughing a lot lately.

(最近我一直咳嗽得非常厉害，得去看医生。)

For some time now, world leaders have been pointing out the necessity for agreement on

arms reduction.

(一段时间以来，世界领导人不断指出就裁减军备达成一致的必要性。)

1.2 The Past Tenses

The Simple Past Tense normally indicates a past habitual action or state of affairs, or an event

that took place at a particular time in the past.

(4) When I was a boy, I often played basketball with my friends.

(小时候，我经常和伙伴们一起打篮球。)

He finished his university studies at the age of twenty.

(他在20岁时就完成了大学学业。)

In 1492, Columbus landed on one of the Bahama Islands, but mistook it for an island off

India.

(哥伦布于1492年在巴哈马岛的一个岛登陆，但他却误以为是印度洋沿岸的一个岛。)

The last half of the nineteenth century witnessed the steady improvement of the means of

travel.

(在19世纪的下叶旅行方式有了稳定的提高。)

The Past Continuous Tense is used to denote a state at a particular point of time or a repeated

action through a period in the past. It can also help us express a plan in the past.

(6) I walked slowly through the market, where people were selling all kinds of fruits and

vegetables.

(我慢慢地穿过市场，那里正卖着各种各样的水果和蔬菜。)

I was working on my graduation paper last year, and it’s still a long way to complete it.

(去年我一直在写我的毕业论文，还需继续努力一段时间才能完成。)

We were driving along the river when the car ran out of petrol.

(我们正开车沿河而行，这是油却耗尽了。)

When we talk about an action that happened before a particular time in the past, we may turn

to the use of the Past Perfect Tense. Quite clearly, this tense can also refer to a durative state that

continued up to a particular time in the past.

(7) We arrived at work in the morning and found that somebody had broken into the office

during the night.

(今天早晨我们到达办公室的时候发现前天夜里有人曾破门而入。)

Last month, the Japanese government expressed their thanks for the aid they had received

from China.

(上个月，日本政府向中国给予他们的援助表达了谢意。)

Before the first non-stop flight made in 1949, it had been necessary for all planes to land

for refueling.

(在1949年第一次直达飞行实现之前，所有飞机都需要着陆再次加油。)

By using the Past Perfect Continuous Tense, we can describe a durative state which

continued up to a particular time in the past with an implication that the state might go on or had

just ended.

(8) When Alice came to, she did not know how long she had been lying there.

(当爱丽丝恢复知觉的时候，她不知道在那儿已经躺了多久了。)

He said he felt bad because he had been sitting up late the night before.

(他说他觉得不舒服因为前天夜里他熬夜到很晚。)

1.3 The Future Tenses

The Simple Future Tense often refers to an event that takes place at a particular time in the

future. It should be noticed that British people prefer to use the auxiliary verb “shall” for the first

person as the subject, whereas Americans always use “will” for all persons. Besides, there are

some other constructions that can be used for a future action, for instance, “am/is/are +going to

+v.”, “am/is/are about to + v.” “am/is/are to + v.” and “am/is/are on the point/verge/eve/brink of

v-ing.”

(9) She will graduate from Harvard University next year.

(明年她将从哈佛大学毕业。)

Who is going to take care of the child while you are away?

(你不在的时候谁来照顾孩子呢？)

The lecture is about to begin in five minutes.

(讲座5分钟之后就开始。)

You are to finish all your homework before you watch TV.

(你务必完成所有作业再看电视。)

Scientists are on the verge of making greater progress in the treatment of cancer.

(科学家们将会在癌症方面的研究上取得更大的进展。)

The Future Continuous Tense can be used to indicate a state at a particular point of time or a

repeated action through a period in the future. What is more important is that this tense is often

used to ask for another person’s intention or plan, which appears more polite than the Simple

Future Tense.

(10) I will be attending a lecture on British literature at this time of tomorrow.

(明天的这个时候我将正在参加一个关于英国文学的讲座。)

You will be experiencing quite a different culture in London.

(在伦敦你将会体验一个完全不同的文化。)

If you plant watermelon seeds in the spring, you will be eating fresh watermelon in the

fall.

(如果你在春天播种西瓜种子，在秋天你就能品尝新鲜的西瓜。)

He will not be speaking at the meeting tomorrow because he has suddenly fallen ill.

(他在明天的会议上不发言了，因为他突然生病了。)

Will you be working as a teacher after graduation?

(毕业后你会成为一名教师吗？)

The Future Perfect Tense denotes an action prior to a particular time in the future or a

durative state which will continue up to a particular time in the future.

(11) On her next birthday, Ann will have been married for twenty years.

(安在下次生日的时候，她将已经是结婚20年了。)

By the end of next month, I will have saved enough for a small apartment.

(到下个月底，我将攒够足够的钱能买一座小的公寓。)

I hope that her health will have improved greatly by the time we come back next year.

(我希望我们明年回来的时候她的健康状况能有很大的改善。)

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense can be used for a durative state which will continue up

to a particular time in the future. It is possible that the state will continue or will have just come to

an end.

(12) It will have been snowing for five days if it snows again tomorrow.

(如果明天在下雪，就连着下了5天了。)

We will have been working on the talent show for almost twelve hours when it ends.

(我们将忙这个才艺展示几乎12个小时它才结束。)

1.4 The Past Future Tenses (The Future Tenses in the Past)

All the four future tenses in the past are commonly used for future actions or states of affairs

from the perspective of a particular time in the past, and more often than not, they appear in

indirect speeches, or for hypothetical use.

(13) He refused to tell us whether he would undertake the job.

(他拒绝告诉我们他是否承担这个工作。)

Did you predict that many students would sign up for the dance competition?

(你预测到这么多学生会报名参加这个舞蹈比赛了吗？)

I was on the point of leaving when you arrived.

(你到的时候我正准备离开。)

He said that he would be having a meeting the next morning.

(他说他于次日早晨有一个会议。)

We would have put John’s name on the race list yesterday but for his recent injury.

(要不是约翰最近手上，我们就会让他的名字进入比赛名单里。)

II. Voice

Voice is a grammatical category to demonstrate the relationship between the subject and the

action that the predicator refers to. A general view is that the English language has two voices,

active voice and passive voice. The former means that the subject is the performer (agent) of the

action indicated by the predicator; however the latter reveals that the subject is the recipient

(patient) of the action. It is believed that active voice requires no specific verb forms, whereas

passive voice usually takes the form of “the auxiliary verb be + v-ed”.

(14) Jim invited Tom to the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man. (active)

(吉姆邀请汤姆去看《超凡蜘蛛侠》的首映式。)

Tom was invited by Jim to the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man. (passive)

(汤姆被吉姆邀请去看《超凡蜘蛛侠》的首映式。)

As we can see, both the sentences, despite their difference in voice, convey almost the same

meaning, but differ in verb forms for the predicator, which is considered by many people to be the

only difference between the two voices. However, focus is a more important difference. An active

sentence chiefly focuses on the agent, laying greater stress upon the subjective will or function of

the agent; while a passive sentence focuses on the recipient rather than the agent, so passive voice

supplies more objectivity for sentences. This also leads to their distinguished difference in style,

for which passive voice is very common in scientific writing, legal literature, news reports, and so

on.

Theoretically, passive voice can be used in all tenses, demanding different verb forms, but

the fact is that it merely appears in ten tenses. The following table will display the different verb

forms of passive voice in different tenses. (The verb “write” is taken for example.)

time aspect simple

am/is/are

written

was/were

written

shall/will be

written

should/would

be written

continuous

am/is/are being

written

was/were being

written

perfect

have/has been

written

had been written

shall/will have been

written

should/would have

been written

prefect continuous

present

past

future

past future

(15) All visitors to this village are treated with kindness. (simple present)

(这个村庄的所有来客都被善待。)

All flights were canceled because of the snowstorm. (simple past)

(由于暴风雪所有的航班被取消了。)

In the near future, more advances in the robot technology will be made by scientists.

(simple future)

(在不久的将来，科学家们在机器人技术上会取得更大的进步。)

The discovery of gold in Australia led thousands to believe that a fortune would be made.

(past future)

(在澳洲发现金子致使成千上万的人相信去那里会发财的。)

Traditional folk arts like paper cutting are being exhibited at the culture show of the

World Expo. (present continuous)

(像剪纸这样的传统民间艺术正在世博会的文化展中展览。)

The attackers were arrested and didn’t know where they were being taken.

(past continuous)

(袭击者被逮捕了，不知道正在被带往何处。)

In the last few years thousands of films have been produced all over the world.

(present perfect)

(在近几年里全球有成千上万的电影被制作。)

Experiments of this kind had been conducted in both the U.S. and Europe well before the

Second World War. (past perfect)

(这种实验于二战之前就已经在美国和欧洲有所进展。)

Ten candidates will have been interviewed by lunch time. (future perfect)

(在午餐时间之前将会有10名候选人被面试。)

He promised that the task would have been completed by the following week.

(past future perfect)

(他承诺过这个任务在下周将会被完成。)

Although the auxiliary verb be is used in most passive sentences, the verb get sometimes

takes its place. For all the nuances between them in meaning, the two structures are

interchangeable in most cases.

(16) These days, many drivers got punished because of their carelessness.

These days, many drivers were punished because of their carelessness.

(目前，许多司机因粗心而遭到惩罚。)

Still we ought to familiarize ourselves with the passive constructions for some special

predicator forms, such as dative verbs, factitive verbs, phrasal verbs, or verbs containing a modal.

(17) We were shown many different examples of autonomic learning.

Many different examples of autonomic learning were shown to us.

(我们被展示了许多不同的自主学习的范例。)

This law is intended to reduce the number of accidents caused by children running across

the road when they get off the bus.

(这条法律意在减少因儿童下公交车后跑过马路引起的事故的数量。)

The old and the disabled are well taken care of by our government.

(老人和残疾人都受到我们政府很好的照顾。)

Orchestral instruments can be grouped under the following types: strings, woodwind,

brass, and percussion.

(管弦乐器可以分为下列几类：弦类乐器、木管乐器、铜管乐器和打击乐器。)

It cannot be ignored that there are still two other problems worthy of considerable attention.

One is that some verbs are often used in such a construction “It is v-ed that…”, including accept,

acknowledge, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, estimate, expect, find, hope, know,

presume, recommend, remember, report, rumor, say, suggest, suppose, think, understand, and so

on. The other is that some verbs can express a passive meaning in their active forms, either in

simple or continuous aspect, for example, bind, carry, clean, cut, drive, dry, iron, lock, open, read,

show, shut, translate, wash, wear, write, bake, beat, brew, cook, build, print, sell, and so forth.

(18) It is said that anger does great harm to health. (据说生气对健康有害。)

It is recommended that college students should be provided with some courses on

employment.

(建议给大学生开设一些关于就业方面的课程。)

It must be remembered that wealth does not necessarily lead to happiness.

(必须牢记财富并不一定能带来幸福。)

This kind of pens writes smoothly.

(这种钢笔写起来很顺畅。)

Shirts made from cotton wear comfortably.

(棉质的衬衫穿起来很舒服。)