Tense Acquisition of Verbs and EA in Senior High School

【Abstract】Although English learning in China has undergone a series of reforms on the whole， English grammar teaching is still in a time-consuming and inefficient state. Why do students still make a lot of grammar mistakes？ How to solve these grammatical errors？ This paper starts with the acquisition of English verb tenses and EA in Senior High School and summarizes the forms and meanings of verb tenses so as to improve grammar learning in senior high schools.

【Key words】Verb； EA； Present tense； Past tense

【作者簡介】李琬琦（2001.10-），女，四川省成都市彭州中學。

Although English learning in China has undergone a series of reforms on the whole， English grammar teaching is still in a time-consuming and inefficient state. Why do students still make a lot of grammar mistakes？ How to solve these grammatical errors？ Starting from the acquisition of English verb tenses， this paper summarizes the forms and meanings of verb tenses in order to find ways to reduce grammatical errors and improve the efficiency of English grammar learning.

1. Tense Acquisition of Verbs in Senior High School

1.1 The Present Times and Past Times

It Indicates a current regular or habitual action （ not a specific action ）； to express an eternal fact or universal truth； indicate that present characteristic or state； Express the past. if indirect speech is objective fact or truth， although the predicate of the main sentence is a past tense， the verbs in the speech can still be used in the present tense.

E.g. Sometimes we often play basketball after school.

The earth moves round the sun.

I am glad to see you again.

Our geography teacher said that the earth is round.

In special questions （ except those guided by WHEN ）， the general present tense is often used to indicate the past.

E.g. Why are you so late？

On the other hand it can also indicate the future. Some future arrangement that will not be changed easily is often used with adverbial of future time， such verbs as go， come， fall， arrive， leave， begin， start， meet； The general present tense in the clauses that are guided by conjunctions is used to indicate the future such as if， unless， when， until， after， before， as soon as， the moment.

E.g. my mother comes back next week.

I will tell him all about it as soon as （the moment） he comes back.

Generally speaking， the past tense indicates the action or the existing situation at a certain time in the past. It is often used with adverbial clauses indicating the past time， such as A Week Ago， Yesterday， Last Month， etc. and the adverbial clauses of time guided by the conjunction WHEN， etc. Meanwhile it also indicates actions that occurred frequently or repeatedly in the past and can be used with the adverbial of time： often； Used to， followed by verb prototype， also indicates the actions that often and repeatedly occurred in the past.

E.g. a. When he was a boy， he often asked a lot of strange questions.

b. His father used to go to work on foot.（ used to means “ used to be so often in the past but not now” and only used in the past ）

c. He graduated from No.2 Middle School in 1980.

d. When Tom was young， he would work on the farm.

1.2 The Future Times and the Past Future Times

Generally speaking， the future time indicates the actions and situations that will occur， and the future time can be indicated by the adverbial of time or determined by the context. （Will can be used for all people， and Shall is used for the first person in British English. ）； indicating a tendency or habitual action；

E.g. I will （shall） do it again tomorrow.

E.g. Whenever I have time I will come to see you.

It indicates the actions and situations that will take place. There are other tenses and structures besides the general future.

Indicating a future arrangement that will not be changed easily， it is often used with adverbials indicating future time. These verbs are go， come， fall， arrive， leave， begin， start， meet， stay， etc.

E.g. He comes back next week.

The recent arrangement of things are to be done according to plan （ often there is an adverbial to indicate the future time ） such as come， go， leave， start， arrive， return， work， play， stay， dine， etc.

E.g. He is leaving for America next month.

I am dining out in the evening.

“be going to + verb” means the intention and being ready to do or having something to happen； “be about to + verb” indicates （ as planned ） the action or situation that is about to happen.

E.g. I am going to travel this summer.

Dark clouds are gathering. Its going to rain.

He is about to retire.

The meeting is about to begin.

The Past Future Times is based on a certain time in the past and looks at what will happen in the future from the perspective of the past （ the form of the first-person followed by should + verb prototype is only used in Britain ）. In general， past future tense refers to the action or state of being that will occur at a certain time in the past， and is often used in object clauses.

E.g. She was thirty-eight then. In two years she would be forty.

Mr. Smith said there would be a concert that evening.

This tense can often indicate past habitual actions and be used to indicate “ wish” or “ inclination”， and is often used in shorthand to indicate “ reluctance” or “ no”.

E.g. Whenever she had time， she would practice speaking English with me.

Again and again I told my son to study hard， but he would not listen.

Be going to， be to， be about to and other words indicating the future can also indicate the past and future， but be must be used in the past formula

E.g. They were about to leave the office when the telephone rang.

1.3 The Present Continuous Tense and the Past Continuous Progress

The present continuous tense indicates the current or present ongoing action or occurrence.

E.g. We are eating more meat now than we used to.

Sometimes it can be used to express some kind of emotion instead of the ordinary present tense （ often with modifiers such as always， often， constantly， all the time， etc. ）.

E.g. a. He is always helping others. （ Commending ）

b. My younger brother is constantly losing keys

It can Indicate the future， the things scheduled to be done in the near future （there is often an adverbial that indicates the future time）， and the commonly used verbs are come， go， leave， start， arrive， return， work， play， stay， etc.

E.g. Are you staying here till next week？

Some verbs expressing thoughts， feelings or emotions are generally not used in the present continuous tense， such as know， believe， remember， forget， see， notice， hear， like， wish， love， want， etc. But when the meaning of these verbs changes， they can be used in the present continuous tense.

E.g. The doctor is feeling my pulse.

The Past Continuous Progress indicates an action in progress at a certain time or a period of time in the past. This particular past time can be expressed as an adverbial of time and should also be implied by context.

E.g. a. I was having breakfast at 7：30 this morning.

b. -What were you doing this time yesterday？

-I was mending my car.

c. He was reading a novel in the library this morning.

1.4 Present Perfect Tense and Past perfect tense

The basic feature of the present completion is that it indicates the action or state that continues from a certain time in the past to the present， usually using a continuous verb. For example： be， work， study， live， etc. are often used with adverbials indicating the length of time， such as for ten minutes， since 1985， all day， etc.， or with adverbials indicating the time： so far， such as so far， up to now， etc. It cant be used with an adverbial of time that clearly indicates the past time.

E.g. Where have you been all these years？ I hope you werent ill.

It Indicates the effect or result of an action that occurred in the past on the present and is often used with non-continuous verbs， such as begin， give， go， meet， see， etc. and often with uncertain adverbial of time， such as ready， year， once， twist， just， even， never， etc.

E.g. To tell you the truth， we have just visited that farm.

When the present is completed， it can indicate the past action， which has become an experience for the present and is often used with adverbs of frequency. For example： often， always， every week.

E.g. I have been to Shanghai Four Times

The present perfect tense is used in adverbial clauses caused by since， which usually use the past tense （ or a phrase indicating a certain time in the past ）.

E.g. I have worked in this factory since 1980.

In addition， the phrases up till now and so far all have the meaning of “so far”， and lately and recently “recently” are often used with the present completion.

E.g. So far （up till now） I have only read half the story.

I havent seen much of him recently （these days）.

Adverbs already， yet， just， never， ever and so on are also commonly used in the present completion.

E.g. I have never heard of such a terrible thing.

It is also often used with adverbial of a period of time following for when it is completed， but the verb must be continuous or state - indicating， and it cannot be used as an instantaneous verb （ adverbial or adverbial clause with since also follows this rule ）. For example： “His father has died for 10 years” can be expressed in the following ways：

E.g. His father has been dead for ten years. （ indicating state ）

It is ten years since his father died.

His father died ten years ago.

The Past perfect tense indicates an action or state starts from a certain time in the past and continues or continues to another time in the past. It is often used with continuous verbs， often with adverbials： for， since， by， when， and until， etc. indicating a period of time or beginning and ending.

E.g. She had only been here for ten minutes when Jim came in.

It Indicates that the action ended before a certain time in the past， usually used with non-continuous verbs.

When they got to the station， the train had already left.

There are two actions that both occurred in the past. The first action occurred when the past was completed， or was judged according to the context.

E.g. When he came home， he house had been burnt down.

Had meant， had Intended， had expected， had hoped and so on indicate that they were not realized in the past.

E.g. I had only expected 20 students to attend my lecture， but twice as many showed up.

In the sentence pattern containing hardly （ scarcely ） … when， no sooner ... than， the main sentence uses the past tense and the subordinate clause uses the general past tense.

E.g. We had scarcely （hardly） left the house when it began to rain.

2. Error Analysis （EA） in Tense Learning

The author believes that the main reasons for the tense confusion are as follows：

First， students simply regard English learning as negative transfer of mother tongue. The expression of Chinese parataxis mainly depends on lexical means， such as adding the words “yesterday”， “just now”， “is”， “has”， “has” and “wants” in the sentence. However， English is taut and tense meaning is fully integrated into the twists and turns of verbs. This difference causes English learners who are native speakers of Chinese to take care of one another when using tenses， only considering the addition of words and ignoring the expression of tenses.

Second， there is a lack of temporal awareness. The students do not form the tense consciousness of English expression in their thinking， and they have no time to consider whether the tense is correct or not in the instant expression of spoken English. Students awareness of tenses is rather vague， and they often wander among various tenses， especially when they encounter irregular verbs， they are more likely to mix tenses.

Third， the learning method is improper. Students only emphasize the fluency of language and neglect accuracy. In fact， accuracy should be concerned by students. As long as you say more， mistakes will gradually decrease. This learning principle directly leads to the phenomenon of making mistakes when you open your mouth.

The phenomenon of tense mixing mainly occurs between the general present tense and the general past tense， as well as between the general present tense and the general future tense. The situation of tense mixing among students of different levels is generally the same， and the situation of tense mixing will not be significantly improved with the improvement of students level.

3. Conclusion

Grammar is an important part of English language learning. The current situation of grammar teaching in senior high school is that teachers teaching ideas and practice are inconsistent. In classroom teaching， teachers still adopt the traditional teaching mode， do not consider students demands， do not interact with students， and do not understand students weak links in learning grammar. In the process of classroom teaching， the traditional way of explaining analytic grammar is used. Teachers and students do not interact and communicate with each other. Students only passively accept this spoon-fed output and do not actively seek knowledge. If learners do not attach importance to the development of grammar and syntax for a long time， it will be very difficult for them to make progress beyond a certain level. If they want to have a higher comprehensive ability of language use， it is urgent to attach importance to grammar learning.

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