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Ask for help > Past tenses in other languages
Past tenses in other languages
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cunliffe
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Past tenses in other languages
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Hi friends. I �m reading learned articles on the differences between Czech and English. They claim that there is only one past tense in Czech, when there are loads in English, simple past, perfect, etc, including using �would � as a past tense. I wonder how they can convey the nuances? Are any other languages like that? |
15 Dec 2012
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rio-ve-lana
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Yes, Russian or Belorussian for example. I think most Slavic languages have the same grammar.
In English I read the book yesterday and I have read the book already are two different forms but in Russian we have only one. I can give lots of examples, so it �s rather difficult to explain my students why the English need so many forms.
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15 Dec 2012
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ironik
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Turkish is also like that. We don �t have perfect tenses. The translation of perfect tenses to English is sometimes past simple, sometimes present continuous. That �s why our students have great difficulty in learning present and past perfect and their progressive forms are hell to them :) |
15 Dec 2012
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yanogator
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@ rio-ve-lana, I just sent you a PM, which might inspire you to change your reply. Bruce |
15 Dec 2012
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cunliffe
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@Bruce......Enigmatic! I �m sorry to go on, but: My cat licked the screen/she has licked it/ she has been licking it/she did lick it/she had licked it/she used to lick it/she would lick it ... there may be more! Can all these be translated in just one past tense in a Slavic language, or Russian or Turkish? |
15 Dec 2012
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ueslteacher
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I think, you, Slavic people, are forgetting that our verbs also have "kinds" i.e. there are forms of the same verb which convey the meaning of a completed action and an incomplete action, e. g. "Я читала книгу" (I was reading a book) and "Я прочитала книгу" (I read/have read a book). Sophia
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15 Dec 2012
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Sonn
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English verbs also have aspects. "Я читала книгу" (I was reading a book) and "Я прочитала книгу" (I read/have read a book). These are aspects. English verbs have 4 aspects (Indefinite, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous) and in Russian there are only two aspects (Indefinite, which also includes the moment of speaking, and Perfect), that is the reason of the difficulties.
Besides we don �t have a present form of the Perfect aspect. We expess it by means of the Past (Perfect) form.
As I have already mentioned, we have only two aspects, but the other English aspects can be expressed in other ways.
The most common way is using prefixes and suffixes and changing the stem of the verb. (шла (Past Cont.), ходила (Past Ind.), пришла (Present Perfect or Past Perfect), проходила/прождала or ходила/ждала весь/целый день or ходила-ходила/ ждала-ждала весь/целый день (Past Perfect Continuous).
The other way is using some particular words. (шла вчера, пришла до того, как; уже пришла тогда; я так долго искала)
BTW, some verbs in Russian do have the Continuous form:
плыву(right now) плаваю (usually)
иду хожу
The same is in the Past
плыл(а/о/и) плавал(а/о/и)
шёл/шла(о/и) ходил(а/о/и)
These verbs (плыву, иду) can also express the future action (something like the Present Continuous with future meaning).
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15 Dec 2012
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ueslteacher
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Sorry for the incorrect translation, that was why I put the word in quotation marks. The term aspect just skipped my mind Sophia
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15 Dec 2012
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Sonn
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Nevermind Anything can be corrected, edited and deleted on the forum)
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15 Dec 2012
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cunliffe
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Wow, you expect a literal, word to word translation and your expectations are misplaced. Language is a wonderful and a complex thing, am I right? Thank you for your contributions, friends.  |
15 Dec 2012
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rio-ve-lana
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Bruce, I �m looking forward to reading your PM but don �t see it. Can you please repeat it?
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16 Dec 2012
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