A recent joiner of our free “Tense Webinar” wrote to me to say that, more than anything else, the insight he appreciated the most from the webinar was that the same “event” in reality can be expressed in different ways grammatically, depending on what we want to express.
Like many other native Chinese speakers learning the different tense forms of English finite verbs, he had previously thought that each situation in “reality” has one “fixed tense form” that it must be expressed in in order to be “grammatically correct.”
Many students are trapped in this type of narrow prescriptive thinking about different aspects of English grammar, including tense, which, in my view, harms systematic learning.
If we could learn to step back and think about language from a broader, more systematic perspective, we would quickly realize -- even intuitively -- that it can’t be the case that each situation in “reality” has a corresponding “fixed” tense form.
Language is a way for us to “represent” reality verbally -- it is not reality itself. No matter what language it is, how we choose to express “reality” just depends on the our intended meaning and choice of emphasis in a particular context.
The material difference between different languages is only that different languages have different grammatical strategies for expressing those “intended meanings and choices of emphasis regarding reality.”
For example, let’s say the “reality” we are dealing with is “you ate ice-cream at 8pm yesterday.” This is just a fact in reality.
Depending on what you want to express about this “event in reality” right now, you might add different grammatical words to the verb “食.”
For example, if someone found a wrapper in your trash and questioned you now about the “fact” of this event, you might say:
A：你琴日食雪糕啊?
B：噢，係呀，我琴日食雪糕
You might just answer with the form “我琴日食雪糕” -- which expresses this event as a fact that happened.
But, say, if someone asked you if you want ice-cream now, and you don’t because you already had it yesterday, you might say:
A：而家有雪糕，你食唔食？
B：唔食喇，我琴日食咗雪糕喇
You might choose to say “食咗” instead. By adding the grammatical word “咗,” which emphasizes a completed event, you would express that since you just completed this action not longer ago, you don’t wish to do it again so soon.
One more scenario to make the point even clearer: If someone asked you what you were doing last night, you might say:
A：你琴日夜晚 8 點做緊乜？
B：我喺度食緊雪糕
In this context, to express your emphasis on your ongoing action of eating ice-cream at the time, you might say “食緊雪糕,” adding the grammatical word “緊” to indicate continuity.
The point is that we are talking about the same “reality” here, but, depending on what we need to express in a particular context, we would choose to express it differently.
In Chinese, these different points of emphasis regarding the action of eating ice-cream happen to be expressed by grammatical words like “咗” and “緊” (or none), etc.
Do you see how it would be quite unreasonable to tell a foreigner learning Cantonese that, because he/she ate ice-cream yesterday at 8pm, he/she “must” say “食咗雪糕” (or whatever it is), because every scenario in reality has a “fixed” way of being expressed?
It is the same idea in any language, including English. The only difference is that another language would have another grammatical strategy for expressing these different emphases.
Cantonese uses the addition of grammatical words (which is generally considered a relatively “simple” system in this regard); English uses changing finite verb forms that reflect different tenses (times of action) and aspects (states of action).
The grammatical strategies differ, but the fact that “reality” is expressed in different ways depending on what we mean and want to emphasize is the same.
For example, in English, we can also express the same “reality” of eating ice-cream yesterday with different tense and aspect forms.
If someone found the wrapper in the trash and questioned you about it, you might say:
A: Did you have ice-cream yesterday?
B: Yes, I had ice-cream yesterday. (Or: Yes, I did.)
The past tense, simple aspect finite verb form “had” emphasizes the “fact” that this action took place.
But, if someone offered you ice-cream, but you don’t want it because you are on a new diet and you want to limit yourself to one ice-cream a week, you might say:
A: Do you want ice-cream?
B: I have already had ice-cream this week, so no thanks.
The present tense, perfect aspect finite verb form “have had” emphasizes the “completed” nature of the action, which fits here because you want to express that this action has been completed this week and should not happen again so soon.
One more example: If someone asked you what you were doing at 8pm last night, you would probably say:
A: What were you doing at 8 last night?
B: I was having ice-cream.
The past tense, progressive aspect finite verb form “was having” emphasizes the ongoing action, which is fitting for the intended meaning in this context.
So try to step back and understand this point. No matter what language we are speaking, we are always just expressing events in reality in a way that reflects our intended emphases and communicative purposes in a particular context.
The difference between different languages is just that they have different grammatical strategies for expressing these intended meanings and emphases.
So, what you have to do when you learn about different tense forms in English is what each one allows you to express and emphasize about reality -- not which one is “fixed” to which reality.
If you want to understand English grammar more systematically and build a structural framework for more effective learning, check out our foundational course “Core Concepts of English.”
Join before March 31 with the code MARCH15 for a special exclusive discount for subscribers. 💯
最近一位加入了我們免費「Tense Webinar」的訂閱者寄 email 給我，說在整個免費課程裡，最令他有啟發的一點，是他終於明白：現實中的同一個「動作」，其實會因為我們要表達的意思不同，而以不同的文法方式表達出來。
和很多其他正在學習英文各種 tense 限定動詞字形的中文母語人士一樣，他以前一直以為：現實中的每一種情況，都有一個對應的、固定的 tense 字形；只要不是那個字形，句子就會是錯。
很多學生在英文文法的不同範疇上 —— 包括 tense 時態 —— 都被這種很狹窄、很規條式的想法困住了；而在我看來，這其實很妨礙系統性的思考和學習。
如果我們能學會退後一步，用一個更宏觀、更有系統的角度去看語言，我們很快就會明白 —— 甚至直覺上也會感覺到 —— 現實中的每一種情況，不可能都各自對應一個「固定」的時態字形。
語言是我們「呈現」現實的一種方式；語言本身不是現實。無論是哪一種語言，我們怎樣去表達「現實」，都只是取決於：在某個具體語境裡，我們想表達甚麼意思，以及我們想把重點放在哪裡。
不同語言之間真正有分別的地方，只是：不同語言會用不同的文法方式，去表達這些「關於現實的意思」和「對現實不同部分的強調重點」。
例如，假設我們面對的「現實」是：你昨天晚上八點吃了雪糕。
但視乎你現在想就這個「現實中的動作」用廣東話表達甚麼，你可能會在動詞「食」後面加上不同的文法字。
例如，如果有人在垃圾桶裡看到雪糕包裝紙，於是現在質問你這件事，你可能會說：
A：你琴日食雪糕啊？
B：噢，係呀，我琴日食雪糕。
你可能只是回答「食雪糕」這個形式 —— 把這個動作強調成發生了的事實。
但如果現在有人問你要不要吃雪糕，而你不想，因為你昨天已經吃過了，你可能會說：
A：而家有雪糕，你食唔食？
B：唔食喇，我琴日食咗雪糕喇。
這時你就可能會選擇說「食咗」。加上文法字「咗」之後，你強調的是這個動作已經完成；而這樣的表達很適合這個語境，因為你想表達的是：自己不久之前才剛完成了這個動作，所以現在不想那麼快又再做一次。
再舉一個情境，令這個重點更清楚：如果有人問你昨天晚上八點正在做甚麼，你可能會說：
A：你琴日夜晚八點做緊乜？
B：我喺度食緊雪糕。
在這個語境裡，如果你想強調的是當時那個正在進行中的吃雪糕動作，你就可能會說「食緊雪糕」，加上文法字「緊」表達持續性。
重點是：我們這裡說的，其實是同一個「現實」，但因為在不同語境裡我們需要表達的意思不同，所以我們會選擇用不同的方式去表達它。
在廣東話裡，這些對「吃雪糕」這個動作的不同強調重點，剛好是透過像「咗」、「緊」這類文法字（或者甚麼也不加）去表達的。
你可以想像一下：如果有人對一個學廣東話的外國人說，因為你昨天晚上八點吃了雪糕，所以你「一定要」說「食咗雪糕」之類 —— 因為現實中的每一種情況都有一個「固定」的表達方式 —— 這樣的說法是不是很不合理？
任何語言其實都是同一個道理，英文也一樣。分別只在於：另一種語言會有另一套文法方式，去表達這些不同的強調重點。
廣東話是靠加上文法字去表達（而這方面一般都被視為一個相對「簡單」的系統）；英文則是靠改變限定動詞字形，去反映不同的tense 時態（動作時間）和 aspect 體貌（動作狀態）。
文法策略可以不同，但那重點是一樣的：現實中的動作，會因為我們想表達甚麼意思、想強調甚麼，而被以不同方式表達出來。
例如，在英文裡，我們也一樣會以不同的時態和體貌字形，去表達同一個「昨天吃雪糕」的現實。
如果有人在垃圾桶裡看到包裝紙，然後質問你，你可能會說：
A: Did you have ice cream yesterday?
B: Yes, I had ice cream yesterday.（或者：Yes, I did.）
這裡的 past tense、simple aspect 限定動詞字形 「had」，強調的是：這個動作曾經發生過這個「事實」。
但如果有人請你食雪糕，而你不想，因為你最近開始節食，想限制自己一星期只食一次雪糕，你就可能會說：
A: Do you want ice cream?
B: I have already had ice cream this week, so no thanks.
這裡的 present tense、perfect aspect 限定動詞字形 「have had」，強調的是這個動作的「已完成」性；這個字形在這個語境裡很合適，因為你想表達的是：這個動作今個星期已經完成了，所以不應該那麼快又再發生一次。
再舉例：如果有人問你昨天晚上八點正在做甚麼，你應會說：
A: What were you doing at 8 last night?
B: I was having ice cream.
這裡的 past tense、progressive aspect 限定動詞字形 「was having」，強調的是那個正在進行中的動作；這種表達很適合這個語境裡你想表達的意思。
所以，大家要退後一步去理解這個重點。無論我們說的是哪一種語言，我們其實都只是在用不同的、能反映特定語境中「想表達的重點」和「溝通目的」的方式，去表達現實中的動作。
不同語言之間的分別，只是它們各自有不同的文法策略，去表達這些意思和重點。
所以，當你學英文不同的時態字形時，你真正要理解的，不是「哪一個時態固定對應哪一種現實」，而是：每一個字形各自容許你就現實表達甚麼、強調甚麼。
如果你想更有系統地理解英文文法，並建立一個更清晰的結構框架去令往後的學習更有效率，可以參考我們的基礎課程《Core Concepts of English》。
在 3 月 31 日之前加入，並使用優惠碼 MARCH15，就可以享有訂閱者專屬特別優惠。💯