Sequence of tenses
Encyclopedia
In grammar
, the sequence of tenses (known in Latin as consecutio temporum, and also known as agreement of tenses, succession of tenses, tense harmony, and backshifting) is a rule of a particular language governing the relationship between the grammatical tense
s of verbs in related clause
s or sentence
s to show the temporal relationship of the events to which they refer.
) in the superordinate clause is followed by primary tense in the subordinate clauses, and a historic "tense" in the superordinate clause (imperfect, perfect, or pluperfect) is followed by a historic tense in the subordinate clause.
In Latin the "Consecutio temporum",(sequence of the tenses) is a gathering of rules that are followed in the subordination of Latin clauses.
The Consecutio Temporum is used with the Indicative, Subjunctive and Infinitive Moods.
The Infinitive
Mood is used in Dependent Noun Clauses, in which the subject is expressed in accusative and the verb at the infinitive mood. The tense is Present Infinitive if the action in the Clause is contemporary to the action of the independent main clause; it is Perfect Infinitive if the dependent verb is anterior to the verb of the independent; it is Future Infinitive if it happens after the action of the independent is over.
Some types of dependent clauses have the verb in the Indicative Mood.
If the independent's action is contemporary to the dependent's, here the tense will be the same as in the independent. If the relation of tenses is of posterioriy you will use the future participle plus the present simple of sum (active periphrastic) in the dependent. If the relation is of anteriority it changes: if the verb in the independent is a Present Indicative tense, the verb in the dependent clause will be in a Perfect tense. If the independent's verb is an Imperfect tense, the dependent's will be a Pluperfect, if the dependent's is Future simple, the dependent's wil be Future perfect.
The Consecutio Temporum of the Subjunctive Mood is much more difficult, and also the most used in the dependent Clauses, but we can remember the whole following of Latin tenses in these tables:
A principal tense (present tense
, future tense
, or future perfect
) in the superordinate clause is followed by a principal tense in the indicative mood or subjunctive mood
. Such a principal tense is followed by:
A historical tense (imperfect, pluperfect, or aorist
) in the superordinate clause is followed by a historical tense in the indicative mood or optative mood
. Such a historic tense is followed by:
In fact, since Greek tenses express the aspect of the verb, not the time, we don't have the "Consecutio Temporum", but the "Consecutio Modorum", the sequence of the Moods.
there are several views as to the exact rules governing the sequence of tenses, particularly with respect to verbs in superordinate and subordinate clauses, and debate over this point amongst grammarians that goes back as far as the 18th century.
In this view, both of the following sentences are proper. The tense of the main verb "say" does not affect the tense of the subordinate verb "need", which remains in the present tense
because it describes a continuing state of affairs.
Improper sentences, in this view, do not correctly express the author's intent. In the following two examples (the first from Macaulay
) only the latter expresses the author's meaning clearly and correctly:
The rule for writers following the natural sequence of tenses can be expressed as follows: Imagine yourself at the point in time denoted by the main verb, and use the tense for the subordinate verb that you would have used at that time.
The attracted sequence can be summarized as follows: If the main verb of a sentence is in the past tense
, then other verbs must also express a past viewpoint, except when a general truth is being expressed.
In the attracted sequence, therefore, the second of the Batman examples would be corrected so that the subordinate verb was in the past tense:
The attracted sequence rule causes problems for indirect speech
or incorporated quotations. Proponents of the rule specify various circumlocutions to avoid these problems. One such problem is the following sentence, where the subordinate verb in the incorporated quotation is in the present tense, but is required to be in the past tense, per the main verb, in order to obey the attracted sequence rule:
Proponents of this rule state that such sentences have to be corrected in one of two ways:
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, the sequence of tenses (known in Latin as consecutio temporum, and also known as agreement of tenses, succession of tenses, tense harmony, and backshifting) is a rule of a particular language governing the relationship between the grammatical tense
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
s of verbs in related clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
s or sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
s to show the temporal relationship of the events to which they refer.
Latin
In Latin a primary tense (simple present tense, present perfect, simple future tense, or future perfectFuture Perfect
-Album Credits:*Produced by T-Bone Burnett*All Songs Written by Autolux*Engineered by Mike Piersante*Mixed by Dave Sardy*Mastered by Stephen Marcussen *Artwork by Carla Azar-Vinyl releases:...
) in the superordinate clause is followed by primary tense in the subordinate clauses, and a historic "tense" in the superordinate clause (imperfect, perfect, or pluperfect) is followed by a historic tense in the subordinate clause.
In Latin the "Consecutio temporum",(sequence of the tenses) is a gathering of rules that are followed in the subordination of Latin clauses.
The Consecutio Temporum is used with the Indicative, Subjunctive and Infinitive Moods.
The Infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
Mood is used in Dependent Noun Clauses, in which the subject is expressed in accusative and the verb at the infinitive mood. The tense is Present Infinitive if the action in the Clause is contemporary to the action of the independent main clause; it is Perfect Infinitive if the dependent verb is anterior to the verb of the independent; it is Future Infinitive if it happens after the action of the independent is over.
Some types of dependent clauses have the verb in the Indicative Mood.
If the independent's action is contemporary to the dependent's, here the tense will be the same as in the independent. If the relation of tenses is of posterioriy you will use the future participle plus the present simple of sum (active periphrastic) in the dependent. If the relation is of anteriority it changes: if the verb in the independent is a Present Indicative tense, the verb in the dependent clause will be in a Perfect tense. If the independent's verb is an Imperfect tense, the dependent's will be a Pluperfect, if the dependent's is Future simple, the dependent's wil be Future perfect.
The Consecutio Temporum of the Subjunctive Mood is much more difficult, and also the most used in the dependent Clauses, but we can remember the whole following of Latin tenses in these tables:
| Contemporaniety | Present amare |
| Anteriority | Perfect amavisse |
| Posteriority | Future amaturum,-a,-um esse/amaturos,-as,-a esse |
| SUPERORD. CL. | SUBORD. CL. |
| Present (amo) | Perfect (amavi) |
| Imperfect (amabam) | Pluperfect (amaveram) |
| Future simple (amabo) | Future Perfect (amavero) |
| SUPERORD. CL. | SUBORD. CLAUSE | ||
| Type of Tense | Contemporaniety | Anteriority | Posteriority |
| Primary | Present Subj. (amem) | Perfect Subj. (amaverim) | Future Participle+ Present Subj. of "sum" (amaturus sim) |
| Historical | Imperfect Subj. (amarem) | Pluperfect Subj. (amavissem) | Future Participle+ Imperfect Subj. of "sum"(amaturus essem) |
Greek
In Classical Greek, the tenses in subordinate clauses must correspond to those in the superordinate clauses governing them.A principal tense (present tense
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
, future tense
Future tense
In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
, or future perfect
Future Perfect
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) in the superordinate clause is followed by a principal tense in the indicative mood or subjunctive mood
Subjunctive mood
In grammar, the subjunctive mood is a verb mood typically used in subordinate clauses to express various states of irreality such as wish, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or action that has not yet occurred....
. Such a principal tense is followed by:
- the present tensePresent tenseThe present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
when the action of the subordinate verb refers to the same time as the superordinate verb - the perfect when the action of the subordinate verb has been completed before the time of the superordinate verb
- the future tenseFuture tenseIn grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
when the action of the subordinate verb is in the future of the time of the superordinate verb
A historical tense (imperfect, pluperfect, or aorist
Aorist
Aorist is a philological term originally from Indo-European studies, referring to verb forms of various languages that are not necessarily related or similar in meaning...
) in the superordinate clause is followed by a historical tense in the indicative mood or optative mood
Optative mood
The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
. Such a historic tense is followed by:
- the imperfect when the action of the subordinate verb refers to the same time as the superordinate verb
- the pluperfect when the action of the subordinate verb has been completed before the time of the superordinate verb
- the aoristAoristAorist is a philological term originally from Indo-European studies, referring to verb forms of various languages that are not necessarily related or similar in meaning...
- the future tenseFuture tenseIn grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
in the optative mood when the action of the subordinate verb is in the future of the time of the superordinate verb
In fact, since Greek tenses express the aspect of the verb, not the time, we don't have the "Consecutio Temporum", but the "Consecutio Modorum", the sequence of the Moods.
English
In EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
there are several views as to the exact rules governing the sequence of tenses, particularly with respect to verbs in superordinate and subordinate clauses, and debate over this point amongst grammarians that goes back as far as the 18th century.
Natural sequence
One view is the natural sequence of tenses. According to this view, the tense of a verb in a subordinate clause is not determined by the tense of the verb in the superordinate clause, but is determined simply according to the sense of the clause taken apart from the rest of the sentence.In this view, both of the following sentences are proper. The tense of the main verb "say" does not affect the tense of the subordinate verb "need", which remains in the present tense
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
because it describes a continuing state of affairs.
- Batman says that he needs a special key for the Batmobile.
- Batman said that he needs a special key for the Batmobile.
Improper sentences, in this view, do not correctly express the author's intent. In the following two examples (the first from Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
) only the latter expresses the author's meaning clearly and correctly:
- I had hoped never to have seen [the statues] again when I missed them on the bridge.
- I had hoped never to see [the statues] again when I missed them on the bridge.
The rule for writers following the natural sequence of tenses can be expressed as follows: Imagine yourself at the point in time denoted by the main verb, and use the tense for the subordinate verb that you would have used at that time.
Attracted sequence
Another view is the attracted sequence of tenses. According to this view, the tense of a verb in a subordinate clause is determined by the tense of the verb in the superordinate clause. It is this view, and the problems that it causes, that has generated the most discussion amongst grammarians.The attracted sequence can be summarized as follows: If the main verb of a sentence is in the past tense
Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
, then other verbs must also express a past viewpoint, except when a general truth is being expressed.
In the attracted sequence, therefore, the second of the Batman examples would be corrected so that the subordinate verb was in the past tense:
- Batman said that he needed a special key for the Batmobile.
The attracted sequence rule causes problems for indirect speech
Indirect speech
In grammar, indirect or reported speech is a way of reporting a statement or question. A reported question is called an indirect question. Unlike direct speech, indirect speech does not phrase the statement or question the way the original speaker did; instead, certain grammatical categories are...
or incorporated quotations. Proponents of the rule specify various circumlocutions to avoid these problems. One such problem is the following sentence, where the subordinate verb in the incorporated quotation is in the present tense, but is required to be in the past tense, per the main verb, in order to obey the attracted sequence rule:
- Tony Blair admitted that "such a policy is not without its drawbacks".
Proponents of this rule state that such sentences have to be corrected in one of two ways:
- Rearrange the sentence such that the incorporated quotations become set off, possibly as direct speechDirect speechDirect or quoted speech is a sentence that reports speech or thought in its original form, as phrased by the first speaker. It is usually enclosed in quotation marks...
:- Tony Blair did not claim perfection: "such a policy is not without its drawbacks", he admitted.
- Cut down the incorporated quotation to exclude the verb:
- Tony Blair admitted that such a policy was "not without its drawbacks".