英文的tense 的運用,可以使句子的意思更清晰,譬如有人對你說:‘鐘響時我便唱歌。’你心裏可能疑問:她是說一待鐘響她便會唱歌嗎(將來)?還是說出她曾經在鐘響時唱了歌呢(過去)?抑或每當鐘響時她便會唱歌呢(常態)?
英文的不同説法:
在第34 課我們曾經說過這基本組的時態 (現在、過去、將來) 可以配合上‘延續’ (continuous) 和 ‘完成’ (perfect) 兩大分類,就用以上一句為例子:
基本:
· I sing when the bell rings. (這是present tense:現在常態)
(中): 鐘響(常態)時我便唱歌。
· I sang when the bell rang. (這是past tense:過去)
(中): 鐘響(過去)時我曾唱歌。
· I will sing when the bell rings. (這是future tense:將來)
(中): 鐘響(將來)時我將唱歌。
延續:
· I am singing as the bell rings. (present continuous tense:現在延續)
(中): 鐘響了,我正在唱歌。
· I was singing when the bell rang yesterday. (past continuous tense:過去延續)
(中): 昨天鐘響時我剛在唱歌。
· I will be singing when the bell rings tomorrow. (future continuous tense:將來延續)
(中): 明天鐘響時我將會剛在唱歌。
完成:
· The bell is ringing and I have sung. (present perfect tense:現在完成)
(中): 鐘響了(現在),我已唱完歌。
· I had sung when the bell rang yesterday. (past perfect tense:過去完成)
(中): 昨天鐘響時(過去)我已唱完歌。
· I will have sung when the bell rings tomorrow. (future perfect tense:將來完成)
(中): 明天鐘響時(將來)我將已唱完歌。
我們更可以把完成和延續加起來:
完成延續:
· The bell is ringing and I have been singing. (present perfect continuous tense:現在完成延續)
(中): 鐘響了,我一直在唱歌。
· I had been singing when the bell rang yesterday. (past perfect continuous tense:過去完成延續)
(中): 昨天鐘響時我曾一直在唱歌。
· I will have been singing for an hour when the bell rings tomorrow. (future perfect continuous tense:將來完成延續)
(中): 明天鐘響時我將會一直唱了一小時歌。
你也許覺得這些時間詞很複雜,其實你不用費心去記這些詞的名字,明白它們的分別就行了。