The English Language english language

Basic Clause Patterns

Exercise
The following text is from the novel, Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
(2006: 75-6). (a) Identify all the past tense verbs, both regular and ir-
regular in the passage. (b) Discuss each one using the framework for
understanding past tense presented in the discussion just above. (c)
You should also note that the excerpt includes present tense verbs in
addition to the past tense ones. Why do you think the author shifts from
past to present tense when she does? (d) The past tense is the basic,
most frequently used tense in this novel. Why do you think that a writer
might choose the past tense as the basic one for a novel?

My father was born in Kansas, as I was, because the old man had

come there from Maine just to help the Free Soilers establish the right

to vote, because the constitution was going to be voted on that would

decide whether Kansas entered the Union slave or free. Quite a few

people went out there at that time for that reason. And, of course,

so did people from Missouri who wanted Kansas for the South. So

things were badly out of hand for a while. All best forgotten, my fa-

ther used to say. He didn’t like mention of those times, and that did

cause some hard feelings between him and his father. I’ve read up on

those events considerably, and I’ve decided my father was right. And

that’s just as well, because people have forgotten. Remarkable things

went on, certainly, but there has been so much trouble in the world

since then it’s hard to find time to think about Kansas.

The simple present/non-past tense

Forms

Pronunciation
The English simple present tense has two forms. One is created by adding
the suffix {-s} to the word stem if the subject it agrees with is third person,
singular; for example, She reads very quickly. With other subjects the form
used is the uninflected form; for example I/you/we/they read very quickly.
The {-s} suffix has three allomorphs: [s], [z], and [z] or [@z]. [/@z] occurs
when the verb ends in a sibilant consonant, e.g., passes; [s] occurs when the
verb ends in a voiceless non-sibilant, e.g., pats; and [z] occurs when the verb
ends in a voiced non-sibilant consonant, e.g., pads and paws. Remember, we