Chapter 3¶

Get Tense 搞懂时态 Verb Tense, Principal Parts, and Irregular Verbs 动词时态（verb tense）、主要部分（principal part）与不规则动词（irregular verb）

This chapter is long, but be at ease, Louise. Much of this chapter consists of examples that illustrate the ideas discussed here. Most of it is not difficult.

本章很长，但请放松。本章大部分内容由说明这里讨论的概念的例句组成。大多数内容并不难。

There's a good deal to know about verbs, including the matters of verb tenses and the related notions of the principal parts of verbs and the regular and irregular verbs.

关于动词有很多需要了解的，包括动词时态的问题，以及与之相关的动词主要部分和规则动词（regular verb）与不规则动词的概念。

The good news is that you know much of this already. You've used the tenses and principal parts ever since you learned to talk. What may be new to you here are the terms that we apply to them and the way we organize them. So relax, Max.

好消息是你已经知道其中很多内容了。自从你学会说话以来，你就一直在使用时态和主要部分。这里对你来说可能是新的，是我们用来描述它们的术语以及我们组织它们的方式。所以放轻松。

THE TENSES 时态

Tense? We don't mean over-caffeinated verbs. We mean that, in the right context, verbs communicate that an action took place in the present, past, or future.

时态？我们不是指咖啡因过量的动词。我们的意思是，在适当的语境中，动词传达一个动作发生在现在（present）、过去（past）或将来（future）。

English has four sets of tenses, and each set contains a present, a past, and a future tense, each with its own distinctions in reference to time. Here we'll examine briefly all four sets:

英语有四组时态，每组包含一个现在时、一个过去时和一个将来时，各自在时间指称上有其区别。在这里我们将简要地考察全部四组：

The simple tenses: present, past, and future. 简单时态（simple tense）：现在、过去和将来。

The perfect tenses: present, past, and future. 完成时态（perfect tense）：现在、过去和将来。

The simple progressive tenses: present, past, and future. 简单进行时态（simple progressive tense）：现在、过去和将来。

The perfect progressive tenses: present, past, and future. 完成进行时态（perfect progressive tense）：现在、过去和将来。

THE SIMPLE TENSES 简单时态

These are the tenses we use most often:

这些是我们最常使用的时态：

SIMPLE PRESENT: 简单现在时： Today I phone my mother.

SIMPLE PAST: 简单过去时： Yesterday I phoned my mother.

SIMPLE FUTURE: 简单将来时： Tomorrow I will phone my mother.

Notice that we seldom use the simple present in a sentence like "Today I phone my mother." Instead, we use the simple past:

请注意，我们很少在像 "Today I phone my mother" 这样的句子中使用简单现在时。相反，我们使用简单过去时：

Today I phoned my mother.

Or we use the simple future,

或者我们使用简单将来时，

Today I will phone my mother.

Or we use a tense that we'll examine in a moment, the present progressive tense:

或者我们使用一种稍后将要考察的时态，现在进行时（present progressive tense）：

I'm phoning my mother right now.

But we'll continue to use this somewhat unusual form in our examples of the simple present.

但在我们的简单现在时示例中，我们将继续使用这种有些不同寻常的形式。

Here are more examples of the simple tenses:

以下是更多简单时态的示例：

SIMPLE PRESENT: Today I talk.

SIMPLE PAST: Yesterday I talked.

SIMPLE FUTURE: Tomorrow I will talk.

SIMPLE PRESENT: Today I walk.

SIMPLE PAST: Yesterday I walked.

SIMPLE FUTURE: Tomorrow I will walk.

SIMPLE PRESENT: Today I build.

SIMPLE PAST: Yesterday I built.

SIMPLE FUTURE: Tomorrow I will build.

As these examples show, we create the simple present tense by using the simplest possible form of a verb. The simple present ends with -s in cases like these: he phones, he talks, he builds.

如这些示例所示，我们通过使用动词最简单的可能形式来构成简单现在时。在以下情况中，简单现在时以 -s 结尾：he phones, he talks, he builds。

For the great majority of English verbs, we create the simple past tense by adding -d (as in phoned) or -ed (as in talked, walked, or hunted) to the present form. In a few cases, we make the past by adding -t (as in built).

对于绝大多数英语动词，我们通过在现在形式后加 -d（如 phoned）或 -ed（如 talked、walked 或 hunted）来构成简单过去时。在少数情况下，我们通过加 -t（如 built）来构成过去时。

With all verbs, we create the simple future tense by adding the auxiliary verb will to the simple present form.

对于所有动词，我们通过在简单现在形式后加助动词 will 来构成简单将来时。

THE PERFECT TENSES 完成时态

The perfect tenses are not called perfect because they're flawless. (Only your grammar teacher is flawless.) They are called perfect because the perfect tenses describe actions that have already been completed (i.e., perfected) at some point in the past, present, or future.

完成时态之所以称为"完成"并非因为它们完美无瑕。（只有你的语法老师才是完美无瑕的。）它们被称为完成时态，是因为完成时态描述的是在过去、现在或将来的某个时点已经完成（即 perfected）的动作。

All the perfect tenses are based on a form of the main verb called the past participle, which in most verbs is identical to the form in the simple past tense. (We'll see more of the past participle a bit later.)

所有完成时态都基于一种称为过去分词（past participle）的主动词形式，在大多数动词中，过去分词与简单过去时的形式相同。（稍后我们会看到更多关于过去分词的内容。）

Verbs in the present perfect tense always add the auxiliary verb have (or has) to the past participle form. They refer to actions that were recently completed:

现在完成时（present perfect tense）的动词总是在过去分词形式前加助动词 have（或 has）。它们指涉最近完成的动作：

I have called my mother today.

She has called her mother today.

Verbs in the past perfect tense always add the auxiliary had to the past participle form. They refer to actions completed at some point in the past:

过去完成时（past perfect tense）的动词总是在过去分词形式前加助动词 had。它们指涉在过去某个时点完成的动作：

I had called my mother by noon yesterday.

The future perfect tense, like the simple future tense, always begins with the auxiliary will, followed by have:

将来完成时（future perfect tense），像简单将来时一样，总是以助动词 will 开头，后跟 have：

By noon tomorrow I will have called my mother.

Here are some examples:

以下是一些示例：

PRESENT PERFECT: Today I have talked.

PAST PERFECT: As of yesterday, I had talked.

FUTURE PERFECT: By this time tomorrow I will have talked.

PRESENT PERFECT: Today I have walked.

PAST PERFECT: As of yesterday, I had walked.

FUTURE PERFECT: By this time tomorrow I will have walked.

PRESENT PERFECT: Today I have complained.

PAST PERFECT: As of yesterday, I had complained.

FUTURE PERFECT: By this time tomorrow I will have complained.

If you compare the main verbs in these perfect tense sentences with the main verbs in the simple past sentences that we saw earlier, you'll see that they are exactly the same words. This is a point that we'll return to when we discuss regular and irregular verbs.

如果你将这些完成时句子中的主动词与我们之前看到的简单过去时句子中的主动词进行比较，你会发现它们是完全相同的词。这是我们讨论规则动词和不规则动词时会回到的一个要点。

THE SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE AND PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES 简单进行时态与完成进行时态

The simple progressive tenses refer to actions that have been in progress at a particular point in time. The main verbs in the progressive tenses always end in -ing, and they always take an auxiliary verb that is a form of the verb be.

简单进行时态指涉在特定时点一直在进行的动作。进行时态中的主动词总是以 -ing 结尾，并且总是带一个 be 动词形式的助动词。

The future progressive tense always begins with the auxiliaries will be. Here are some examples:

将来进行时（future progressive tense）总是以助动词 will be 开头。以下是一些示例：

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE: Today I am phoning.

PAST PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I was phoning.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE: Tomorrow I will be phoning.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE: Today I am hunting.

PAST PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I was hunting.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE: Tomorrow I will be hunting.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE: Today I am griping.

PAST PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I was griping.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE: Tomorrow I will be griping.

In the perfect progressive tenses, we describe actions that have been in progress but were completed (or will be completed) in the present, past, or future.

在完成进行时态中，我们描述一直在进行但已在现在、过去或将来完成（或将被完成）的动作。

The main verb is still an -ing form, and it always has two auxiliaries: a form of have followed by been. In fact, all the auxiliaries in all tenses of the perfect progressive are perfect tenses of the verb be. In the present perfect progressive, the auxiliaries are have been or (with third-person singular subjects) has been. In the past, they are had been. And, of course, in the future perfect progressive, the auxiliaries are will have been.

主动词仍然是 -ing 形式，并且总是带有两个助动词：have 的一个形式后跟 been。事实上，完成进行时所有时态中的所有助动词都是动词 be 的完成时态。在现在完成进行时中，助动词是 have been 或（与第三人称单数主语连用时）has been。在过去时中，它们是 had been。当然，在将来完成进行时中，助动词是 will have been。

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Today I have been phoning.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I had been phoning.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: By this time tomorrow I will have been phoning.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Today I have been hunting.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I had been hunting.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: By this time tomorrow I will have been hunting.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Today I have been grousing.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: Yesterday I had been grousing.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: By this time tomorrow I will have been grousing.

THE THREE (OR FOUR) PRINCIPAL PARTS 三个（或四个）主要部分

Most English verbs have consistent verb forms that we use to create the tenses we've just examined. These are called regular verbs, which means that the form to create the past tense and the perfect tenses are the same. That is, in both the simple past tense and the perfect tenses, we add -d or -ed, or (in a few cases) add a final -t. No other change in spelling happens, as you'll see in the table below.

大多数英语动词有一致的动词形式，我们用来构成刚刚考察的时态。这些称为规则动词，这意味着构成过去时和完成时态的形式是相同的。也就是说，在简单过去时和完成时态中，我们都加 -d 或 -ed，或（在少数情况下）加一个词尾 -t。不涉及其他拼写变化，如下表所示。

So we say that every verb (except some auxiliary verbs) has three principal parts: the present, the past, and the past participle (which is the form used with have for perfect tenses). These are usually presented in a table like this:

所以我们说每个动词（除了一些助动词）都有三个主要部分：现在式（present）、过去式（past）和过去分词（past participle，即与 have 连用于完成时态的形式）。它们通常呈现在如下表格中：

present past past participle

I talk I talked I have talked

I hunt I hunted I have hunted

I phone I phoned I have phoned

I build I built I have built

All of these are regular verbs. The past and past participle are the same word.

所有这些都是规则动词。过去式和过去分词是同一个词。

Notice the relatively new verb to phone. Newly-created English verbs are always regular: fax, faxed; text, texted; friend, friended. (But there is at least one exception: We hung out at the mall.)

请注意相对较新的动词 to phone。新创造的英语动词总是规则的：fax, faxed; text, texted; friend, friended。（但至少有一个例外：We hung out at the mall。）

When we speak of a fourth principal part, it's always the present participle, the -ing form used for progressive tenses: talking, hunting, phoning, building. And the -ing form is easy.

当我们谈到第四个主要部分时，它总是现在分词（present participle），即用于进行时态的 -ing 形式：talking, hunting, phoning, building。-ing 形式很容易。

IRREGULAR VERBS 不规则动词

Irregular verbs are less consistent in their past and past participle forms. Although English has fewer irregular verbs than regular, there are hundreds of them. Many are among the most commonly used verbs in English.

不规则动词的过去式和过去分词形式不那么一致。虽然英语中不规则动词比规则动词少，但有数百个。许多是英语中最常用的动词。

Here are a small number:

这里是一小部分：

present past past participle

I begin I began I have begun

I break I broke I have broken

I bring I brought I have brought

I drink I drank I have drunk

I drive I drove I have driven

I fly I flew I have flown

I freeze I froze I have frozen

I know I knew I have known

I ride I rode I have ridden

I ring I rang I have rung

I see I saw I have seen

I sink I sank I have sunk

I speak I spoke I have spoken

I swim I swam I have swum

I swing I swung I have swung

I take I took I have taken

I write I wrote I have written

All of us make errors now and then with some of the irregular verbs, and it's a good idea to identify those that give you the most trouble and study them. The table above gives you some of the most common irregulars, and you can find complete lists in many grammar books and on the Internet. A dictionary can always help you with specific verbs.

我们所有人都会在某些不规则动词上偶尔犯错，找出那些给你带来最多麻烦的动词并学习它们是一个好主意。上表给出了一些最常见的不规则动词，你可以在许多语法书和互联网上找到完整列表。词典总是可以帮助你处理特定的动词。

One way to study irregulars is to group the verbs that are similar in their past and past participle forms, like this:

学习不规则动词的一种方法是把过去式和过去分词形式相似的动词分组，如下所示：

present past past participle

I begin I began I have begun I drink I drank I have drunk I ring I rang I have rung I sink I sank I have sunk I swim I swam I have swum

I break I broke I have broken I freeze I froze I have frozen I speak I spoke I have spoken

I drive I drove I have driven I ride I rode I have ridden I write I wrote I have written

I fly I flew I have flown I know I knew I have known

The following are verbs that you may also want to study.

以下是你也可能想学习的动词。

The verb dive is in fact regular:

动词 dive 实际上是规则的：

I dive I dived I have dived

But dove, as a past and past participle, has become so common that it is now widely accepted.

但 dove 作为过去式和过去分词已经变得如此普遍，以至于现在被广泛接受。

We might call the verb burst "super-regular." It doesn't change at all:

我们可以称动词 burst 为"超级规则"。它完全不变：

Today I burst Yesterday I burst I have burst

Other super-regular verbs include hit, set, and split.

其他超级规则动词包括 hit、set 和 split。

Shine is a peculiar case. Used as a transitive verb (which we'll study soon), it's regular: They have shined their trophies every month.

Shine 是一个特殊的情况。用作及物动词（transitive verb，我们很快会学习）时，它是规则的：They have shined their trophies every month.

They shine They shined They have shined

As an intransitive verb (another term that's coming up), it's irregular: The sun has shone all day.

用作不及物动词（intransitive verb，即将出现的另一个术语）时，它是不规则的：The sun has shone all day.

It shines It shone It had shone

The verb hang is also peculiar, taking different forms depending on its meaning. Imagine you're in a dusty little town in the Old West, and you ask a gnarled old-timer, "Whatever happened to that grammar teacher?" And the old-timer answers,

动词 hang 也很奇特，根据其含义采取不同的形式。想象你身处古老西部一个尘土飞扬的小镇，你问一位饱经风霜的老人："那个语法老师到底怎么样了？"老人回答道：

We've hanged that danged grammar teacher. He was all the time correctin' us!

But if you're proudly displaying your framed diploma on the wall, you could say,

但如果你正在自豪地把装框的文凭挂在墙上，你可以说：

I've finally hung my diploma.

There are six verbs (grouped in pairs below) that confuse us all at some point:

有六个动词（下面成对分组）在某些时候让我们都感到困惑：

I sit down. I set the books down.

I lie down. I lay the books down.

I rise up. I raise the books up.

In the left column, the verbs indicate the way you are positioning yourself. They are all irregular verbs. In the right column, the verbs indicate the way you are positioning the object (or anything else separate from yourself). They are all regular.

在左栏中，动词表示你如何摆置自己。它们都是不规则动词。在右栏中，动词表示你如何摆置物体（或任何与你自身分离的东西）。它们都是规则动词。

It's easy to keep these two sets of verbs straight: The verbs on the left all have the letter i as their first vowel. Remember that "the i-verbs indicate how I change my position."

区分这两组动词很容易：左边的动词都以字母 i 作为第一个元音。记住"i-动词指示我如何改变我的位置（I change my position）"。

Let's take a look at the principal parts of these three pairs of verbs. Notice that the second verb in each pair is regular. You probably know these already:

让我们看看这三对动词的主要部分。请注意，每对中的第二个动词是规则的。你可能已经知道这些了：

present past past participle

I sit I sat I have sat

I set I set I have set

You may also know these:

你可能也知道这些：

present past past participle

I rise I rose I have risen

I raise I raised I have raised

Perhaps the most difficult of all irregular verbs are lie and lay:

也许所有不规则动词中最困难的是 lie 和 lay：

present past past participle

I lie (recline / 躺下) I lay I have lain

I lay (set down / 放下) I laid I have laid

I lie (fib / 撒谎) I lied I have lied

As you see here, there are two verbs to lie. One means to recline, and one means to fib. Lie (to fib) is easy---it's a regular verb. Lay (to set down) is also a regular verb.

如你所见，有两个动词 to lie。一个意思是躺下，一个意思是撒谎。Lie（撒谎）很简单——它是规则动词。Lay（放下）也是规则动词。

Lie (to recline) is irregular, and it confuses many people because its past form, I lay, is identical to the present form of to lay (set down).

Lie（躺下）是不规则的，它让很多人困惑，因为它的过去形式 I lay 与 to lay（放下）的现在形式完全相同。

To add to the confusion, in speech I lay down (the correct form) sounds exactly like I laid down (the wrong form), so we're often making mistakes because we're repeating the forms we hear---or think we hear. (The whole thing makes us want to lie down, no lie.)

更加令人困惑的是，在口语中 I lay down（正确形式）听起来与 I laid down（错误形式）完全一样，所以我们经常犯错，因为我们在重复我们听到的——或以为我们听到的——形式。（整件事让人想躺下来，不骗你。）

It is probably accurate to say that many English speakers, perhaps most of us, misuse lie sometimes, but you can master it in a few moments and remember it with a little review now and then.

说许多英语使用者——也许我们大多数人——有时会误用 lie 可能是准确的，但你可以在几分钟内掌握它，并通过偶尔复习记住它。

Even with irregular verbs, the past participle is always used with the auxiliary have (or its other forms has or had) to create perfect tenses (have lain). Forms of the verb be are always used with the -ing form (the present participle) to create progressive tenses.

即使是不规则动词，过去分词总是与助动词 have（或其其他形式 has 或 had）连用来构成完成时态（have lain）。动词 be 的形式总是与 -ing 形式（现在分词）连用来构成进行时态。

EXERCISES 练习

3a. Write from memory the simple and perfect tenses of the verb call.

凭记忆写出动词 call 的简单时态和完成时态。

3b. Write from memory the simple progressive and perfect progressive tenses of the verb call.

凭记忆写出动词 call 的简单进行时态和完成进行时态。

3c. Write from memory the simple and perfect tenses of the verb know.

凭记忆写出动词 know 的简单时态和完成时态。

3d. Write from memory the simple progressive and perfect progressive tenses of the verb know.

凭记忆写出动词 know 的简单进行时态和完成进行时态。

3e. Complete these sentences using the correct verb and the correct principal part:

使用正确的动词和正确的主要部分完成以下句子：

1. I will ___ here. (sit / set)
2. I will ___ my suitcase in the corner. (sit / set)
3. I will ___ my bag to the top shelf. (rise / raise)
4. I will ___ from my seat. (rise / raise)
5. I have ___ from my seat. (risen / raised)
6. I have ___ my bag. (risen / raised)
7. I will ___ down. (lie / lay)
8. I will ___ my bag over here. (lie / lay)
9. I have ___ here for an hour. (lain / laid)
10. An hour ago, I ___ my bag there. (lain / laid)

3f. Complete the sentences using one or more auxiliary verbs:

使用一个或多个助动词完成句子：

1. The perfect tenses use forms of the auxiliary verb ___.
2. The progressive tenses use forms of the auxiliary verb ___.
3. The perfect progressive tenses use forms of two auxiliary verbs: ___ and ___.
4. All future tenses use the auxiliary ___.

3g. Identify the tense of the verb in each of the following sentences using one of these twelve terms:

使用以下十二个术语之一识别下列每个句子中动词的时态：

• Simple past, present, or future
• Present perfect, past perfect, or future perfect
• Present progressive, past progressive, or future progressive

• Present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, or future perfect progressive

• She was here yesterday.

• We have been waiting for you for an hour.
• She broke her glasses.
• She has broken her glasses twice.
• Yesterday's news burst all our illusions.
• I will speak to the principal.
• I will be speaking to the principal.
• We had spoken to the principal already.
• You will have been speaking to the principal by now.
• I have sung this song before.

3h. Complete the sentences using the names of principal parts of the verbs, or with the auxiliaries will, have, and be.

使用动词主要部分的名称或助动词 will、have 和 be 完成句子。

1. The perfect tenses are constructed using the third principal part, called the ___.
2. The progressive tenses are constructed using the fourth principal part, called the ___.
3. All future tense verbs begin with the auxiliary ___.
4. All perfect tenses are constructed using some form of the auxiliary ___.
5. All progressive tenses are constructed using some form of the auxiliary ___.
6. The tenses constructed using both the auxiliaries have and be are called the ___ tenses.