Comparison between English and Arabic Tenses

Comparison between English and Arabic Tenses

Introduction

Language is an essential tool of communication in our every day lives. The ability to communicate enables human beings to express themselves on various matters. Thus, language can be used to display happiness, depression, sorrow, or anxiety. However, all across the globe, different languages have different rules of usage. English and Arabic are some of the most spoken languages with users in almost every region in the world. However, these languages have entirely different rules of usage that make them distinct. For instance, the English language has 24 consonants, while Arabic has 28 of them. Also, the Arabic language has lesser vowels as compared to the English language. This paper will provide a critical comparison of the tenses between the English and Arabic languages.

Analysis

Tense is a grammatical expression that is used to highlight the aspect of when. The usage of tenses is intended to show the time as to when something happened or when it will happen. Also, the grammatical expression can be used to describe if action is yet to be completed. Generally, the situation of the tense is identified through the usage of a verb. Thus, the verb elaborates the time that action happened or is to occur. Universally, the time has been perceived to be a continuous phenomenon. Therefore, time is defined from the present. If the event happened before the present moment, then it happened in the past. On the other hand, if it happened after the gift, then such an incident will take place in the future. Hence, in the English and Arabic languages, the comparison of the tenses is based on past, present, and future tenses. In both languages, the present form is in a general aspect, and it does not define definite boundaries.

The present tense of the English language is divided into the simple present tense and present progressive tense. The simple present tense describes actions that are done habitually. The continuity of the verb indicates that the tense has an unrestricted period. Also, the use of the simple present tense suggests that the action is typically repeated within the specified periods. In written form, an example would be, ‘He goes to town every evening.’ Such a statement shows that the act of going to town is a continuous one. Neither was the action done way before, nor will it be done later. It is something that has already been done, yet the individual will continue to do it.

The progressive form in the English language is used to describe actions that are happening continuously. For instance, the present simple tense can be expressed in other ways will indicate universal time statements. In such a case, the verbs used show a static position that cannot be changed. The action form exists, and it remains so regardless of the time of description. An example in a sentence is, ‘the world consists of seven continents.’ It is evident from the statement that the action is already in existence. However, the verb will remain in such a state even when the statement is said in the future. Thus, the English language uses the simple present tense to describe current universal time statements that cannot change regardless of the time when they are defined. Furthermore, the simple continuous tense describes actions that are ongoing at the time when a speaker is making a statement. In a sentence, it would be, ‘I running extremely fast.’ This statement shows that beyond the action happening at that particular time, it is an ongoing activity. The simple present and the simple progressive both indicate the same time of the action. However, the distinction between the two is that the simple present only shows what is being done at that specific moment. On the other hand, the present progressive goes a step further and explains if the current action is still ongoing. If the verb of a is ‘write,’ then the simple present tense of the sentence could be; John writes well. For the same sentence, the present progressive tense will be; John is writing well.

In the English language, just like the present tense, the past tense is divided into the simple past tense and the progressive past tense. The simple past tense can be used to describe an event that was habitually done by the subject. For instance, ‘the mother cleaned laundry on Saturdays.’ the simple past tense of a verb in the English language can be attained by placing an –ed ending to most of the verb forms. An illustration can be seen in a sentence whereby the present tense is; ‘He is cooking well.’ the simple past tense of the sentence would be; ‘He cooked well.’ however, the irregular may take various forms in the past tense. The progressive past tense in the English language indicates an action that was continuously done by the subject. Hence, the habitual activity ought to have been initiated in the past for it to qualify to be regarded in the progressive past tense. In this sense, the past continuous tense may just indicate that the verb started without elaborating whether the activity concluded.

The future tense of the English language adopts the rules that are used in the present and past tenses. The tense primarily uses auxiliary verbs to describe events that will occur in the future. These supplementary verbs may include will, shall, or be. They express a future result of the present action. Hence, they elaborate on what will happen when the action is implemented. In whichever tense that they are used, the auxiliary verbs help to explain the main verb further. The auxiliary verb ‘shall’ is used in the English language to describe events that will undoubtedly occur. A case in the example may be; ‘The visitors will come tomorrow.’ Also, it can be used as a condition that must be followed in the future. The auxiliary verb ‘will’ may be used as a way of promising to do some actions in the future. An example in a sentence is, ‘I will come to cook for you next week.’

Arabic Language

The Arabic language describes the form of a verb to be either perfect or imperfect. The perfect form refers to the past tense, while the imperfect form describes the present tense. Thus, the language uses to present the completed actions or those that are commencing and are in progress. The action that began in the past and is continuing in the present is described using the present tense only instead of using the progressive aspect. The two languages exhibit sharp contrast as the use of tense elements. While the English language has a simple present and progressive aspects of the present and past tenses, the Arabic language does not use such distinctions. Hence, the present form is used to express the simple present and the present continuous forms. Thus, in Arabic, it is the verb form that changes to indicate the tense. The subject of the sentence remains as the active verb that changes based on the tenses. Contrastingly, the pronoun used in the English language is what makes up the active verb in Arabic. The subject in an Arabic sentence is referred to as ‘faa’il, and it takes up the position of the object in the description of an intransitive verb.

Unlike English, Arabic does not have the verb form of ‘be’ as it is used in the former language. also, the language does not use auxiliary verbs a lot in the construction of sentences. ‘Kaana’ is considered to be the equivalent of the English auxiliary ‘to be.’ However, the uses of the auxiliary verbs in the two languages are quite different. While English uses auxiliary verbs to explain or elaborate on the main verb, Arabic uses auxiliaries to indicate any verb. Furthermore, the auxiliaries in Arabic do not help the main verb of the sentence.

Moreover, the tenses of the Arabic language are dependent on the characteristic of the verb. Specific verbs are used to explain particular periods upon which an action occurred. ‘Fi’il’ is the root of the verb to act. Consequently, ‘Fi’il Madhi’ is the verb that is used to indicate activities that occurred in the past. In this regard, the verb ‘Fi’il’ changes depending on the time upon which the event took place. It is fundamental to note that the description of the future tense has to be in connection with the description of the present tense. It is the present tense which conveys information about the future tense. This is done by adding certain prefixes such as sa or sawfa to the verb (.

The other Arabic verb is used to express commands or orders. This is the Fi’il Amr, which is used when someone is directed to perform a particular task. The changes extended to the verb can be used to determine which gender is being addressed at a particular time. Also, the command verb can be used in both the plural and singular forms.

Conclusion

The English and Arabic languages exhibit sharp contrast in the use of tenses. The main similarity is that both languages have the present and the past tense. However, there is a sharp contrast regarding the rules on how the verbs change depending on the tenses. Hence, the immense differences are proof that it is unlikely for two systems of language to be in complete agreement.

References

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