Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….

…
Saad Slal

Tense and Aspect

In Arabic and English
A Contrastive Study
Saad Slal
Almustansiryah University

Section One
INTRODUCTION
To know the English Language ,one must know the grammer of it .
There are many ways of thinking about grammer .Many senses in which
the term is used .One Way is that grammer is something that produces thae
sentences of a Language .Then we may ask what we mean by something
.An English grammer would be a set of rules for making English
sentences, thus something might mean the rules or we can have another
meaning for something , we can simply mean a speaker of English
Aitchison (1999:181) quotes Roger's Bacon view about the importance of
grammer far as the essential properties of grammer are concerned .Nunan
(1999:96) affirms that for most people who speak a language ,the essence
of that language lies in grammer.The object of grammer is to teach people
to express their thoughts correctly, either in speech or writing .
Gleason (1969:11) points out that a generation or two ago, the place
of grammer in the curriculum differed from school to school,and even from
classroom to classroom. In most school, it was he who thinks that in the
teaching of a foreign? Language grammer, it should be taught in such
really strong and it remained so.In some schools," grammer" was the
dominat element in the English curriculum receiving more attention that
either literature or composition. Coombe et, al (2001:93).
The purpose of learning English grammer is to enable the college
students to know that "through grammer the learne can make words
acquire the competence and performance in using the foreign language as
Rutherford (1987:1) steesses this fact in real communication ". Each
grammatical class has its own feature, linguistic complexities and

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

difficulties so the quantity and quality of leaner's mistakes differ from one
category to another. Among those complexities is the interpretation and
familiarization of the English tense and aspect. throughout my college
experience in teaching grammer at the university level. I feel that the
problem has embodied empirically and after long period of teaching .I
seems that the students are incapable of using those terms properly . they
are unable to distinguish between them.Dawood (1948:20) diagnosed this
weakness in the recognition and the production of English tense and aspect
and concluded that this due to the differences in English and Arabic and
this idea is confirmed by the notion
of the contrastive analysis theory idicates that similar items in two
languages are the most difficult among the total different or very similar
items (Brown, 1987:30) . These imilar items in English and Arabic have
caused big and perilous problems for Iraq –Arabic learners of English
when handling them in their real use of the language .The fact is alwayas
found in syntax.
The forms of the present and the present continuous tenes are the same
.For example;
) ‫( يقرأ الولد في الحديقة‬
(j∂qr∂u ∂lw∂l∂du fil al hadiq∂)

Could possibly mean either

1-The boy reads in the garden .(it indicates present simple ) or
2-The boy reading in the garden .( it indicates present progressive)
Teachers and educators in Iraq definitely notice such errors practically
either when learner write composition or when they sit for conversations
tests. They produce ungrammatical sentences in English as in :
The boy reads in the garden.Or
The boy is reading in the garden now.
Begg (1997:2) stresses this phenomenon by arguing ;"jumping from
present tense to present progressive or to past tense or to future with in
one and the same piece of a discourse is precisely what many non- native
speakers of English when they speak and write in English. Some
difficulties may be attributed to the interference of the students mother
tongue which is perfectly stressed by Lado (1957:7). The students suffer a
lot in grasping and applying the rules with little emphasis on the practical
side make them feel with this problem. Gleason (1969;11) points out that a

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

generation or two ago the place of grammar in curriculum differed from

school to school and even from classroom to classroom .It was he who
thinks that in the teaching of a foreign language grammar , it should be
taught in such really strong and it remained so .I some schools " grammar"
was the dominant element in the English curriculum receiving more
attention than either literature or composition . Coombe (2001;93)
emphasizes that studying grammar should create in the learner a
motivation To learn and deduce and generalize .rules which make up the
have language .Educators believe that grammatical awareness takes
contribut to the development of a sound basis in language leaning .
Ur (984),Lado (1964) ,and Fries(945),all agree on the vital role of
grammar in language leaning. The researcher believes that the students or
the learners have to learn the grammer rules to complete understanding .If
the speaker is abide by the rules of grammar.he will produce
ungrammatical utterances and incorrect conception of the language. This
idea is confirmed by Rutherford (1987:1) who states that "in the
recognition and the production level of grammar.the learner can make
words effective and finally become efficient in his own communication ".
Each grammatical class has its own feature, linguistic complexities
difficulties, so the quality and the quality of learner's mistakes differ
from one category to another. Among those complexities is the
interpretation and familiarization of the English Tense and Aspect Befor
going deeplay in the problem area, we have to introduction about Tense
and Aspect in Arabic and English to let the reader have additional
knowledge to be familiar with those terms that always cause difficulties.

Tense and Aspect in English and Arabic

Tense is agrammatical device used by a language to denote time by
means of contrast in verb forms. Thus in English the contrast between the
form "go(es)" and "went " points to time , it expresses tense. The first from
basically refers to the present simple and the second to the past simple .In
Arabic ,the from ‫[ يذهب‬j∂ðh∂bu]and ‫[ ذبذ‬ð∂h∂b∂] denote time and is
therefore tense. The first from is connected with the present time whereas
the second is with the past time.(Aziz,1989:p.39) .
In determining how a verb from refers to time we must know the
point of reference which indicates what is means by past, present and
future .

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

Division of Time
Past‫ ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــ‬present‫ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ‬future

In this figure which is quoted from (Quirk et,al 1985,p.75). The

point of reference is the moment of speaking wich determines the present
as the moment identical with the point of reference, the past as the time
which precedes the point of reference, and the future as the time which
follows the point of reference .Tenses using the moment of speaking as the
point of reference are termed "absolute"; those using the moments as point
of reference are termed "relative". English tenses are basically " absolute".
They take the moment of speaking as their reference.
Arabic tenses are usually relative, they may take other moments in the
sentences as their point of reference.( ‫ السامرائي‬1991:8)

Tense in English
If we look at the five forms of the English verb: go ,gose, went, going
and gone, we find that only the contrast between "go", "gose","went"
expresses time ( Leech,1975,p.83). The contrast between "go",and "gose"
denotes person, but no time .
Igo , She gose
Both forms refer to the present .The form "went",on the other hand,
refers to the past. The other two forms (-ing) and (-edz), (the present and
past participle)" going " and" gone" are non –finite . They do not normally
refer to time but to aspect. On the basis of the two verb forms
(go)(es):went, we have two tenses in English:the present tense(go,
gose)and the past tense(went)

The present Tense

The present tense has its point of reference the present moment of
speaking .It is an absolute tense: but it refers to present time in general.
This tense expresses repeated actions, habits, customs and even mere
ability in the present. It may refer to future time. e.g Ali leaves for paris
next month.

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

The past Tense

It refers to the moment befor the time of speaking: it is an absolute
tense. The time is the definite past, expressed or implied, There are three
less basic uses of the past tense which refers to the present. They are found
in :
a- indirect speech
b- polite attitude
c- unreal situation
Tense in Arabic
In Arabic there are two verb forms (the perfect ‫( ا لماضذي‬al-m∂dhi )and the
imperfect ‫∂[ المضذاع‬lmudhri∂] ) which express, among other things, time
reference. The perfect ‫[ كت ذ‬k∂t∂b∂]and the imperfect ‫[ يكت ذ‬j∂ktubu].
Express present \past contrast when they are used as absolute tenses, i.e.
taking the moment of speaking as their reference point. It should be noted
however that the same two forms may be used for relative tenses, in which
case the point of referenceis not the present moment of speaking but other
points in the sentence. Here are two examples which illustrate absolute
relative tense of the imperfect ‫( يذذهب‬gose) [j∂ðha∂bu](Farghal and
Shunnaq.1999,63-66)
‫ يذهب ايذي الذن ب ذا كذ يذو‬My brother gose there every day [j∂ðhabu ∂ki ela
hun∂k kul∂j∂w∂m]
(Absolute: point of reference the moment of speaking(now)
– ‫ علمذ اذذها اا ايذي يذهب الذن ب ذا كذ يذو‬Then I knew that my brother went
there every day.
[∂limtu ∂n∂ða:k ∂nd ∂khi j∂ðh∂bu ela huna:k kul∂ j∂wn]
(Relative: point of reference past ‫ علم‬:the past refers to the past )

The present Tense

The verb form called the imperfect ( ‫ )المضذاع‬basically refers to
present time. If the point of reference is the moment of speaking
a- As in English , the present tense my refer to the general present,
namely a repeated action, afact or an ability in the present .
I go to the market once a week . ‫∂[ اذبذ الذن السذور مذر كذ ا ذ و‬ðhabu ela
∂lsuq m∂r∂ kul isbua]

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

Ali rarely comes to the Meeting , ‫[قلما يحضر علن االجتماعات‬q∂l∂m∂ j∂hdh∂r
∂li ∂lijtima: ∂t].
b- Unlike the English present tenses, the Arabic present tense may often
refer to the present moment .
He is writing along poem. ‫[اذه يكت قصيد طويلة‬en∂hu j∂ktubu q∂seeda
t∂weal∂].
Layla is working in the kitchen. ‫[ ليلن تعم في المط خ‬Leila t∂m∂l fil m∂tbakh].

The past Tense

The perfect from(‫ )الماضي‬basically refers to action,states, situations
,befor the present (absolute tense ) . This tense has the following uses:
a- All types of acts completed befor the present moment: long acts ,
which indicate definite past time .
Huda lived in paris last year . ‫عاش بدى في باعيس الس ة الماضية‬
[ashat huda fi bareas ∂ls∂n∂ ∂L m∂dhiyah].
The train arrived a short time ago. ‫وص القطاع ق قلي‬
[w∂s∂l∂ ∂L qit∂r q∂bl∂ q∂leal ]
b- past actions in the indefinite past .They may be with present by means
of their effect or result. Such action are usually expressed in English by the
perfect aspect and the present tense ‫[ قذد‬q∂d] Is occasionally used with the
perfect form, but its use is restricted to affirmative statements .
The plane has arrived . ‫[ وصل الطائر‬w∂s∂l∂t eltaira ∂la:n∂]
I have lost my book. ‫[ فقدت كتابي‬f∂q∂tu kita:bi] .
I have not done this. ‫[ مافعل بها‬ma f∂َ∂ltu haða]

Comparison of Tenses in English and Arabic

a- In absolute tenses, the present tense in English and Arabic refer to
general present time, which includes the present moment .This may
express facts,habits,customs, repeated, but not necessarily actions
happening at the present moment .
b- The Arabic present tense often refers to an action taking place at the
moment of speaking (now). In English, this use of the present
tense is confined to a limited number of verb notably verbs of
sensation,The English equivalent is expressed by the progressive
aspect.
Layla is preparing the tea. ‫[ تعد ليلن الشاي اآلا‬t∂idu Leila ∂l shi ∂la:n].

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Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

Ali is working in the garden now.‫∂[ علذي يعمذ فذي الحديقذة اآلا‬Li y∂َ∂m∂lu
fil h∂diqa ∂la:n].
c-Both in English and Arabic, the present tense may refer to future
time, usually with the help of an adverbial of futurity.
My brother leaves for Cairo tomorrow. ‫[ يغادع ايي الذن القذابر اذدا‬jugha:dir
∂kh: ela elq∂h:rd qh∂dan]
d-Definite English past tense refers to a definite past which excludes the
present moment. The Arabic past tense may refer to definite past .
I saw this man last year. ‫[ عأي بها الرج في العا الماضي‬r∂eitu haðd ∂lr∂jul
fil a:m elma:dhi ]
e- The Arabic past tense in contrast with the English past tense may
also refer to an indefinite past time normally connected with the present
in one way or another .
I have seen this man twice:his face is familiar to me. ‫عايذ بذها الرجذ مذرتي‬
‫وجهذه مذولوع ع ذدي‬: [r∂eitu hað∂ ∂lr∂َ∂gul m∂r∂tein,w∂َ∂ghahu m∂luf
endi]
The English equivalent is normaly expressed by means of the
present tense and the perfect aspect.
I have not finished the story yet.‫[ لذ اذتذه مذ القصذة بعذد‬L∂m ∂nt∂hi min
∂lqus∂ b∂du ]
f- Often Arabic uses the past tense, where English uses the present
tense . This is found in the proverbs, maxims, and what is in print. It is
also true of certain verbs of emotion.
Shakespeare says. ‫[ قال شكس ير‬qa:l∂ sh∂kespear ]
I love this girl. ‫[ لقد اح بهه الفتا‬l∂q∂d ∂hbabtu ha:ðihi ∂lfata:t]
g-probably the most important difference between the English and the
Arabic tenses is that the English tenses are absolute: the relative tenses
are expressed by means of different forms. The non-finite forms. The
Arabic tenses uses the same forms in absolute and relative
constructions.
The following examples of transformation from direct to indirect
speech illustrate this point .
He said "Ali likes jazz music."( direct speech).
He said that Ali liked jazz music."( indirect speech).
In the indirect speech " likes" becomes" liked" because the action is
now in the past, and the tense is absolute; it uses two different forms . In
Arabic the is not necessary because the same form may be used in

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

absolute tenses (direct speech here) and relative tenses ( as in the direct
speech below). In both the direct and the indirect speech in the above
examples, the imperfect ‫[ يح‬ ] is used first absolutely, then relative.

Aspect
As Crystal (2000;36) puts it as it "acategort used in the
grammatical description of verb (along with tense and mood , referring
primarily to the way the grammar markes the duration or type of temporal
activity denoted by the verb )". It differs from tense in that it dose not
place an event befor, simultancous with or after apoint of reference as
tense dose; it is not a deictic (poining ) category .It only expresses the
manner of action or event whether it is along. Short, continuous,
incomplete, ete. Aspect denotes how the speaker views an event , or an
action . The same event may be viewed by aspeaker as a non- durative,
short event as in :
I went to the door and opened it,
Or a long durative one as in :
As I was opening the door ,I heard some music
English Aspects
English has two aspects expressed in its grammer by means of
combination of verb forms : the progressive and the perfective .The
progressive aspect is expressed by means of the verb Be+ing form.
Further , this aspect is combined with the two tenses, the past and the
present ,resulting in the following combination :
(a) present Tense, progressive Aspect: I am writing ,
you are writing, he is writing…etc.
(b) past Tense, progressive Aspect: I was writing,you
Were writing he was writing..tc
The perfective aspects is expressed by the verb have +the past
participle Here too the perfective aspects is combined with the two tenses
to yleld these constructions:
(c) present Tense, perfective Aspect:I have written ,
you have written, he has written…etc.
(d) past Tense, perfective Aspect:I had written , you
had written , he had writtien… etc.
The two aspects may be combined yielding perfective
progressive aspect in the present or past.

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Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

(e) I have been writing, you have been writing, he

had been writing… etc.
(f) I had been writing, you have been writing, he
had been writing… etc.
There is also a contrast between these combinations the absence of the two
aspects (often termed Simple aspect); e.g.
I am writing( progressive ): I write (Simple) .
The progressive Aspect
The progressive aspect in English basically a durative event .
The Three are growing fast in this place .
The houses were becoming old.
This aspect is therefore not normally used with stative verbs such as
know be, seem contain, etc.
He is being seeming adoctor .
I am seeing you now .
The box was containing gold .
The main uses of the progressive aspect are the following.
(a)It is used for an event happening at the moment of
speaking. The present tense is combined with this aspect.
He is resting now.
This use may be contrasted with the simple present tens, which dose
not express an actual event but a repeated action or ahabit.
He rests every two hours .
(b) The progressive aspect may refer to a temporary temporary
action . The simple aspect usually refer to a more permanent
event. The tenses is present or past, depending on the time of
the event .
He lived in a fashionable hotel . ( temporary, during his visit only )
He lived in a fashionable house. (his permanent place of living).
It may express an incomplete event, in The present or past
(with present or past respectively ).
She is was crossing the street. (incomplete action, the end of it is
not envisaged).
The simple aspect, on the other hand, may express a completed
action She crossed the street.(completed action in the past CF.
She crossed the street as this point express her habit ).

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

c- Since the progressive aspect expresses durative event, it often

provides a frame for another short event, expressed by a simple
aspect.
The perfect aspect present tense may implay the subject exists, the
past simple, on the other hand, indieates that the subject dose not
exist
Mr Hill has written an epic poem .( Mr Hill is still alive).
Milton wrote along epic poem .( Milton is dead ).
The perfect aspect past tense relates a past event to a point in the past. It
indicates that an even is completed befor a point in the past. The point of
reference here is not the moment of speaking but a moment in the past: the
is relative tense combined with aspect .
When they arrived everybody had left .
He was living in an old house which had bought the year befor .
In these examples the second action expressed by the perfect
aspect is completed befor a point in the past denoted by the verb in the
simple aspect in the past. It serves as a bridge between two point in the
past.
He had been reaching a novel when the guests arrived .
We had been waiting for six hours when the guest opened and a big
black car come in .
The perfect aspect, past tense is used in the indirect speech as a backsheft
of the perfect aspect present tense and simple aspect past tense.
She said that She seen him(befor) indirect (two days befor) .
She said, I have seen him befor .
She said, I saw him to days ago .
For more detailson direct and indirect speech, see chapter 18.
Finally,the perfect aspect , , past tense is used to indicate a rejected
condition (unlikely, unreal) in the past .
If they had come to the meeting I would have seen them.( They did not
come)
(For more details o conditional sentences, see chapter 14.
As states befor, the imperfect aspect is used to convey the idea that an
event or an action is not completed yet. It may therefore denote a
durative ( progressive) event.
‫( يعم علن في ال ستاا اآلا‬Ali is working in the orchard now) .

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

In the sense that something is taking place now, probably the pattern
where the subject precedes the verb is more common, as in (32).
‫علي يعم في ال ستاا‬
This aspect may also express a habit,a custom or a repeateed action
(see,3.7).

‫(يعم علي في ال ستاا ك يو‬Ali works in the orchard every day ) .

Only the contex will show whether the durative or the habitual sense
is meant . Unlike English , in Arabic this distinction is not drawn by means
of aspect .
When combined with a relative tense taking its reference from a point in
the past ,this aspect may express a durative or a habitual action in the past.
‫(التقيذ بذه فذي المقهذن وبذو يقذرأ جريذد‬I met him in the café he was reading a
newspaper ) (durative) .
‫ ( قال اذه يسافر الن الريف مر ك شهر‬He said that he traveled to the country once
a month).
To render the past more explicitly, the verb ‫ كذاا‬is used with the imperfect
aspect .
‫ ( كاذ زوجته تعم في مخزا ك ير‬His wife was working in a large store ).

The perfect Aspect

The perfect aspect is expressed by the perfect form, which also
expresses the absolute and the relative past tenses. These meaning will be
explored here.
The perfect aspect with the absolute past tense may express a
completed action with present relevance (e.g. present result)
‫( وصل الطائر اآلا‬The plane has now arrived)
‫ ( اذتهي م كتابة القصيد‬I have finished writing the poem )
To render this sense more explicit, the particle ‫ قذد‬is often used with
the perfect form,usually with the additional meaning of 'already' or'just' .
‫( قد شرح بها‬I have already explained this ).
‫ ( لقد اادعت المكاا‬She had just left the (place ) .
The particle ‫ قد‬however restricted to positive statements .
‫ما قد جاء‬ ( He has not come ).
Combined with a relative tense taking its reference point from the
past, this aspect expresses an event completed befor a point to the past,
and is usually rendered into English by the perfect aspect, past tense.

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Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

‫( وص بعد اا بدات الحفلة‬He arrived after the party had started).

‫( جلس حيث جلس امها م ق لها‬She sat where her mother had sat).
Subject to the restrictions mentioned in the previous paragraph, the
particle, ‫ قد‬is sometimes used with the perfect to express this sense .
‫( زعتذه فذي قريتذه وقذد اشذترى ذياع جديذد‬I visited him in his village;he had
bought a new car ).
It is to be noted that the second verb "‫ "قذذد اشذذترى‬is interpreted
relatively, taking its reference point from the first verb .
There is however another possibility, the second verb may be
interpreted absolutely taking its reference from the moment of speaking,
the sentence may then be rendered into English as .

I visit him in his village; he has bought anew car .

The verb "‫ "كذاا‬is also used with the perfect to express this sense
more explicitly .This construction may be used with "‫ "قذد‬or without it. The
restrictions on "‫ "قد‬seem to be connected with the verb after it, not befor it.
‫عش في بي قدي كاا (قد) اشتراه م عمه‬
(He lived in an old house which he had bought from his uncle).
‫أعج االمير بما عآه الذه ل يك قد زاع تلك ال الد م ق‬
(The prince was impressed by what he saw ;he had not been to that
country befor)
‫أعج االمير بما عآه الذه كاا قد ماعأى تلك ال الد م ق‬
The perfect to aspect may combine with a relative tense taking its
reference from apoint in the future.In this case it would be interpreted as
expressing an event which will be completed befor the point in the future .
The particle ‫ قد‬subject to the same or the im perfect, ‫ يكوا‬may be used .
‫ااادع بها المكاا واكوا (قد) اذتهي م عملي‬
(I will leave this place when I have finished my work )
0991 ‫تكوا الشركة قد اوف بشروط جميع العقود بحلول عا‬
The company will have fulfilled the conditions of all the contracts by
the end of 1990 .

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9002 / ‫العدد الثامن والخمسون‬ ‫مجلة كلية التربية األساسية‬
Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

Comparison of Aspect in English and Arabic

(a) The aspects in English are formed by combination of verbal
elements . future, separate formes are used for the tenses whose
aspects are considered simple. Thus in English we have :
Igo (simple aspect – mainly tense).
I went (simple aspect – mainly tense).
I have gone ( perfect aspect+ tense (present)
I had gone (( perfect aspect+ tense (past)
I am going (progressive aspect+ tense(present)
I was going (progressive aspect+ tense(past)
I have been going (perfect progressive aspect+ tense(present)
I had been going (perfect progressive aspect+ tense(past)
Arabic on the other had used one form each of the two tenses
and aspects.
Thus the eight combinationa above correspond to two simple
forms in Arabic:" ‫ "اذب‬and " ‫"يهب‬.
- absolute tenses present .I go
- R elative tense, I will go, I went every day etc.
- Aspect, imperfect, combined with absolute and relative
- Tenses: I am going, I shall be going, I was going…
- absolute tense, past: I went.
- Relative tense, I will have gone, I had gone .
- Aspect, perfect(combined with the bsolute and the relative.
- Tenses: I have gone , I will have gone, I had gone…etc.

(b) There are one restrictions on the used of the aspect in

Arabic. Two forms are used with all kinds of verbs
including those having a stative sense :
English progressive aspect,on the other hand, is not used with
stative verbs: is containing, is knowing. It is confined to
dynamic verbs: I am reading ;she is playing .
(c) The progressive aspect in English and the imperfect
aspect in Arabic are used for durative action, incomplete
events, temporary actions and what is happing ( continuous ) at a certain
moment.
(d) The perfect aspect in English and the Arabic are used
For completed actions in relation to the present moment,

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Tense and Aspect In Arabic and English A Contrastive study ………….…
Saad Slal

a moment in the past or a moment in the future : e.g.

I have come: ‫ ; ج‬ha asid he had come : ‫قال اذه جاء‬
He will have finished:sd; ‫يكوا قد اذتهن‬

References

1-Aziz Y.(1988) AContrastive Grammer of English and Arabic. Iraq

.University of Mosul press .
2-Begg H.GH. (1997)"the Use of Tense in the Iraqi
Learners "M.A. thesis.College of Education University of Bagdad .
3- Al-Khafaji,A.R(1972) Description and contrastive analysis of Tense
and aspect in English and Arabic Glasgow,
4- Coom, Bernard (1974)" aspect "Combridge ,Cambridge. University
press.
5-Crystal,D(1992) "A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics 3rd . London
T.J. press .
6- Dawood ,N.o. (1984)"Syntactic Errors incomposition made by the
Students of the English Dept " M.A. thesis University of Bagdad .
7- Rutherford W.(1987) Second Language Grammer London ,Longman.

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