Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 24, Issue 3, September 1995, Pages 265-281
Journal of Pragmatics

The simple form again: An analysis of direction-giving and related uses

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)00054-IGet rights and content

Abstract

The use of the simple form in English to give directions (e.g. You take the first turning on the left …) has been categorized variously as future, habit, imaginative and imperative. These uses are compared on the basis of the grammatical representation of duration, of ‘event time’, inherent in each. It is shown that in direction-giving event time is seen as prospective and so differs from that found in habit, future and other uses commonly classified as stative or dynamic. This prospective representation of event time is also found in eitherlor sentences, in commands, in certain uses of the past tense and in several other types of usage. It is seen to stem from the same meaning potential of the simple form that gives rise to stative and dynamic uses.

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Cited by (0)

I wish to thank an anonymous reader for a number of pertinent criticisms and suggestions.

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