 |
| Google Images |
Let’s get
verbal
for a while, shall we?
This is an invitation
for everybody to step into a room whose door has been skilfully masked within
the patterns on the walls: it is as if it didn’t
exist until you became aware of
its being there. Nobody – well, almost nobody
– thought about it, simply because it was taken for granted; now, while looking
around the room you readily realize there’s a window to this new reality. So, let’s go over to the
window and look out: are you in for what will surely turn out to be a breathtaking
adventure?
The air in the room is
thick with form, use, and meaning. The first
strong perfume tickling our nostrils takes the shape of a verb coming to our
rescue: the auxiliary! How could we avoid it when we want to talk about things
that happened some time in a period from the past up to now, often with present
results?! Mark my words: impossible.
(1)
Have you ever been to
Australia?
How long have you
been together?
Our taxi hasn’t
arrived yet.
Other situations are
still continuing, although they started in the past: I’ve been waiting for you
for half an hour.
But this is not all: we
may want to talk about situations in the past and express possibility,
desirability, deduction (that is, modality), and this will take us deeper into
the wonders wafting in the room:
(2)
I can’t find my
umbrella; I must have left it on the
train.
 |
| Google Images |
Now, I know what you’re
thinking: why…
(3) do I have to go on reading all this [that is, (lack of)
obligation]? Well, because it is necessary, not to say obligatory – even if
the obligation has been imposed on you. There’s no other way that I know of
when you want to…
(4) have language explained to you (that is, causative);
with a little bit of luck, you’ll eventually…
(5)
have a good time (that is, experience something) while reading on!
Last but not least, what
about
(6)
“having-full-stop” – that is, indeed, a completely different
matter, even if we talk about possessing, or owning things, relationships, illnesses
– you name it.
And it all comes in one
tight package: I have, (s)he/it has, I had, I’ve
had, (s)he’s had, I’m having. But things don’t stop
there, simply because we have to finish our thoughts every
time and, while doing it, new blocks of information must be added if and only if we want to obtain
meaning.
 |
| Google Images |
