1 The text contains the following examples of progressive and perfect aspect: has been … getting: present prefect progressive; is happening: present progressive; has been … losing: present perfect progressive; has … caused: present perfect; is changing: present progressive.

2 2a Tense: present. Aspect: progressive.

b Tense: past. Aspect: progressive.

3a Tense: past. No aspect.

b Tense: past. Aspect: progressive.

4a Tense: present. Aspect: perfect.

b Tense: past. Aspect: perfect.

5a Tense: present. No aspect.

b Tense: present. Aspect: perfect.

6a Tense: present. Aspect: perfect + progressive.

b Tense: present. Aspect: progressive.

Note that verb forms that are not marked for aspect are commonly called ‘simple’: present simple, past simple. But ‘simple’ is not an aspect: it is the absence of aspect.

3 The more extended contexts are:

a The two sides look to be heading for a draw when they meet at St James’s Park today. (Hence the time reference is in the future.)

b They are meeting in room 356-S of the Centre Block at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. (Future reference.)

c A consultant reassures me. ‘No,’ he says. ‘We’re actually very careful when we audit what we’re doing. If, for example, someone is waiting for a hip operation, then of course they go on the list.’ (The time reference of is waiting is the extended present.)

d I like her voice as well, to be fair. And when she sings ‘I’m waiting, I’m waiting for you’, yes, yes, I wish she was waiting for me. (The time reference of she was waiting is the present, but it is hypothetical.)

e I n the evening, they reach the village of Brenna, and again ask to find a hut or barn to spend the night. (This is probably part of a narrative, and hence the time reference is in the past.)

f Maybe when they’ve reached their peak I’ll be able to assess better if they are the best pairing we’ve ever had. (The time reference is in the future.)

g Scene 1. Prague 1922 Kafka has been writing a letter but goes to the window when he hears someone haranguing a crowd. (The time reference is in the present – in the context of the play – but of course the imagined events occurred in the past, in 1922, specifically.)