Verb tenses as a means of expressing simultaneity in the English and Russian languages (based on the verb “to do” and the conjunction “when”)

Abstract

The article examines the possibility of expressing simultaneity using the verb “to do” and the conjunction “when” in one sentence. The relevance of the research is due to the need for comprehensive systematic studies of verbal and non-verbal means of expressing the category of simultaneity in English and Russian separately and in comparative terms. To achieve the purpose of the study, the following tasks were set and solved: 1) the tense forms of verbs in English and Russian, which help to express simultaneity; 2) the frequency of use of various tense forms based on a specific verb and conjunction in the compared languages. We used descriptive and comparative methods to implement the tasks set. The theoretical significance of the study lies in the fact that it allows us to identify the features of expressing simultaneity in two different-structured languages. The scientific results and theoretical positions obtained in the course of our work can be used in the further study of simultaneity. The practical results of the research can be used in teaching functional semantics, general and comparative linguistics. The theoretical basis of the research was the works of Russian and foreign authors devoted to the study of simultaneity and its categories.