This paper seeks to show the significance that should be given to tense and aspect as central grammatical features attached to the verb phrase, on the postulate that if tense and aspect are not mastered by the learners of English, in particular and the languages in general, they never build an acceptable sentence in the target language. Analysing the challenges that a French-speaking learner of English in particular can face with tense and aspect, the hypotheses were verified through two tests for 180 students in four secondary schools in Dschang. It became obvious that the target population had a serious problem with tense and aspect. Now what place should be given to tense and aspect in a new era where knowing the language is pushed to the background but not suppressed, and acting effectively with the language is the new order of the day?
Keywords: Aspect, Competence, Errors, Language Teaching, Secondary School, Tense
