4. The absolute past tense

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Table of contents VII
3. 1. Introduction 1
4. 2. Towards a theory of tense and time 91
5. 3. The absolute use of the present tense 171
6. 4. The absolute past tense 193
7. 5. The absolute use of the present perfect 209
8. 6. The present perfect vs the preterite in clauses without temporal adverbials 315
9. 7. Absolute tense forms referring to the post-present 335
10. 8. Temporal domains and relative tenses: theoretical foundations 361
11. 9. Temporal subordination in the various time-zones 441
12. 10. Two tense systems withpost-present reference 529
13. 11. Tense choice determined by temporal focus 571
14. 12. Preterite vs present perfect in clauseswith temporal adverbials 589
15. 13. Adverbial when-clauses and the use of tenses 635
16. 14. Adverbial before-clauses and after-clauses 685
17. Backmatter 759