Editing Punic language (section)

==== Form and use ====
In Punic there was no one-on-one correlation between form and use. For example, the suffix form (perfect) is often translated by a present tense, but it may also refer to the past or future. [[Tense–aspect–mood|Tense, aspect, and mood]] of verbal forms were determined by syntax, not by morphology.<ref>Krahmalkov (2001), pp. 151-214, 290-298 (especially 151-154).</ref>

The tense, aspect and mood of a given verbal form may depend on:
# whether the form is part of the main clause, or of a subordinate clause;
# if in a subordinate clause, it may depend on the ''type'' of subordinate clause (for example, conditional, or temporal);
# word order may be important: does the verbal form precede or follow the subject of the clause?;
# it also may depend on a verbal form earlier in the same clause: suffix forms or an infinitive absolute used consecutive to another verbal form, take the same tense, aspect and mood as the preceding form.