Editing Chewa language (section)

===Variety of tenses===
{{main|Chichewa tenses}}
Chewa has a large number of tenses, some of which differ in some respects from the tenses met with in European languages. The distinction between one tense and another is made partly by the use of infixes, such as {{lang|ny|-na-}} and {{lang|ny|-ku-}}, and partly by the intonation of the verb, since each tense has its own particular tonal pattern.

====Near vs. remote====
There are five time-frames (remote past, near past, present, [[near future (grammar)|near future]], and remote future). The distinction between near and remote tenses is not exact. The remote tenses are not used of events of today or last night, but the near tenses can sometimes be used of events of earlier or later than today:
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ná-gula}} 'I bought (yesterday or some days ago)' (''remote perfect'')
*{{lang|ny|nd-a-gula}} 'I have bought (today)' (''perfect'')
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ku-gúla}} 'I am buying (now)' (''present'')
*{{lang|ny|ndí-gula}} 'I'll buy (today)' (''near future'')
*{{lang|ny|ndi-dzá-gula}} 'I'll buy (tomorrow or later)' (''remote future'')

====Perfect vs. past====
Another distinction is between perfect and past.<ref>Watkins (1937), pp. 55–6.</ref><ref>Maxson (2011), p. 77.</ref> The two perfect tenses imply that the event described had an outcome which still obtains now. The two past tenses usually imply that the result of the action has been reversed in some way:

Recent time (today):

*{{lang|ny|nd-a-gula}} 'I have bought it' (and still have it) (''Perfect'')
*{{lang|ny|ndi-na-gúla}} 'I bought it (but no longer have it)' (''Recent Past'')

Remote time (yesterday or earlier):

*{{lang|ny|ndi-ná-gula}} or {{lang|ny|ndi-dá-gula}} 'I bought it' (and still have it) (''Remote Perfect'')
*{{lang|ny|ndí-ná-a-gúla}} or {{lang|ny|ndí-dá-a-gúla}} 'I bought it (but no longer have it)' (''Remote Past'')

When used in narrating a series of events, however, these implications are somewhat relaxed: the Remote Perfect is used for narrating earlier events, and the Recent Past for narrating events of today.<ref>Kiso (2012), pp. 110–111.</ref>

====Perfective vs. imperfective====
Another important distinction in Chewa is between perfective and imperfective aspect. Imperfective tenses are used for situations, events which occur regularly, or events which are temporarily in progress:

*{{lang|ny|ndi-nká-gúlá}} 'I used to buy', 'I was buying (a long time ago)'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ma-gúla}} 'I was buying (today)', 'I used to buy (a long time ago)'
*{{lang|ny|ndí-zi-dza-gúla}} 'I will be buying (regularly)'

In the present tense only, there is a further distinction between habitual and progressive:

*{{lang|ny|ndí-ma-gúla}} 'I buy (regularly)'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ku-gúla}} 'I am buying (currently)'

====Other tenses====
One future tense not found in European languages is the {{lang|ny|-ká-}} future, which 'might presuppose an unspoken conditional clause':<ref>Maxson (2011), p. 116.</ref>

*{{lang|ny|ndí-ká-gula}} 'I will buy' (if I go there, or when I get there)

There are also various  [[subjunctive]] and potential mood tenses, such as:

*{{lang|ny|ndi-gulé}} 'I should buy'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>zí</u>-gúlá}} 'I should be buying'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>dzá</u>-gúlé}} 'I should buy (in future)'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>nga</u>-gule}} 'I can buy'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>kadá</u>-gula}} 'I would have bought'