Editing Chewa language (section)

====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>