Editing Grammatical tense (section)

==In particular languages==

The study of modern languages has been [[History of English grammars|greatly influenced]] by the grammar of the Classical languages, since early grammarians, often monks, had no other reference point to describe their language. Latin terminology is often used to describe modern languages, sometimes with a change of meaning, as with the application of "perfect" to forms in English that do not necessarily have perfective meaning, or the words ''Imperfekt'' and ''Perfekt'' to [[German verbs|German past tense forms]] that mostly lack any relationship to the aspects implied by those terms.

=== Latin ===
{{main|Latin tenses}}
[[Latin]] is traditionally described as having six verb paradigms for tense (the Latin for "tense" being ''tempus'', plural ''tempora''):
* [[Present tense|Present]] ''(praesēns)''
* [[Future tense|Future]] ''(futūrum)''
* [[Imperfect]] ''(praeteritum imperfectum)''

* [[Perfect (grammar)|Perfect]] ''(praesēns perfectum)''<!-- praeteritum perfectum is the pluperfect, see below-->
* [[Future perfect]] ''(futūrum perfectum)''
* [[Pluperfect]] ''(plūs quam perfectum, praeteritum perfectum)''

Imperfect tense verbs represent a past process combined with so called [[imperfective aspect]], that is, they often stand for an ongoing past action or state at a past point in time (see [[Latin tenses (semantics)#Secondary present|secondary present]]) or represent habitual actions (see [[Latin tenses with modality]]) (e.g. 'he was eating', 'he used to eat'). The perfect tense combines the meanings of a simple past ('he ate') with that of an English perfect tense ('he has eaten'), which in ancient Greek are two different tenses (aorist and perfect).

The pluperfect, the perfect and the future perfect may also realise [[relative tense]]s, standing for events that are past at the time of another event (see [[Latin tenses (semantics)#Secondary past|secondary past]]): for instance, {{lang|la|mortuus erat}}, {{lang|la|mortuus est}}, {{lang|la|mortuus erit}} may stand for respectively '{{lang|en|he had died}}', '{{lang|en|he has died}}' and '{{lang|en|he will have died}}'.

Latin verbs are inflected for tense and aspect together with [[grammatical mood|mood]] (indicative, subjunctive, infinitive, and imperative) and [[grammatical voice|voice]] (active or passive). Most verbs can be built by selecting a verb stem and adapting them to endings. Endings may vary according to the speech role, the number and the gender of the subject or an object. Sometimes, verb groups function as a unit and supplement inflection for tense (see [[Latin periphrases]]). For details on verb structure, see [[Latin tenses]] and [[Latin conjugation]].

=== Ancient Greek ===
{{main|Ancient Greek verbs}}
The paradigms for [[Ancient Greek verbs#Tenses|tenses in Ancient Greek]] are similar to the ones in Latin, but with a three-way aspect contrast in the past: the [[Aorist tense|aorist]], the perfect and the imperfect. Both aorist and imperfect verbs can represent a past event: through contrast, the imperfect verb often implies a longer duration (e.g. 'they urged him' vs. 'they persuaded him'). The aorist participle represents the first event of a two-event sequence and the present participle represents an ongoing event at the time of another event.<ref>Daniel Couto-Vale, 'Report and Taxis in Herodotus's Histories: a systemic- functional approach to the description of Ancient Ionic Greek', ''Nuntius Antiquus'', v. 11, n. 1, p. 33–62, 2015</ref> Perfect verbs stood for past actions if the result is still present (e.g. 'I have found it') or for present states resulting from a past event (e.g. 'I remember').

===English===
English has only two [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] tenses: the [[present tense|present]] (or [[non-past tense|non-past]]), as in ''he '''goes''''', and the [[past tense|past]] (or [[preterite]]), as in ''he '''went'''''.<ref name="Huddleston">{{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=15 April 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-43146-0 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/grammar-and-syntax/cambridge-grammar-english-language |access-date=10 February 2015 |page=51}}
*{{lay source |template=cite web |author=Peter W. Culicover |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |type=Review |url=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~culicove/Publications/CGEL_Review.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060101215049/http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~culicove/Publications/CGEL_Review.pdf |archive-date=2006-01-01 |url-status=live |website=Ohio State University}}</ref> The non-past usually references the present, but sometimes references the future (as in ''the bus '''leaves''' tomorrow''). In special uses such as the [[historical present]] it can talk about the past as well. These morphological tenses are marked either with a [[suffix]] (''walk(s)'' ~ ''walked'') or with [[ablaut]] (''sing(s)'' ~ ''sang'').

In some contexts, particularly in [[English language teaching]], various tense–aspect combinations are referred to loosely as tenses.<ref name="Penston">{{cite book |last1=Penston |first1=Tony |title=A Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers |date=2005 |publisher=TP Publications |page=17}}</ref> Similarly, the term "future tense" is sometimes loosely applied to cases where modals such as ''will'' are used to talk about future points in time.

===Other Indo-European languages===
[[Proto-Indo-European verbs]] had present, perfect ([[stative verb|stative]]), imperfect and aorist forms – these can be considered as representing two tenses (present and past) with different [[grammatical aspect|aspects]]. Most languages in the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family have developed systems either with two morphological tenses (present or "non-past", and past) or with three (present, past and future). The tenses often form part of entangled [[tense–aspect–mood]] conjugation systems. Additional tenses, tense–aspect combinations, etc. can be provided by compound constructions containing auxiliary verbs.

The [[Germanic languages]] (which include English) have present (non-past) and past tenses formed morphologically, with future and other additional forms made using auxiliaries. In standard [[German language|German]], the compound past ''([[German verbs|Perfekt]])'' has replaced the simple morphological past in most contexts.

The [[Romance languages]] (descendants of Latin) have past, present and future morphological tenses, with additional aspectual distinction in the past. [[French language|French]] is an example of a language where, as in German, the simple morphological perfective past ''([[passé simple]])'' has mostly given way to a compound form ''([[passé composé]])''.

[[Irish language|Irish]], a [[Celtic language]], has past, present and future tenses (see [[Irish conjugation]]). The past contrasts perfective and imperfective aspect, and some verbs retain such a contrast in the present. [[Classical Irish]] had a three-way aspectual contrast of simple–perfective–imperfective in the past and present tenses. Modern [[Scottish Gaelic]] on the other hand only has past, non-past and 'indefinite', and, in the case of the verb 'be' (including its use as an auxiliary), also present tense.

[[Persian language|Persian]], an [[Indo-Iranian language]], has past and non-past forms, with additional aspectual distinctions. Future can be expressed using an auxiliary, but almost never in non-formal context. Colloquially the perfect suffix ''-e'' can be added to past tenses to indicate that an action is speculative or reported (e.g. "it seems that he was doing", "they say that he was doing"). A similar feature is found in Turkish. (For details, see [[Persian verbs]].)

[[Hindustani grammar|Hindustani]] ([[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]]), an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]], has indicative perfect past and indicative future forms, while the indicative present and indicative imperfect past conjugations exist only for the verb ''honā'' (to be). The indicative future is constructed using the [[Subjunctive mood|future subjunctive]] conjugations (which used to be the indicative present conjugations in older forms of Hind-Urdu) by adding a future future suffix -''gā'' that declines for [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and the [[Grammatical number|number]] of the noun that the pronoun refers to. The forms of ''gā'' are derived from the perfective participle forms of the verb "to go," ''jāna''. The conjugations of the indicative perfect past and the indicative imperfect past are derived from participles (just like the past tense formation in [[Slavic languages]]) and hence they agree with the [[grammatical number]] and the [[Grammatical gender|gender]] of noun which the pronoun refers to and not the pronoun itself. The perfect past doubles as the perfective aspect participle and the imperfect past conjugations act as the copula to mark imperfect past when used with the aspectual participles. Hindi-Urdu has an overtly marked [[Tense–aspect–mood|tense-aspect-mood]] system. [[Periphrasis|Periphrastic]] Hindi-Urdu verb forms (aspectual verb forms) consist of two elements, the first of these two elements is the aspect marker and the second element (the copula) is the common tense-mood marker. Hindi-Urdu has 3 grammatical aspectsː [[Habitual aspect|''Habitual'']], [[Perfective aspect|''Perfective'']], and [[Continuous and progressive aspects|''Progressive'']]; and 5 grammatical moodsː ''[[Realis mood|Indicative]]'', ''[[Grammatical mood|Presumptive]]'', ''[[Subjunctive mood|Subjunctive]]'', ''[[Counterfactual conditional|Contrafactual]]'', and ''[[Imperative mood|Imperative]]''.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=VAN OLPHEN|first=HERMAN|title=Aspect, Tense, and Mood in the Hindi Verb|date=1975|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24651488|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=16|issue=4|pages=284–301|doi=10.1163/000000075791615397|jstor=24651488|s2cid=161530848 |issn=0019-7246|url-access=subscription}}</ref> (Seeː ''[[Hindi verbs]]'')

In the [[Slavic languages]], verbs are [[Grammatical aspect#Slavic languages|intrinsically]] perfective or imperfective. In [[Russian language|Russian]] and some other languages in the group, perfective verbs have past and "future tenses", while imperfective verbs have past, present and "future", the imperfective "future" being a compound tense in most cases. The "future tense" of perfective verbs is formed in the same way as the present tense of imperfective verbs. However, in [[South Slavic languages]], there may be a greater variety of forms – [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], for example, has present, past (both "imperfect" and "aorist") and "future tenses", for both perfective and imperfective verbs, as well as [[perfect aspect|perfect]] forms made with an auxiliary (see [[Bulgarian verbs]]). However it doesn't have real future tense, because the future tense is formed by the shortened version of the present of the verb hteti (ще) and it just adds present tense forms of person suffixes: -m (I), -š (you), -ø (he,she,it), -me (we), -te (you, plural), -t (they).

===Other languages===
[[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], both members of the [[Uralic languages|Uralic]] language family, have morphological present (non-past) and past tenses. The [[Hungarian verbs|Hungarian verb]] ''van'' ("to be") also has a future form.

[[Turkish grammar|Turkish verbs]] conjugate for past, present and future, with a variety of aspects and moods.

[[Arabic verbs]] have past and non-past; future can be indicated by a prefix.

[[Korean verbs]] have a variety of affixed forms which can be described as representing present, past and future tenses, although they can alternatively be considered to be aspectual. Similarly, [[Japanese verbs]] are described as having present and past tenses, although they may be analysed as aspects. Some [[Wu Chinese]] languages, such as [[Shanghainese]], use [[grammatical particle]]s to mark some tenses.<ref>{{cite book|author=Qian, Nairong ({{lang|zh|錢乃榮}})|year=2010|title={{lang|zh|《從〈滬語便商〉所見的老上海話時態》}} (''Tenses and Aspects? Old Shanghainese as Found in the Book Huyu Bian Shang'')|location=Shanghai|publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press}}</ref> Other [[Chinese languages]] and many other East Asian languages generally lack inflection and are considered to be [[tenseless language]]s, although they often have aspect markers which convey certain information about time reference.

For examples of languages with a greater variety of tenses, see the section on [[#Possible tenses|possible tenses]], above. Fuller information on tense formation and usage in particular languages can be found in the articles on those languages and their grammars.

=== Austronesian languages ===

==== Rapa ====
[[Rapa language|Rapa]] is the French Polynesian language of the island of [[Rapa Iti]].<ref name="Walworth">{{cite book |last1=Walworth |first1=Mary E. |title=The Language of Rapa Iti: Description of a Language In Change. Diss. |date=2015 |publisher=U of Hawaii at Manoa |location=Honolulu |url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/MaryWalworthFinal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825115109/http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/MaryWalworthFinal.pdf |archive-date=2015-08-25 |url-status=live |access-date=17 July 2021}}</ref> Verbs in the indigenous Old Rapa occur with a marker known as TAM which stands for tense, aspect, or mood which can be followed by directional particles or [[Deixis|deictic]] particles. Of the markers there are three tense markers called: Imperfective, Progressive, and Perfective. Which simply mean, Before, Currently, and After.<ref name="Walworth"/> However, specific TAM markers and the type of deictic or directional particle that follows determine and denote different types of meanings in terms of tenses.

'''Imperfective:''' denotes actions that have not occurred yet but will occur and expressed by TAM e.<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e naku mai te 'āikete anana'i
|IPFV come DIR INDEF teacher tomorrow
|'The teacher is coming tomorrow.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e mānea tō pē'ā ra
|IPFV pretty DEF woman DEIC
|'That woman is beautiful.'}}
<ref name="Walworth"/>

'''Progressive:''' Also expressed by TAM e and denotes actions that are currently happening when used with deictic '''na''', and denotes actions that was just witnessed but still currently happening when used with deictic '''ra'''.<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e 'āikete na 'ōna i te tamariki
|IPFV learn DEIC 3S ACC INDEF child/children
|'He is teaching some children.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e kai na ou i kota'i kororio eika
|IPFV eat DEIC 1S ACC one small fish
|'I am eating a small fish.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e tunu na ou i te mīkaka tonga te pōpongi
|IPFV cook DEIC 1S ACC INDEF taro all INDEF morning
|'I cook taro every morning.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e kaikai ra te kurī i te moa
|IPFV eat.continuously DEIC INDEF dog ACC INDEF chicken
|'The dog is eating a chicken.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e mate atu ra 'ōna
|IPFV die DIR DEIC 3S
|'She has just died.'}}
<ref name="Walworth"/>

'''Perfective:''' denotes actions that have already occurred or have finished and is marked by TAM ka.<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|ka ngurunguru te kurī
|PFV growl INDEF dog
|'A dog growled.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|ka tākave tō tangata i te mango
|PFV kill DEF man ACC INDEF shark
|'The man killed the shark.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|ka tunu na ou i te mīkaka tonga te pōpongi
|PFV cook DEIC 1S ACC INDEF taro all INDEF morning
|'I used to cook taro every morning'}}
<ref name="Walworth"/>

In Old Rapa there are also other types of tense markers known as Past, Imperative, and Subjunctive.

'''Past'''

TAM i marks past action. It is rarely used as a matrix TAM and is more frequently observed in past embedded clauses<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|i komo mātou
|PST sleep 1PL.EXCL
|'We slept.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|e a'a koe i 'aka-ineine
|IPFV what 2S PST CAUS-ready
|'What did you prepare?'}}

'''Imperative'''

The imperative is marked in Old Rapa by TAM a. A second person subject is implied by the direct command of the imperative.<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a naku mai
|IMP come DIR
|'Come here.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a kai tā-koe eika
|IMP eat INDEF.{{gcl|PossA|possessive a-noun}}-2S fish
|'Eat your fish.'}}

For a more polite form rather than a straightforward command imperative TAM a is used with adverbial kānei. Kānei is only shown to be used in imperative structures and was translated by the French as "please".

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a rave mai kānei tō mea
|IMP take DIR PREC DEF thing
|'Please take the thing.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a omono kānei koe tō ka'u ra
|IMP dress PREC 2S DEF clothing DEIC
|'Please dress yourself in those clothes.'}}

It is also used in a more impersonal form. For example, how you would speak toward a pesky neighbor.

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a naku kānei
|IMP go PREC
|'Please leave now!'}}
'''Subjunctive'''

The subjunctive in Old Rapa is marked by kia and can also be used in expressions of desire<ref name="Walworth"/>

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|kia naku ou i te 'are e kaikai ou
|SBJV come 1S PREP INDEF house IPFV eat.continuously 1S
|'When I get to the house, I will eat.'}}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|kia rekareka kōrua
|SBJV happy 2DU
|'May you two be happy.'}}

==== Tokelau ====
The [[Tokelauan language]] is a tenseless language. The language uses the same words for all three tenses; the phrase E liliu mai au i te Aho Tōnai literally translates to Come back / me / on Saturday, but the translation becomes 'I am coming back on Saturday'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tau Gana Tokelau|edition= 1st |date=2017 |url=http://www.learntokelau.co.nz/documents/TauGagana.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303051810/http://www.learntokelau.co.nz/documents/TauGagana.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-03 |url-status=live |website=www.learntokelau.co.nz |publisher=Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs|location=New Zealand}}</ref>

==== Wuvulu-Aua ====
[[Wuvulu-Aua language|Wuvulu-Aua]] does not have an explicit tense, but rather tense is conveyed by mood, aspect markers, and time phrases. Wuvulu speakers use a realis mood to convey past tense as speakers can be certain about events that have occurred.<ref name="Hafford">{{cite book|last1=Hafford|first1=James A|title=Wuvulu Grammar and Vocabulary|date=2014|url=http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/graduate/Dissertations/JamesHaffordDraft.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081022/http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/graduate/Dissertations/JamesHaffordDraft.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-11 |url-status=live|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref> {{rp|89}} In some cases, realis mood is used to convey present tense — often to indicate a state of being. Wuvulu speakers use an irrealis mood to convey future tense.<ref name="Hafford"/>{{rp|90}}
Tense in Wuvulu-Aua may also be implied by using time adverbials and aspectual markings. Wuvulu contains three verbal markers to indicate sequence of events. The preverbal adverbial ''loʔo'' 'first' indicates the verb occurs before any other. The postverbal morpheme ''liai'' and ''linia'' are the respective intransitive and transitive suffixes indicating a repeated action. The postverbal morpheme ''li'' and ''liria'' are the respective intransitive and transitive suffixes indicating a completed action.<ref name="Hafford"/>{{rp|91}}

=== Mortlockese ===
[[Mortlockese]] uses tense markers such as ''mii'' and to denote the present tense state of a subject, ''aa'' to denote a present tense state that an object has changed to from a different, past state, ''kɞ'' to describe something that has already been completed, ''pɞ'' and ''lɛ'' to denote future tense, ''pʷapʷ'' to denote a possible action or state in future tense, and ''sæn/mwo'' for something that has not happened yet. Each of these markers is used in conjunction with the subject proclitics except for the markers ''aa'' and ''mii''. Additionally, the marker ''mii'' can be used with any type of intransitive verb.<ref name="Odango">{{cite book|last1=Odango|first1=Emerson Lopez|title=Afféú Fangani 'Join Together': A Morphophonemic Analysis of Possessive Suffix Paradigms and A Discourse-Based Ethnography of the Elicitation Session in Pakin Lukunosh Mortlockese|date=May 2015|publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa Dissertation|url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/Dissertation_ODANGO-FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825114843/http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/Dissertation_ODANGO-FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2015-08-25 |url-status=live}}</ref>