The Interpretation of Tense and Aspect in English

Mary Dalrymple

Abstract: An analysis of English tense and aspect is presented that specifies temporal precedence relations within a sentence. The relevant reference points for interpretation are taken to be the initial and terminal points of events in the world, as well as two "hypothetical" times: the perfect time (when a sentence contains perfect aspect) and the progressive or during time. A method for providing temporal interpretation for nontensed elements in the sentence is also described.