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From: bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter)
Subject: Re: German past tense
Message-ID: <bpcD15Jz1.889@netcom.com>
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Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 08:37:49 GMT
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millert@grad.csee.usf.edu (Timothy Miller) writes:

>I have a German text book which says the following:

>"The present perfect tense refers to a period of time that continues into 
>the present and is thus still uncompleted."

>"The simple past tense, on the other hand, refers to a period of time 
>that is completed at the moment of speaking."

The following English forms are called, for no very good reason,
"present perfect":  I have eaten, you have eaten, he has eaten, ... .
The simple past is: I ate, you ate, he ate, ... .

There are German forms with similar syntax, but their meanings are
somewhat different.  Germans will often use the compound forms where
English speakers would use the simple forms.  

>Now, it was my understanding that 'perfect' suggests completion.
>Is this book wrong, or am I confused?

I think the name "present perfect" should be considered just an
arbitrary label for the syntax, and not a clue to the meaning, in
either English or German.  "Gestern habe ich etwas gesehen ..." =
"yesterday I saw something ..." illustrates the difference between
English and German usages of past tenses.
 
-- 
    Ben Carter                  internet address: bpc@netcom.com
