Relative Past Tense
Definition:
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Relative past tense is a relative tense that refers to a time located before that of a contextually determined temporal reference point. |
Examples:
The construction “having + verb” in the following sentences expresses relative past tense:
- Having spoken, he sat down.
- Having spoken, he will sit down.
The speaking occurs before the time of sitting, which may have differing relations to the moment of utterance.
See Also:
Source:
This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.