Verb tense

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I would like to have a definite answer to whether there is a perfect indefinite tense in English. If so, what would be the perfect indefinite tense of "to be?" What would be a scholarly source I could cite?

Thank you.

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@Humblesmith,

Humb, I'm not sure there is such a thing. Perhaps you mean present,
past

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=define+perfect+indefinite+tense

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Try:

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/infinitivephrase.htm

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@Humblesmith,

Humb, Punk might be onto something; maybe you meant infinitive instead of indefinite

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@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

maybe you meant infinitive instead of indefinite

An indefinite tense (whether "perfect," "past," etc.) is a tense which does not specify whether it is referring to an action or state that stopped at some time or is one that is still continuing - it is not known, hence, unspecified or indefinite.

The perfect indefinite tense is used:

1. About action completely past, and often at no great distance, but the time not specified: I have accomplished my plan; he has eaten his breakfast.

2. About continued or repeated action commencing in the past: my father has lived about eighty years; the queen has reigned more than sixty years; he has often been heard to lament.

3. When a specified past time is represented, if that time is expressed as part of the present period: we have been together today; his brother has visited him once in two years; she has not seen her sister since the year 2008.

See e.g. the Oxford English Dictionary:

"Indefinite .... 3. Grammar .... b. Applied to those tenses or inflexions of verbs which merely denote an action taking place at some time (past, present, or future), without specifying whether it is continuous or complete"

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@contrex,

Thanks Con , I shall make it a point to commit to mem

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@Humblesmith,

Humblesmith wrote:

what would be the perfect indefinite tense of "to be?"

That is the question.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

Quote:

Humblesmith wrote: what would be the perfect indefinite tense of "to be?" That is the question.

Right, Smitty, thank you. How about "was," as in "Intelligent? She is; she was"

Quote:

What would be a scholarly source I could cite?

Con above best so far

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@dalehileman,

I think you're on your own now.

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When my verbs get tense, we take the little dog for a walk. Everyone relaxes and the dog really enjoys herself.

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@Humblesmith,

Quote:

I would like to have a definite answer to whether there is a perfect indefinite tense in English. If so, what would be the perfect indefinite tense of "to be?" What would be a scholarly source I could cite?

You don't need to know stuff like that. Trust me.

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@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Quote:
Humblesmith wrote: what would be the perfect indefinite tense of "to be?" That is the question.
Right, Smitty, thank you. How about "was," as in "Intelligent? She is; she was"

Nope. The perfect tense, whether indefinite or not, is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a verb. If the verb is question is "to be" then the perfect tense is:

Singular:
First person: I have been
Second person: you have been
Third person: he (or she) has been

Plural:
First person: they have been
Second person: you have been
Third person: they have been

1 Reply

@contrex,

Thanks, Con
Hard to believe, isn't it, that I had spent a lifetime in Journ

But isn't "I was" exactly equivalent to "I have been"

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@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

But isn't "I was" exactly equivalent to "I have been"

This is one of the big differences between American and British/Standard English. American English speakers can sometimes use simple past ("I was") in places where one normally uses present perfect ("I have been"). That is, where to be absolutely correct technically one should say: "I've never gone to a tennis match before, but I am going to one today", many American speakers might say "I never went to a tennis match before, but I am going to one today". This is to some extent a dialect variation.

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@contrex,

Wow Con, thanks, how come I never learned any of that sort of stuff

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From elsewhere on teh weebs: https://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpPerfectIndefiniteTense/vvwbd/post.htm

Question:

Quote:

Can someone help me with understanding the "Perfect Indefinite tense"?

Answer 1:

Quote:

It is the same as the present or past perfect: that tense which denotes action which began in the past and is still in progress, or which began earlier in the past up till a time later in the past.

Answer 2:

Quote:

The first modern instance of the term "perfect indefinite tense" occurs in the Jehovah's Witnesses 1950 New World Translation of the Bible in the footnotes of John 8:58. Once it was pointed out that there is no such Greek tense, the Watchtower leadership states that it refers to an English tense. This is to be able to support their variant translation of "ego eimi" as "I have been" in opposition to the normative Greek translation of "I am". In 1970 the Watchtower changed the term to "perfect tense indicative" for clarification purposes.

There are only 2 known references to the term "perfect indefinite tense" outside of Watchtower publications, the first being A New English Grammar Logical and Historical, by Henry Sweet, published in 1900. However, the phrase "I have been" would actually be "Perfect Definite" according to Sweet's definitions.

Makes sense to me. I've been teaching English at university level for going on 2 decades. This is the first I've ever heard of the "perfect indefinite tense," to the best of my memory. Granted, I don't specialize in this area, but still, you'd think I'd have at least run across it by now.

For reference:
http://espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/List-of-English-Verb-Tenses.pdf
http://speakspeak.com/resources/english-grammar-rules/structure-of-english-tenses
http://www.really-learn-english.com/english-tenses.html#simple

1 Reply

@FBM,

Quote:

You don't need to know stuff like that. Trust me.

1 Reply

@McTag,

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Verb tense

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