Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dr. Frank Matheus" <post AT matheus.de>]

Dear list,

 

according to our earlier discussion, tense and aspect are likewise connected to verbal realizations, though they might not be expressed by the verb itself. A certain phrase can once be “tense”, another time “aspect” – there is no difference in English and Hebrew in this regard. The sentence I have finished the book refers to the past, the verbal phrase expresses tense. The same proposition may appear in another text with a different function: “When I have finished the book, I’ll return it to you”. Now the phrase points to the future, and it is aspect, as it links the two events “to finish a book” and “to give it back”. Once uttered, this relation between “earlier” and “later” never changes.

 

Frank