According to B. Comrie (1985) "Tense" pp. vii, 9 is defined as
"grammaticalized expression of location in time". To accept this does not
require that one accepts Broman Olsen?s distinction between "semantic
meaning" and "conversational pragmatic implicature". But it indicates that
when an author uses "temporal reference" s/he does not take any standpoint
as to whether it is the context or the verb form that signals the time of
the verb to the audience. But when "tense" is used according to Comrie?s
definition (and
I think that few linguists would disagree with him), it means that the time
is an intrinsic part of the verb form itself. So when you used the term
"tense" and at the same time said that tense "can be neutralised in certain
constructions" it made me wonder what you meant by "tense".
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