shun Tang wrote:

> This is therefore very different to the conventional view that we use Simple
> Present to describe habit, and Present Perfect to describe result. Actually,
> every tense can denote habit, or result.
>
> What do you say to this new idea?

I have been following this discussion about the inadequacy of the
conventional meaning of tense for awhile.  Part of the confusion (and it
is a legitimate confusion) has to do with confusing tense with time and
aspect.

Tense should be seen as merely a grammatical term to refer to the
morphology of the verb.  Quirk et al. (1985) defines aspect as "a
grammatical category which reflects the way in which the verb action is
regarded or experienced with respect to time.

Part of the discussion on this thread has been about the inadequacy of
the term "present tense" to distinguish among various kinds of aspect.

Bob Yates, Central Missouri State University

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