英语动词时态表示的时间关系新探

A New Study of the Temporal Relations Indicated by the Tense of English Verb

在Klein提出的情景时间和话题时间这两个概念的基础上 ,讨论了英语动词的时态表示的时间关系 ,指出时态表示的不是情景时间与说话时间之间的关系 ,而是话题时间与说话时间之间的关系 ,最后对过去时表示确定的过去时间这一说法提出质疑。

This paper discusses the temporal relations indicated by the tense of English verb on the basis of the two concepts of the time of the situation and topic time developed by Klein. It argues that what is signified by the tense is not the relationship between time of the situation and the time of utterance, but the relationship between topic time and the time of utterance. In the last part, it also challenges the theory that the past tense indicates a definite past time.