Binary Tense

Despite shortcomings in Reichenbach's model of tense, it has been the standard introduction for most linguists working on English, German, and Dutch since 1947. Binary Tense surpasses that model by reviving ideas that preceded it by almost a century. Instead of the 3×3 matrix used in the standard model, Henk J. Verkuyl presents a 2×2×2 approach that can be applied to a wider variety of languages, including Chinese, Georgian, and Spanish. This binary approach sheds light on the difference between imperfect and imperfective, the matching of tenses in complex sentences, and many other aspects of linguistics.

Henk J. Verkuyl is professor emeritus of linguistics at Utrecht University.

October 2008