# Simple Perfect Tense in Literature



## JunjouLover

I bought a book of children's stories, and in it, it seems that they never use the compound past tense and instead use the perfect tense.

For example:
Dar ea nu *putu* să le facă tot răul pe care li-l dorea, căci în clipa aceea ei se *schimbară* in unsprezece cocori. 

I don't get it. Wouldn't you just use the past tense: *n-a putut* and *s-au schimbat*?

Also, as a slightly different question, do you use the perfect tense in everyday speech? Or do you just use the compound past?


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## OldAvatar

The simple perfect tense is still widely used in spoken language by people living in the region of Oltenia (S-SW of Romania).


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## Arrakis

The simple perfect tense was widely used in the past so the editor of the book had to preserve it in order to keep the story original. All popular fairytales use this tense. The simple perfect tense is also used in some literary works to communicate the impression that the actions are performed at a fast pace.


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## JunjouLover

Ahhh... Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was looking for.


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