# Past tense and perfect tense



## cheshire

_Mod edit:
Roughly:
simple past tense - I made
perfect tense - I have made
This thread was originally in the German forum._



> The simple past tense is used more frequently in Northern Germany than it is in the south.


 Really? Is it due to the fact that Italian and French normally use (in speech) perfect tense for what English uses past tense? 

Then a question arises: How about Dutch, Danish, and Polish and Czeck? Do they normally (in speech, in casual writing etc.) use past tense for what English uses past tense?

(Please correct my English if it's bad!)


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## Krümelmonster

I don't know why it is like that, but I think it's true...
Perhaps you should ask for the other languages in the "Other language"-forum... I think Jana can help you with Czeck, with the other languages I'm not sure...


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## Jana337

cheshire said:
			
		

> Then a question arises: How about Dutch, Danish, and Polish and Czec*h*? Do they normally (in speech, in casual writing etc.) use past tense for what English uses past tense?


Czech: We do not have a choice. We only have one past tense.

Jana


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## vince

French past tenses:
J'ai fait - present perfect
Je faisais - imperfect
j'avais fait - pluperfect
j'aurais fait - conditional past
j'aurai fait - future perfect
je fis - simple past (no longer used*, unlike Portuguese/Spanish "eu fiz" / "yo hice")

que j'aie fait = subjunctive present perfect
que je fisse = subjunctive imperfect (no longer used*, unlike Portuguese/Spanish "eu fizesse" / "yo hiciese")

*except to convey a literary mood


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## cheshire

Thanks Jana for moving and editting this question. Though I know Polish and Chech are Slavic language, I thought they might have influenced German grammar to some extent.

Thanks foreros for cooperation!


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## robbie_SWE

Romanian past tenses: 

*(Eu) am facut* = perfect compus 
*(Eu) faceam* = imperfect
*(Eu) facusem* = mai mult ca perfect
*(Eu) facui* = perfect simplu
*(Eu) as fi facut* = conditional perfect
*(Eu) voi fi facut* = viitor II (future 2)
*(Eu) fi facut* = subjonctiv "perfect compus"
*am sa fi facut* = viitor II popolar (future 2 popular)

Romanian past tenses are very difficult!   The future 2 popular is very rarely used, mostly being used in some parts of the country as a dialectical trait. The simple perfect is also mostly used in some parts of the country as a regional trait. 

  robbie


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## Honour

Turkish, two main past tenses, one is definitive past tense and the other indefinite(aorist) past tense 
gitti : s/he went
gitmiş: it is said that s/he has gone
gitmişti: s/he had gone
gitmişmiş: it was said that s/he had gone

for other meanings such as moods, progressives, conditionals etc please check verbix com turkish section because there are many combinations of tenses in turkish.
listing is just below (w/o examples, sorry about that)
Past Conditional, narrative
Past Conditional, dubitative
Past in the Future
Doubtful Distant Past
Past Perfect, narrative
Past Progressive, narrative
Indefinite Past (Past Aorist)
Past Progressive, dubitative
Past Definite

*.. and there are necessitive, conditional and subjunctive moods of  them too *


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## Aldin

In Bosnian tenses
to work=raditi
Present(Prezent/Sadašnjost)=radim,radiš,radi,radimo,radite,rade
Aorist-Ja radih,radi,radi,radismo,radiste,radiše
Perfect(Past)-sam radio,si radio,je radio,smo radili,ste radili,su radili(different for female gender)
Futur I-ću raditi,ćeš raditi,će raditi,ćemo raditi,ćete raditi,će raditi
Futur II-budem radio,budeš radio,bude radio
Imperfekat-radijah,radijaše,radijaše,radijasmo,radijaste,radijahu
Past Perfect(pluskvamperfekt) sam bio radio

In Slavic languages there is no division like in Germanic languages on Past(Präteritum-german) and Perfect,nor there is division between continuos verbs and simple verbs.It's very different from Slavic languages.
The basic three forms of english verb are Infinitive,Past and Perfect.It's similiar in German.


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## leesboek

In Dutch we usually use the perfect tense for the past (with or without time expression, that's why we are confused with this tense in English). We also use the simple past tense but this sounds a bit odd sometimes. 

I made/ I have made:

Ik heb.....gemaakt 
Ik heb gisteren (= yesterday) ......gemaakt
Ik had (gisteren)....gemaakt
Ik maakte.....
Ik maakte gisteren....


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## shaloo

vince said:
			
		

> French past tenses:
> J'ai fait - present perfect
> Je faisais - imperfect
> j'avais fait - pluperfect
> j'aurais fait - conditional past
> j'aurai fait - future perfect
> je fis - simple past (no longer used*, unlike Portuguese/Spanish "eu fiz" / "yo hice")
> 
> que j'aie fait = subjunctive present perfect
> que je *fisse* = subjunctive imperfect (no longer used*, unlike Portuguese/Spanish "eu fizesse" / "yo hiciese")
> 
> *except to convey a literary mood


 
Vince, should'nt that be *fasse*? Or is it *fisse*?


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## carlosckw

As far as I can tell in French is more commonly used present perfect (passé compossé) right?
In Spanish is quite tricky... since we have tons of tenses

Indicativo:
hice  - simple past (called simple perfect past in spanish)(I made a cake) 
hacía - imperfect  ( I was making a cake)
he hecho - present perfect (I have made a cake)
habia hecho - past perfect (called pluscuamperfect in spanish) (I had made a cake)
habria hecho - conditional past (I would have made a cake)
hube hecho - this is a quite weird tense called former past (In English I suppose it would be like this: Once I had made a cake) 

Subjuntivo
haya hecho - subjuntive present perfect (When I'm done with... 
hiciera o hiciese - subjuntive imperfect ( If I made..
hubiera o hubiese hecho subjuntive pluscuamperfect (If you had made ...)

I hope this is useful to explain that verb tenses are used in very different ways depending on the language you're speaking. For example "yo hice" (simple past) is the most commonly used form of past. Whereas in French it is no longer used


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## Honour

shaloo said:
			
		

> Vince, should'nt that be *fasse*? Or is it *fisse*?


 
if it is subjunctive present then it should be *fasse*. This is subjunctive imperfect and conjugated as *fisse*.


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## vince

shaloo said:
			
		

> Vince, should'nt that be *fasse*? Or is it *fisse*?



fasse is present subjunctive
fisse is imperfect subjunctive

1.) que je fasse = que eu faça / que (yo) haga
2.) que je fisse = que eu fizesse / que yo hiciese ( OR hiciera)

The difference is that French only uses number 1, no number 2.


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## avalon2004

In Modern Greek, there are several forms of the past tense, notably-
*Aorist active and passive*- Probably the most difficult verb tense I have ever encountered in any language, there are many different ways of forming it and a large number of verbs are irregular in the aorist. More or less used in the same way as the preterite in Spanish.
*Imperfect active and passive*- somewhat easier to conjugate than the aorist but it still has several forms. Used in the same way as the Romance languages except it can sometimes have a conditional meaning.
*Perfect active and passive*- Formed by using the verb έχω (I have) and the third person singular of a verb in the subjunctive/dependent. It isn't used nearly as much as in English and the aorist is often preferred.
*Pluperfect active and passive*- Formed by using the past tense of έχω and then the same as the perfect.


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## Necsus

Italian past tenses (active voice).

Indicative:
Io ho amato - Passato prossimo
Io amavo - Imperfetto
Io amai - Passato remoto
Io avevo amato - Trapassato prossimo
Io ebbi amato - Trapassato remoto _(not so much used)_

Subjunctive:
Io abbia amato - Passato
Io amassi - Imperfetto
Io avessi amato - Trapassato

Conditional:
Io avrei amato - Passato

Infinitive:
Avere amato

Participle:
Amato - Passato

Gerund:
Avendo amato - Passato


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## panjabigator

I made
I have made

Hindi/Urdu
main ne kiiyaa
main ne kiiyaa hai

Panjabi
main kitaa
main kitaa hai
(in the place of kita, some people say karta or karia)


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## MarX

Indonesian doesn't have any past tense.


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## jazyk

Portuguese:

Portuguese past tenses (active voice).

Indicative:
Eu amava - pretérito imperfeito = I loved, I used to love
Eu amei - pretérito perfeito = I loved, I have loved
Eu tinha/havia amado -pretérito mais-que-perfeito = I had loved

Subjunctive:
Eu tenha amado - perfeito = hard to translate
eu tivesse amado - Imperfetto = hard to translate


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## ThomasK

The funniest/ strangest thing is the use: when translating German books into Dutch, I have the impression that present perfect is more often used to refer to the past than we do (we use present perfect more like in English: when it still affects the present). But it is so hard to describe. One would have to refer to 'aspects' as they are called, I think: like inchoative, perfective, etc. 

Just compare a and b

Ik beminde haar.                             Ik heb haar bemind.
(Basically interchangeable in Dutch, but a is more descriptive, b is more perfective, I think, referring to the result: no longer now)

I loved her                                     I have loved her
(Quite different, I am told)

Ich liebte sie                                  Ich habe sie geliebt
(Basically interchangeable, I think, but I am not a native speaker)


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## MarX

ThomasK said:


> Ich liebte sie                                  Ich habe sie geliebt
> (Basically interchangeable, I think, but I am not a native speaker)


You're right, but in spoken German it's quite unlikely that you say "Ich _liebte_ sie." I'm not saying that it doesn't happen at all, but most native speakers would rather say "Ich _hab_ sie _geliebt_."


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## ThomasK

Same thing in Dutch, KarL ;-), but the main point is: in written language present perfect seems more common in German, where past would be used in Dutch. Ich finde aber nicht gleich ein Beispiel...


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## MarX

ThomasK said:


> Same thing in Dutch, KarL ;-), but the main point is: in written language present perfect seems more common in German, where past would be used in Dutch. Ich finde aber nicht gleich ein Beispiel...


I don't know if you were replying to me or not (who is KarL?), but thanks for the info!


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## bb3ca201

I hate past tenses in Gaelic (and I'm a Gaelic speaker ), but we have:

simple past - dh'òl mi
past progressive (I was -ing): bha mi ag òl
past habitual (I used to...); B’àbhaist dhomh (a bhith a dh')òl


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