2dly. An action done in a space of time, part of which is yet to elapse; as, “It has rained all this week,” “We have seen strange things this century.”
3dly. An action perfected some time ago, but whose consequences extend to the present time; as, “I have wasted my time, and now suffer for my folly.”
This tense has been termed, by some grammarians, the perfect indefinite, and “I wrote,” the perfect definite. The argument which they offer for this denomination is, that the latter admits a definitive, to specify the precise time, and the former rejects it. Those who reason in this manner seem to me not only chargeable with a perversion of terms, but also to disprove their own theory. For what is meant by a definite term? Not surely that which admits or requires a definitive to give it precision; but that which of itself is already definite. If, therefore, “I wrote,” not only admits, but even requires, the subjunction of a defining term or clause to render the time definite and precise, it cannot surely be itself a definite tense. Besides, they appear to me to reason in this case inconsistently with their own principles. For they call I am writing a definite tense; and why? but because it defines the action to be imperfect, or the time to be relatively present[59]. But if they reason here as they do in respect to the preterite tenses, they ought to call this an indefinite tense, because it admits not a definitive clause. They must, therefore, either acknowledge that I have written is a definite tense, and I wrote, indefinite; or they must, contrary to their own principles, call I am writing indefinite.
Dr. Arthur Browne, in an Essay on the Greek Tenses[60], contends, that I wrote is the perfect definite, and I have written the perfect indefinite. “I wrote,” says he, “is not intelligible without referring to some precise point of time, e.g. when I was in France. Why, then, does Dr. Beattie say I wrote is indefinite, because it refers to no particular past time? No: it is indefinite because the verb in that tense does not define whether the action be complete or not complete. And why does he say, I have written is definite in respect of time? for it refers to no particular time at which the event happened. Put this example: A says to B, ‘I wish you would write to that man.’ ‘I have written to him,’ the sense is complete; the expression is not supposed to refer to any particular time, and does not necessarily elicit any further inquiry. But if B answers, ‘I wrote to him,’ he is of course supposed to have in his mind a reference to some particular time, and it naturally calls on A to ask when? It is not clear, then, that I wrote refers to some particular time, and cannot have been called indefinite, as Dr. Beattie supposes, from its not doing so?”
Dr. Browne’s argument is chargeable with inconsistency. He says, that because I have written elicits no farther inquiry, and renders the sense complete, it denotes no determinate time; and that I wrote refers to a particular time, prompting to farther inquiry. This at least I take to be the scope of his reasoning; for if it be not from their occasioning, or not occasioning, farther interrogation, that he deduces his conclusion concerning the nature of these tenses, his argument seems nothing but pure assertion. Now, so far from calling that a definite tense, which necessarily requires, as he himself states, a defining clause to specify the point of time, I should call it an indefinite tense. He admits that I wrote refers to time past in general, and that it requires some farther specification to render the time known, as I wrote yesterday. In this case, surely it is not the term wrote, but yesterday, which defines the precise time; the tense itself expressing nothing but past time in general.
For the same reason, if, as he acknowledges, I have written elicits no farther inquiry, it is an argument that the sense is complete, and the time sufficiently understood by the hearer. Besides, is it not somewhat paradoxical to say that a tense which renders farther explanation unnecessary, and the sense complete, thus satisfying the hearer, is indefinite? and that a tense which does not satisfy the hearer, but renders farther inquiry necessary, is definite? This, to say the least, is somewhat extraordinary.
The observations of Lord Monboddo on this subject are not inapplicable to the point in question: I shall therefore transcribe them.
“There are actions,” says he, “which end in energy, and produce no work which remains after them. What shall we say of such actions? cannot we say, I have danced a dance, taken a walk, &c., and how can such actions be said in any sense to be present? My answer is, that the consequences of such actions, respecting the speaker, or some other person or thing, are present, and what these consequences are, appears from the tenor of the discourse. ‘I have taken a walk, and am much better for it.’ ‘I have danced a dance, and am inclined to dance no more.’”
The order of nature being maintained, as Mr. Harris observes, by a succession of contrarieties, the termination of one state of things naturally implies the commencement of its contrary. Hence this tense has been employed to denote an attribute the contrary to that which is expressed by the verb. Thus the Latins used vixit, “he hath lived,” to denote “he is dead;” fuit Ilium, “Troy has been,” to signify Troy is no more. A similar phraseology obtains in English; thus, “I have been young,” is equivalent to “now I am old.”
| Preter Imperfect. | |||||
| Sing. | I have been | Thou hast been | He has been | } | writing. |
| Plur. | We have been | You have been | They have been | } | |