Frontmatter -- Table of contents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Towards a theory of tense and time -- 3. The absolute use of the present tense -- 4. The absolute past tense -- 5. The absolute use of the present perfect -- 6. The present perfect vs the preterite in clauses -- without temporal adverbials -- 7. Absolute tense forms referring to the -- post-present -- 8. Temporal domains and relative tenses: -- theoretical foundations -- 9. Temporal subordination in the various -- time-zones -- 10. Two tense systems withpost-present -- reference -- 11. Tense choice determined by temporal -- focus -- 12. Preterite vs present perfect in clauseswith -- temporal adverbials -- 13. Adverbial when-clauses and the use of -- tenses -- 14. Adverbial before-clauses and -- after-clauses -- Backmatter