VI. Summary 525 9.31.2 If the pre-present domain is established by an up-to-now perfect (which is the case when the situation time fills the entire pre-present but does not include t 0 ), there are in principle two possibilities in the subclause: tempo- ral subordination (involving a shift of temporal perspective to the past zone) or a shift of domain. The former possibility can only occur when the speaker can discern enough ‘pastness’ in the up-to-now situation expressed in the head clause to expand the pre-present domain as if it were a past domain. The latter possibility occurs when the up-to-now situation is given a recency interpreta- tion. For example: For all these years, I have been wrongly thinking that I {was doing / had been doing / would do} well to stay a bachelor. (shift of temporal perspective from the pre-present zone to the past zone) I’ve just been telling him that he {is doing / has been doing / will do} well to stay a bachelor. (shift of domain) 9.31.3 If the pre-present domain is established by a continuative perfect (which is the case when the time of the full situation includes t 0 ), shifting the domain is the rule, with only few exceptions: I’ve known since last week that Jim {has passed all his exams / is seriously ill / will marry next year}. (… {#had passed all his exams / #was seriously ill / #would marry next year} are possible if the situation times of the complement clauses are T-related to an unspecified past orientation time belonging to the complement clause situation, not if they are directly T-related to the pre-present situation time of the head clause.) [I watched Oprah today and George Michael was on there and I enjoyed his in- terview.] I have known for some time that he was gay [but you know he is still sexy]. (www) (pragmatically motivated exception Ϫ see 9.12) 9.32 The expression of T-relations to a present orientation time Expressing a temporal relation to the time of a situation located in the present zone is tantamount to relating a situation time to t 0 . Since expressing a tempo- ral relation to t 0 is done by means of an absolute tense form, this means that a new domain is created, i. e., that there is a shift of domain. In other words, temporal subordination to a present situation time by means of a relative tense form is not possible: I know you {are lying / have already lied before / will lie again}. (Each tense in the subclause establishes a new domain.) 526 9. Temporal subordination in the various time-zones 9.33 The expression of T-relations in a post-present domain 9.33.1 T-relations in a post-present domain are expressed by tenses resulting from a shift of perspective. The speaker treats the post-present central orienta- tion time as if it were t 0 and uses a pseudo-absolute tense form to T-relate another situation time to this pseudo-t 0 , thus locating it in any of the four possible pseudo-absolute zones (e. g. the ‘pseudo-past zone’, the ‘pseudo-pre- present zone’, etc.). The pseudo-absolute tenses are the same as are used to express T-anteriority, T-simultaneity or T-posteriority to the real t 0 , namely the absolute past tense or the present perfect, the present tense and the future tense (or a futurish present tense form), respectively. For example: The police will find out that you were staying here today, and not in London. (T-anteriority to a post-present pseudo-t 0 ) Who will look after you when Brad and Sybil have left? (T-anteriority to a post- present pseudo-t 0 ) [If you leave the country] the police will never find out where you are. (T-simultane- ity with a post-present pseudo-t 0 ; T-simultaneity with a post-present pseudo-t 0 can be of the ‘sloppy’ kind, as in When John comes home, I will tell him about the acci- dent.) He will swear that he will never tell her the ugly truth. (T-posteriority to a post- present pseudo-t 0 ) 9.33.2 The pseudo-absolute subdomains created by the pseudo-absolute tenses can be further expanded in exactly the same way as genuine absolute domains can be expanded. For example: [If they ask me to have my personal opinion,] I will simply say that the former prime minister has never admitted that he had misled the public when he promised he would create a modern welfare state. (The present perfect tense form has admitted creates a pseudo-pre-present subdomain, in which T-relations can be expressed by means of the same tenses as are used to expand a real pre-present domain. This is done by treating the pseudo-pre-present time of orientation as if it were a past time of orientation Ϫ see. 9.31.1) The same goes for the pseudo-past or pseudo-pre-present subdomain estab- lished by the anteriority part of the future perfect. For example: [Of course, the former prime minister has now still an important political role to play, but I am sure that even on his death bed] he will not have admitted once in his entire life that he had misled the public when he promised he would create a modern welfare state. VI. Summary 527 9.34 Direct and indirect binding 9.34.1 When a subclause is temporally subordinated to its own head clause, we speak of ‘direct binding’. When a subclause is not T-bound by its own head clause but by a syntactically higher clause which T-binds that head clause, we speak of ‘indirect binding’. Compare: [The police knew that] the girl had told her friends once or twice that she was afraid to go home … (The situation time of the clause with was is bound directly by situa- tion time of the clause with had told) [Mary knew that] John had been expelled from the club because he had behaved badly. (The situation time of the clause with had behaved is bound indirectly by the situation time of the clause with knew.) 9.34.2 There is a parallelism between the choice between direct and indirect binding in a past domain and the use of the ‘ Pseudo-t 0 -System’ and the ‘Abso- lute Future System ’, respectively, in a post-present domain Ϫ see also chapter 10). Compare the first three sentences of the follwing set with the last three: We expected that Elsie would still be in bed when we {arrived /*would arrive}. (Direct binding is obligatory.) I promised I would tell the news to John, who {*was / would be} interested to hear it. (Indirect binding is obligatory.) She had been to London for a brief visit to a niece of hers who {was staying / had been staying} at the Savoy. (Direct and indirect binding are both allowed.) We expect that Elsie will still be in bed when we {arrive /*will arrive}. (The Pseudo- t 0 System is obligatory.) I promise I will tell the news to Joh, who {*is / will be} pleased to hear it. (The Absolute Future System is obligatory.) She has been to London for a brief visit to a niece of hers who {is staying / has been staying} at the Savoy. (Both the Pseudo-t 0 System and the Absolute Future System are allowed.) 10. Two tense systems with post-present reference I. Introduction 531 10.1 The Absolute Future System 531 10.2 The Pseudo-t 0 -System 533 10.3 Outline of the distribution of the two systems 535 II. Theoretical analysis of the Absolute Future System and the Pseudo-t 0 -System 537 10.4 Characteristics of the two systems 537 10.5 Summary of part II 547 III. Factors determining the choice between the two systems 548 10.6 Subclauses that allow either system 548 10.7 Subclauses which as a rule use the Pseudo-t 0 -System to refer to the post-present 559 10.8 Subclauses which cannot use the Pseudo-t 0 -System 566 IV. Further remarks 568 V. Summary 570 530 10. Two tense systems with post-present reference Abstract This chapter deals with two systems of tenses that can be used to refer to situations in a post- present domain. These two systems are referred to as the ‘Absolute Future System’ and the ‘Pseudo-t 0 -System’. The Absolute Future System consists of tenses that establish a post-present domain, most notably the future tense (used as an absolute tense) and the present tense of ‘fu- turish’ forms (e. g. I’m leaving tomorrow). The Pseudo-t 0 -System is made up of tenses that ex- press temporal relations within an already estab- lished post-present domain. Thus, in I will be home before it is dark, the head clause estab- lishes a post-present domain using a tense form that is part of the Absolute Future System, whereas the subclause expresses simultaneity within this domain using a tense form belonging to the Pseudo-t 0 -System. Part I (ϭ sections 10.1Ϫ3) introduces each system in turn and ends with a brief overview of their distribution. A fuller discussion of clauses that either allow, require or exclude a system is to be found in part III (ϭ sections 10.6Ϫ8). Meanwhile, part II is devoted to the more theoretical characteristics of each post-present tense system. A summary of chapter 10 is given in part IV. I. Introduction 531 I. Introduction There are two systems of tenses that can be used to talk about post-present situations: the Absolute Future System and the Pseudo-t 0 -System. The basic difference between them is that tenses from the former relate the situation time to t 0 , whereas tenses from the latter relate it to a post-present orientation time which is treated as if it were t 0 . From this it follows that an Absolute Future System form creates a post-present domain, whereas the Pseudo-t 0 -System expresses a relation in an already existing domain. 10.1 The Absolute Future System 10.1.1 The Absolute Future System (called Future Perspective System in Declerck’s earlier work) 1 is the system of verb forms that can be used to estab- lish a post-present domain. This system comprises the future tense (in its abso- lute rather than pseudo-absolute use), the (absolute) present tense of the ‘futur- ish’ verbs be going to, be to, etc. (see 2.9.1), and the ‘absolute-relative’ tense forms (i. e. the future perfect and the forms built with will be going to and will have been going to). As absolute tense forms, the future tense forms and the futurish verb forms represent the situation time of the situation referred to as the central orienta- tion time of a post-present domain. The absolute-relative tense forms also establish a post-present domain but represent the time of their situation as either T-anterior or T-posterior to the central orientation time of the domain in question. That is, they establish a post-present domain and at the same time express a T-relation in it. For example: By the end of the week I will have written about 100 pages. (The situation time is T-anterior to the central orientation time of the post-present domain, which is not a situation time but an otherwise unspecified orientation time contained in the Adv- time indicated by the time adverbial.) [Don’t call at his house at seven.] He will be going to leave then. [He has to catch the 7.32 train.] (The situation time is T-posterior to the central orientation time of the post-present domain.) [If you have not paid me back by the end of this month] you will have been going to pay me back for exactly six months. (The situation time is T-posterior to an 1. The term ‘Future Perspective System’ was actually a misnomer, because (as will become clear below) the forms it contains imply that the speaker looks at the future from a present perspective: these forms establish a post-present domain. . The Pseudo-t 0 -System 533 10.3 Outline of the distribution of the two systems 535 II. Theoretical analysis of the Absolute Future System and the Pseudo-t 0 -System 537 10.4 Characteristics of. tense forms, the future tense forms and the futurish verb forms represent the situation time of the situation referred to as the central orienta- tion time of a post-present domain. The absolute-relative. represent the time of their situation as either T-anterior or T-posterior to the central orientation time of the domain in question. That is, they establish a post-present domain and at the same