ABSTRACT
For those of us who have been subjected to English grammar lessons, the tripartite nature of the English perfect system is nearly as familiar as the three tense oppositions on which it is based. Upon request, most of us can readily produce examples of the following kind, illustrating the present perfect (PrP), past perfect (PaP) and future perfect (FuP):
(3.1) a. Harry has accepted the job. b. Larry had already left when Marge came. c. By the time you read this, I will have left for Brazil.
