Perfect vs. Imperfect

[legaleagle47]

I know this may be considered a rather advanced topic, Florin, but I think some of us could use a bit of a review on the rules governing when to use the Perfect tense and when to use the Imperfect tense to refer to past events.

If I understand correctly, the rules are the same as they are in any of the other Romance languages: Use the Imperfect to describe events in the past that are ongoing ("I was walking; he was speaking, you were reading"), habitual ("I used to walk to work every day; he always spoke Romanian with me; you used to read late at night"), or that set the scene for something else that happened in the past ("Yesterday, the weather was beautiful; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was neither too hot nor too cold when we first got to the park for our picnic. Then, it suddenly began to rain, and we had to run for shelter as fast as we could.").

The Perfect, on the other hand, is used to refer to one-time completed events in the past (I walked to the store yesterday; he spoke with me in Romanian for an hour; you read the Romanian book I gave you"), for a series of such events, or for events that began in the past but may or may not still be continuing into the present ("I have walked to the store every day since May; he has spoken Romanian to me on many occasions; you have already read that Romanian book that I gave you six times"). Am I right?

One other question that I have is about the Preterite. That's an old simple past tense in Romanian that, as I understand it, is no longer used, even in very formal writing or conversation, except perhaps in a few dialects in southern Romania (the Perfect evidently replaced it both in conversation and in writing long ago.) Is it true that the Preterite is only confined to those particular dialects, or has it now completely died out of usage even there?

[dflorin]

I know this may be considered a rather advanced topic, Florin, but I think some of us could use a bit of a review on the rules governing when to use the Perfect tense and when to use the Imperfect tense to refer to past events.

If I understand correctly, the rules are the same as they are in any of the other Romance languages: Use the Imperfect to describe events in the past that are ongoing ("I was walking; he was speaking, you were reading"), habitual ("I used to walk to work every day; he always spoke Romanian with me; you used to read late at night"), or that set the scene for something else that happened in the past ("Yesterday, the weather was beautiful; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was neither too hot nor too cold when we first got to the park for our picnic. Then, it suddenly began to rain, and we had to run for shelter as fast as we could.").

The Perfect, on the other hand, is used to refer to one-time completed events in the past (I walked to the store yesterday; he spoke with me in Romanian for an hour; you read the Romanian book I gave you"), for a series of such events, or for events that began in the past but may or may not still be continuing into the present ("I have walked to the store every day since May; he has spoken Romanian to me on many occasions; you have already read that Romanian book that I gave you six times"). Am I right?

You are right, this is how these past tenses are to be used.

One other question that I have is about the Preterite. That's an old simple past tense in Romanian that, as I understand it, is no longer used, even in very formal writing or conversation, except perhaps in a few dialects in southern Romania (the Perfect evidently replaced it both in conversation and in writing long ago.) Is it true that the Preterite is only confined to those particular dialects, or has it now completely died out of usage even there?

Well, I am not a linguist, but indeed, this tense is only used in southern Romania, mainly in the "Oltenia" region, including counties: Olt, Craiova, Târgu Jiu and maybe Mehedinţi. I assume by "preterit" you mean "simple perfect". In other regions we use it when we want to make fun of or mock at the people from those regions. Not all Romanians know the forms of it, for example my grandma - and most of the people from North-western Romania - can't speak it.

The equivalent in usage and meaning of the simple past is the normal perfect tense (for example văziu = am văzut = I saw). This tense is also used in some novels, etc, replacing the normal past (Compound Perfect).

Here it is what they say in my Romanian grammar book that I am mostly using as a reference:

In current communication the Simple Perfect is used only in a restrictive part of the territory inhabited by Romanians, namely Oltenia and, to a lesser degree, in parts of Banat, Crişana, and the western part of Muntenia.
The Simple Perfect expresses a past action, finished very shortly (usually on the same day) before the moment of speech. Under these circumstances, in Oltenia, etc. the Compound Perfect expresses an action finished a long time before the moment of speech.
Note: In the speech of Romanians from Ardeal, Moldova, Dobrogea or Muntenia, the simple Perfect is usually associated with an ironical intention toward the people from Oltenia.

Florin.