book english linguistic johan elsness perfect preterite contemporary earlier english x cm xvii page cloth dm approx us isbn x topic english linguistic mouton de gruyter berlin york study author discuss various theory put forward account choice between present perfect preterite expression past english distribution between two verb form examine vary corpus consist record verb form little half presentday english british american speak write rest earlier english back old english analysis contemporary corpus supplement elicitation test carry british american informant argue presentday language alternation between two verb form determine above presence absence temporal adverbial contextual factor consideration current relevance play subsidiary part while many writer assume rapid advance present perfect place earlier english continue present day investigation historical corpus show advance arrest within modern english period extent present perfect seem lose grind preterite especially american english explanation offer why development english radically different observable french german many language mouton de gruyter walter de gruyter inc postfach saw mill river road d berlin hawthorne ny germany usa fax fax email compuserve com publication de gruyter order vium world wide web http www degruyter de 