 |
- The Present
Perfect represents a completed act, the effect of which
is still present. It is, in fact, a tense of the past; but
it brings a past act into relation with the present. The
person or the thing referred to by the Verb in the Present
Perfect ``must be living or still existing and thus related
tothe present''. The Present Perfect ``can refer to the
remote past if the present is not excluded by the statement''.
``It distinguishes sharply between present and past'' and
can never be used for anything wholly past.See 324.
- The Present
Perfect is made by combining the past participle of the
root with the present forms of the root ۾-ܽ `be' as given
in 187. (The past participle forms are given in 195). As
in the Present Indicative (188), the past participle is
affected by Number and Gender, while the ۾ - ܽ forms
are affected by Person and Number.
- The Present
Perfect forms of the root ܥ, thus, are :-
- with a Masculine
subject --
Singular Plural
| I
Person |
ܥ ۻ ۟ ܥܽ |
| II
Person |
ܻ
ܥ ܺ ܥܽ ܽ |
| III
Person |
ܥ ۾ ܽ ܥܽ ۾ |
- with a Feminine
subject-
Singular Plural
| I
Person |
ܥ ۻ ۟ ܥ |
| II
Person |
ܻ
ܥ ܺ ܥ ܽ |
| III
Person |
ܥ ۾ ܽ ܥ ۾ |
- The above forms
have subjectival construction: the root ܥ is Intransitive.
With a Transitive Verb, however, as in the case of the simple
past (98), the objectival construction is the rule. The
past participle is then made to agree with the object in
Number and Gender while the ۾ forms agree with the Person
and Number of the object. The subject is, of course, placed
in the oblique case with ܽ (96).
| ܟ
ܽ ܝ ܁ ۾ |
`Ram
has read the book'. |
|
ܽ ť ܡ ۾ |
`Sita
has eaten the fruit'. |
| ܃
ܽ ܰ ܉ܽ |
`brother
has written letters'. |
|
ܽ ܹܡܿ ܽ |
`the
boy has plucked leaves'. |
Note :- (i)
It will be observed that the past participles ܁ , ܡ,
܉ܽ and ܽ agree, as regards Gender and Number,
with the objects
| ܝ
(Fem. Sg.) |
| ť
(Masc. Sg.) |
| ܰ
(Masc. Pl.) |
| ܹܡܿ
(Fem. Pl.) |
and respectively.
The forms ۾ and agree with the same objects in Number
and Person (third throughout).
(ii)With a Pronoun
as the object or object not expressed, the objectival construction
is not permissible, since the Pronouns must have a ܽ
(or ) form and, therefore, the Verb must be in the neutral
construction (200).
- As in the case
of Simple Past (200), whenever the object has a ܽ, the
Present Perfect Verb must be in the neutral construction
(for ܽ, see 97-c).
| şܥ
ܽ ܾţܛ ܽ ܺܡ ۾ |
`Kamla
has sent for the maid-servant'. |
|
ܽ ۽ , ܿ ܛܡ ۾ |
`the
king has appointed them ministers'. |
| ܽ
ܮ ܽ ۛ ܛ ۾ |
`I
have regarded Lakshmi as my sister'. |
Exception : Verbs
having two objects are never put in the neutral
construction (See 200 - exception).
ܾܽ ܽ ܽ
ܝܽ `I have given him two books'.
(Objectival
Construction).
For Progressive
forms, see 262-63.
|
|
