Chapter 14 Verbs and time
The unmarked present
The content verb stays stable while short Slot 1 particles locate and shape its event. theo remains theo in mia theo (I read), mia to theo (I read in the past), and mia so theo (I will read).
Tense and aspect
Tense and aspect answer different questions. Tense locates the clause relative to the present moment: before it with to, after it with so, or at it without a tense particle. Aspect chooses how the event is presented: in progress, complete at the reference time, beginning, ending, or recurring across occasions.
English and many other languages also distinguish tense from aspect, sometimes with endings and sometimes with separate words. Phi's particular choice is to give each distinction one particle and one fixed rank.
The contrast appears in two clauses:
mia to theo. — I read in the past.
mia to si theo. — I was reading.
The first clause is past and neutral in aspect. The second is past and explicitly in progress. to alone never means that an event was completed.
What unmarked means
A main clause translated as past or future must carry to or so on its own verb. Without either particle, the clause is present. Its aspect is neutral; completion, progression, beginning, ending, and habit remain unstated.
Unmarked present is a grammatical resting state, not an instruction to think only about now. Past testimony and future planning are ordinary parts of mindful speech. The particles make their time explicit; they do not judge where the speaker's attention ought to be.
The next sections take to and so separately, then the five aspect particles and their combinations. Event nouns and the vocabulary of lived time complete the chapter.