Time Direction / Tense
Is it in the past, present, or future?
Betekenis
The event's direction relative to the speaker's 'now': before, at, after, or relative to another reference time.
Zo herken je het
Ask whether the event is earlier, now, later, or relative to another event.
Voorbeelden
past|present|future|will|did
went yesterday|will go tomorrow|is here now
She will call tomorrow.
Visual guide
Speaker's NOW
│
PAST ◄── now ──► FUTURE
went is will go
Time direction = event's side
of now or another reference.
B02 vs B01: She will call tomorrow. will call → FUTURE side of now tomorrow → WHEN on timeline Languages may mark B02 on verb, with particle, time word, context.
Taaloverzicht
In je moedertaal
Dutch marks present and past on finite verbs; future is often auxiliary or context.
Ik woonde toen in Utrecht.
I lived then in Utrecht.
In de taal die je leert
English finite verbs normally show present or past tense; future is usually expressed with auxiliaries or context.
She worked yesterday.
worked = past time direction
Learners may expect one future tense form or forget past -ed and irregular past forms.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.