El modo de la temporal en español, catalán y francés Un estudio contrastivo
Mood in Spanish, Catalan and French temporal clauses A comparative analysis

Summary/Abstract: This paper provides a comparative analysis of the mode in the most frequently used temporal clauses in Spanish, Catalan and French. It focuses on the expression of anteriority, simultaneity and posteriority. The comparative analysis of the literature on this grammar issue in the three languages reveals the inadequacy of a referential perspective to account for the mode employed in the subordinate clause. Identifying the indicative with the real and the subjunctive with the unreal, thus confusing what is said with that which is referred to, is insufficient, if not contradictory, when seeking to explain numerous perfectly grammatical utterances. It is therefore essential to look for alternative explanations which, instead of simplistically associating mode with representation of reality, consider the pragmatic dimension of this verbal category.

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