PERFECT
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
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1998
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© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
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PERFECT. A term for an aspect of the
VERB concerned with completion. In the Slavonic languages, the
perfective and
imperfective are signalled by inflections on the verb, the perfective denoting the completion of the activity and the imperfective its non-completion. In English, the perfect (also sometimes termed the perfective) contrasts with the non-perfect, and is formed by a combination of the auxiliary
have and an
-ed participle:
present perfect (
has/have discovered);
past perfect or pluperfect (
had discovered);
present continuous progressive perfect (
has/have been discovering);
past continuous progressive perfect (
had been discovering);
future perfect (
will have discovered);
future continuous progressive perfect (
will have been discovering). In general, the perfect indicates a previous indefinite period with which the action of the verb takes place. For the present perfect, that period begins in the past and extends to the present:
I have lived in London since I was born (until the present time);
She has broken her arm (and the effect is still noticeable);
I haven't seen the film (but may still do so). The past perfect indicates an action previous to another action within a past period:
Tom had not seen his parents since they were divorced. The past perfect can also denote a past action (past before the past) without any aspectual force, in which case it is often replaced by the simple past:
After he (
had)
consulted his solicitor,
Colin refused to sign the contract. The future perfect refers to an event before a future event:
Pat will have finished her essay by the time we arrive. See
TENSE.
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Atholl Highlanders Pipe Major Laments His Duke
Transcript from: NPR All Things Considered; 2/28/1996; 487 words
; 00-00-0000 The pipe major of the Atholl Highlanders demonstrates the lament he...play at the Friday funeral of the Duke of Atholl. Sandy Spence remembers the Duke as a...Ian Murray, Scotland's tenth Duke of Atholl, has died. He was one of Scotland...
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Blair Atholl: A History
Newspaper article from: The Scotsman; 1/3/2008; ; 607 words
; ...earldoms of Scotland, the ancient lands of Atholl. Both castle and successive owners have...army in Europe. The traditional lands of Atholl covered some 500 square miles of the Highlands...Rannoch. The Earls, now the Dukes of Atholl, were at times major players in Scottish...
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Atholl looks beyond the headlines to the challenges in store
Newspaper article from: Evening News - Scotland; 9/27/2006; ; 700+ words
; THE teacher at Atholl Duncan's school looked the young pupil...cuts - and perhaps it's just as well Atholl isn't one for shying away from a challenge...got that ill-fated careers advice - Atholl went on to study journalism at what was...
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OBITUARY: The Duke of Atholl
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 2/28/1996; ; 700+ words
; ...three times removed of the ninth Duke of Atholl, Iain Murray succeeded in 1957 as 10th...of the third Duke. As a young man Iain Atholl told me that he did not think that such...Skelmersdale, gave an ambiguous answer. Atholl responded: May I ask him whether before...
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 "Press and Journal, The Aberdeen (UK)")
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MSPs in atholl boundary browse
Newspaper article from: Press and Journal, The Aberdeen (UK); 2/6/2007; ; 590 words
; ...committee yesterday decamped to Blair Atholl to consider new calls to extend the boundaries...Perthshire. These included the Blair Atholl Area Tourism Association which said it...that was so important not just for us in Atholl, but to the natural heritage of the people...
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Blair atholl meeting on national park boundaries
Newspaper article from: Press and Journal, The Aberdeen (UK); 2/5/2007; ; 431 words
; ...and rural development committee will meet at the Atholl Arms hotel in Blair Atholl to hear evidence for a bill put forward by North...widened to include parts of his constituency. Blair Atholl community councillors, the Ramblers' Association...
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Duke of Atholl dies aged 64
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 2/28/1996; ; 471 words
; JOHN ARLIDGE The Duke of Atholl, one of Scotland's richest landowners...duke's traditional private army, the Atholl Highlanders. Queen Victoria created...largely recruited from the staff of the Atholl estate and they parade at the duke...
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Rival Granite City hotelier buying into atholl business
Newspaper article from: Press and Journal, The Aberdeen (UK); 5/31/2006; ; 374 words
; The Atholl Hotel in Aberdeen will have a new joint...today. David Parkinson, who bought the Atholl with Billy Hogg in 1989 from Stewart Spence...Hogg remains a major shareholder in the Atholl, while managing partner Gordon Sinclair...
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 "The Mirror (London, England)")
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DUKE OF ATHOLL DIES OF STROKE.(News)
Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England); 2/28/1996; ; 403 words
; THE Duke of Atholl died yesterday - leaving his title to...000 acres and the contents of Blair Atholl castle - to a charitable trust to "preserve...10th Duke still retained control of the Atholl Highlanders, a private army which is...
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 "The Racing Post (London, England)")
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Betting Bureau: No problem Atholl.(Sports)
Newspaper article from: The Racing Post (London, England); 7/13/1998; ; 690 words
; ...surely found a golden opportunity for Bairn Atholl in the 'Come Racing At Brighton This...this easy track two weeks ago, Bairn Atholl clearly saw the sixth furlong out well...3.00 Brighton) n 2pts win Bairn Atholl (2.30 Brighton) n 1pt win Sylvan Dancer...
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Atholl, Walter Stewart, earl of
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to British History
Atholl, Walter Stewart, earl of [S] ( c. 1360...Caithness [S] in that year, and that of Atholl [S] and the lordship of Methven in 1404...rent from his nephew James I in 1427. Atholl was already an old man when his sons David...
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Atholl
Book article from: A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
Atholl, Athole , Athol [ScG, the ford of Fódla ]. In ancient times Atholl was one of the four Pictish kingdoms, roughly...now north-west Tayside. On the modern map Atholl is a mountainous, forested area at the south...
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Atholl, John Stewart, 4th earl of
Book article from: A Dictionary of British History
Atholl, John Stewart, 4th earl of [S] ( c. 1528–79). Atholl succeeded his father as a boy. He was a Roman catholic...Regency until Moray's return in 1567. In 1578 Atholl joined forces with Argyll to challenge the regent...
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Atholl, James Murray, 2nd duke of
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to British History
Atholl, James Murray, 2nd duke of [S] ( c...1764). Though not chief of a major clan, Atholl was one of the greatest men in the Highlands...possession of the extensive regality of Atholl, two-thirds of the county of Perthshire...
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John Stuart, 4th earl of Atholl
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
John Stuart, 4th earl of Atholl , d. 1579, Scottish nobleman. He...Hepburn, earl of Bothwell, to power, Atholl joined the Protestant lords against...1574 proceedings were taken against Atholl as a Roman Catholic, and he probably...
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