Re: time and place

--- claudio <claudio.soboll@...>
> wrote:
>                        thanks for the answer tom,
>                        i guess the confusion is caused by the fact
>                        that
>
>when we speak of "before" and "after" we compare two points
>(space or time points)
>and actually need a third point, the fixpoint.
[snip]

>assuming we stay at fixpoint "here", then we say:
>"spacepoint1 lies after spacepoint2, because it lies farer away from here."
>
>assuming we stay at fixpoint "now", then we say:
>"timepoint1 lies after timepoint2, because it lies farer away from now." ??
>no ! we say "before.." instead of "after.."
>is this not illogical ?
Well, as I said, we don't really use "before" and "after" in the context of spatial
relationships, except in the context of travelling along some sort of path with
objects at various positions on it. They are also only used when the travelling
point of reference has yet to reach them.
"The restaurant is just before the hotel." = "You will arrive at the restaurant at
a time just earlier than the time at which you will (or would) arrive at the
hotel."

This can now be seen to be the same as the use for time:
"7.00 is before 8.00." = "7.00 is a time that is earlier than 8.00."

What if the "travelling point of reference" has gone past the two entities
concerned? Do we reverse "before" and "after"? No - we use the past tense:
"The restaurant was before the hotel."

And what about times? Don't we always say "7.00 is before 8.00," even at nine
o'clock? Well, yes, but that's actually a present habitual tense, representing
a permanent state of affairs.
If you eat meals at a different time each day, you could say this after the event:
"Lunchtime was before 1 o'clock."
And now you are using the past tense to refer to two times which you've gone past,
just as you would to refer to two shops you've gone past while walking down the
road.

==

   Tom Pullman

"Dochuala as borb nad légha."

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