The authors bridge the gap between the semantic and syntactic properties of verb tense and aspect, and suggest a unified account of tense and aspect using Chomsky's Principles and Parameters Framework. They compare tense and aspect systems in Romance languages with Germanic ones.

Alessandra Giorgi is Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, University of Bergamo, Italy. Fabio Pianesi is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Technology and Scientific Research (IRST) in Trento, Italy.