<i>Pa ging morgen golfen</i>

Abstract The study reported in this article investigates the phenomenon of the posterior past in Dutch, where the preterite refers to present or future eventualities, challenging traditional tense-aspect (TA) analysis. Building on the work of Haans and de Hoop (2023) , this study offers a reanalysis of this feature using Klein’s (1994) and Bohnemeyer’s ( 1998 , 2014 ) TA framework, using data from the Spoken Dutch Corpus. Furthermore, parallels and distinctions in the cross-linguistic variation on the posterior past are highlighted. The findings show that the temporal reference of the posterior past is real, which reflects its definition by Reichenbach (1947) and becomes clear when analysed through the Kleinian framework. This research provides insights into the interaction between tense, aspect and modality, contributing to broader linguistic theory.