On the Interaction of Future and Perfective Aspect in Mandarin Chinese

Contrary to the previous literature suggesting incompatibility between future and perfective le, this paper presents examples where the three future modals in Mandarin Chinese jiang, hui and yao are compatible with perfective le under appropriate circumstances. I argue that jiang, hui and yao are rendered compatible with le if the following conditions hold. First, a reference time is provided to induce a reasonably close specific time for le. Second, the reference time for le must be set to a time other than the present time. If these two conditions are satisfied and no temporal clash arises, future is compatible with the perfective aspect. If a reference time is provided for le but this reference time does not guarantee a reasonable close specific time, then, the future modals need to provide a specific time, in order to go with the perfective aspect.