In the previous sections tense has been discussed in terms of its general characteristics and its various uses in referencing present, past, and future time. As has been previously covered, tense is not a generic term for time in language nor is it the only time element with which linguists are concerned. Instead it is one of five universal attributes of language used to convey time information. The other attributes (aspect, mood, perfection, and aktionsart) are inherently tied to tense and the relationship of all five are so intertwined that each can rarely be discussed without consideration of all of them together.