Re: Back to the Future (was: I'm back, sort of)

>With pronouns in, the verb to be goes [Aim], [jO:], [hi:z], [wI@], [DE:](no
>comments on pronunciation, please).  There are two of those that can be said
>to be clitics, [hi:z] and [DE:].  And as English barely ever uses the simple
>present, English can be said to be pro-drop in the present tense.
What do you mean by the "simple present"?  Something like "I run" as
opposed to the progressive "I am running"?  If I understood your
terminology correctly, then I think that the reason that the simple present
is so rarely used is because it carries the force of an habitual aspect
rather than a true simple present.

Isidora

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