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

From:Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>
Date:Wednesday, September 24, 2003, 13:39
>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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Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>