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Re: "There can be"

From:Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
Date:Saturday, April 12, 2008, 6:51
On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 1:39 AM, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 7:35 PM, <MorphemeAddict@...> wrote: > > Why is there an apostrophe after "kan"? The word is just "kann". > > Well, I didn't write "kann", did I? I wrote "kan". Which is short a > letter. Q.E.D. :-) > > (OK, so I was thinking "kanne". Sue me.)
Welcome to the world of preterite-presents. (Similar in English: "he can", not *"he cans".) Cheers, Philip -- Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>