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Re: "There can be"

From:Douglas Koller <laokou@...>
Date:Saturday, April 12, 2008, 12:21
From: Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>

> On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 1:39 AM, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> > (OK, so I was thinking "kanne". Sue me.)
> Welcome to the world of preterite-presents. (Similar in English: "he > can", not *"he cans".)
Well, that's the first time I've heard them called that. Kinda sorta makes sense, though what *we* learned as "modal auxiliaries" plus "wissen" change their vowel in the present as you move from sing. to pl., whereas strong verbs in the preterite do not. Kou

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Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>