In Modal verbs^x, Tenses^x, Regards^x

Let's spread out the issue a little bit: ____ O ____ Type 2. Basic forms . a. If we caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might, etc.) get there by lunch-time. b. If I came into a fortune, I would give up smoking. c. If I knew how it worked, I could...

JTT ... we regard modal verbs as unmarked for tense What you are (or the book is) saying is just about epistemic modals. Some root modals like 'will' (futurity) or 'can' (ability) have tense finiteness. So your saying cannot be generalized for all modals. I agree most epistemic modals are...

Paco: By the way I have a feeling that English 'now' (in the linguistic sense, not in the physical sense) is not instantaneous, but it seems to occupy some span in the time that flows from the past to the future. Otherwise I cannot understand the usage of the present progressive tense. JTT:...

Paco: How about the case of "I would have saved 50 cents if I hadn't bought that popsicle yesterday"? Do you insist that ESLs should believe has a sense of future in this case too? Paco, take a step back, take a deep breath and look once more at your sentence. There is the addition of "have...

If it looks like a past tense, acts like a past tense, and has the 'semantic role' of a past tense – it's a past tense. What other criteria are there? ## JTT: It's these looks that are deceiving you, MrP. ## You haven't answered the question, JT. What are the other criteria? ...