Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Matthew Anstey" <manstey AT portal.ca>]

Gday Rolf,

You wrote,
> the English verbs "went" and "thought" will for instance never change
their past meaning.

Is the following example a counter-example to this, or is it idiomatic:
Jo: Did you hear that Bill Clinton was impeached?
Bill: I thought that was impossible.

Is Bill in effect saying "I am thinking now that this is impossible"?
Similarly, we have,
"I never knew that" and "I didn't realise that". Perhaps in English verbs of
cognition can be used with past forms for a present meaning.

Just a thought,
Matthew Anstey