From: CeiSerith@...
Message: 24129
Date: 2003-07-04
The Perfekt has
taken on the functions of Präteritum, except for some verb forms
like the Präteritum of sein, haben, wissen, denken, etc., which
still appear in their Präteritalformen war, hatte, wusste, dachte,
without risking to sound unusual. The same applies for the
perfect of modal verbs. You hardly ever hear "Ich habe es nicht
machen können."
I can't figure out what the now usual form of this sentence would be. Help?
David Fickett-Wilbar