Andy Howey:
>[...]"I am here" is a concrete, declarative statement, whereas
>"my (being) here" is more of a conditional/subjunctive statement -- it
>indicates some sort of depency for that individual to be
>present -- not the same thing, in either Germanic or Slavic.
"My being here" cannot be called "conditional". Ironically, you
seem confused yourself by equating "my being here" with "I would
be here" -- not the same thing at all. The latter is automatically
hypothetical but not necessarily so with the former.
The only difference between "I am here" and "my being here" as far
as I see is that one is present tense, and the other, somewhat of
an aorist (that is, without reference to time, or anything for
that matter, other than the pure state itself).
- gLeN
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