“Let’s see,” you may say to yourself about three-quarters through the typical first-year Spanish course, “how many verb tenses have we studied? 1. Present Indicative; 2. Imperfect Indicative; 3.

It is often bemoaned in Britain that English is going to pieces—and Americans are generally to blame. Whether you call it decline or not, the moaners are on to something: America has indeed produced ...