Cycnos | Numéros | Volume 23.1 - Le Qualitatif

Résumé :

It is well-known that the modal will cannot occur in a when-clause when the latter provides a locator for the rest of the utterance. The aim of this article is to discuss this problem as well as the explanations given for it in A. Culioli’s utterer-centred approach in the light of the examples in which the presence of will in a when-clause is possible, particularly in the case of relative clauses. I will try to demonstrate that the use of the modal signals a difference between the time at which the utterance is spoken and the time at which the event takes place, at the quantitative but also at the qualitative level.

Date de publication : 2006-05-31