does this distinction match the distinction in AAVE between “the man be laughing” and “the man is laughing”? Why does so-called standard English have no such strong syntactical distinction between habitual and present action? (Sparked by a dinner table argument over Laughing Cow brand cheese, served in individual wrapped triangles without text in this officially bilingual country. I guessed the French name would be “La vache qui rit”; my daughter guessed “La vache riante.” I won.) #syntax
the cover of a paperback edition of Victor Hugo’s novel L’homme qui rit, with a reproduced image of a wave swamping a small boat
Stephane Shachtel’s monochrome print “Homme riant,” showing a grinning man in a tall hat