ABSTRACT
Those who say that there is no time like the present are quite correct: The present is indeed a very special time. It has the distinction of being the only time graced by our presence, effectively dividing the timeline in two. On one side of the divide are times that have, in a sense, happened to us, and on the other side are times that, in a similar sense, have not yet happened to us. We speak quite frequently about this other side, the future, using sentences that convey varying shades of certainty and uncertainty.
