Thus, in the opinion of discourse analysts, the discourse-pragmatic functions that may be correlated with verbal forms are a priority for understanding a verbal system. This approach creates three methodological problems. First, discourse studies have been criticized for too-quickly making the leap from correlation to causation. Downing (1995: 6) cautions that, “[w]hen particular language structures are used in particular discourse contexts, say, … in a passage devoted to storyline development, it