What time do you presuppose it is?

Abstract

A prenominal participle in a definite noun phrase (e.g., the broken toy) is a presupposed description of the noun phrase. Its temporal properties are quite different from those of presup‐posed verb complements. The time of the presupposed participle can be linked either to the time of the main verb of the sentence or to the time of the statement's utterance. The link to the time of atterance seems to be mediated by the definite article of the noun phrase, while the link to the main verb depends upon the absence of an independent tense‐bearing element in the noun phrase.