Mary's answer is valid, but I suspect you are asking how one can know what
kind of contract vowel is present in the first singular. The bad news is,
you can't (all contract vowels contract in the same way with omega); the
good news is, (1) the first sing. is comparatively infrequent, so the odds
favor your seeing a different form that does indicate the contract vowel
(which in itself is a good reason to learn/teach the combinations of
contractions); and (2) it doesn't take long to check all three
possibilities, if necessary, in the dictionary.
>>3. Robertson points out that -AW and -EW endings are sometimes confused in
>>the GNT. Is this worth pointing out to beginners?
>I think it may be, perhaps in a footnote. Otherwise, someone can spend
>time and anxiety wondering what's going on with an unexpected form.
>
>Mary
I don't have time to check ATR at the moment, but you might want to find out
where the confusion actually occurs (perhaps with a handful of verbs or
less) and "red flag" these particular verbs for your students. As Mary
suggests, the less anxiety for beginners (and us old folks too) the better!
Don Wilkins