![]() We have killed the monster, reentered the gate and returnedhome (Nous avons tué le monstre et nous sommes rerentrés par la porte et sommes retournés à la maison). We have climbed the stairs and entered the gate (nous avons monté les escaliers et sommes entrés par la porte). My friend has also arrived – he didn’t stay at home (Mon ami est aussi arrivé– il n'est pas resté à la maison). I have wanted to do this since I was born (Je voulais faire cela depuis que je suis né). I have come there – to the cave of a fluffy monster (Je suis venu ici– à la grotte d’un monstre en peluche). Let's say that you're an adventurer and together with your friend you're hunting the mythical "Fluffy Monster". Or until you lose the will to live.īut we will try to encode it with help of some nice and personalized story. The usual strategy is to repeat such list until you "get it". However, there are 16 sneaky verbs which require être. French verbs are classified by which auxiliary verb they take, and they use the same auxiliary verb in all compound tenses. I'm comfortable teaching my students that I’m done is correct.In French, the auxiliary verb is either avoiror être. Some grammar sticklers might argue that the best construction is I have finished, but this sounds a bit formal and stuffy in my opinion. While both I’m done and I’m finished are correct, common, and generally accepted, I'm done is by far the more popular choice. After 1990, the popularity of I’m done is clear. ![]() When looking up I’m done and I’m finished in books between 1920 and 2000, we can see that I’m done has been used more often than I’m finished except between 19. So it seems as if both constructions came into being around the same time. Merriam-Webster’s also mentions that finished has been used with be since the later eighteenth century. Merriam-Webster's stance is clear: “The construction is standard.” In fact, done as an adjective with the meaning of finished has been in use since the fourteenth century, and be done, specifically, dates back to the eighteen century. They explain that done is widely criticized for reasons that are not clear. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage has a comprehensive entry for done used in this sense. ![]() Adjective it is! What Do the Reference Guides Say? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage: However, as we all know, English has many exceptions, and classifying done as an adjective when the meaning is finished is exactly what most dictionaries and reference guides do. Usually these adjectives involve feelings, so done doesn’t exactly fit into this category. What about an adjective? In English, participial adjectives are common for feelings (e.g., I’m embarrassed, I’m frightened, etc.). ) Since we can’t say I’m done (by someone), we can safely assume that this construction isn’t the passive voice. (E.g., The book was checked out of the library. In other words, the meaning of “by someone” is included in the verb. The passive voice occurs when the subject is not the one who is performing the action. This construction is used for two cases in English: the passive voice and adjectives. We have a special way of talking about times when we get someone else (usually a professional). When we look closely at the parts, we can see Be with the past participle form of Do. This sounds too formal to use in an everyday conversation, though. I decided to look into this expression to see what others thought. ![]() Recently, though, someone mentioned that I’m done is incorrect grammar. How often do we hear students say “I’m done” to mean I’m finished? How often do we say it ourselves? It’s so common that I, for one, have never really stopped to think about it.
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