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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Australian singularity
Since moving to the Antipodes I have noticed a peculiar aspect of reporting events prevalent not just in day to say speech among the Aussies but on tv as well. Best illustrated in the following contrasting examples describing an imaginary event:
I might say
"He was awoken by noise coming from below. He went downstairs and he saw a man climbing through a broken window. He confronted him and the man quickly left."
Australians would describe it thus:
"He's been awoken by a noise coming from below. He's gone downstairs and he's seen a man climbing through a broken window. He's confronted him and the man's quickly left"
What's going on here What tense is this?
I might say
"He was awoken by noise coming from below. He went downstairs and he saw a man climbing through a broken window. He confronted him and the man quickly left."
Australians would describe it thus:
"He's been awoken by a noise coming from below. He's gone downstairs and he's seen a man climbing through a broken window. He's confronted him and the man's quickly left"
What's going on here What tense is this?
Top answer
Hehe. Sounds like the Aussies have taken the use of the present perfect to new extremes. I presume the 's in your Aussie version is a contraction of "has": Anonymous "He has been awoken by a noise coming from below.
- Hehe.
- Sounds like the Aussies have taken the use of the present perfect to new extremes.
- I presume the 's in your Aussie version is a contraction of "has": Anonymous "He has been awoken by a noise coming from below.
- He has gone downstairs and he has seen a man climbing through a broken window.
- He has confronted him and the man has quickly left "
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2 Answers
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Hehe. Sounds like the Aussies have taken the use of the present perfect to new extremes.
I presume the 's in your Aussie version is a contraction of "has":
I presume the 's in your Aussie version is a contraction of "has":
Anonymous"He has been awoken by a noise coming from below. He has gone downstairs and he has seen a man climbing through a broken window. He has confronted him and the
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Your assumption is correct.
"Has+ verb" is a past tense variation though, is it not? I just can't put my finger on it but I would love to know what is going on.
"Has+ verb" is a past tense variation though, is it not? I just can't put my finger on it but I would love to know what is going on.
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