'Come' + Time

Question

Come early September, we will have a general assembly.Came late in the afternoon, I still got no response.Are the sentence structures above with the verb 'come' grammatically correct and naturally spoken?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Come early September, we will have a general assembly. Fine

Came late in the afternoon, I still got no response.

I wouldn't say this is wrong, but it sounds odd and not natural.

The structure you are asking about is most commonly used when speaking about the future.

If I wanted to speak about the past, I'd be more inclined to say

eg Come late afternoon, I had still received no response.

The Past Perfect is more natural, as you are refering to the period up to late afternoon.

Are the sentence structures above with the verb 'come' grammatically correct and naturally spoken?

Clive

Hmea1 · Answer

"Come in early September, we will have a general assembly." You should say in. More examples, "Come in January," "I came here in May," "I'm leaving in June" - note the usage of in.

In terms of it being naturally spoken, people would probably instead say "Come in early September, we're having a general assembly" or "Come in early September, we're going to have a general assembly".

I came late in the afternoon, but I still got no response. You need to use a personal pronoun (in this case the personal pronoun I) to specify who the subject of the sentence is. It is not clear who the subject of this sentence is without one. The word but is used to show that a contrast exists between the first half of a sentence and the second half.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, Clive, for your helpful response. I would write as you've suggested then.

Actually, I tend to avoid using the past perfect because some say the simple past will suffice, but I believe in your suggestion, it is more appropriate and emphatic.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, hmea1, for sharing your thoughts on this.

Sorry, I've got a little confused here.

Clive,

Would you agree that 'in' before a month is also acceptable?
Incidentally, can I say "Come late in the afternoon" instead of "Come late afternoon"? How is it different?

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

Would you agree that 'in' before a month is also acceptable? No, with this structure I wouldn't agree.

'Come a time' is a fixed kind of phrase.

eg Come 6 pm, this office is deserted.

eg Come Friday, everybody heads out of the city.

eg Come September, I'm moving to Canada.

Incidentally, can I say "Come late in the afternoon" instead of "Come late afternoon"? How is it different? I suppose you could, but it doesn't sound very colloquial to me.

Clive

PS -

Have a look at these lyrics, for the song called 'Come September'.

Her bones will ache
Her mouth will shake
And as the passion dies
Her magic heart will break
She'll fly to France
'Cause there's no chance
No hope for Cinderella
Come September
Her violet sky
Will need to cry
'Cause if it doesn't rain
Then everything will die
She needs to heal
She needs to feel
Something more than tender
Come September

Everything wrong
Gonna be all right
Come September

The souls that burn
Will twist and turn and
Find you in the dark
No matter where you run
But lost her spark
And what she's pushing for
She can't remember

Everything wrong
Gonna be all right
Come September

Her eyes surrender
Her cry a crying shame
Coming undone
Is she ever gonna
Feel the same
She will run
She's gona drink the sun
Shining just for you
Instead of everyone
And so it goes
She'll stand alone
And try no to remember
Come September

Everything wrong
Gonna be all right
Come September
She's made her mark

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, Clive, for your clarification. I really appreciate it.

I had a look at the lyrics and even listenen to the song on the internet.
I liked it because I'm a fan of Natalie Imbruglia.

'Come' + Time

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