0
Pastsimple Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

We've overslept OR We overslept

0Hi again, this one is a bit tricky.02br
02br
01u00Context02u00: A man wakes up and finds out that the alarm clock is not working. He wakes his wife, saying:02br
02br
00a) 01b00We've overslept02b00. b) 01b00We overslept02b00.02br
02br
00I'd go for a) but what if the action (ie oversleeping) doesn't have any negative effects or the effects can still be undone? Isn't b) more appropriate in this context?0-
  

Top answer

0I'd go for the present perfect. /Wake up! 0-

— Pieanne

  • 0I'd go for the present perfect.
  • /Wake up!
  • 0-
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

29 Answers
0
0I'd go for the present perfect. "Look!/Wake up! We've overslept": the focus is on the present result.0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Pastsimple12cite10Hi again, this one is a bit tricky.12br
12br
11u10Context12u10: A man wakes up and finds out that the alarm clock is not working. He wakes his wife, saying:12br
12br
10a) 11b10We've overslept12b10. b) 11b
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Pieanne12cite10I'd go for the present perfect. "Look!/Wake up! We've overslept": the focus is on the present result.12br
12br
10Yes that's what I've pointed out but what if there was 11b10no real need at all12b10 to get up at the time the alarm clock had been set to?12br
12br
0
0
0 If you say "we overslept" in such a context, your wife might ask "when did we oversleep?" 02br
02br
00A sentence in the simple past makes sense only when your listener knows the time in which the said event happened. So "I overslept this morning" makes sense even if you utter it suddenly, but "I overslept" without any time adverbial makes no sense when it is suddenly utter
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Paco200412cite10If you say "we overslept" in such a context, your wife might ask "when did we oversleep?" 12blockquote
10My take is:02br
02br
00Since we are both in bed and I've just woken her she'd say "when did we oversleep?" only if she was joking.02br
02br
00I'm afr
0
0
0 I am sorry that I am not a native speaker. 02br
02br
00paco 0-
0
0
0 Both options sound just fine to me.0-
0
0
0One BrE native speaker once told me that this "oversleeping" question was a tricky one and that both were possible in appropriate contexts, with "We've overslept" being the much more frequent version. He said I needed to take the following into account: "can it [= the damage done] be undone?", "is it [= the fact that we('ve) overslept] serious?"....02br
02br
00To be honest,
0
0
0If the fact that you didn't hear the alarm is bothering you, use the present perfect. If you're saying it upon awaking - and discovering you didn't hear the alarm, use the present perfect.02br
02br
00If you're having lunch and talking about what happened in the morning, use the simple past.0-
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Pieanne12cite10If you're having lunch and talking about what happened in the morning, use the simple past.12blockquote
12br
00I think it will depend on the context.02br
02br
00in the office at lunch time:02br
00 Boss - John, why don't you have a lunch box today?02b
0

Related Questions