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Tue 8 Jan, 2008 08:28 am
1. I wasn't feeling well a week ago; now I'm fully recovered.
2. I wasn't feeling well a week ago; now I've fully recovered.
I think both sentences are correct and there's no difference in meaning. Am I correct?
Many thanks.
The first sentence shows the old fashioned usage, where we describe a present state using the present tense of the verb "to be" with a past participle.
I am recovered
He is come
She is gone
Nowadays most people use the verb "to have" with a past participle.
I have recovered
He has come
She has gone
And, yes, they both mean the same.
contrex wrote:The first sentence shows the old fashioned usage, where we describe a present state using the present tense of the verb "to be" with a past participle.
I am recovered
He is come
She is gone
Nowadays most people use the verb "to have" with a past participle.
I have recovered
He has come
She has gone
And, yes, they both mean the same.
"I'm fully recovered" is not old fashioned, Contrex. It simply describes the state of the person's recovery.
Using the present perfect focuses more on the process of recovery.
Agreed, it's not a matter of old-fashioned vs modern usage it's a matter of the focus of the meaning.
If anything is more antiquated it would be the present perfect tense usage. In modern American usage it has been neglected.
JTT wrote:contrex wrote:The first sentence shows the old fashioned usage, where we describe a present state using the present tense of the verb "to be" with a past participle.
I am recovered
He is come
She is gone
Nowadays most people use the verb "to have" with a past participle.
I have recovered
He has come
She has gone
And, yes, they both mean the same.
"I'm fully recovered" is not old fashioned, Contrex. It simply describes the state of the person's recovery.
Using the present perfect focuses more on the process of recovery.
"I have" seems more appropriate as it seems to connote that one recovered from something recently. "I am" seems more appropriate for something that happened further back in the past.
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