English Majors only

Our own Grammar Girl!
(I love Grammar Girl Pod Casts).

Linda
PATCHogue, NY

On Fri, 3 Oct 2008 18:21:02 -0500, "Anastasia Luettecke"
wrote:

Butterflywings said:

Does the usage of 'sewed' mean: She has sewn this far and needs to go on
---or should the word 'sewn' have been used because: She DID sew that far
and no further. or is either/or correct?

So I'ma chimin' in:

English major here! Masters in Composition and I'm going on for a Doctorate
in Linguistics. Here's the deal with "sewed/sewn"...

A lot of words with Germanic roots are supposed to fall into the "-ed/-ewn"
category. For example:
present tense "hew"--to "hew down a tree"
simple past "hewed"--"he hewed down that tree" (weird, I know, but correct)
participial form "hewn"--"he has hewn down that tree"

Participial forms ending in "-ewn" have rather recently come out of favor,
so either of the "-ed" or the "-ewn" form are considered correct now. The
meaning, however, depends upon the auxiliary verb placed with it:

"had sewn" - I've sewn before in the past and I'm done with it now; it has
no effect on current events.
"have/has sewn" - I've sewn before in the past, and that even is affecting
something else that's happening now. This subtle shade of different meaning
between "had" and "have/has" affects the "shall", "will", and "might"
auxiliaries below, too.

"will have sewn" - By the time something else happens in the future, the
sewing will be done.
"might have sewn" - It's a possibility that the sewing has been done in the
past.
"shall have sewn" - By the will of someone or something, the sewing is going
to be finished in the future.

English goes on, practically ad infinitum, using auxiliaries to make the
most subtle changes to the verb. We feel some need to get as precise as we
can about the timing of the verb in question. Of course, the language is
changing, and "have/has" and "had" don't always carry such exact information
anymore. But what's here is the traditional grammarian's view.

Did I muddle it up for ya, Butterfly?

Anastasia

--who's off to grade her junior high students' essays now

I sew seams.
I sewed seams.
I have sewn seams.

I eat chocolate.
I ate chocolate.
I have eaten chocolate.

get it? I love grammar!

Musicmaker

Musicmaker

I always have to do that when I am questioning the use of a verb. It is a
good demonstration of the use of "sew" that is easy for us all to
understand.

Thanks!

--
Boca Jan
Florida - Land of the Hurricanes
snipsnstitchesatyahoodotcom
http://community.webshots.com/user/BocaJan



"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I sew seams.
I sewed seams.
I have sewn seams.

I eat chocolate.
I ate chocolate.
I have eaten chocolate.

get it? I love grammar!

Musicmaker

In article ,
WitchyStitcher wrote:

Our own Grammar Girl!
(I love Grammar Girl Pod Casts).

Linda
PATCHogue, NY


I do, too! Grammar Girl, Podictionary and The Word Nerds. (With
thanks to Kathy A. for pointing me toward at least two of those a few
years ago!)

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net

Linda said:

Our own Grammar Girl!
(I love Grammar Girl Pod Casts).


So I'ma sayin':

Aw, shucks! I'm just showing off my nerd side!

If only my students could be so interested...*sigh*!

Anastasia

--shaking her head at her students' unique ideas of spelling: 'wyn' for
'when', 'prolly' for 'probably', and 'wehr' for 'were'. And these are
sophomores....

Ms. Musicmaker:

You have eaten chocolate, but you have not sent any to the undersigned, to
be vetted?!
Kindly correct this situation forthwith.
PAT, Official Chocolate Taster of RCTQ

"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I sew seams.
I sewed seams.
I have sewn seams.

I eat chocolate.
I ate chocolate.
I have eaten chocolate.

get it? I love grammar!

Musicmaker