I am finished or I have finished?

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ESL forum > Ask for help > I am finished or I have finished?

I am finished or I have finished?

gharbi2009

I am finished or I have finished?

Very often, pupils say " I have finished" or " I am finished" when they finish doing an assignment. Which form is correct or are both correct? Please, help.

Gharbi

28 Oct 2017

I think " I have finished " is correct; it is in present perfect simple tense refers to an action just finished.

"i am finished" is a passive form refers to the pupil.

I think it can help.

28 Oct 2017

Both are fine. In fact, most often, people say �I �m finished. � I guess that, in �I �m finished �, the past participle is acting adjectively. Interestingly, mimib �s point is valid. On your deathbed, you may well say, �I �m finished. �

What irritates me a little is when students shout out, �Finished! � - no �I �m � or �I �ve � and forgive me everyone, many will say �Feeneeshed! �

In my opinion, that is primary school behaviour and I teach seniors. I ask them to review their work or take out their readers, but not shout out!

28 Oct 2017

Antonio Oliver

Hi,

Just to add variety... In some languages Present Perfect is sometimes formed with the auxiliary verb TO BE, not TO HAVE:

The French say Je suis arriv�, which translates as I am arrived

The Germans will say Ich bin angekommen (same literal translation)

To make things more confusing, this only happens with some verbs expressing a change, or at least movement:

French J �ai mag� = I have eaten

German Ich habe gegessen = I have eaten (that is, you don �t say I am eaten in these cases -that would sound weird)

I believe the same thing happend to English in the past, and although today you can still hear the old way, it �s best to say I have arrived or I have finished, but I stand to be corrected by native members.

Regards

28 Oct 2017

Antonio, I was going to mention French ��tre � verbs myself. They do involve change/movement and if you think about them, they are absolutely logical. For example, �I am arrived. � �I am returned �. �I am left �(je suis parti) etc...Those past participles are describing your state, whereas other verbs do not e.g. �I am eaten �, �I am watched � - they mean something completely different and therefore they need avoir (to have).

In English, you don �t say �I �m arrived � �I �m returned � etc, but we do say �I �m finished �.

Here�s a good link:

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/106831/i-am-finished-vs-i-have-finished

28 Oct 2017

ldthemagicman

I tend to answer the questions: "Have you finished?" with, "Yes, I �ve finished!"

"Are you finished?" with, "Yes, I �m finished!"

Regarding Questions and Short Answers: This is in line with the easily-learned rule, �Answer using the same verb as the questioner uses!�

For example:

"Do you like apples?" "Yes I do!"

"Have you a brother?" "Yes, I have!"

"Can you swim?" "Yes, I can!"

"Have you finished?" "Yes, I have!" = "I �ve finished!"

"Are you finished?" "Yes, I am!" = "I �m finished!"

I agree with others, who say that: "I �m finished!" has a sense of: "I �m done for!", "I �m whacked!", "I �m exhausted!", "I �m zonked!".

Incidentally, it �s true that, nowadays, we don �t say: "I �m arrived!", using the verb �To be � to form the Present Perfect Tense.

But, it hasn �t always been the situation. Until the change to Modern English, around about 1800, writers frequently used the verb �To be �, and not the verb �To have �.

For example: King James Bible, John 10, 10. "I am come that ye might have life!"

Jane Austin, in her novel "Emma": "So, you are come at last!".

When they start the assignment, does any student say: "Teacher, I�m started!" "I�m commenced!" "I m begun!" ?

Or, when they finish, does any student say: "Teacher, I�m ended!" "I�m concluded!" "I�m terminated!" ?

Not in my experience, they don �t!

Les Douglas

29 Oct 2017

samiking1

BOTH ARE CORRECT . I HAVE FINISHED REFERS TO BRITISH ENGLISH WHEREAS " I AM FINISHED " REFERS TO AMERICAN ENGLISH

2 Nov 2017