I'm not finished yet

[hanky]

Here is a dialogue in the Taken [2008] movie:

A: Let's get going. Dinner is over.
B: I'm not finished yet.
A: Yes, you are.
B: No, I'm not.

I think that instead of "I'm not finished yet" they would have said " I haven't finished yet", am I right?

Thanks in advance.

[PROESL]

Here is a dialogue in the Taken [2008] movie:

A: Let's get going. Dinner is over.
B: I'm not finished yet.
A: Yes, you are.
B: No, I'm not.

I think that instead of "I'm not finished yet" they would have said " I haven't finished yet", am I right?

Thanks in advance.

Both are correct. We use "finished" as an adjective and as the past participle of "finish". You could also say "I'm not done yet", meaning I'm not done eating yet.

I'm not finished yet. I haven't finished yet.

[konungursvia]

Both are correct. We use "finished" as an adjective and as the past participle of "finish". You could also say "I'm not done yet", meaning I'm not done eating yet.

I'm not finished yet. I haven't finished yet.

I would say "I'm done eating," while frequent enough to sound natural, belongs only to the vernacular in certain regions and can be considered to fall outside the norms of classroom English as we are passing it on to our learners here.

[Ann1977]

Here is a dialogue in the Taken [2008] movie:

A: Let's get going. Dinner is over.
B: I'm not finished yet.
A: Yes, you are.
B: No, I'm not.

I think that instead of "I'm not finished yet" they would have said " I haven't finished yet", am I right?

Thanks in advance.

"I'm not finished" and "I'm not done" are universally used American expressions for this (and similar) circumstances.

You might say, "I haven't finished my homework yet."
This possibly carries a suggestion that you are not actually doing it at the moment, and that it is still hanging fire on your desk somewhere.

Possibly we say "I'm not finished" or "I'm not done" when we end the sentence there.

But perhaps we say, "I haven't finished (done) my homework yet" when we use them as transitive verbs.

We would say "I'm not done with my homework yet," but "I haven't done my homework yet."
(This switches "being done with" over to "to do.")

[PROESL]

I would say "I'm done eating," while frequent enough to sound natural, belongs only to the vernacular in certain regions and can be considered to fall outside the norms of classroom English as we are passing it on to our learners here.

What's wrong with teaching something that falls outside the norms of "classroom English"? There's nothing wrong with it. And what makes you say that this does, in fact, fall "outside the norms of classroom English"? If you think there's something wrong with "I'm not done" then I would say you think there's something wrong with saying or teaching "What's up?" along with typical ways to reply to this question. Why do you hold ELLs to an imaginary standard that native speakers of English do not hold themselves to? I don't think it's necessary to do so. One must teach "register". Perhaps using "done" this way sounds informal to you, but this does not make it wrong.

There's nothng wrong with saying "I'm not done yet" or "I'm not done eating yet" because "done" is an adjective and is can come after the linking verb "be", which is exactly what is happening here.

What makes you say it belongs to the "vernacular"? Did you read this somewhere, or is it based on the subjective viewpoint of others that you agree with you? Is it what one could suppose or what really is true?


done: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com There isn't a usage note accompanying "done" in the American Heritage Dictionary published in the United States of America. So what's the problem with using "done" as an adjective? There is no problem with it. One would think that if there's no problem with it in the USA, then there wouldn't be a problem with it anywhere.

[PROESL]

I would say "I'm done eating," while frequent enough to sound natural, belongs only to the vernacular in certain regions and can be considered to fall outside the norms of classroom English as we are passing it on to our learners here.

It sounds very direct, doesn't it? "I'm not done yet".

[PROESL]

We would say "I'm not done with my homework yet," but "I haven't done my homework yet."
(This switches "being done with" over to "to do.")

Exactly. In the first sentence it's an adjective and in the second the past participle of "do".

[konungursvia]

What's wrong with teaching somethng that falls outside the norms of "classroom English"? There's nothing wrong with it. And what makes you say that this does, in fact, fall "outside the norms of classroom English"? If you think there's something wrong with "I'm not done" then I would say you think there's something wrong with saying or teaching "What's up?" along with typical ways to reply to this question. Why do you hold ELLs to an imaginary standard that native speakers of English do not hold themselves to? I don't think it's necessary to do so. One must teach "register". Perhaps using "done" this way sounds informal to you, but this does not make it wrong.

There's nothng wrong with saying "I'm not done yet" or "I'm not done eating yet" because "done" is an adjective and is can come after the linking verb "be", which is exactly what is happening here.

What makes you say it belongs to the "vernacular"? Did you read this somewhere, or is it based on the subjective viewpoint of others that you agree with you? Is it what one could suppose or what really is true?


done: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com There isn't a usage note accompanying "done" in the American Heritage Dictionary published in the United States of America. So what's the problem with using "done" as an adjective? There is no problem with it. One would think that if there's no problem with it in the USA, then there wouldn't be a problem with it anywhere.

Who said not to do it? Who said it was bad? I'm just pointing out that it is vernacular, and students should know this. Vernacular phrases don't travel well. Many of our learners are based elsewhere.

As for your statement that "If there's no problem with it in the USA, then there wouldn't be a problem with it anywhere," I think that's an ethnocentrism. Your norms cannot be assumed to be acceptable elsewhere just because you think of yourself as a large country. I think I read our Australian friends trying to point this out to you before. It's a bad attitude. It doesn't respect difference, diversity, local culture.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you are saying.

[hanky]

Both are correct. We use "finished" as an adjective and as the past participle of "finish". You could also say "I'm not done yet", meaning I'm not done eating yet.

I'm not finished yet. I haven't finished yet.

I thought that "I'm not finished yet" is a passive sentence. But if "finished " is used as an adjective then it is OK. What is not OK is that I am quite confused. How do you distinguish "to be + past participle (use as and adjective)" and "to be + past participle" (passive voice).

Thanks.

[Ann1977]

Exactly. In the first sentence it's an adjective and in the second the past participle of "do".

Yes, and it shifted the meaning more than I anticipated.

"I'm not done yet" clearly implies that I have started but haven't yet finished.

"I haven't done it yet" clearly implies that I haven't started it yet --
a strange meaning to arise from "done!"