"I give up, " she said. "You win".

[Nonverbis]

I. Krylova A Grammar of Present-day English.

"I give up, " she said. "You win".

Gould you tell me why both "give up" and "win" are in the Present Indefinite?

 

[5jj]

This is sometimes known as the 'performative' use of the present simple. The words are the deed. By the use of the words 'I give up', the speaker is actually giving up. 'You win' means that the person addressed is the winner.

 

[Denio]

I. Krylova A Grammar of Present-day English.

"I give up, " she said. "You win".

Gould you tell me why both "give up" and "win" are in the Present Indefinite?

A good question. It deserves an equally good answer. In the sports events that practice (using the Present Simple) is very common. When they comment on the events they often do it in this very tense. It can be rapidly changed events or the ones that just happened.

 

[Nonverbis]

A good question. It deserves an equally good answer. In the sports events that practice (using the Present Simple) is very common. When they comment on the events they often do it in this very tense. It can be rapidly changed events or the ones that just happened.

If it were a speech by a TV commentator or if it were stage directions, it would be just a succession of point actions. But this is not the case. I think, your explanation is erroneous.

 

[Nonverbis]

This is sometimes known as the 'performative' use of the present simple. The words are the deed. By the use of the words 'I give up', the speaker is actually giving up. 'You win' means that the person addressed is the winner.

"I repeat, the girl has been extremely impertinent," he said.
You leave me no choice.
I swear it to you!
I refuse to listen to you. You talk such nonsense.
"Where shall we have our meal?" "Anywhere you like". "I choose the kitchen then."
"You've always treated me badly and now you insult me," Maurice shouted in his turn.
My dear, how you throw about your money!
She said: "How swiftly the years fly!".
"May I help you to wash the baby?" "It is very kind of you. Ah, how he kicks! Hs he splashed you?"
Why do you talk like that to me?


Could you tell me whether these examples are all performative verbs (in bold)?
In this textbook it is just said that the speaker just names the occurrence itself, the action as such.
And a comment: the Present Indefinite is also used for an instantaneous action which takes place at the moment of speaking but it is not viewed in its progress.

 

[5jj]

In most of those, the verb is not the deed.

 

[Tarheel]

I sm unfamiliar with present indefinite. However, I am pretty sure it's not capitalized.

 

[Nonverbis]

I sm unfamiliar with present indefinite. However, I am pretty sure it's not capitalized.

You may be right. But I took it from a textbook.

 

[jutfrank]

May I suggest that instead of 'present indefinite' you use the established term 'present simple'?

If you're looking for reasons why the present simple is used, I think the best answer is simply that there is no reason to use anything else. That is to say, when there is no reason for the speaker to express aspect. What we call the simple aspect is really just a lack of aspect. This is basically what Krylova means when she says "the speaker just names the occurrence itself".

 

[5jj]

You may be interested in my thoughts on what I call the unmarked tense.

 

[Nonverbis]

In most of those, the verb is not the deed.

Could you show me which cases are performatives? Will you be so kind as to provide me with the full list of performatives from the very excerpt from the book by Kryloav?

That would be of great help for me.

 

[5jj]

'Performative' is only a label. When the verb is the deed, then we normally use the present simple, because there is no reason to use any other tense or aspect.

When you say'' I give up', you are giving up. The words are the deed.
Similarly when you say 'I swear I am innocent', you are swearing that.

However, when you say 'How you throw your money about', those words are not the action. They are about the action.

Krylova has not brought together a very helpful group of examples.

 

[jutfrank]

The ideal example of a performative verb is the verb swear in the utterance I swear it you.

Besides I give up, the utterance I choose the kitchen is another decent example—the utterance itself is the choice.