Hi, everyone,
In the sentence "I'll close my computer when I'm done," why is "I'm done" used here and not "I've done"?
Thanks to all in advance.
Good question!
First, remember: In text messages and telegrams, it's fine to ignore capitalization and punctuation. In other forms of writing, it's not.
Both
I'm and
I've would be understood. But you're right, "I'm done" is more common and more natural.
Think about what the phrase means when it stands alone:
- I am done.
- I am finished.
- I am not using it anymore.
They grow out of the verb
to be. As you have learned, we often follow the
be verbs (be, been, is, am, was, are, were) with more verbs. This is an example of that.
You're welcome!