once already

[ostap77]

"I've been bit once already by a German shepherd."

What's "alraedy" for in this sentence? It's OK "I've been bit once by a German shepherd."

 

[Rover_KE]

For the love of God, Ostap, in what CONTEXT did you read this sentence?

It should be bitten for a start.

Rover

 

[ostap77]

For the love of God, Ostap, in what CONTEXT did you read this sentence?

It should be bitten for a start.

Rover

"I've been bit once already by a German shepherd. And that was someting. It was really scary. It was an outside meter the woman had. I read the gas meter and was walking back out and heard a woman yell. I turned around, and this German shepherd was coming at me. The first thing I thought of was that he might go for my throat, like the movies.........."

 

[Raymott]

"I've been bit once already by a German shepherd. And that was someting. It was really scary. It was an outside meter the woman had. I read the gas meter and was walking back out and heard a woman yell. I turned around, and this German shepherd was coming at me. The first thing I thought of was that he might go for my throat, like the movies.........."

In this case, I think you'll find that the necessary context comes before the index sentence. Why is the narrator telling this story? Is there an imminent threat of being bitten again by a German shepherd? Did someone mention being bitten by a German shepherd? "Already" implies the possibility of a second bite.
The context is still missing.
Context is not merely the surrounding words (although it can be). The context here is perhaps: A man narrowly avoids being bitten by a dog. He tells his friend he wouldn't want that to happen again. He says, "I've been bitten once already by a German shepherd."
The context is what is happening in the narrator's present that leads him to say that.

 

[ostap77]

In this case, I think you'll find that the necessary context comes before the index sentence. Why is the narrator telling this story? Is there an imminent threat of being bitten again by a German shepherd? Did someone mention being bitten by a German shepherd? "Already" implies the possibility of a second bite.
The context is still missing.
Context is not merely the surrounding words (although it can be). The context here is perhaps: A man narrowly avoids being bitten by a dog. He tells his friend he wouldn't want that to happen again. He says, "I've been bitten once already by a German shepherd."
The context is what is happening in the narrator's present that leads him to say that.

I wish I could have supplied you with the present that led the speaker to say that. There is no context that preceeds "I've been bit once already ....."

What kind of grammatical consruction is that? I've not come across such constructions in grammar text-books?

 

[bhaisahab]

I wish I could have supplied you with the present that led the speaker to say that. There is no context that preceeds "I've been bit once already ....."

What kind of grammatical consruction is that? I've not come across such constructions in grammar text-books?

You won't find it in grammar books because it's not correct. You could say, "I've already been bitten by a German shepherd", "I've been bitten once before by a German shepherd".

 

[ostap77]

You won't find it in grammar books because it's not correct. You could say, "I've already been bitten by a German shepherd", "I've been bitten once before by a German shepherd".

Thanks,bhaisahab. Is this some kind of a dilect? Is it one of the things that are said but never written like "He didn't tell us aything we didn't already know."?

 

[Raymott]

You won't find it in grammar books because it's not correct. You could say, "I've already been bitten by a German shepherd", "I've been bitten once before by a German shepherd".

You're right in that there are redundant words in the original. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it was incorrect though (assuming 'bitten').

 

[Raymott]

I wish I could have supplied you with the present that led the speaker to say that. There is no context that preceeds "I've been bit once already ....."

What kind of grammatical consruction is that? I've not come across such constructions in grammar text-books?

It's not any kind of grammatical construction.
You have "I've been bitten" the passive voice of the present perfect, saying that you've been bitten; then two adverbs: "once", which says how many times it's happened, and "already" to indicate something that the context doesn't provide.

So, that's how the story starts? That's unusual.

 

[Rover_KE]

Is it one of the things that are said but never written like "He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know"?

There's nothing wrong with that sentence.

You can say or write it to your heart's content.

Rover