[Idiom] you are come

[sitifan]

[FONT=&quot]"Well! never mind so long as [/FONT][FONT=&quot]you are come[/FONT][FONT=&quot]," said Mrs. Cratchit. "Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye!"
http://www.open-bks.com/library/classics/dickens_charles_carol/carol-75-76.html

What does the phrase "you are come" mean? [/FONT]

 

[Rover_KE]

you are here
you have come

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Sitifan, I thought that you would like to know something that I learned from my language hero, Dr. George Oliver Curme.

He explains in his masterpiece grammar that many years ago, the English people sometimes used "be" + the past participle instead of "have" + the past participle. Here are a few of his examples.

1. "We are assembled here."
2. "Our friend is departed."
3. "The melancholy days are come."

He explains that in modern times, this kind of construction is still used in "poetic language and in a few set expressions."


Source: Dr. Curme's A Grammar of the English Language (1931), Vol. II, page 359.

 

[sitifan]

Sitifan, I thought that you would like to know something that I learned from my language hero, Dr. George Oliver Curme.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com...1Jnysx-TmRFI3aCWfZw0n4sTc44WZbyXQ7ATvqTAEeOQI
Why did you use the past tense in the above sentence? Is it the attitudinal past?
https://www.google.com/search?ei=lY...hUKEwj6vcf9iu7uAhVDHaYKHYPJDUoQ4dUDCA0&uact=5

 

[Rover_KE]

I'd never heard of the attitudinal past, but I suppose you could call it that if you need a name for it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Why did you use the past tense in the above sentence? Is it the attitudinal past?

I've never heard of the attitudinal past either, but for me the explanation is simple. The thinking happened in the past.

TheParser thought "I have some information that sitifan would find useful" and then he wrote the post.

Having said that, it would have been perfectly possible for TheParser to write "I have some information that I think you will find useful".

 

[TheParser]

Why did you use the past tense in the above sentence? Is it the attitudinal past?

NOT A TEACHER


Sitifan, thank you for teaching me the term "attitudinal past."

1. I had used it simply because I had the feeling that it sounded right.

2. I found this explanation in a book that is respected by many people: The attitudinal past "reflects the tentative attitude of the speaker, rather than past time."

a. "I wonder/wondered if you could help us." "The latter ["wondered"] is somewhat more polite."


Quirk, et al., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985), page 188.

P.S. Thanks, too, for the Voice of America link.