Coli Grammar Police: Can we solve this?

TheKongoEmpire

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The past tense of see is saw, correct? Seen is only used when “have” is present, correct?

For instance:

I saw the movie. I saw someone.


Whenever I hear someone say, “I seen something,” it annoys the hell out of me.

Did I already do this thread, or does this bother me THAT much?
'Saw' is the past tense of the word 'see' while 'seen' is the past participle. Typically, 'saw' comes immediately after the noun or pronoun. For instance, “Steve saw the movie.” 'Seen' is never used as a standalone verb and is generally accompanied by words such as 'have', 'had', 'was', among others.Jun 8, 2015

GMAT Verbal Tips : 'Saw' vs 'Seen' | QS-LEAP
 

concise

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The past tense of see is saw, correct? Seen is only used when “have” is present, correct?

For instance:

I saw the movie. I saw someone.


Whenever I hear someone say, “I seen something,” it annoys the hell out of me.

Did I already do this thread, or does this bother me THAT much?


I saw this thread and thought about the times I have seen the concept go bad.
 

Double Burger With Cheese

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Proper grammar is only important in academics and when you trying to be fancy and shyt, or formal shyt. Being able to articulate your message is something independent of proper grammar. You don’t necessarily need proper grammar to articulate your message.
 
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Proper grammar is only important in academics and when you trying to be fancy and shyt, or formal shyt. Being able to articulate your message is something independent of proper grammar. You don’t necessarily need proper grammar to articulate your message.

This isn’t true. Being able to speak properly is a basic requirement to succeed in life. It’s why a lot of us are able to code switch depending on the environment.
 

315

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Proper grammar is only important in academics and when you trying to be fancy and shyt, or formal shyt. Being able to articulate your message is something independent of proper grammar. You don’t necessarily need proper grammar to articulate your message.
That shyt feel like an uncomfortable suit to me
 

Double Burger With Cheese

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This isn’t true. Being able to speak properly is a basic requirement to succeed in life. It’s why a lot of us are able to code switch depending on the environment.

It depends on what you trying to succeed in. Plenty of people are not required to speak proper grammar. Nobody caring if you asking where the meeting at as opposed to where the meeting is
 

Coolin'

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Proper grammar is only important in academics and when you trying to be fancy and shyt, or formal shyt. Being able to articulate your message is something independent of proper grammar. You don’t necessarily need proper grammar to articulate your message.
Eloquently said. I don’t disagree.

:yeshrug:
 

Coolin'

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This isn’t true. Being able to speak properly is a basic requirement to succeed in life. It’s why a lot of us are able to code switch depending on the environment.
My thing is, unfortunately, I don’t code switch. I’ve spoken the way I’ve always spoken ever since I was a kid. I don’t know why, but I loved grammar as a kid (I was a weird kid), so I speak to everyone the same.
 

hatealot

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As someone who loves the English language and grammar in general, once you realize most people do not, you'll be okay. The lack of apostrophes for a possession, should of instead should've, their, there & they're and women vs woman are just a few that baffle me.
I stopped using should've and etc because I forgot how to use it and it looks weird to me on paper now. I write should have instead. There was a quick moment where I felt I must of had a undiagnosed stroke because the word THE on paper appeared foreign to me.

I feel I had a mental break during one college semester taking English and a history course where I was writing 5 papers a week. I legit couldn't put sentences together
 

Sukairain

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It's not necessary to use 'have' in speech. The perfect tense is already implied through your use of 'seen,' the perfect participle of the verb to see, so there is no need for the auxiliary verb to have.

It is very unelegant in writing to omit the 'have', though. If you write with poor grammar it makes you look inarticulate and uneducated. Speaking is fine, speak however you want as long as the message gets across.

The reason there is a difference between written language and spoken language is that most communication is through non-verbal cues like tone, speed, facial expressions and body language. None of that can be expressed in writing. So when you write you must be as precise as possible, so that there is no room for someone misinterpreting you. When you speak on the other hand it's ok to be somewhat incoherent with your words, since your non-verbal cues do most of the communicating anyway.

Context is also important for speech patterns though. You don't want to be too liberal with not following the rules of grammar when you speak to people in certain circumstances.

In a professional environment or anywhere else where it's important for your listeners to have a good impression of you, you should follow at least some rules of grammar. It's ok to use colloquialisms, but not ok to ignore all the rules of grammar.

On the other hand in a more casual setting, like speaking to your friends and family, or when you're a customer instead of a worker, it's fine to ignore all the rules of grammar if you really want to.
 

Michael's Black Son

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Saw is past tense. Past tense is used independent of other events.

I saw your watch on the nightstand.

Seen is the past participle. Past participles are used to indicate completion of something prior to (or in the sequence of) another event, or prior to the present or future.

I’ve seen your watch on the nightstand before leaving for work.

 
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