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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > Help please    

Help please



AnnyJ
Taiwan

Help please
 
Dear friends,
 
 
Please help me with the following.
 
As far as I know it is wrong to say:         I am finished.
It means I am dead, right?
 
A teacher from Nieu Zealand just started at my school and she teaches her students, I am finished.  Is it acceptable?
 
Students need to say: I have finished...  right?
 
Thanks for your help!!!
 
Anna

2 Aug 2010      





Errie
Japan

Hello,
 
I �m finished indeed also means � �I �m dead � �. Same thing for I have finished. For example ��I have finished him/her��.
 
I always teach my students to say I �m finished. There �s no difference between the two.

2 Aug 2010     



Abdou1980
Morocco

"I am finished"  has got many meanings one of which is to denote the completion of the job you were doing.

2 Aug 2010     



Apodo
Australia

LOL

I �m finished can �t be used to mean I �m dead. You can �t speak when you are dead.
You can never say �I �m dead �
 
finished � isn �t usually used for dead, although it can mean that in some contexts. You could say �I �m finished � as you fell off a cliff, or as you notice you �re parachute won �t open.
 
If I heard the sentences  �He is finished �, �I am finished � or �The dog is finished � I would not think the speaker meant death. (Could mean finished eating etc. or any other action)
 
 

2 Aug 2010     



douglas
United States

"I am finished" and "I have finished" are BOTH correct.  As has already been said, "I am finished" can also mean "I �m dead", but it is more commonly used to mean I �ve completed something.
 
Similar things occur with such terms as: "I �m hot."

2 Aug 2010     



AnnyJ
Taiwan

Thank you!!!!!!

2 Aug 2010     



libertybelle
United States

When I was in elementary school doing a test - we often said:
"I �m done" and our teacher answered:
"What temperature were you cooked at?" meaning
that you are only done when you are cooked in a oven like a chicken!Big smile
If you finish a test - then you are...........finished!  Nothing wrong with that sentence.

But in many old films - (gangster films like Al Capone type films)  They often say:
I finished him off - which does mean that someone has been killed.
And in this same film/book genre - a person can also say:
"Oh no" I �m finished or I �m a goner" - which means that they are about to die
or be found out.

But that is slang - and if you have finished cleaning or a test or whatever -
then you are finished.
Hope this helps
L

2 Aug 2010     



Abdou1980
Morocco

"I am done" is sometimes used to mean that you finished doing something  or using something. For example, you can say, "are you done with the book?".
if you make your bed, it means your bed is done (the job is done, so the bed has been made tidy).
Also, we can use the expression the meat / food... is done to denote that food / meat is cooked enough to be eaten.

2 Aug 2010