fdrinca Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 DH will often drop prepositions when talking, and it kind of drives me crazy (especially when the kids pick up his habit).  I'm wondering if this is regional? normal? or just something odd that DH does.  Examples: He'd say "are you done your dinner?" instead of "are you done with your dinner?"  I think he only drops "with."  Still, it grates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) Not a "thing", but his personal affectation. Shudder. Would drive me nuts. Edited November 28, 2015 by regentrude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Maybe it's "Are you done? Â Your dinner?" Â Sometimes I talk like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 In our area, lots of people say, "Are you done your dinner?" Â That doesn't mean it's correct, but your DH isn't the only one. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 That's one I haven't heard before. Where did he grow up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I have heard this on occasion. Â Not in Texas, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 DH will often drop prepositions when talking, and it kind of drives me crazy (especially when the kids pick up his habit).  I'm wondering if this is regional? normal? or just something odd that DH does.  Examples:  He'd say "are you done your dinner?" instead of "are you done with your dinner?"  I think he only drops "with."  Still, it grates!  I have never heard this before in my life. It would make me crazy, and I would correct my dc who said that, consistently, forever.  It must be regional. A very small region. o_0 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Technically, "Are you done with dinner" is still missing the word "eating". It is understood that we weren't dating the dinner or throwing it or doing anything else to it. He just took it a step further so that the "with eating" is understood but not spoken. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I worked with someone who said this in Maryland. Â It was specifically about being "done lunch" because we worked at a daycare center. Â I also know someone else who drops the "with" from another part of the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Gah. Add that phrase to the long list of involuntarily twitch-causing mannerisms. Â "I seen you had a chester drawers for sell () a mirror on top?" 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I need another example so I don't overfocus on this one... which is, yeah, I don't think I've heard that. Â Like, would he say, "take you dishes the sink" and drop the "to"? Would he say "my book is my room" and drop the "in"? Would he say "did you make dessert the meal?" and drop the "for"? Â This is odd. I can't think when it really sounds natural. I mean, English is super flexible, but dropping the prepositions is hard. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) I looked this one up a while back. IIRC, it's a regionalism that came from Scotland, and became part of speech patterns in English Canada and some parts of the US.  So it's not standard English, but I wouldn't say that it's incorrect per se, just as I wouldn't say that Indian English expressions are incorrect in their cultural context.  But it might be a good idea to change the habit if you move to an area where it's not the norm.  And I say that as someone who used to speak that way until recently.  I'm not entirely sure it's a question of a missing preposition, though.  It could be a missing part of the verb. As in, "I'm done eating my dinner."   To me, "I'm done with my dinner" carries a slightly different implication:  that there's some left, even though I'm no longer interested in eating it. As in the fellow diner eyeing the chicken bone and asking, "Are you done with that?" LOL.  Then again, maybe "I'm done eating my dinner" is non-standard as well? IDK. According to this ESL site, even saying "I'm done" is incorrect.    It's stuff like this that makes me wish we'd never switched to rule-based grammar. I'm so done with Noah Webster. :001_rolleyes:   ETA link to post on "done" and finished" at Motivated Grammar blog Edited November 28, 2015 by ElizaG 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I looked this one up a while back. IIRC, it's a regionalism that came from Scotland, and became part of speech patterns in English Canada and some parts of the US.  So it's not standard English, but I wouldn't say that it's incorrect per se, just as I wouldn't say that Indian English expressions are incorrect in their cultural context.  But it might be a good idea to change the habit if you move to an area where it's not the norm.  And I say that as someone who used to speak that way until recently.  I'm not entirely sure it's a question of a missing preposition, though.  It could be a missing part of the verb. As in, "I'm done eating my dinner."   To me, "I'm done with my dinner" carries a slightly different implication:  that there's some left, even though I'm no longer interested in eating it. As in the fellow diner eyeing the chicken bone and asking, "Are you done with that?" LOL.  Then again, maybe "I'm done eating my dinner" is non-standard as well? IDK. According to this ESL site, even saying "I'm done" is incorrect.    It's stuff like this that makes me wish we'd never switched from normative to prescriptive grammar. I'm so done with Noah Webster. :001_rolleyes:  Are you sure you're not finished with him? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 I've been trying to think of over examples, and they're all in the context of being finished with some task, so "with" is the dropped preposition. (With 4 kiddos, I think I hear "are you done your XXX" daily!)  He grew up in the Philadelphia area, so when texasmama heard this from someone in Maryland, that made me think it could be regional.  I think I'll ask him to try and diagram his sentence in order to prove my point :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Haven't heard this one. My English teacher mother and grandmother would probably say the "done" part is most incorrect. You're not a roast; you are "finished". I still get corrected on grammar from my mom and I'm almost 40 (and pretty well spoken). I try to correct myself when my mom is in the house, and I'm asking my kids if they are finished with something. "Kids, are you done..err...finished with lunch!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I looked this one up a while back. IIRC, it's a regionalism that came from Scotland, and became part of speech patterns in English Canada and some parts of the US.  So it's not standard English, but I wouldn't say that it's incorrect per se, just as I wouldn't say that Indian English expressions are incorrect in their cultural context.  But it might be a good idea to change the habit if you move to an area where it's not the norm.  And I say that as someone who used to speak that way until recently.  I'm not entirely sure it's a question of a missing preposition, though.  It could be a missing part of the verb. As in, "I'm done eating my dinner."   To me, "I'm done with my dinner" carries a slightly different implication:  that there's some left, even though I'm no longer interested in eating it. As in the fellow diner eyeing the chicken bone and asking, "Are you done with that?" LOL.  Then again, maybe "I'm done eating my dinner" is non-standard as well? IDK. According to this ESL site, even saying "I'm done" is incorrect.    It's stuff like this that makes me wish we'd never switched to rule-based grammar. I'm so done with Noah Webster. :001_rolleyes:   ETA link to post on "done" and finished" at Motivated Grammar blog  Great link! My mom could have written that because she is particular about done vs finished, along w so many other grammatical errors I make! Best of luck to someone who responds with "absolutely" when they mean "yes" to my mom!  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The example you gave sounds perfectly fine to me. I have probably been known to say it quite a bit and not even consider the feelings of the left out prepositions. Â I did grow up in Philadelphia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I'm going with the Canada thing... I can't figure out what's wrong with "Are you done your dinner?" Are you done your drink? Have you finished your meal? Have you finished/are you done your book? Are you done that game? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Haven't heard this one. My English teacher mother and grandmother would probably say the "done" part is most incorrect. You're not a roast; you are "finished". I still get corrected on grammar from my mom and I'm almost 40 (and pretty well spoken). I try to correct myself when my mom is in the house, and I'm asking my kids if they are finished with something. "Kids, are you done..err...finished with lunch!"  :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 We hear that phrase here in New England, so I'll give the Canadian theory another vote. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Having moved to an area where people routinely leave out the "with", I feel your pain.  It breaks my little grammatical heart when I hear my kids do it.  The one I hear often is "done school" (in addition to the "done lunch/dinner"). For example: "What time are you done school most days?"  asks the friendly other homeschooling mom.  I want to poke my eyeballs out.  FWIW, I have recently been able to point out to my children a little bit about it due to our grammar lessons and how we've been looking at sentence structure.  I am hopeful that they will now notice and believe me that it does not sound particularly good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I'm going with the Canada thing... I can't figure out what's wrong with "Are you done your dinner?" Are you done your drink? Have you finished your meal? Have you finished/are you done your book? Are you done that game? I'm Canadian and all of those examples sound like normal speech in this area. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I'm Canadian and all of those examples sound like normal speech in this area. Â Yes. Â I couldn't figure out the problem. I have a grammar maven for a mother. Â She certainly never corrected that form. Then again, nobody I know was ever taught diagramming in school, either, so I don't know whether diagramming the sentence would show us there was a problem or not! Â But in any case, regionally it is a completely accepted usage and doesn't make us twitch. Â "Are you finished your book?" "I'm not done yet." Â Both completely acceptable here. Â And, looking at the sentences, I'm also not convinced it's the preposition that gets left out. Â It could be the verb, and an additional pronoun. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 The funny thing is, for several years of marriage, my husband didn't notice my speaking that way. Then one of our children picked up the habit.  "Wait, I'm not done my apple!"   At that point, DH sort of flipped out, and wanted to know why I was saying something so bizarrely incorrect.   And in turn, I found his objections to be bizarre, because it sounded completely normal to me.   That's when I looked it up. DH had to concede that it's not that strange in global terms, and I had to concede that it is strange where we're living now.  For my children's sake -- since I'm their one and only English teacher -- I've chosen to switch all such constructions to the more formal "have finished."   But child-who-eats-apples-slowly is still firmly attached to the Hiberno-Scottish-Canuckish usage, and I'm not going to correct it.  It still sounds fine to me.  And who knows... maybe it will spread.  It's my teeny tiny act of reverse cultural imperialism. ;)  2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) If anyone around me started speaking that way, I'd advise a neurological work-up :D Â I'm done my post. Â Bill Edited November 29, 2015 by Spy Car 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Yes.  I couldn't figure out the problem. I have a grammar maven for a mother.  She certainly never corrected that form. Then again, nobody I know was ever taught diagramming in school, either, so I don't know whether diagramming the sentence would show us there was a problem or not!  But in any case, regionally it is a completely accepted usage and doesn't make us twitch.  "Are you finished your book?" "I'm not done yet."  Both completely acceptable here.  And, looking at the sentences, I'm also not convinced it's the preposition that gets left out.  It could be the verb, and an additional pronoun.   I'm going with the Canada thing... I can't figure out what's wrong with "Are you done your dinner?" Are you done your drink? Have you finished your meal? Have you finished/are you done your book? Are you done that game? I have read a discussion by a Texan living in Maryland who was losing her mind over this. I think the really sticky part was that the offenders teased her relentlessly for her Texasisms, but she wasn't allowed tit for tat.  I have also seen this construction from a Canadian I know. Interesting the Scottish. I have wondered how this odd construction found it's way to such disparate regions. Arctic Bunny, that whole post made she grit my teeth! I have never seen such a concentration of missing prepositions, and YES kiara, They Are Missing! Aaaaahhhhh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) Here's one of the threads I found back then, from wordreference.com. Some interesting data points.  I am done my work VS I am done with my work. [regional variation]   ETA links to two newer pages, including maps of the US: Â Ă¢â‚¬Å“I am finished my sandwichĂ¢â‚¬ sounds correct but Ă¢â‚¬Å“I am started my sandwichĂ¢â‚¬ does not? - StackExchange Done My Homework - Yale Grammatical Diversity Project  Also, the chat from the StackExchange thread has a link to a semi-related blog post on transitive adjectives. (I promise never to say "the bank is underweight growth stocks." I have no idea what that even means! :huh: ) Edited November 29, 2015 by ElizaG 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I have read a discussion by a Texan living in Maryland who was losing her mind over this. I think the really sticky part was that the offenders teased her relentlessly for her Texasisms, but she wasn't allowed tit for tat. Â Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015  I have also seen this construction from a Canadian I know. Interesting the Scottish. I have wondered how this odd construction found it's way to such disparate regions.  I haven't heard it in Scotland, but a) Scotland has a multitude of dialects - mountains breed linguistic difference and b) it might be something that has died out since it crossed the Atlantic.  In my area, I don't much hear 'done' used to mean 'finished', with or without a preposition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 DH will often drop prepositions when talking, and it kind of drives me crazy (especially when the kids pick up his habit).  I'm wondering if this is regional? normal? or just something odd that DH does.  Examples:  He'd say "are you done your dinner?" instead of "are you done with your dinner?"  I think he only drops "with."  Still, it grates! I have never heard either expression before. Here people ask Have you finished eating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Hmm. I just finished reading all the posts. Â Â Â My DH is Canadian, but had parents were immigrants that did not have English as their first language. My DH has never used done when he means finished. I have never heard anyone use done to mean finished. It jars my ears just reading it in these posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I'm going with the Canada thing... I can't figure out what's wrong with "Are you done your dinner?" Are you done your drink? Have you finished your meal? Have you finished/are you done your book? Are you done that game?  I have never heard either expression before. Here people ask Have you finished eating?  This is interesting.... It never even occurred to me that I speak strangely. I assumed it might be an Aussie thing but Melissa says she hasn't heard it, so even here it must be reigonal. Where I live people frequently use done to mean finished, and I can just hear my mothers voice in my head saying 'are you done that game/project?'. Or she would say 'are you done school?' when we were homeschooling.  Does 'have you finished dinner' sound weird? Or is it just the particular phrasing of the OP that's weird?  Yeah, sorry, it all sounds pretty normal and acceptable in my neck of the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I haven't heard it in Scotland, but a) Scotland has a multitude of dialects - mountains breed linguistic difference and b) it might be something that has died out since it crossed the Atlantic.  In my area, I don't much hear 'done' used to mean 'finished', with or without a preposition. There were a few Scottish and Irish posters on the wordreference.com thread.  They were familiar with "I'm finished my homework," but found "I'm done my homework" to be strange, as it didn't fit with their way of using the word "done."  Canadians would tend to accept both of the above constructions, while most in the US would accept neither of them.  At the same time, though, just about everyone in the US finds it perfectly acceptable to say "I'm finished with...," which seems incorrect to many speakers of British English (who would say "I've finished with").  It seems as if grammar in the US has developed its own mixture of relaxation and fussiness, depending on the point in question. :001_smile: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) Does 'have you finished dinner' sound weird? Or is it just the particular phrasing of the OP that's weird? Â To me it sounds a little hyperformal for the topic of dinner and the eating thereof. I would never put together those words in that order for that meaning. It's not ungrammatical, per se, but it's the wrong register entirely for my dialect. Edited November 29, 2015 by Tanaqui Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I've never heard anyone speak like that anywhere in the States or in Canada. I've certainly heard a lot of interesting and jarring regional differences, but never leaving out a "with". That would leave me all kinds of twitchy! Â Where we lived in MN it was common to end sentences with "with", as in, "Do you want to come with?". My ears could not used to it all the years we lived there, but recently I've heard myself say it a few times. Funny how we pick things up, or not, and how we decide for others what is correct according to our own individual tastes and experiences. Â I'll admit I'm having more difficulty teaching grammar, in that so many of the old "comfortable" rules no longer seem so important. Several times recently I've told DS that while I learned a rule the way it's taught in the book, it really might not be considered correct or necessary any longer. The more I learn about how fluid and regional grammar really is, the more comfortable (or at least the less uncomfortable) I am about not insisting that it's black and white. Clearly, given all the discussions on our very diverse board, it simply isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I have read a discussion by a Texan living in Maryland who was losing her mind over this. I think the really sticky part was that the offenders teased her relentlessly for her Texasisms, but she wasn't allowed tit for tat.   I was a Texan living in Maryland.  Not all Maryland natives used the dropped preposition sentence structure, but I did encounter it, as stated earlier in this thread.  No one made fun of me for my "y'alls", though.  I do not have a heavy Texan/Southern/country accent in general unless I am speaking with someone who has one, and then I tend to slip into a bit.  I do the same after reading aloud Tom Sawyer.  :lol: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Ack. My kids are watching British You Tube shows ( as they like to do). The host just said, "Thank you watching" THREE times. I'm trying not to twitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Ack. My kids are watching British You Tube shows ( as they like to do). The host just said, "Thank you watching" THREE times. I'm trying not to twitch.  Really?  That surprises me.  Can you give me a link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I blame the Canadians for this one. They are the cause of so many global problems. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (LOL) Well played :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I've been trying to think of over examples, and they're all in the context of being finished with some task, so "with" is the dropped preposition. (With 4 kiddos, I think I hear "are you done your XXX" daily!) Â He grew up in the Philadelphia area, so when texasmama heard this from someone in Maryland, that made me think it could be regional. Â I think I'll ask him to try and diagram his sentence in order to prove my point :lol: What point is it you want to make? That you disapprove of his native dialect? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 (edited) Most of the examples are making me twitch, but then I got to Arctic Bunny's post: I'm going with the Canada thing... I can't figure out what's wrong with "Are you done your dinner?"Are you done your drink?Have you finished your meal?Have you finished/are you done your book?Are you done that game? Â And I realized that "have you finished your meal?" sounds perfectly normal to me. (None of the rest do.) The statement version sounds just fine, too. So, perhaps I've been guilty of leaving out some prepositions! Â I've never heard anyone speak like that anywhere in the States or in Canada. I've certainly heard a lot of interesting and jarring regional differences, but never leaving out a "with". That would leave me all kinds of twitchy!Where we lived in MN it was common to end sentences with "with", as in, "Do you want to come with?" Â This is very common to hear in the middle of the US. Most of us have been taught not to end a sentence with a preposition, but do it all the time anyway. More commonly, "Do you wanna go with?"Â :lol: Edited November 29, 2015 by RootAnn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015  This is very common to hear in the middle of the US. Most of us have been taught not to end a sentence with a preposition, but do it all the time anyway. More commonly, "Do you wanna go with?" :lol:  I asked dd the other day "Do you want to hang with your friends?" It took her a moment to get it! (Because this is a written medium I used bold to show what word I emphasized. ) The response was a laugh and a "Mom! I can't believe you said that!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 This is interesting.... It never even occurred to me that I speak strangely. I assumed it might be an Aussie thing but Melissa says she hasn't heard it, so even here it must be reigonal. Where I live people frequently use done to mean finished, and I can just hear my mothers voice in my head saying 'are you done that game/project?'. Or she would say 'are you done school?' when we were homeschooling.  Does 'have you finished dinner' sound weird? Or is it just the particular phrasing of the OP that's weird?  Yeah, sorry, it all sounds pretty normal and acceptable in my neck of the woods.   Most of the examples are making me twitch, but then I got to Arctic Bunny's post:  And I realized that "have you finished your meal?" sounds perfectly normal to me. (None of the rest do.) The statement version sounds just fine, too. So, perhaps I've been guilty of leaving out some prepositions!   This is very common to hear in the middle of the US. Most of us have been taught not to end a sentence with a preposition, but do it all the time anyway. More commonly, "Do you wanna go with?" :lol:  I bolded the bits I wanted to point out.  The regional expression here actually does not have the "have" - so it is "ARE you finished your snack?"  with a response of "Yes, I am done my apple."   So hard on the mind/ears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Most of the examples are making me twitch, but then I got to Arctic Bunny's post: Â And I realized that "have you finished your meal?" sounds perfectly normal to me. (None of the rest do.) The statement version sounds just fine, too. So, perhaps I've been guilty of leaving out some prepositions! Â Around here, "have you finished your meal" would be normal, whereas "are you finished your meal" or "are you done your meal?" would sound improper. Similarly, a correct response could be "I have finished my meal" but not "I am finished my meal" or "I am done my meal."Â Â It's normal to ask, "are you done?" completely leaving off the words "with your meal," but the whole phrase would be implied--we don't mean "are you done your meal," LOL! Â Clearly I need to read the done/finished links! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Canadian answer: totally normal to me. Â I can see how someone might be "done (or finished) eating dinner" -- but what is implied by being "done with" dinner. "With" doesn't seem to have relevant propositional connotations to me. Â I'm only really "done with" things that are leaving me to go somewhere else, "with" someone else. "I'm done with your snow shovel." Â Or, maybe, otherwise, "I'm done (playing) with my Lego." I'm never "done eating with my dinner" -- I don't "eat with" my dinner. I simply eat it. (I "eat with" my fork... So, I do say I'm "done with" my fork, if I'm ready to be rid of it.) Â I didn't know it was odd. It makes perfect sense to me. Edited November 30, 2015 by bolt. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 What point is it you want to make? That you disapprove of his native dialect?  Nope, not at all. We're hugely fascinated by regional dialects and are curious to see which our children adopt as they grow. (I'm Midwestern, he's Philadelphia-area, we live in CA - there's a lot to play with.) He fronts all kind of vowels and kindly chides me for my inability to pronounce half of the vowels that he can.  Mostly, I wanted to know if this is a standard speech pattern or if it's just a quirk of his. I thought I'd crowd-source opinions here as there are many geographic regions (and grammar opinions) represented.  I've been really interested in the replies. Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8circles Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I don't say it & I don't believe it's the norm around here, but I think I've heard it somewhere... maybe on TV? Â It doesn't bother me. Â Canadian answer: totally normal to me.I can see how someone might be "done (or finished) eating dinner" -- but what is implied by being "done with" dinner. "With" doesn't seem to have relevant propositional connotations to me.I'm only really "done with" things that are leaving me to go somewhere else, "with" someone else. "I'm done with your snow shovel."Or, maybe, otherwise, "I'm done (playing) with my Lego." I'm never "done eating with my dinner" -- I don't "eat with" my dinner. I simply eat it. (I "eat with" my fork... So, I do say I'm "done with" my fork, if I'm ready to be rid of it.)I didn't know it was odd. It makes perfect sense to me. Â No, it would be "I'm done with eating my dinner". Â Just like "I'm finished with eating my dinner." Â There's also a difference with "Have you finished your dinner?" and "Are you finished WITH your dinner?" Â One needs the with (to follow the norm around here), the other does not. Â All of these variations mean the same thing. Â They *could* have slightly different meanings depending on the context, but they would be used interchangeably here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Canadian answer: totally normal to me. Â I can see how someone might be "done (or finished) eating dinner" -- but what is implied by being "done with" dinner. "With" doesn't seem to have relevant propositional connotations to me. Â I'm only really "done with" things that are leaving me to go somewhere else, "with" someone else. "I'm done with your snow shovel." Â Or, maybe, otherwise, "I'm done (playing) with my Lego." I'm never "done eating with my dinner" -- I don't "eat with" my dinner. I simply eat it. (I "eat with" my fork... So, I do say I'm "done with" my fork, if I'm ready to be rid of it.) Â I didn't know it was odd. It makes perfect sense to me. Exactly. If I am clearing plates from the table, I would say, "Are you finished with your plate?" Â To me, "with" implies that another action is to follow, depending on your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I've never heard anyone talk like that before. I'm from Florida. Â 'Are you done with dinner?' Or 'Have you finished dinner?' both sound correct to me and I would use either interchangeably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I've never heard anyone say anything like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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