A question on grammar

shavixmir

Lord

General

31 May 06 19:14

shavixmir

Lord

Sewers of Holland

Joined: 31 Jan 04
Moves: 94432

31 May 06 19:14

"I was sat at the pub drinking a beer."
"I was sitting at the pub drinking a beer."

Why is one of the two correct and why is the other wrong?

I was using the first sentence on my blog (twice) and twice I've been brought up on it.
I don't understand what's wrong with the first sentence and I would be very grateful if someone would explain it to me.

Bowmann?

darvlay

Joined: 05 Jan 04
Moves: 45179

31 May 06 19:15

1 edit

I was sitting.
I sat.

EDIT - I have satten?

Briscoe

Consigliere

Ontario, Canada

Joined: 25 Nov 05
Moves: 38482

31 May 06 19:29

SAT
Past tense of sit

SITTING
The act or position of one that sits

They are different tenses of the word SIT.

Example.
I was sitting on the chair, and as I sat there, I wondered.

Wheely

Instant Buzz

C#minor

Joined: 28 Feb 05
Moves: 16344

31 May 06 19:30

3 edits

Originally posted by darvlay
I was sitting.
I sat.

EDIT - I have satten?

I'm sure there's a technical reason for it but to me it looks like you are using the past tense twice in the first example.

"sat" is past tense.

"was" implies past tense and the correct way of using a verb with "was" generally requires you shove an "ing" on the end of it.

Are you trying to get Nargaguna upset again by referring to this action?

Edit: I screwed up who I was "reply & quot"ing from so just to be clear, I meant YOUR first example i.e "I was sat"

Edit again: By the way, "I was sitting at the pub" should, of course, be "in the pub"

Briscoe

Consigliere

Ontario, Canada

Joined: 25 Nov 05
Moves: 38482

31 May 06 19:30

you may say

"I sat at the pub drinking a beer"

huckleberryhound

Devout Agnostic.

DZ-015

Joined: 12 Oct 05
Moves: 42584

31 May 06 19:31

Originally posted by shavixmir
"I was sat at the pub drinking a beer."
"I was sitting at the pub drinking a beer."

[b]Why is one of the two correct and why is the other wrong?

I was using the first sentence on my blog (twice) and twice I've been brought up on it.
I don't understand what's wrong with the first sentence and I would be very grateful if someone would explain it to me.

Bowmann?[/b]

I sat IN the pub
I was sitting IN the pub

I sat AT the BAR
I was sitting AT the BAR

My english isn't university level, but thats my understanding of "pub".

Hope that was of help 🙂

darvlay

Joined: 05 Jan 04
Moves: 45179

31 May 06 19:33

Originally posted by Wheely
Are you trying to get Nargaguna upset again by referring to this action?

Not that crotchy old redneck! He may lay the beats to me like he did his children.

gollumprawn

it's mine

manchester, england

Joined: 26 Jan 06
Moves: 22939

31 May 06 19:35

Originally posted by shavixmir
"I was sat at the pub drinking a beer."
"I was sitting at the pub drinking a beer."

[b]Why is one of the two correct and why is the other wrong?

I was using the first sentence on my blog (twice) and twice I've been brought up on it.
I don't understand what's wrong with the first sentence and I would be very grateful if someone would explain it to me.

Bowmann?[/b]

in my line of work, i travel around in time a lot and the english language often does stumble us

darvlay

Joined: 05 Jan 04
Moves: 45179

31 May 06 19:36

Originally posted by Wheely
I screwed up who I was "reply & quut"ing from so just to be clear, I meant YOUR first example i.e "I was sat"

What's said is said. I can't take it back now.

darvlay

Joined: 05 Jan 04
Moves: 45179

31 May 06 19:37

Originally posted by gollumprawn
in my line of work, i travel around in time a lot and the english language often does stumble us

How does one get a job as a time traveller anyway?

Phlabibit

Mystic Meg

tinyurl.com/3sbbwd4

Joined: 27 Mar 03
Moves: 17242

31 May 06 19:50

Originally posted by darvlay
How does one get a job as a time traveller anyway?

They don't have any openings yet, but you can work with the historians that hide the evidence in a warehouse.

P-

Forest9

Scotton Lincolnshire

Joined: 05 Aug 05
Moves: 64369

31 May 06 19:51

As ever, there is a pattern. One approace is to consider this- the "ing" part of the verb is used plus was (the past continuous) when someone has chosen to carry out an action- I was sitting, I was painting, I was jumping. If the action is done to the person, the past tense is used with was: I was sat (= someone put me there), I was painted (= someone painted me), I was jumped (=someone jumped on me). This is Standard English.

For some reason, many dialects change this pattern for a few verbs to do with the placement of the body= I was laid when it should be I was lying; I was sat for I was sitting and I was leant for I was leaning.

Nordlys

The sky

Joined: 05 Apr 05
Moves: 10385

31 May 06 20:01

Originally posted by darvlay
I was sitting.
I sat.

EDIT - I have satten?

I was sotten?

sevenstar

Joined: 23 Oct 05
Moves: 7873

31 May 06 20:04

Originally posted by shavixmir
"I was sat at the pub drinking a beer."

"I was sad....", perhaps?

Wheely

Instant Buzz

C#minor

Joined: 28 Feb 05
Moves: 16344

31 May 06 20:05

Originally posted by Forest9
As ever, there is a pattern. One approace is to consider this- the "ing" part of the verb is used plus was (the past continuous) when someone has chosen to carry out an action- I was sitting, I was painting, I was jumping. If the action is done to the person, the past tense is used with was: I was sat (= someone put me there), I was painted (= someone paint ...[text shortened]... when it should be I was lying; I was sat for I was sitting and I was leant for I was leaning.

This is an interesting analysis of the problem but I personally would need a bit of persuading before I could accept that you could be "sat" by someone or you could be "jumped" by someone (at least not with the meaning you mention).

I am more that willing to believe I am wrong but I don't believe you can ever correctly say "I was sat" unless using some regional colloquialism.