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English is not my first language. I live, and work, among people who do not have English as their first language. I notice many instances where grammar has been abused. Sometimes, I am not sure whether English has been abused. Here us an example. There is a tendency for some people to say, at the end of a task, "I am finished"? To me, this sounds grammatically incorrect. Please assist me.

user87883
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  • One cannot abuse a language, except by not using it. A language that is not used dies. That's abuse. Talking a different variety of English than somebody else is not abuse; it's just talking different. Like looking different, sounding different, and writing different, talking different is a matter of personal choice and ability. The idea that languages can be "abused" is ridiculous; people can be abused, but not languages. Summary: If you are not a native speaker, do not attempt to correct anyone else's speech; rather, pay attention and learn. – John Lawler Aug 11 '14 at 16:27
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    "I am finished.", as a statement meaning "The task is complete; I am done; there is nothing left for me to do." is correct and common among native speakers of English. If it were expressed as a question "I am finished?" (note the question mark), it would be perceived as off (incorrect) except in rare situations where it could be applicable. It would be more common and clear to ask "Am I finished?" ("Do you agree the task is complete? Do you need anything else from me?"). – Dan Bron Aug 11 '14 at 16:28
  • Check this out –  Aug 11 '14 at 16:32
  • @John: I agree you can't really abuse a language, but I'm sure all speakers of all languages enjoy "playing" with language, and *stretching* "acceptable" usages into "not-really-acceptable" contexts. And I'd have thought this would be a major factor in how languages change/evolve over time (what was originally a "larky" twist on established usage gets used so often it eventually becomes "standard" itself). – FumbleFingers Aug 11 '14 at 16:58
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    The general question is too broad and ultimately entirely unanswerable. The specific question is fine, but has been discussed several times before — just search the site for "finished". And I think there were even more questions, but they got migrated to our sister site for learners of the language. – RegDwigнt Aug 11 '14 at 17:32

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