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- Topic: Ukrainian >
- "Я випив багато!"
12 Comments
2539
"I drank a lot" should be accepted. Example:
-- I need to go to the bathroom -- Why? -- I drank a lot!
Ukrainian (sorry if the first sentence is wrong, I'm trying to illustrate about the third one):
-- Мені треба піти до туалета -- Чому? -- Я випив багато!
In this context, you will not say "I've drunk a lot" in English. It's not wrong, but it's silly. In fact, I can't think of many contexts where you'd say that at all.
I disagree. See my comment above.
I don't think using the past perfect is silly here. It's just that we're not used to it in English and ignore such grammatical subtleties. E.g. it's fine to say "I've eaten so much I could burst" same as "I've drunk so much I can barely stand".
The past perfect is better here because the drinking was over a period of time, rather than a discrete event, for which you'd use the past simple: e.g. I drank (my first vodka).
Btw, a very impressive streak! That deserves a lingot)
415
FWIW, English does actually have verb aspects, just not the same ones as Ukrainian :)
All verbs have both tense and aspect. Verbal aspect consists of simple, progressive, perfect, or perfect progressive, where each refers to a different fabric of time.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-writing/chapter/verbs/
Well, they have aspect as a concept e.g. "the action is done repeatedly and regularly -> use present tense", but not as the grammatical property of a verb (suffix, prefix, root change, ending etc.)
But yes, totally :) What kind of situation it is decides the aspect which decides which verb form people use.
There is a lot of confusion here about the English. "I drank a lot" means simply that. For example, "I drank a lot last week".
"I have/had drunk a lot" is used to indicate that the effect of the drinking is/was continuing at the time to which the statement refers. For example, "I'd drunk a lot, so I fell over" or "I've drunk a lot, so I can't drive the car".
1134
"I drunk a lot", which especially because heavy drinking was involved, seems a bit picky on the grammar.