25. The SAW / SEEN Spin

Hey, all of you Grammar Stars! It's good to have you back again and ready for a new lesson. I hope you've all been as busy as bees on a watermelon rind, enjoying yourself and being happy.

Today's lesson is another special request and I am eager to address it since I think this one is especially peculiar to our Southeastern North Carolina area -- and maybe throughout most of the South. Let me know. At least I haven't seen this one addressed in any grammar books (as a separate problem) that I've seen recently or even in the past. This one belongs to us!

So what is it?

This hindersome and annoying mistake is heard just about everywhere around Columbus County N. C.-- the irritating misuse of SEEN for SAW. If you live around here, I know you've probably heard it dozens of times, so I'm now going to see if we can clear up the cobwebs on this one now and forever!

First, though, here's a quick review of verb tenses. All English verbs have six tenses and I'll use examples from today's subject lesson to go through them.

PRESENT - I see, you see, he/she/it sees, we see, you see, they see

PAST - I saw, you saw, he/she/it saw, we saw, you saw, they saw

FUTURE - I shall see, you will see, he/she/it will see, we shall see, you will see, they will see

PRESENT PERFECT- I have seen, you have seen, he/she/it has seen, we have seen, you have seen, they have seen

PAST PERFECT - I had seen, you had seen, he/she/it had seen, we had seen, you had seen, they had seen

FUTURE PERFECT - I shall have seen, you will have seen, he/she/it will have seen, we shall have seen, you will have seen, they will have seen


Now, don't worry about all of this technical language just now. There ARE things you need to know about all of these tenses, including what they mean and when they are used, but for right now, we're concentrating on just SAW and SEEN.

Okay. So this is the kind of thing we hear way too much:

I SEEN (instead of SAW) that movie last week at the Cinema... or...

Betty SEEN (instead of SAW) her second cousin at the Harvest Festival in Whiteville last November...or...

Did you know we SEEN (instead of SAW) some good talent at the Columbus County Fair last night?

Groan...Hearing this mistake makes me about as crazy as a lost dog in a meat market. PUH - LEEZE! Spare me!

Just remember this and you'll get it right every time:

Use SAW ONLY when you are speaking or writing in the PAST TENSE and when HAS, HAVE, or HAD is NOT a part of the verb.

Example:

I SAW the football game last night at Legion Stadium.

Here, the football game happened obviously in the past (last night), and HAS, HAVE, or HAD is not a part of the verb.


Use SEEN only when you are using HAS, HAVE, or HAD as part of the verb.

Example:

Louise HAD SEEN that TV program several times by the time Kenwood saw it.

Here, SEEN is correct because Had is part of the verb.


There is one little thing you should keep in mind: If the subject and verb are separated from each other, the broken apart verb still remains the verb of the clause you are working with. This happens most frequently in sentences that ask questions. For example:

Have you SEEN my little brother?

In this sentence, the subject is YOU and the verb is HAVE SEEN, even though HAVE SEEN is not together. I'm not sure we have much trouble saying something such as, "Have you SAW my little brother?", but this has been known to happen, so if this has been troublesome for you, just remember, once again, that using HAVE in a sentence such as the preceding requires us to use SEEN -- not SAW.

Try a few on your own.

(1) Ricky (saw, seen) his flat bed trailer being used in the parade.

(2) I never (saw, seen) such a big sweet potato!

(3) Have you (saw,seen) the oysters being served at Dale's Seafood this week?

(4) Greg (saw, seen) his sister's pocketbook hanging on the back of the chair.

(5) Mrs. White had (saw, seen) many apples disappear from her kitchen until she decided to catch the culprit.


I hope you see how very easy these sentences are. Here are the correct answers:

(1) SAW...because there is no "H" word part of the verb (HAS, HAVE, HAD) , and past tense is obviously required.

(2) SAW...same as (1)

(3) SEEN...HAVE is part of the verb

(4) SAW...same as (1) and (2)

(5) SEEN...HAD is part of the verb


All right! Isn't that easy? Just watch out for the "H" words as a part of the verb, and you'll never have trouble with SEEN again!

Well, it's about time to let you go, and since we've moved that ox out of the ditch, let me wish you a great week with lots of happy things for you and yours. Next time we'll continue with some of the special requests I've been receiving. Keep your ideas for lessons coming! Much peace and time to relax. Warmest regards, GG