Regency verbs
Posted by Phil H on April 17, 1998 at 20:15:37:
In response to Getting it right, written by Caroline on April 17, 1998 at 07:23:51
] It's not just the vocabulary- JA's sentence structure is definitely different, too.
Also, Regency english still used "to be" as an auxillary verb for verbs of motion (like modern-day French), instead of "to have" which we use today. For example: (then) "Mr Bennett is gone away" rather than (now) "Mr Bennett has gone away".
Another modern verb construction using "to be" twice in a row did not exist, such as "I am being distracted by his unwanted attentions".
It's subtle stuff, more than just volcabulary, which gives the text that authentic feel.
- I love that structure Caroline 21:42:51 4/17/98
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