| In the Early Modern English period, there were two different ways of marking the perfect tenses. In the present day, the auxiliary //have// is used for example in the present perfect, as in //It has come to my attention//. However, as late as the eighteenth century, the perfect tenses could be marked with the auxiliary //to be//. These two markings were more or less in complementary distribution, i.e. they were used with different types of verbs. According to the [[http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-time/grammar-in-early-modern-english/|OED ]], //to be// was the preferred way of forming the perfect verbs of motion, while //to have// was used in most other cases. Shakespeare normally uses the auxiliary //to be// with //creep, enter, flee, go, meet, retire, ride, and run//. | In the Early Modern English period, there were two different ways of marking the perfect tense. In the present day, the auxiliary //have// is used to form the present perfect, as in //It has come to my attention//. However, as late as the eighteenth century, the perfect tenses could be marked with the auxiliary //to be//. These two markings were more or less in complementary distribution, i.e. they were used with different types of verbs. According to the [[http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-time/grammar-in-early-modern-english/|OED ]], //to be// was the preferred way of forming the perfect verbs of motion, while //to have// was used in most other cases. Shakespeare normally uses the auxiliary //to be// with //creep, enter, flee, go, meet, retire, ride, and run//. |
