--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
> 'Jeg var her igår' is normal. 'Jeg har været
> her'. 'Jeg har været her igår' sounds like it needs a comma: 'Jeg
har
> været her, igår', as if you are adding the extra information as an
> afterthought. Germans or French speaking Danish use that kind of
> sentences, and persevere in using them. I thought myself that that
> use in Dutch might be caused by French or German influence.
Thanks. Interesting, I'd never noticed, which doesn't reflect well on
my linguistic acumen given the immense exposure to Danish I have had
in the course of time. Any influence cannot be very recent because
modern French and German have different systems, resulting in partial
(French) or total (German) helplessness when faced with the Dutch
system. But slightly older influence is plausible enough. Actually
the whole thing is part of a pan-European cline, with Central Europe
pushing away the use of the simple preterit and its place growing as
you move to the periphery. But I suppose that's common knowledge.
W.