Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
Come across
Hi.
I want to know whether "come across" phrase that means to find somebody by chance only can be used in past tense? Is it wrong if I write "If you come across me someday"?
thanks
I want to know whether "come across" phrase that means to find somebody by chance only can be used in past tense? Is it wrong if I write "If you come across me someday"?
thanks
Top answer
"Come across" in this sense is apparently still considered non-standard, but you hear it used like this in the US. Your sentence is theoretically grammatical (although non-standard), but the phrase is not used like this (the person that one "comes across" is typically in the third person). Some examples of usage: I came across this guy from my 4th grade class at the convention.
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"Come across" in this sense is apparently still considered non-standard, but you hear it used like this in the US. Your sentence is theoretically grammatical (although non-standard), but the phrase is not used like this (the person that one "comes across" is typically in the third person). Some examples of usage:
I came across this guy from my 4th grade class at the convention.
I came across this guy from my 4th grade class at the convention.
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Anonymous"Come across" in this sense is apparently still considered non-standardAre you saying that this phrase, when applied just to people, is non-standard?
My mother used to use 'if you come across' this or that when she had lost something (England). In a British movie, Notting Hill, referring to a novel, the shop owner says, "If you come across an un
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