Question: Is this quote from Frankenstein written correctly and, if so, why? In this paragraph Victor Frankenstein is speaking with Mr. Kirwin after having come out of his two-month fever from seeing his friend's body, Henry Clerval, strangled by his monster. He speaks with Mr. Kirwin in his native language, French, on his father coming from Geneva to see him in the prison.\n\n"'My father!' cried I, while every feature and every muscle was relaxed from anguish to pleasure, 'Is my father indeed come? How kind, how very kind! But where is he, why does he not hasten to me?'"\n\nIs "Is my father indeed come?" correctly written and, if so, why? It just sounds very odd.

Answer: I don't have the book in front of me, but the quote is correct as far as I can see. It is odd indeed, but it's a valid archaic construction of the past participle of 'come'.\n\nThe French language retains that strange use of the present tense "is/am/are" in past-tense constructions (e.g. "je suis anné en 1976")
This question from the Yahoo Q&A forum is categorized in the topic: Politics & Government