Why is the word done being used here?

It's dialectal, and the sentence means "I am going to call off work because a tree has fallen on my car"

In the Southern US, done fell is a dialectical equivalent to has fallen. Grammatical formations like this have led to stereotypes that people from this area are unintelligent as they don't conjugate the way other dialects do. She done gone is something I would commonly hear instead of saying she's left.

That’s how they talk in the southern United States “My cat done got loose” = my cat left the house unexpectedly

It's called "perfective done" and comes from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). You can read more about it here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/what-is-perfective-done

It's a dialect, you might sometimes hear "gone" in the same place. But it just means that the tree has fallen on their car.

This is non-standard English. You can read this as meaning: > A tree **has fallen** on my car.

The use of this dialect makes it funnier too. “A tree done fell on my car” evokes images of someone who is totally exasperated. “The pie done burned” is different than “the pie has burned”, in that the speaker is frustrated if the pie “done burned”. The speaker could be indifferent if the pie “has burned”. That’s why this image is funnier with “done fell” than “has fallen”.

As others have said, dialectal usage, typically American South. It's used before a verb as an intensifier similar to "Tree fucking fell on my car" but is much less vulgar.

it’s not standard english, you shouldn’t use this grammar if you’re just trying to learn english. but “done” in this case means it is something that has happened. a tree *has fallen* on their car.

It’s informal southern grammar. Done is used in place of has/have been. The future version would be “fixing to.” in very informal southern English.

This is non-standard English - it's a feature from AAVE called "perfective done", where the word "done" + simple past is used as a marker of the perfect aspect (which refers to an action that is complete), but often additionally expressing some degree of surprise or disbelief. It's roughly equivalent to the standard English present perfect "a tree has fallen on my car".

This is not proper English, but isn't uncommon to hear similar phrasing in the American South where I live.

In African American Vernacular English (AAVE), "done" is used to indicate that something has happened or is completed, essentially functioning as a past tense marker, signifying an action that has already taken place.

It’s dialectal as others have said. In my personal experience you’ll usually hear it in AAVE and Southern American dialects, though there could be others.

Side comment: funny meme. Thanks for sharing! There are ton of comments here about dialect, but the reason is funny is because the writer expressed great outrage! Like: "OH, GOOD HEAVENS! WHAT FATE THAT HAS BEFALLEN ME! CAN YOU NOT SEE THIS GREAT OAK OF A TREE!?! I CANNOT GO ON TODAY." Yes, yelling and everything for a tiny branch. 😆 Edit: this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the outrage is still there. I just wanted to write an equivalent text to capture the humor.

Gosh, memes must make navigating English so much harder.

I hear this all the time in the working class part of the city (so AAVE & Spanglish basically); it's emphatic such as "you done lost your mind" and it's used with the past tense not the participle. Doesn't require "have." It's akin to using "do" in the present tense such as "it does work."

A close friend of mine from rural SE Alabama, now sadly deceased, used this regionalism all the time.

"Has/have "is informally substituted for"done" sometimes

Done is NOT used like that normally, just slang

Some of these answers will confuse a non native (American) english speaker. The phrase is intentionally bad english to emphasize how dumb the person is pretending to be. It is intended to make fun of the way some people (who some other people deem to be uneducated) use colloquial english. A stupid person would say this because a tiny branch fell on their car. It's a joke.

Think of southern US as just skipping parts of the conversation. They're implied instead. "What has the tree done?" "The tree has done: fell on my car." I wish I could get a "Native Southern Speaker" tag.

Southern American typically AAVE usage

That’s how they talk in the south :)

Sure done didally did fall on my car

An action was performed or an event happened. It is very rural slang. Watch the movie “A Fish Called Wanda” and you’ll hear John Cleese’s character use it to taunt a US character: “You done real good!!”

This so funny reading all your comments, you’re overthinking the meaning of the words so much! 😭😂 Do you guys know what slang is? Sometimes it can be mixed into normal English sentence as it’s become so normal and make them confusing for foreign speakers.

Well… I think we all learned nothing today. Gonna lock this thread.

It's African American English. Done means has in this context. Be aware that some African Americans use AAE. You are not expected to know it and may be seen as disrespectful if you try to use it .

My niece done got bit by a copperhead

Also used in "done fucked up" as a more colourful way to say "messed up". For example, [usage in a song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zoJGmMbN8w).

'done' is a shorter way of saying 'has performed an action' in this context. Normally it just means 'finished'

Perfective done as an auxiliary verb: "Done" is used to indicate that an action or state has ended. It is used as an auxiliary verb between the subject and verb in sentences. It is used in place of the auxiliary verb "have." Example: I have told you before. Examples: I done told you a million times, Thelma. Walmart ain't gonna stock any bras that size. That man done picked the wrong fight. The boy done pitched his last hissy fit. Now it's time to tan his ol' hide. He just done gone and got his knickers in a knot. I only done what you done told me. You just done made up your mind that you ain’t going to be no good to me.

Dialectal, in the south they add "done" sometimes as shown here. Most people would say approximately the same thing just without "done".

That there tree might coulda done fell but it done didn’t.

"done fell" mean's "has fallen" in american southern(?) dialect. Similiar to how they also say "aint" instead of "isnt" or "arent". Aint that interesting?

"Done" is a common replacement for the words "has" and "have" in certain American dialects. It is usually accompanied by other grammatical errors. "A tree has fallen on my car," becomes "Tree done fell on my car." "I have made a mistake," becomes "I done fucked that shit straight up, yo."

Cause it diiiid .

Because the speaker uses colloquial and unusual English.

I think the best way to explain it is as a weird contraction of “has gone and” as in “a tree has gone and fell on my car”

This is dialectal. For those who speak a Chinese language, “done” here functions very similar to 了

The tree fell on my car (this was DONE, it happened). Of course it’s slang, but that is the meaning of

It's colloquial dialect that is not considered "proper" English. The word being used in this context doesn't make technical grammatical sense. It's most commonly used in the Appalachian region and, I believe, by African American people in most parts of the US.

[deleted]

This is improper English. Don’t speak like this.

hahah that's very reasonable!

Also note that Americans love using the word "dialect" for their consistent grammar mistakes. :)

Intentionally non-standard English

its just slang

It's poor English. Used by people from poor neighborhoods.

[deleted]