Why do we say "I win" instead of "I won"?

For a long time I was wondering why there is I win instead of I won. I met such usage in a lot of games and movies.

For me, it's logical to say I won, because this winning action is done already. I win for me seems like I'm winning right now.

Can anyone clarify this for me?

Solution 1:

I disagree with the accepted answer in its explanation. If you've just had lunch, you'd say "I ate" (past-tense) and not "I eat" (present tense) - even if you're saying it "just a few seconds after" having lunch. It is absurd to argue that "I win" is used because the winning has only happened in the recent past, it is being carried over to the present (although a runner might say "I win" as he is overtaking another runner).This is sledging, whereas the usage above is clearly about semantics/phraseology.

When you say "I win," you're being helpful - by effectively speaking for/on behalf of an umpire/adjudicator (or a referee), who is the proper authority to declare the winner. Conventionally, an umpire would say "Player X wins", and not "Player X won".

If there was a third person (acting as an adjudicator) physically present, and he declares one of the two players the winner, you'd certainly say "I won!" even if it was immediately/seconds after.

In linguistics, there are three honorifics assigned to any discourse : the speaker, the hearer and the bystander. Here, the speaker is speaking for the invisible bystander.

You're also likely to say "I won!" with a particularly tough-to-beat opponent, implying incredulity/emphasis.

Solution 2:

The statement "I win" is typically used to declare that the subject has just won the game. Before the statement, it may well not be known that a "win" has occurred. Indeed, because the action is so extremely recent in the past, it is effectively considered the present. While you technically may be right in that the win occurred in the past, language does not make this distinction. Call it an idiomatic usage case, if you will. I wouldn't over-analyse the reason.

Solution 3:

I think you can use both. I win means I've won when the game has just finished. I've won means for example that you've won 30 minutes ago. You can call something that happened 2 minutes ago by present, not past.

Solution 4:

There are elements of RaghuramMK's and Noldorin's answers at play here. I do think an exclamation of "I win!" at least in part serves as an answer to "OK, so who wins?" (even if that question wasn't explicitly asked). I believe this is its grammatic function, if you will. It's a declaration, like a shorter form of "I am victorious!".

I also think there is some period of time beyond which the winner stops saying "I win" and switches to saying "I won", and it's not very long. But how long depends a lot on the venue and the emotional magnitude of the victory. Someone who has just won a world championship might be screaming "I win! I win! I win!" for what seems like quite a long time, as they run around in celebration. Whereas if my brother beats me in a casual game of cards, he might say "I win" as he plays the last card, with the "winning moment" lasting less than one second.