Labels

(no) life? (2) anchors (1) astro (7) cars (1) comp (3) English oddities (1) hockey (1) ireland (3) misc (3) music (1) new jersey (3) time (1) to the editor (2) travel (4) whacks (1)

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Differences in past tense in American and British English (and other English oddities)

What is the only English word that ends in mt? See the bottom of this post for the answer.

In Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand it is more common to end some past tense verbs with a "t" as in learnt or dreamt rather than learned or dreamed. However, such spellings are also found in North America. The "t" past tenses may have been influenced by German past tenses which often end in "t". Several verbs have different past tenses or past participles in American and British English:
  • The past tense of the verb "to dive" is most commonly found as "dived" in British, Australian and New Zealand English. "Dove" is usually used in its place in American and Canadian English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect.
  • The past participle and past tense of the verb "to get" is most commonly found as "got" in British and New Zealand English. "Gotten" is also used in its place in American and Canadian, and occasionally in Australian English, as a past participle, though "got" is widely used as a past tense. The main exception is in the phrase "ill-gotten", which is widely used in British, Australian and New Zealand English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect. This does not affect "forget" and "beget", whose past participles are "forgotten" and "begotten" in all varieties.
 largely from Wikipedia































What is the only English word that ends in mt? Dreamt.

No comments:

Post a Comment

\br
Locations of visitors to this page