Passed or past?

I haven't been posting here lately, busy with other things,  but I have been spurred to by reading a glossy publication of walks in my area. While it is generally well written, the author clearly has no idea of the difference between past and passed.

OK, both sound the same.

The -ed on passed should give a clue that this is a verb and indeed the past tense of the verb.

I passed an accident on the way here.

Past is a preposition

Go past the shops, then turn left.

Compare

I passed the church. I passed by the church.  ( both have the same meaning)
I walked past the church.  ( same meaning as above but the first could be in a vehicle)

We passed a farm.
The route runs past a farm.

The route continues along the river bank, past the football ground …  (you could say passing the football ground)

emigrate or immigrate?

This ties in with another passion of  mine - family history.

Which of the following is correct?

John Smith and his family emigrated to the USA in 1878.

or

John Smith and his family immigrated to the USA in 1878.


Answer - both are correct but they are from a different viewpoint.

to emigrate is to leave a country
and to immigrate is to come into a country.

So the first sentence would be written by someone in the old country and the second by someone in the USA.

The same with emigration and immigration.

Migration and to migrate are used with birds and animals.

I myself

A word about the use and misuse of myself (and yourself, himself, herself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves).  I'll give examples for myself to start with.

Use
• for emphasis

I myself would never do that!
I painted it myself
I'm not fond of shellfish myself

• reflexively ie when referring back to the person performing the action

I've hurt myself
I spilt coffee on myself
I cried myself to sleep

Note that in all the examples an "I" precedes "myself".

With that rule in mind, it is easy to spot MISTAKES such as:-

Please call John or myself for further information.
It should be: Please call John or me …

Never start a sentence with "Myself"

eg Myself and a friend went to Brazil.
It should be: I and a friend… or A friend and I…

Examples

You look pleased with yourself.
One must take care of oneself.
The militants themselves said …
Animals protect themselves from predators
The Queen admired a portrait of herself.

When does Y change to IE?

Most words with an "i" sound at the end end in -Y
The plural of nouns which end in -Y changes to -IES

a lady; many ladies
my family; many families
1 granny; both grannies
one city; all the cities
one fatality; many fatalities
the gallery; all the galleries
one theory; many theories
one pony; lots of ponies

If the -y is preceded by a vowel though, the plural is -ys

day; days
toy; toys
monkey; monkeys

You can put an ie at the ending of a word as a sign of affection

What a cutie!
She's a sweetie

Note - no apostrophes for plurals.

Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives which end in -Y

silly, sillier, silliest

funny, funnier, funniest

happy, happier, happiest

merry, merrier, merriest

Note - no apostrophes for comparatives and superlatives of adjectives!

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Apostrophe only 

1  for possession

Mary's brother

the pony's saddle

2 for a missing letter

Mary's late = Mary is late

don't be late - do not be late

More irregular verbs

Last time we looked at some irregular verbs. Although they are irregular they still have rules and many follow a similar pattern.

Principle parts: present/infinitive, simple past, past participle

swim swam swum
spring sprang sprung
shrink shrank shrunk
sink sank sunk
stink stank stunk
ring rang rung
begin began begun

No problem with these as the simple past is the same as the past participle.

fight fought fought
bring brought brought
find found found

here are some very common ones - practise saying the parts

go went gone
do did done
eat ate eaten
read read read - pronounced [reed]  [red]  [red
write wrote written
break broke broken
speak spoke spoken
see saw seen
fall fell fallen
run ran run
become became become

REMEMBER when using the past participle (the third part) you must have a helper verb with it.

Here are some wrong sentences. Can you say what is wrong and why?

1. Honey, I shrunk the kids.
2. He sprung into action.
3. The kitchen stunk of cabbage.
4. I seen them coming.
5. She has broke a tooth.
6. He has spoke too soon.
7. He has went and done it.

Complete the sentences

1. Several trees have f… in the storm.
2. I have wr… a letter of complaint to the manager.
3. He has bro… his arm.
4. I've … too many chocolates.
5. The bell has r….
6. My shirt shr… in the wash.

Scroll down for the answers……












Here are some wrong sentences. Can you say what is wrong and why?

1. Honey, I shrunk the kids. I know it is a film title. It should be I shrank the kids or I have shrunk the kids. Shrunk is the past participle and needs "have" in front of it.
2. He sprung into action. He sprang into action. Simple past tense.
3. The kitchen stunk of cabbage. The kitchen stank … Simple past tense.
4. I seen them coming. I saw them coming. Simple past tense.
5. She has broke a tooth.  She has broken a tooth. Past participle after has
6. He has spoke too soon. He has spoken too soon. Past participle after has. Or He spoke too soon.
7. He has went and done it.  He has gone and done it. Past participle after has

Complete the sentences

1. Several trees have fallen in the storm.
2. I have written a letter of complaint to the manager.
3. He has broken his arm.
4. I've eaten too many chocolates.
5. The bell has rung.
6. My shirt shrank in the wash.

Trouble with past tenses

Nowadays mistakes with past tenses of irregular verbs are so commonplace that I even have to sometimes stop and think myself. I'm talking about "the bell has went" "the ship sunk" "I have swam"





All verbs have 3 principal parts

to look - look,  looked, looked is a regular or weak verb

to sink - sink sank sunk is an example of an irregular or strong where the 3 parts are different
The 3 principle parts are
Present tense and infinitive:  sink
Simple Past:   sank
Past Participle:  sunk

The difference between sank and sunk:
"Sank" is often used when it should be "sunk"

sank 

the ship sank
he sank all his savings into a holiday home

sunk needs another "helper" verb in front of it, such as: have / has  /had or am/ is/ was /were

a small yacht has sunk
the trawler had sunk by the time the lifeboat arrived
the ship was sunk by a torpedo
we have sunk a well
I'm sunk
it hasn't sunk in yet
it could have been sunk by a wave

other verbs with the same vowel change pattern as to sink

drink, drank, drunk
sing, sang, sung
begin, began, begun
swim, swam, swum
ring, rang, rung

so

I have drunk gallons of tea
much tea was drunk
he has sung professionally
it has begun
they have swum
the bells were rung at midnight

TIP
Practice saying the principal parts to yourself.

Test yourself. Which is correct?
REMEMBER when using the past participle (the third part) you must have a helper verb with it

1. I have (sang/sung) in a choir
2. We all (drank/drunk) too much. 
3. The children (sang/sung) loudly.
4. Lots of coffee was (drank/drunk)
5. The church bells were (rang/rung) for the wedding.
6. The bells (rang/rung) out for New Year.
7. Tom (swam/swum) 30 lengths.
8. I could have (swam/swum) further.
9. The programme has (began/begun)
10. It (began/begun) to rain.

Scroll down for the answers ……

1. I have sung in a choir.
2. We all drank too much. 
3. The children sang loudly.
4. Lots of coffee was drunk.
5. The church bells were rung for the wedding.
6. The bells rang out for New Year.
7. Tom swam 30 lengths.
8. I could have swum further.
9. The programme has begun.
10. It began to rain.

More here

Which is right?

My ears pricked up in a clothes shop today. An assistant was replacing a promotional poster because of a "spelling mistake"!  It wasn't me who complained, honestly! Well done to Viyella/Country Casuals for reprinting and replacing.

Someone cost the company because they didn't know the difference between complimentary and complementary! I enjoyed a complimentary glass of shloer. They didn't offer me any styling tips though. I'm obviously a lost cause.