https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 26 Apr 2026 09:55:26 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1506102 Mon, 15 Jun 2015 04:38:58 +0000 tulle 1506102@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Maybe it depends on how many novels--especially British ones--you've read in your lifetime!&nbsp; I love those 't's. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1505403 Sat, 13 Jun 2015 02:59:25 +0000 Karie 1505403@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm from the U.S. and use the -ed versions, with a few exceptions. I hardly ever use dreamed and almost always use dreamt (<i>I dreamt about you last night</i>). And while the toast is always burnt, not burned, if you put your hand on the toaster you might get burned, not burnt (<i>I burnt the toast&nbsp;again. He burned his hand on the toaster)</i>.<i></i> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1504239 Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:08:06 +0000 Gigi 1504239@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I live in the U.S., and I use the -ed forms. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1503288 Tue, 09 Jun 2015 01:56:31 +0000 anne 1503288@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I thought I contributed to this thread yesterday. Australian here - and predictably given we tend (in most cases) to follow British usage - I use "t" </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1503084 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 19:02:11 +0000 DonnaF 1503084@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Gee, I never thought of burned vs. burnt and kneeled vs. knelt.&nbsp; Mostly Californian here.&nbsp; *Burnt* is definitely the variant used as an adjective:&nbsp; Burnt umber, burnt orange, and burnt toast.&nbsp; But sunburned and not sunburnt.&nbsp; Not sure I've ever used spoilt.&nbsp; Grandkids are spoiled.&nbsp; </p> <p>I find these usage variations interesting.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1503000 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 14:53:05 +0000 Belladogga 1503000@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>From the British West Indies - I use the "t" endings but I'm in my fifties. &nbsp;I've noticed that younger people here who grew up with American television are more likely to use the "-ed" endings. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502894 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:56:14 +0000 Anonymous 1502894@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>As a Canadian, I never use the "t" ending. Ever. I recognize it as a British verb form- but have never been taught to use it . &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502890 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:54:00 +0000 Anonymous 1502890@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm from the U.S. We always use the "ed" version; never the "t" ending. I'm not sure if the "t" version is correct or not, as we were never told about it in school.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502872 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 10:34:48 +0000 Summer 1502872@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm in the UK, and tend to use the "t" version, but both versions are correct and acceptable as far as I know. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502829 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 07:40:06 +0000 anne 1502829@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>From Australia, and off the top of my head - I think I'd go for the "t" endings - definitely that is how I would say those words. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502816 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 04:33:04 +0000 Gaylene 1502816@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks, deb. Now I feel fully justified in blaming my weird use of burnt on those bad 19th century boys--Thackeray and Trollope! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502809 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 04:19:22 +0000 rachylou 1502809@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>How interesting, deb! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502800 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:46:45 +0000 deb 1502800@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I use both and use the t as an adjective and the ed as a verb. </p> <p>I found this on the web - </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> Burned vs. burnt<div> <p><em><strong>B</strong></em><em>urned </em>and <em><strong>burnt </strong></em>both work as the past tense and past participle of <em>burn</em>. Both are used throughout the English-speaking world, but usage conventions vary. American and Canadian writers use <em>burned </em>more often, and they use <em>burnt </em>mainly in adjectival phrases such as <em>burnt out </em>and <em>burnt orange</em>. Outside North America, the two forms are used interchangeably, and neither is significantly more common than the other.</p> <p><em>Burned </em>is the older form. <em>Burnt </em>came about during a period in the 16th through 18th centuries in which there was a trend toward replacing <em>-ed </em>endings with <em>-t </em>in words where <em>-ed </em>was no longer pronounced as a separate syllable. <em>&nbsp;</em>Later, British writers continued to favor the newer <em>-t </em>forms for a handful of verbs, while North Americans went back to the more traditional <em>-ed </em>forms.</p> <p>The below <a href="http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=burned%2Cburnt&amp;year_start=1800&amp;year_end=2000&amp;corpus=5&amp;smoothing=3" rel="nofollow">ngram</a>&nbsp;graphs the use of <em>burned </em>and <em>burnt </em>in American-English books published from 1800 to 2000. It shows that <em>burned </em>has been preferred in the U.S. for well over a century.</p> </div> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502797 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:43:37 +0000 Echo 1502797@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, I did not realize you were Canadian! That makes much more sense to me, then. And knelt vs kneeled is an interesting case, as it is still in the process of changing. Knelt is still considered primary and is more common in American English. But irregular verbs have a tendency to change to regular verbs over time, and kneeled is becoming more common. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502794 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:32:49 +0000 Gaylene 1502794@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ah, but I'm Canadian born and schooled--and studied British history and literature in my undergraduate English program. It was during my graduate work in the 80s that I started to switch. My t variants were considered odd by my US-educated colleagues--all of whom burned their toast and kneeled in church. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502791 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:18:28 +0000 Echo 1502791@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That's interesting, Gaylene, that you would use the t forms in academic writing as opposed to informal writing. Generally in the US, the ed form is considered primary usage while the t version is considered the variant, so I would have imagined it to be the opposite (using the t form in informal writing).&nbsp;</p> <p>I've never used the t forms at all, and they always strike me as unusual. I see them far more often on boards with international members, thus the question! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502782 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 02:52:57 +0000 rachylou 1502782@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, I'm a Californian, but I learned ( ) my English from my dad, who was from the British West Indies. I unlearned a lot, and then on my last job, I was working with an international lot... so things were really mixed. But in any case, I use the T's when I'm in a *True Grit* mood and feel like speaking *elaborately.* </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502779 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 02:51:06 +0000 Gaylene 1502779@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I actually use both. In my formal, academic writing, I tend to use the t, while in informal writing, I've mostly switched to the ed versions. It's funny, though, that some words like "kneeled" or "burned" just look weird, so I'll always be the one who knelt in church and burnt the toast. I blame those inconsistencies on too much time spent reading 19th century English novels. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/grammar-question#post-1502758 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 01:55:20 +0000 Echo 1502758@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>In the US, it is uncommon for many verbs to be changed to past tense using a t instead of an ed. For example, it is far more common to hear dreamed or spoiled or learned (as a single syllable in addition to the other meaning pronounced with two syllables) than dreamt or spoilt or learnt. For American English speakers who use the t variant, it tends to be colloquial.</p> <p>However, this is different in British English, where t past tense forms are far more common.&nbsp;</p> <p>Of course, there are past forms of verbs that use ONLY the t form, like kept, lost, and felt.</p> <p>Which form, of those that have variants, are you more likely to use, and where are you from?&nbsp; </p>