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Grammar Question

Echo

Veteran

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.

However, this is different in British English, where t past tense forms are far more common.

Of course, there are past forms of verbs that use ONLY the t form, like kept, lost, and felt.

Which form, of those that have variants, are you more likely to use, and where are you from?

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18 replies

Latest reply was from tulle

Gaylene

Veteran

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.

rachylou

Veteran

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.*

Echo

Veteran

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).

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!

Gaylene

Veteran

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.

Echo

Veteran

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.

deb

Veteran

I use both and use the t as an adjective and the ed as a verb.

I found this on the web -

Burned vs. burnt

Burned and burnt both work as the past tense and past participle of burn. Both are used throughout the English-speaking world, but usage conventions vary. American and Canadian writers use burned more often, and they use burnt mainly in adjectival phrases such as burnt out and burnt orange. Outside North America, the two forms are used interchangeably, and neither is significantly more common than the other.

Burned is the older form. Burnt came about during a period in the 16th through 18th centuries in which there was a trend toward replacing -ed endings with -t in words where -ed was no longer pronounced as a separate syllable. Later, British writers continued to favor the newer -t forms for a handful of verbs, while North Americans went back to the more traditional -ed forms.

The below ngram graphs the use of burned and burnt in American-English books published from 1800 to 2000. It shows that burned has been preferred in the U.S. for well over a century.

rachylou

Veteran

How interesting, deb!

Gaylene

Veteran

Thanks, deb. Now I feel fully justified in blaming my weird use of burnt on those bad 19th century boys--Thackeray and Trollope!

anne

Veteran

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.

Summer

Veteran

I'm in the UK, and tend to use the "t" version, but both versions are correct and acceptable as far as I know.

Anonymous

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.

Anonymous

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 .

Belladogga

From the British West Indies - I use the "t" endings but I'm in my fifties. I've noticed that younger people here who grew up with American television are more likely to use the "-ed" endings.

DonnaF

Veteran

Gee, I never thought of burned vs. burnt and kneeled vs. knelt. Mostly Californian here. *Burnt* is definitely the variant used as an adjective: Burnt umber, burnt orange, and burnt toast. But sunburned and not sunburnt. Not sure I've ever used spoilt. Grandkids are spoiled.

I find these usage variations interesting.

anne

Veteran

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"

Gigi

Veteran

I live in the U.S., and I use the -ed forms.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

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 dreamt about you last night). And while the toast is always burnt, not burned, if you put your hand on the toaster you might get burned, not burnt (I burnt the toast again. He burned his hand on the toaster).

tulle

Veteran

Maybe it depends on how many novels--especially British ones--you've read in your lifetime! I love those 't's.