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  3. 'Read' and its past tense are spelled the same. How should they be spelled?

'Read' and its past tense are spelled the same. How should they be spelled?

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  • V [email protected]

    "I read a lot of books about English spelling!"

    Is this past tense?

    B This user is from outside of this forum
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    wrote last edited by
    #146

    Depends on the context

    1 Reply Last reply
    1
    • I [email protected]

      What about similar oddities in English?
      (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
      Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

      bunscientist@lemmy.zipB This user is from outside of this forum
      bunscientist@lemmy.zipB This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #147

      I found it! https://www.exocomics.com/193/

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      4
      • L [email protected]

        The digraph oo is pronounced at least six different ways:

        • boot, proof, boost, scoop, moon
        • book, foot, look, cookie, good
        • floor, poor, door, moor
        • flood, blood
        • zoology, cooperative
        • brooch (just brooch; there doesn't seem to be any other word in the whole language using this sound for oo).
        ytg@sopuli.xyzY This user is from outside of this forum
        ytg@sopuli.xyzY This user is from outside of this forum
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        wrote last edited by
        #148

        Floor/door and poor might differ depending on dialect

        And the whole point of zoology and cooperative is that they aren't digraphs (hence why some super posh people write coöperative)

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        0
        • I [email protected]

          What about similar oddities in English?
          (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
          Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

          P This user is from outside of this forum
          P This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote last edited by
          #149

          The English language is so retarded yet we use it for international communication, and it is too late to stop it.

          G 1 Reply Last reply
          4
          • U [email protected]

            Be the change you want to see. Making people cringe as bonus!

            I This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote last edited by
            #150

            It's only cringy because you're not used to it. If someone says "I goed to work yesterday" you would know exactly what they meant.

            U 1 Reply Last reply
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            • I [email protected]

              It's only cringy because you're not used to it. If someone says "I goed to work yesterday" you would know exactly what they meant.

              U This user is from outside of this forum
              U This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote last edited by
              #151

              Yes and then cringe.

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              0
              • icastfist@programming.devI [email protected]

                Welcome to english, where rules are actually the exceptions

                C This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                #152

                I before E, except after C!

                As long as you don't count the word caffeine. Or protein. Or species. Or seize or heinous or leisure or weird or feign or their or reignite or any of the other 923 words that are exceptions to this rule lol.

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                • I [email protected]

                  We should be consistent and say "readed". While we're on the subject, why isn't the past tense of go "goed"?

                  C This user is from outside of this forum
                  C This user is from outside of this forum
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                  wrote last edited by
                  #153

                  Although the past tense of write is wrote, so maybe for read it should be rode.... dammit!

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                  • I [email protected]

                    What about similar oddities in English?
                    (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                    Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                    C This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                    #154

                    One of my favourites is the word jam, which can mean:

                    • A fruit preserve
                    • Traffic that's stopped
                    • To play music
                    • A door that won't open
                    • A difficult situation
                    • To force something in somewhere it's not supposed to be
                    • To interrupt a signal
                    • Something you don't like or can't do ("that's not my jam")

                    And probably others, all spelled and pronounced the same way but with wildly different meanings depending on the context.

                    The other English thing I find super interesting is how there's a sort of unspoken but very clearly understood order to adjectives. So for example, if I say "The big old red wooden door" it works as a description, but if I say "The wooden old red big door" it sounds weird even though it's the same information. People aren't usually formally taught the order (as far as I know), but everyone seems to understand it.

                    J 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • T [email protected]

                      And the alarm goes off means it actually starts ringing. Weird language indeed!

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                      wrote last edited by
                      #155

                      And this might just be a UK thing but if a person goes off it means they get really angry. And it can mean to leave for somewhere.

                      So a firework goes off which makes the fire alarm go off which makes the safety officer go off. Then he goes off to get a fireman. But he leaves the milk out, so it goes off.

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                      • C [email protected]

                        One of my favourites is the word jam, which can mean:

                        • A fruit preserve
                        • Traffic that's stopped
                        • To play music
                        • A door that won't open
                        • A difficult situation
                        • To force something in somewhere it's not supposed to be
                        • To interrupt a signal
                        • Something you don't like or can't do ("that's not my jam")

                        And probably others, all spelled and pronounced the same way but with wildly different meanings depending on the context.

                        The other English thing I find super interesting is how there's a sort of unspoken but very clearly understood order to adjectives. So for example, if I say "The big old red wooden door" it works as a description, but if I say "The wooden old red big door" it sounds weird even though it's the same information. People aren't usually formally taught the order (as far as I know), but everyone seems to understand it.

                        J This user is from outside of this forum
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                        wrote last edited by
                        #156

                        Would be interested in more about the order - wondering if there is a name for that? I have been called out by teachers and friends and colleagues about strange sentences and it was often because I wouldn't write the 'normal' way. I've learned the conventions over the years and often find myself making edits to swap words and phrases around to meet expectations.

                        C 1 Reply Last reply
                        1
                        • P [email protected]

                          The English language is so retarded yet we use it for international communication, and it is too late to stop it.

                          G This user is from outside of this forum
                          G This user is from outside of this forum
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                          wrote last edited by
                          #157

                          The problem is the spelling, not the language. But the problem with spelling reform is that it necessarily favours certain dialects over others so you can never please everyone.

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                          1
                          • I [email protected]

                            What about similar oddities in English?
                            (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                            Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                            F This user is from outside of this forum
                            F This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #158

                            Words that produce the same sounds should have same spelling.
                            Read in past tense and red is the same sound, so why isn't past tense of read - red?

                            Why most 'c' in words produce 'k' sounds?

                            Car and kar also produce the same sounds, so why C instead of K?

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                            1
                            • S [email protected]

                              Brooch is pronounced like roach

                              isyasad@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                              isyasad@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
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                              wrote last edited by
                              #159

                              It may be pronounced either way, and may also be spelled "broach", an alternate spelling which is very common although probably slightly less than this chart implies given multiple meanings of "broach".

                              I'm not really informed on this history of this word, but I think it's possible that the "brooch" spelling increased in frequency along with the pronunciation that rhymes with "mooch" while people who pronounce it to rhyme with "roach" are more likely to spell it as "broach".

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                              0
                              • J [email protected]

                                Would be interested in more about the order - wondering if there is a name for that? I have been called out by teachers and friends and colleagues about strange sentences and it was often because I wouldn't write the 'normal' way. I've learned the conventions over the years and often find myself making edits to swap words and phrases around to meet expectations.

                                C This user is from outside of this forum
                                C This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                #160

                                Apparently it's called the Royal Order of Adjectives, and it's essentially: determiner, opinion, size, shape, age, colour, origin, material, qualifier.

                                You don't have to use all of those in the description, but that's broadly the order to use them in to make it sound 'right'. So for example in the comment I made above, it fits because I used:

                                • determiner (The)
                                • size (big)
                                • age (old)
                                • colour (red)
                                • material (wooden)

                                in that order. I'm sure I was never taught that in any organized way (I just had to look up what it was called lol) but I still got it in the right order anyway just by typing it out in the way that felt right, which I think is interesting.

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                                4
                                • N [email protected]

                                  The French word for goose is Oie, pronounced "ua"

                                  A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #161

                                  It's really not.
                                  Maybe if you pronounce an English 'u', but not a French one.
                                  Source: I'm French Canadian.

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                                  0
                                  • I [email protected]

                                    What about similar oddities in English?
                                    (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                                    Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                                    return2ozma@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                    return2ozma@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #162

                                    English a very difficult language

                                    https://youtu.be/d6DfsBd3iSk

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                                    1
                                    • I [email protected]

                                      What about similar oddities in English?
                                      (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                                      Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                                      B This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #163

                                      "well" is a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb and an interjection

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                                      1
                                      • I [email protected]

                                        What about similar oddities in English?
                                        (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                                        Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                                        B This user is from outside of this forum
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                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #164

                                        English pronunciation is weird. It can be mastered through tough thorough thought though.

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                                        0
                                        • I [email protected]

                                          What about similar oddities in English?
                                          (This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)
                                          Edit: it's to its in the title. Damn autocorrect.

                                          R This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #165

                                          I've never been a fan of read/read/red They're too popular to all be comingled like that.

                                          Just place read/read with Peruse/Perused

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