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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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  • Y [email protected]

    Also the language is called English. By default, the English are doing it right and anything else is wrong. Maybe better, the argument can go for decades longer, but if anyones wrong its everyone else.

    E This user is from outside of this forum
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    wrote last edited by
    #41

    My point is no one is wrong. Well, you are, but not for the way you spell things.

    1 Reply Last reply
    2
    • S [email protected]

      The primary accent for 2-syllable words that are used as both a noun and a verb depends on the part of speech. The noun places the primary accent on the 1st syllable, the verb on the 2nd syllable.

      Examples:
      The musician records a record.
      The farmer produces produce.
      You're not permitted to fish without a permit.

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      wrote last edited by
      #42

      Potential exception: "Adult." Arguably because it generally isn't a verb when emphasis is on the second syllable, some people do that even when it's a noun.

      I'm an Adult vs. I'm an aDULT. *

      Use as of "adult" as a verb is non-standard and where to emphasise that is even less clear-cut for those of us who put the emphasis on the first syllable of the noun. Interestingly, "adulterate" is less strange as a verb and the emphasis is definitely on the second syllable there.

      We could tie ourselves in knots analysing the late emphasis form as a verbified noun, re-nounified. Ow.

      * The underlying truth of said statement is irrelevant. Chronologically, I have been one for some time. Mentally... ehh.

      1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • Z [email protected]

        The alarm went off so i turned it off.

        O This user is from outside of this forum
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        wrote last edited by
        #43

        My ally turned on me and then I turned her on

        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.

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          wrote last edited by
          #44

          The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité (1922)

          https://ncf.idallen.com/english.html

          Dearest creature in creation
          Studying English pronunciation,
          I will teach you in my verse
          Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

          I will keep you, Susy, busy,
          Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
          Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear;
          Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

          Pray, console your loving poet,
          Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
          Just compare heart, hear and heard,
          Dies and diet, lord and word.
          ...

          Very long. Highly recommended

          1 Reply Last reply
          11
          • E [email protected]

            It's "its," by the way.

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            wrote last edited by
            #45

            This is the grammar thing I fuck up the most, and I don't call people on it because I'm pretty sure I don't know how it works. Autocorrect changes it & I just say "oh, whoops", and it still looks wrong...

            E H W 3 Replies Last reply
            3
            • capuccino@lemmy.worldC [email protected]

              Spanish is awesome. All its verbs in their regular form do end in "-ar", "-er" and "-ir".

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              wrote last edited by
              #46

              The conjugations can get as weird as English sometimes, though. Case in point: Ser.

              B capuccino@lemmy.worldC 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • O [email protected]

                This is the grammar thing I fuck up the most, and I don't call people on it because I'm pretty sure I don't know how it works. Autocorrect changes it & I just say "oh, whoops", and it still looks wrong...

                E This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                #47

                Here's a shortcut: test if you could drop "his" into the same spot and have it make sense. (And of course you'd never write hi's or his's.) If "his" would work, "its" would work.

                1 Reply Last reply
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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
                  #48

                  Reed, red. Homophones should be homographs too.

                  isyasad@lemmy.worldI 1 Reply Last reply
                  4
                  • 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.

                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #49

                    its, not it's.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    1
                    • O [email protected]

                      This is the grammar thing I fuck up the most, and I don't call people on it because I'm pretty sure I don't know how it works. Autocorrect changes it & I just say "oh, whoops", and it still looks wrong...

                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #50

                      it's means "it is". It is really not difficult, just pretend you are Data and swear off contractions.

                      O 1 Reply Last reply
                      5
                      • O [email protected]

                        The conjugations can get as weird as English sometimes, though. Case in point: Ser.

                        B This user is from outside of this forum
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                        wrote last edited by
                        #51

                        "que sera sera" es un ejemplo.

                        R 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • H [email protected]

                          it's means "it is". It is really not difficult, just pretend you are Data and swear off contractions.

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                          wrote last edited by
                          #52

                          I think the contraction vs possesive thing messes with me, and my brain can never settle on what goes where when, how, or why...

                          A 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.

                            T This user is from outside of this forum
                            T This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #53

                            Where, were, we're. Even native speakers have problems with this. I don't know how many times I had to correct such cases, especially with American authors.

                            U M anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA A 4 Replies Last reply
                            4
                            • 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.

                              A This user is from outside of this forum
                              A This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #54

                              Reed and Red

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              4
                              • O [email protected]

                                I think the contraction vs possesive thing messes with me, and my brain can never settle on what goes where when, how, or why...

                                A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote last edited by
                                #55

                                Just try changing it to "it is". If the sentence still makes sense, it's "it's". Otherwise it's "its".

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                2
                                • 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
                                  R This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #56

                                  They should be spelled the way they currently are.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C [email protected]

                                    Reed, red. Homophones should be homographs too.

                                    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
                                    #57

                                    What dialect of English will we base the new spelling system on?

                                    samskara@sh.itjust.worksS C 2 Replies Last reply
                                    1
                                    • W [email protected]

                                      Wait until you hear about how we pronounce colonel!

                                      Q This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #58

                                      What about parmesan?

                                      W 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • T [email protected]

                                        Where, were, we're. Even native speakers have problems with this. I don't know how many times I had to correct such cases, especially with American authors.

                                        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
                                        #59

                                        Where, were, we’re.

                                        I never had a problem with those, until I started with stuff like Reddit.

                                        Now, I find myself making the mistake and catching it in proofreading.
                                        Guess my brain is starting to age too.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        1
                                        • R [email protected]

                                          https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/304867/the-wrought-wreaked-havoc-misunderstanding

                                          Today I learned...

                                          P This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #60

                                          Me too, thanks!

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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