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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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  • 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)

    C This user is from outside of this forum
    C This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #48

    Reed, red. Homophones should be homographs too.

    isyasad@lemmy.worldI 1 Reply Last reply
    3
    • 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)

      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
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        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
        3
        • 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
          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.

            O This user is from outside of this forum
            O This user is from outside of this forum
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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
            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)

              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 3 Replies 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)

                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
                  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
                  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)

                    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
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #57

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

                      samskara@sh.itjust.worksS 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • W [email protected]

                        Wait until you hear about how we pronounce colonel!

                        Q This user is from outside of this forum
                        Q This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #58

                        What about parmesan?

                        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
                          [email protected]
                          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
                          0
                          • 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
                            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
                            1
                            • G [email protected]

                              That would explain why a pencil, which contains a "lead" (actually a polymer or graphite now) is Bleistift

                              L This user is from outside of this forum
                              L This user is from outside of this forum
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                              wrote last edited by
                              #61

                              Some call it differently because it doesn't contain lead anymore but Bleistift is still the common name

                              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.

                                M This user is from outside of this forum
                                M This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                #62

                                I pronounce these all differently though? [wɛɹ], [wəɹ] and [wiɹ]

                                T 1 Reply Last reply
                                2
                                • 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.

                                  anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #63

                                  Pretty much only native speakers have problems with this, I see this type of mistake far less frequently with those who learned English as an additional language.

                                  B T 2 Replies Last reply
                                  5
                                  • snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneS [email protected]

                                    Pretty sure the past tense of "lead" is actually "led."

                                    Unless of course you're referring to the type of metal, lead, which I guess the meme isn't clear on.

                                    anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
                                    anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
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                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #64

                                    What's not clear? It's written right there!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    2
                                    • G [email protected]

                                      It's because the people who set the rules for the English language, could barely speak it.

                                      The first guy to popularize the printing press was Dutch, so the guy who bought England's first one didn't know how it worked and neither did any English speaker

                                      So he hired a bunch of Dutch who knew how to operate it.

                                      And they got a bunch of handwritten books and were told to mass reproduce them.

                                      Sometimes it was a mistake in the original, sometimes the typesetter made a mistake. Sometimes the writer just disagreed with how it should be written, and sometimes even the typesetters who couldn't speak English made choices to change it

                                      No one gave a fuck about accuracy, it was about pumping out as many books as possible. Because just owning a book was a huge status symbol still from when they were handwritten and crazy expensive.

                                      But all those books eventually got read, and the people who learned to read them were very proud that they could read. So they insisted that all the random bullshit was intentional and had to be followed to a T by everyone forever.

                                      Most other languages had a noble class who kept it sensical, but for a long ass time only peasants spoke English, the wealthy in England all spoke French, cuz they were French.

                                      Anyways, that's why English doesn't make any sense. There was also a natural thing happening where vowel pronunciation was changing. So when the typecasters solidified everything, it was already in a state of flux. That's why pronunciation doesn't line up with spelling.

                                      anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
                                      anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #65

                                      What I get from this is that if those English idiots had stuck to French, we wouldn't have this mess.

                                      G B 2 Replies Last reply
                                      0
                                      • anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA [email protected]

                                        What I get from this is that if those English idiots had stuck to French, we wouldn't have this mess.

                                        G This user is from outside of this forum
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                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #66

                                        More like if the French royalty hadn't conquered England....

                                        England hasn't been ruled by the English for centuries bro

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA [email protected]

                                          Pretty much only native speakers have problems with this, I see this type of mistake far less frequently with those who learned English as an additional language.

                                          B This user is from outside of this forum
                                          B This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #67

                                          Pretty much only native speakers have problems with this

                                          That makes no sense since they would use it more, however native speakers from the US do have problems with it, and other words (they're/their).

                                          Rarely encounter it with others.
                                          Their spelling is embarrassing, same as their very limited vocabulary.
                                          IDK what they do in schools.

                                          anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA B 2 Replies Last reply
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