English Nerdery, Or Calling Dvorkin
Jan 6
Last night, I used the phrase “strewn about,” and it got me to wondering: WTF is the present tense of “strewn?” Strew? As it turns out, it is: To strew. But nobody ever uses it in any form other than “strewn,” at least not that I’ve ever heard.
And that got me to wondering: Are there any other verbs that are commonly used, but only in a past-tense or other non-root form?
#1 by David Dvorkin at January 6th, 2009
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I’m pretty sure I’ve seen examples of other verbs for which that’s also true, but I can’t think of any right now.
#2 by Dan M. at January 6th, 2009
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I’ve certainly used “strew” in the imperative, and i’m pretty sure i’m not a complete freak on this matter. On the other hand, I have also used the infinitive “to can” in a sentence, which is… rare.
A much better example: http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=fraught&resource=Webster%27s&quicksearch=on
#3 by LarryE at January 6th, 2009
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I have also used the infinitive “to can” in a sentence, which is… rare.
Unless, I expect, you’re involved in canning preserves.
#4 by tgirsch at January 6th, 2009
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Well, I’ve used it in the “preserves” sense, but also in the “fire somebody” sense.
#5 by Dan M. at January 6th, 2009
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Well, now i realize i sound like an idiot. I meant “to can” in the sense of “to be able to”.
#6 by LarryE at January 7th, 2009
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Dan -
Nah. We were just kidding you. Of course, now, I’m going to spend some time coming up with a way to use the phrase in that sense.
Obama says “Yes, we can.” I think being able to “can” is very important.