Grammer question

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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:50 am

You can ring a bell, or you can string a guitar.
I have rung a bell, and I have strung a guitar.
But if I say "I rang the bell", can I also say "I strang the guitar"?

I have a bet on this; my honor is at stake.
I have Googled the word 'strang' and found various definitions. What I'm looking for is any reason why the word 'strang' can not be used as mentioned above.

Master Baiter Joined: 02 Feb 2019 Posts: 163

Well, this verb is just supposed to be conjugated like this. - String, strung, strung.

They are called irregular verbs, and there´s a bunch of them.

http://www.chompchomp.com/rules/irregularrules01.htm

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/irregular-verbs?s

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:36 pm

Which US state is this bet taking place in? Razz

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:23 pm

1. "Grammar," but I guess that is spelling-related, not grammar related.
2. "In which US state is this bet taking place?" Ending a sentence with a preposition? Shame on you Kitty.
3. "(I)f I say 'I rang the bell', can I also say 'I strang the guitar'?" Yes. You can also say "The spelling is what it is, undisirregardlessly," or "Jose_cuervo looks good in those frilly boots," or "Look up the word "strang" on Urban Dictionary, it is plenty safe for work." But, they would all be incorrect.

Irregular verbs appear in many languages, (I'll leave that dissertation to vonpaso), just as irregular nouns do (Goose/Geese & Moose/Moose).

Edited to correct a typo and add:

"I have a bet on this; my honor is at stake." Proper use of the semi-colon makes up for all the other issues.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:50 pm

Bware wrote:

2. "In which US state is this bet taking place?" Ending a sentence with a preposition? Shame on you Kitty.

Ugh. I know better than that. I meant to ask, "What state are you putting the bet in?"

Much clearer now! Thanks, Bware! Laughing

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:53 pm

Proper use of "than" instead of "then." Bonus points.
You are most welcome Kitty.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:04 am

And I thought I was picky about grammar here. I would use the term "grammar nazi," but that term has apparently been phased out in favor of slightly more neutral language. Regardless, "strang" is incorrect.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:48 am

Both "ring" and "string" are class-3 strong verbs (though "ringan" was weak in Old English, and I haven't found the OE or PGmc form of the verb "string"). However, class 3 split in late Middle English into two subclasses, one with the pattern i/a/u, and the other with i/u/u. The OE past tense was:
iċ sang
þu sunge
he/heo/hit sang
we/ġe/hie sungon.
("Hie" was replaced by "they" in ME.) In ME the past tense got mixed up, with the forms taking one vowel or the other depending on whims, dialects, or whatever. When the dust settled, the one remaining form had either "a" or "u" for each verb. So "sing" and "wring", originally conjugated identically, now differ in the past tense, and we have to remember not to conjugate our strung verbs the wrung way!

The other verb "ring" (meaning to encircle or to put a ring on) is and has always been weak.

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:41 am

Quote:

Ending a sentence with a preposition?

Back in high school, my friend asked the teacher, "What is this book for?
She went postal, and spent 5 minutes criticizing him in front of the rest of the class, then demanded that he repeat the question correctly.
To which he replied, "Okay. So what is this book for, bitch?"

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 3:12 pm

^^^^LOL!

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:00 pm

Quote:

"Okay. So what is this book for, bitch?"

Excellent use of grammar. Kudos!

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

I was always taught that the key to learning is to ask questions. I see this guy did. He asked a question, and his thirst for knowledge was sidetracked. He gathered his thoughts and continued to seek knowledge. That is the mark of a good student.

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:44 am

Scrutinizer wrote:

They are called irregular verbs, and there´s a bunch of them.

Them damn irregular verbs...

<a href="http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Tob.shtml">Tobermory</a> (try and resist going straight to the end)