Past/passed

I have trouble with lose and loose. Can't figure out why they are sounded differently from choose and chose. I chose the book, I will not choose just now. Yet jt is, you will lose the book and I cut the boat loose!.

I always remember an example of the difficulties of English spelling from my teacher training course. A child was actually supposed (probably apocryphally) to have written down “ghoti” to mean “fish”. Can you work it out? I’ll start you off take the word “enough”. Write down the sound of the last two letters and you have the start of your “fish”.

No, no problem.
Passed is an action
Past is a time.

Warmthlover
No fish that I've ever heard of starts with 'oti' as that is the only way I would pronounce it, Oh-tee.
The only Oti I've ever heard of is Oti Mabuse from Strictly.
A fishy story.

Fennel
I always remember tbat a verb is a 'doing' word.
Passed is an action.

Then there’s the different pronunciation of words spelt almost the same way...ie tough, cough, dough, bough and if a t was added to that last one the pronunciation would change yet again. Although the way our language seems to be changing, you probably wouldn’t actually hear the t !

gh as in enough
o as in women
ti as in nation

"Ought to" and "ought of"? One of life's great mysteries to me!

Fraught is a post positive

Residents/residence - I had a little disagreement with dh over this, after he took over as treasurer of our Residents' Association.
Previous treasurer had always spelt it (spelled? I have a feeling both are OK) Residence on the handouts - dh saw no reason to change it, since he thought hardly anyone would notice or care.

I wasn't having that - I didn't want even one person thinking he didn't know the difference!

Hmm spelt or spelled I’m my message?

IN my message i mean

Sorry Witzend....didn’t see your message before checking mine?

what annoys me is "snuck" - it's " sneaked out" not snuck

what annoys me is "snuck" it's"sneaked out" not snuck out

Actually, the American word is 'spelled'.
In the UK, we understand 'spelt' to be a foodstuff, a grain but spelled and spelt are both acceptable when describing the action of putting down a series of letters to make a word.

Margs
Ought to
Ought to have
Ought of

My friend a hairdresser (couldn't spell) we were sitting writing letters when she asked how to spell past, a week later she received her reply from a boyfriend who said he was glad she had passed her driving test she blamed me for making her look thick !!

Is it meant to be 'I walked past the post' and' I passed it (the book) on' - it's getting me confused too.

Yes, MsCardigan, that's absolutely right. Maybe you are just thinking too hard!

A lot of verbs have both the formed that ends on "ed" and one that ends on "t" like your example. Often it makes not difference at all which you use in the perfect or pluperfect.

If you are not a grammar geek that means when you say or write I have passed it or I had passed it. Most of us say whatever feels most natural. I usually say I learnt something, but sometimes I hear myself saying I learned that.

I tend( I think) to say I have passed and to use past as the noun , as in: "In the past the t-form of the verb was considered incorrect, now we use both forms."

I believe that statement is true and have certainly always told my pupils to use the form they were most comfortable with. Pointing out at the same time that it is not good English to say or write "I past him in the street", you have to say and write "I passed him in the street"

Actually, Warmthlover, I have always heard that anecdote attributed to George Bernard Shaw, who I believe felt that the spelling of the English language should be simplified.

A lot of languages are nearly as inconsistent with spelling as English, and no reforms seem to solve the problems.

Maw Broon
My husband always uses earnt..... but then, he is very old, although I would not say past it!

I always thought spelt was a grain too and I spelled the word correctly.

Passed is the past participle of pass. Past is a noun.