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overflowing and overflowed



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
'solving problem' vs 'the solving of the problem' | newspaper vs magazines
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:48 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

Hi,

Can I replace 'overflowing' with 'overflowed' in the following sentence?
If yes, does the meaning change?

They were overflowing with emotion at the birth of their baby.

Thanks.
awake2reality
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Joined: 17 May 2007
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:37 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

.
No. The overflow is happening at the time of the birth.

They were overflowing with emotion at the birth of their baby.
but
They overflowed with emotion at the birth of their baby..
.
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:59 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

Hi, Mister Micawber

I quoted this sentence from my dictionary

I was overflowed with joy

My understanding is : if I say I was overflowed with joy it means that I had just reached a fever pitch of exitement, but if I say I was overflowing with joy it means that my feelings were still climbing "up the ladder".

Can you confirm it (or disprove it)?
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:23 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

.
I think it is quite odd, and that in any case the meanings cannot be differentiated so neatly. Which is your dictionary?
.
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:30 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

My dictionary is notorious Lingvo 11.0 which has been blamed upon by you on this forum for being russian-oriented Smile
They probably just made a slip and it should read I was overflowing with joy (shouldn't it ?)

PS: I was wondering if I could use blame together with upon like I just did in this post. Could you give me a lead, please ?
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:02 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

.
Well. that's a relief-- I was afraid you were going to tell me that you use Merriam-Webster's! At least, I am consistent in my criticism.

Yes, I think I was overflowing with joy is the common form. Let's check with Ms Google:

12,700 English pages for "I was overflowing with joy".
3 English pages for "I was overflowed with joy"
1 English pages for "I overflowed with joy"

Oops! She doesn't like the simple past-- but probably the following is a more common collocation:

515 English pages for "My heart overflowed with joy".

As for 'blame'-- no 'upon', in fact, no preposition in the active: She blames me .

My dictionary...has been blamed by you.
The Israelis have been blamed by the Palestinians for splitting the West Bank and the Gaza Stri
p.
.
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:10 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

Hi, Mister Micawber
Thank you for your comment, it was exhaustive Smile
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Alex

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lost_soul
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overflowing and overflowed Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:30 am  overflowing and overflowed
 

Thank you both.
awake2reality
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Joined: 17 May 2007
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