Google
English-Test.net
Find penpals and make new friends today!
 
to push; to iron; to remove creases or wrinkles; to confiscate for public or government use
manufacture
major
press
rank
full quiz correct answer
 
Username
Password
 Remember me? 
Search   Album   FAQ   Memberlist   Profile   Private messages   Register   Log in 

"dived" or "dove"?



 
ESL/EFL Worksheets and Handouts for Students Printable, photocopiable, clearly structured
Designed for teachers and individual learners
For use in a classroom, at home, on your PC
ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Sentence structures | uncovered/open
listening exercisestell a friend
Message
Author
"dived" or "dove"? #1 (permalink) Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:39 am   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if it's correct to use "dove" as the past tense of "dive"?

Is this one of those cases where English English and American English differentiate? if so, are both considered grammatically correct?

Thanks!
Babyface
New Member


Joined: 07 Nov 2007
Posts: 4

"dived" or "dove"? #2 (permalink) Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:06 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

That's right, Babyface, both 'dived' (BrE/AmE) and 'dove' (AmE) are correct.
Conchita
Language Coach


Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 2826
Location: Madrid, Spain

How do you use the English Prepositions correctly?English grammar exercises — improve your English knowledge and vocabulary skillsAre you a native speaker of English? Then you should read this!This newsletter tells you all about English! Subscribe to free email English course
"dived" or "dove"? #3 (permalink) Fri Nov 09, 2007 16:59 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

When I'm not thinking about it, I probably use both "dived" and "dove", but if you asked me which one I prefer, and I had to think about it, I'd probably say that "dived" sounds more like children's speech, or uneducated speech, to me and that "dove" is better. Someone else probably has a different judgment.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 6552
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

"dived" or "dove"? #4 (permalink) Fri Nov 09, 2007 17:16 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Thanks for the answers, I appreciate it!
Babyface
New Member


Joined: 07 Nov 2007
Posts: 4

"dived" or "dove"? #5 (permalink) Sat Nov 10, 2007 17:18 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Jamie (K) wrote:
When I'm not thinking about it, I probably use both "dived" and "dove", but if you asked me which one I prefer, and I had to think about it, I'd probably say that "dived" sounds more like children's speech, or uneducated speech, to me and that "dove" is better. Someone else probably has a different judgment.


This reminds me of Shirley Temple's movie, The Little Colonel.

Shirley said "Yes, my mother teached it to me!...*pausing*...that isn't right, is it?"

"No...taught is" said the grandfather.
NinaZara
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 1168
Location: Malaysia (Cat city)

"dived" or "dove"? #6 (permalink) Sat Nov 10, 2007 19:22 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

NinaZara wrote:
This reminds me of Shirley Temple's movie, The Little Colonel.

Shirley said "Yes, my mother teached it to me!...*pausing*...that isn't right, is it?"

"No...taught is" said the grandfather.

Well, the grandfather taught her very well, because Shirley Temple went on to become the ambassador to Ghana and later to Czechoslovakia.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 6552
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

"dived" or "dove"? #7 (permalink) Sat Dec 27, 2008 17:33 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Quote:

That's right, Babyface, both 'dived' (BrE/AmE) and 'dove' (AmE) are correct.



While Conchita is correct, this hasn't always been the case. Many verbs have been adjusted in relatively recent years due to their new-found commonality. That being said, traditionally speaking "dived" is correct, and "dove" isn't a word. However, as with many words today it seems that if people use them enough, we'll throw them in the dictionary regardless of correctness.

There's no real correct answer here, just a preference of usage, though in writing i would encourage using the traditionally correct form: "dived".
Geokrug
New Member


Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 1

"dived" or "dove"? #8 (permalink) Sat Dec 27, 2008 17:52 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

"Dived" for the simple past always sounds uncultured to me, for some reason.

Here's what the Merriam-Webster dictionary has to say about it:

Quote:
usage Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a past tense dove, probably by analogy with verbs like drive, drove. Dove exists in some British dialects and has become the standard past tense especially in speech in some parts of Canada. In the United States dived and dove are both widespread in speech as past tense and past participle, with dove less common than dived in the south Midland area, and dived less common than dove in the Northern and north Midland areas. In writing, the past tense dived is usual in British English and somewhat more common in American English. Dove seems relatively rare as a past participle in writing.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 6552
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

"dived" or "dove"? #9 (permalink) Thu Apr 23, 2009 21:44 pm   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Jamie (K) wrote:
"Dived" for the simple past always sounds uncultured to me, for some reason.



It's funny you say that, since you essentially have it backwards.
The use of "dived" is more cultured since it's the standard past tense as opposed to the more recently-used "dove."
Many people assume dove is more correct because it sounds correct and they hear others use it, but, at least in writing, dived is the preferred past participle.
Papin
New Member


Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 1

Dive/Dove #10 (permalink) Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:30 am   Dive/Dove
 

The common mythos is that Americans made up dove as a past tense but the truth is much easier. If you notice in OED, it states that some words like pled is mainly North American and Scottish ... there ya go!

Once again, the Scots have kept either an old verb (like umbeset - surround), an old verb form (like dove / doven), or just an old Anglo-Saxon word (like umbe - around) and brought it to the States while the English often swapped out the word for a Latinate.

That has happened with many words and a lot of usage. The US often, not always, keeps the older words, the older forms, and the older usage.

In Old English dive had two forms two, altho strongly akin: a strong, class II form dufan from which had a p.p. of dofen (OE didn't have the letter 'v' so here, f=v ... doven). From dufan we get dive, dove, doven and from the weak form dyfan we get dive, dived, dived. The strong form was intransitive, the weak was transitive (meaning to dip something), like: lie/lay, rise/raise, sit/set, fall/fell. In the UK the weak form survived, but with an intransitive meaning, but American and Scottish English keeps the strong form.

For me it's hard to say, "I had dove" without saying either "doved" or "doven" ... To say, "I had dove" requires, to me, an unnatural stop, it just begs for an ending. We know that doved is wrong so I use doven which, fits the wove, woven pattern. I just read a paper a few days ago on how folks find their way to usage with strong verbs and it talked about whether it should be doven or diven.

BTW, there is also the word bedoven from the ppl of bedive, meaning drenched or drowned. She was bedoven in blood.

So use dove and doven without angst!

If you want to have fun ... check out glide. It not only has a weak and a strong form, it has two strong forms! And they're all correct! It would be hard to go wrong with the past tense of glide! lol
AnWulf
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 03 Aug 2011
Posts: 11
Location: Planet Earth

"dived" or "dove"? #11 (permalink) Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:38 am   "dived" or "dove"?
 

Was it ever "diveth"?

Thanks
E2e4
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 01 Jan 2011
Posts: 1072

Diveth #12 (permalink) Sun Oct 16, 2011 14:33 pm   Diveth
 

E2e4 wrote:
Was it ever "diveth"?

Thanks


Diveth would be the archaic 3rd person singular. Using the old pronouns, it would be:

I dive
thou divest
he, she, it diveth
we dive
ye dive
they dive

"Sone he [the whale] diueğ dun to grunde." - from Bestiary
diueğ = diveth
AnWulf
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 03 Aug 2011
Posts: 11
Location: Planet Earth

Display posts from previous:   
Sentence structures | uncovered/open
ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Page 1 of 1
Latest topics on ESL EFL Forums
what iffor / both foralone/onlylittle/small quantityFuture Infinitives ( Be + To Infinitive )article - 'a'What is the verb pattern of this sentence? (2 )What is the verb pattern of this sentence?Punctuation.Sentence Correctionchina inc.You may have bought more than you bargained for...'Could' for specific past

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Subscribe to FREE email English course
First name E-mail