Has anyone addressed this before? The past participle of "swim" is "swum." "Swam" is the simple past. You can say, "I swam three times last week" or "I have swum in that pool many times," but you can never say "I have swam ..." It's simply not correct English.
Sorry to be persnickety, but as a former book editor, it drives me crazy every time I see it, and I see it increasingly more often now that I spend so much time here.:nono:
"The murderer was hanged." Oh, sorry, I guess that one's OK (right?).
Yup. No one said English is logical. The others are all recognized American alternatives to standard British usage and so are perfectly acceptable to use, but it's interesting how they appear out of nowhere, gain currency, and eventually squeeze out their predecessors. Five years ago, American newspapers all reported a defendant "pled" guilty. Nowadays you never see it. Personally, I just can't wrap my tongue around "pleaded."
Has anyone addressed this before? The past participle of "swim" is "swum." "Swam" is the simple past. You can say, "I swam three times last week" or "I have swum in that pool many times," but you can never say "I have swam ..." It's simply not correct English.
Sorry to be persnickety, but as a former book editor, it drives me crazy every time I see it, and I see it increasingly more often now that I spend so much time here.:nono:
“This is the sort of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.”
On a side note...last Saturday at the PNA Champs...I was the first one into the pool (even ahead of That Guy) for warmups. :banana: This was also a first!!
I'm also sure That Guy will come up with a better grammar phrase than I did anyway...
...
Cheakamus,
Thank you for pointing this out!!! It has always bothered me when I see people on this forum say such things as "I have swam". I have wanted to say something for a long time but figured it would be too picky.
OK, so while we are at it, the ones who never capitalize the letter at the beginning of the sentence or with a small "I" in the middle of the sentence also bug me. I can't read those posts. I know, it's my problem.:cane:
I do feel better having said it though.:banana:
Also, there's a lot of use of smilies in these parts. I don't know of any style guide that suggests or condones their usage but that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone! :bolt:
My youngest child looked over my shoulder as I was typing a post for the forum using smilies and said"you post like a 13 year old girl.":badday::cane::worms:
Has anyone addressed this before? The past participle of "swim" is "swum." "Swam" is the simple past. You can say, "I swam three times last week" or "I have swum in that pool many times," but you can never say "I have swam ..." It's simply not correct English.
It's hopeless.
I have ranned to the grocery this morning.
Sad thing is, they prolly all used "have swum" correctly before they started the referenced activity.
Let's do swimming on yer stomach next!
Has anyone addressed this before? The past participle of "swim" is "swum." "Swam" is the simple past. You can say, "I swam three times last week" or "I have swum in that pool many times," but you can never say "I have swam ..." It's simply not correct English.
Sorry to be persnickety, but as a former book editor, it drives me crazy every time I see it, and I see it increasingly more often now that I spend so much time here.:nono:
If you start noticing when people use "breathe" and "breath" interchangeably on these forums as well, that could distract you from noticing the incorrect use of "swim" in the past tense.
Also, there's a lot of use of smilies in these parts. I don't know of any style guide that suggests or condones their usage but that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone! :bolt:
