Past tense: Is it “Dived” or “Dove”

[The Chairman]

Having an English mother certainly has complicated my life. Imagine the confused looks when I would suggest that I was a might peckish. There are also spelling differences thanks to Webster and his desire to get back to Olde English spelling, even a different vocabulary like lift instead of elevator or bonnet instead of hood. I was always amazed at how my cousins said "aluminium" until I saw that they even spelled it that way. Indeed, England and America are two countries separated by a common language.

I prefer dove or splashed. Dived just sounds wrong to me.

It should be noted that the pronunciation of dove, the bird, is duhv, while the past tense of dive, ie dove, is pronounced with a long "o".

 

[D_Fresh]

"He dove in(into) the pool" vs "He dived in the pool".

The first implies that the person Dove into the pool head first, like off of a diving board or competition Dive Team.

The second implies that the person made a dive in the pool (as in scuba).


Sort of similar to Felling or Felled a tree. (which are both correct, in their respective tenses, for cutting down a tree.)

 

[The Chairman]

Is it me, or is this thread kinda tense???

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Is it me, or is this thread kinda tense???

Winned

 

[Pearlman]

I've noticed that I tend to vary it myself without thinking, depending on whether I'm referring to one or more than one person. E.g. "I dived there yesterday" versus "we dove there yesterday"

For Australians, it is never dove, it is dived. Similarly, we do not say (for example), "the wetsuit fit me". We would say "the wetsuit fitted me"

In practice I always use a "past continuous tense" if there is one ... for ex: "I went diving yesterday, I was in Bali and just landed back home"
I find that a more natural expression of activity sports .. " Gone Fishing" " Went Riding..." or "went on a riding adventure" ...

And so I never use "how was it when you dove...?" rather "How was the diving experience ...?"
Not sure if that will pass a grammar exam though!

Cheers
P

 

[D_Fresh]

In practice I always use a "past continuous tense" if there is one ... for ex: "I went diving yesterday, I was in Bali and just landed back home"
I find that a more natural expression of activity sports .. " Gone Fishing" " went riding..."
Not sure if that will pass a grammar exam though!

Cheers
P

Agreed.

"I went diving this past weekend."

"We dived on Hole in the Wall, Coral Cove, and Lighthouse."

"I hope to dive again in two weeks."

 

[-JD-]

Reminds me of the change in media reporting a while back from "pled" to "pleaded". Probably at the commandment of the AP style board. A lifetime of "pled" and then WTH?

With all of the other irregularities in the English language, do we really need to suffer through inartful sounding conjugations?

Dove.

Cranky, middle-aged guy - out ...

 

[Pearlman]

Reminds me of the change in media reporting a while back from "pled" to "pleaded". Probably at the commandment of the AP style board. A lifetime of "pled" and then WTH?

With all of the other irregularities in the English language, do we really need to suffer through inartful sounding conjugations?

Dove.

Cranky, middle-aged guy - out ...

You mean ... Cranked middle aged guy ...

 

[Jcp2]

So where is the best place you have diven?

 

[АлександрД]

As non-English speaker....
"I had dive yesterday!"