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Are ?Gone,? ?Taken,? and ?Written? on the Way Out?

By Maeve

About a year ago, I wrote an article about the misuse of five irregular verbs:Go, Come, Write, Give, and Eat.

After the fact, I wondered if perhaps I had singled out grammatical errors too obvious to trouble my readers with.

The other day I heard a television news announcer say “have went” while delivering a news story.

Then I read a blog that contained the phrase “have took.”

I began to feel uneasy. Perhaps these errors with the past participle of irregular verbs are not so obvious after all. Could it be that the English landscape is on the verge of another major shift and that the pebbles have begun to roll?

Here are some web gleanings. I’ll begin each section with the correct forms of the misused verb.

take / took / have taken

Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave - song title
Do you think my dad shouldnt have took my dog to the spca??? - Yahoo question
I should have took before and after pics - blog statement
i missed 2 periods and i have took 2 tests and both were negative - health site
bret farve should have took the money that the packers offered - sports site

go /went/ have gone

I Should Have Went Samurai On Them, Or At Least Ninja - blog headline
Lisa Rinna might have went too far - celebrity blog
Still wished we would have went with Dorsey? - sports blog
WE HAVE WENT OUT OF BUSINESS - commercial site (and a good thing, I’d say!)

eat /ate /have eaten

Words I might have ate - song title
What I have ate for breakfast and lost 22lbs in 9 weeks! - health site
Infant may have ate hamster food? - news site

write /wrote /have written

Please, could someone help me? I have wrote to EVERY address I could find - person looking for dog
possibly the quickest thing I have wrote ever. - comment on forum devoted to song writing (I begin to understand where these illiterate song titles are coming from.)
Great Actors Who Have Wrote, Directed, and Starred in Their Film - headline on a magazine-style arts and entertainment site
Bible passages Moses could not have wrote - headline on a religious site
Homer’s “Odyssey” May have wrote about an Ancient Eclipse - headline on site about eclipses

come/ came /have come

RANDY ORTON: Injury Couldn’t Have Came at a Better, Worse Time - sports site
I have came to appreciate life more because of these wonderful birds - gardening site
Recently i have came down with a cold - health site

give / gave / have given

What item of clothing/footwear says you have gave up on life and let old age take over? - question on answerbag
Bush just may have gave the Democrats a gift - political site
sky have gave back channels to virgin media - site about digital communications
I have gave this long and hard consideration but im now 23 years old… - person inquiring about becoming a doctor
I might as well have gave away my love - song lyrics

I here bow my head in remembrance of all my departed English teachers. They must be spinning.

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Copyright by Daily Writing Tips.

Are “Gone,” “Taken,” and “Written” on the Way Out?

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on December 04, 2008 (boomark / email).