Have you ever avoided using a word because you weren’t quite sure if it was correct?
Yes, it’s dive – dove – dived.
Dive, Dove, ..?
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Boggleton Drive 
if i don’t know a word i usually just wing it with all the multiple options and question marks
dive? dove? doved? dived?
Haha, very relevant as just last night I considered avoiding using the past participle of “ride” and “drink” in a blog ‘coz it just looked weird but in the name of good grammar, I conceded…
I’m proud of you! Seems like NO ONE uses the correct past participle of drink (drunk). Made a comic about that, too: https://boggletondrive.com/2011/09/22/drinkdrankdrunk/
Haha thanks, that’s a good one too!!
Very good. Now does this hold true for scuba diving as well? Just asking, as I am a dive instructor and it would be rather embarrassing to get this one wrong 😉
I’d only use scuba diving as a noun. Use “go” as the verb.
i.e. “I went scuba diving yesterday,” not “I scuba dove yesterday.”
😀
Yeah, that’s one way. But if I’m sitting there after a dive, logging the details, I would like to say ‘We dove to 28 m’ instead of substituting with ‘went’. Still sounds weird 😉 In any case, ‘We went diving to 28 m’ is a no-no in this situation.
Oh, yes, in that case, “dove” is correct 🙂
I always correct my friends on this one, and they don’t believe me. I also don’t think they appreciate it very much haha. And just like with Sharon’s comment, none of them knows about “I have drunk…”
I know! Seems like all those past participles than contain a “u” (sung, swum, drunk, begun, rung, etc) are never used. The worst I hear on a semi-frequent basis is “I would have went…” Ugh.
Hahaha. It happens to me, even in Spanish. Languages can be complicated =P
Actually had me laughing!
I usually end up using workarounds…
“What a dive! Have you ever… um… Oh, do you like playing chess?”
Awesome blog!
Ha 🙂 Glad you’re enjoying my comics!
LMAO I’m an EFL writer so I’m all up in grammar rules every single working day of my life. But there are times when I get confused, too, because of too much info in my head. Love this strip!
Thanks! Glad you like it 🙂
I’m still confused with awake – awoke – awaken(?)/awoken(?)! /csb
Shudder. I know what you mean. There are actually THREE verbs that are all pretty similar (for all intents and purposes often identical) but conjugate differently.
Wake-woke-waken
awake-awoke-awoken
awaken-awakened-awakened
AND don’t forget “awake” is also an adjective.
English is messed up.
Thanks for clearing that up! So, it turns out, awaken is a completely separate verb. O.O Other online lessons never really cleared that up. They just dove right into it. No wonder it was confusing.
“dove right into it,” nice. 5/5
Yeah, it’s bizarre, really. I generally use “awaken” for things more grandiose than just waking up. “Steve has awakened! He passed out on my couch again” sounds a little too over the top to me.
This may be one of those rules I have to write on a blackboard 500 times until it sinks in! Congrats on all the followers – that’s got to be exciting!
It is! Just happy that so many people seem to be enjoying these 🙂
Yes I have. If I don’t know how to use a word, I’ll use another one.
Just discovered Boggleton Drive, and I love it! A Wordsmith myself, I really enjoy the way you illustrate common, yet often complicated grammatical concepts so simply. Your strip is as elegant as it is entertaining. Keep ’em coming!
Thank you very much for your kind words! Looking forward to a dig through of your wordsmith archives 🙂
lol. thank you.
When I was teaching writing at a university, I once had a student assert that “diven” was the correct choice. In his mind:
drive -> drove -> driven
dive -> dove -> diven
Awesome, right?
I admire his conviction. By his logic, then:
IF:
fly – flew – flown
THEN:
fry – frew – frown
Your illustration completely encapsulates the way my little brain works. And I have thusly (a word?) updated my database about the correct conjugation of “to dive.” Thank you! Your updates are much more seamless than Microsoft’s.
I like the word “thusly,” but I think it’s nonstandard. Glad I can help you with the updates!
Love these grammar lessons! Can you address the proper use of anxious and eager as well? That’s my pet peeve.
Thanks! I’ll be sure to do some shades of meaning posts soon 🙂 Ive never really noticed people mixing “anxious” and “eager,” though…
-MB
Yes! My vocabulary has improved so much as a result of my avoiding dive, dove, lay, lie, etc. Love your blog!
Ah, yes. Lie vs lay.. I’m sure you’ll see Boggleton Drive tackle that one soon. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Real LOL moment! and I don’t even like using LOL in my sentences! Ah, the laguange purist in us all.
🙂 Glad you like it. This is how I imagine my brain working, anyway
ahahha always a pleasure coming here to correct my grammar.. i thought about you while i was writing this article where i had to use “flair” ..
“flair of the dress”
i accidently wrote flare. and then i thought. eeek. a dress on fire. =p
Ohhh, that one has a lot of potential! Noted 🙂
Wondering how to deal with these ‘irregular’ ones and make them ‘regular’!! If I fail I’ll remove them from the rolls. I resort to ‘when in doubt cut it out’ technology at times.
Very interesting. Liked the way you pictured the brain’s search for the right word.
Thanks! I think at one point or another we’ve all struggled with irregular verbs
Hi Boggleton
It is very heartening to see the way you have combined your love for the language with this art form
I had planned to do something similar with my blog but I have stuck to just writing so far
500 followers is great motivation, see you next time
Thanks!
I’ll be sure to check out your blog. And yes, seeing that many followers does motivate me to do these often. Glad you enjoy them!
Your teaching method has a way of sinking in! Love your blog. I thought I would pass it along and let you know just how great I think it is. These awards are for you:
http://changedbychange.com/2011/11/29/from-the-jury-of-my-peers-my-first-blogging-awards/
Thank you very much! I’m honored. Glad you’re enjoying my blog 🙂
I do get this, sadly. I am shamefully not as grammatically perfect as I would like to be :<
Fuck, I wish my brain was like that. I linked you on reddit, check it out: http://www.reddit.com/r/humor
I actually did just notice that. Much obliged!
Very very funny blog. Really enjoying popping by for a regular giggle.
Thank you for the kind words. Glad you’re enjoying the blog 🙂
This is wrong. Dove is also a correct form. Dived is the older, traditional form more common with the older generation, but dove has come into use and is accepted.
Interesting that you made an account just to post this.
In North America, common (and accepted) usage is dive-dove-dived. People often get this verb conjugation mixed up (doven? diven? etc). I do not know whether you are referring to the simple past or the past participle when you say “dove is also a correct form”. If you are referring to the simple past, then yes, I agree with you, and it is stated in my post (dive-dove-dived). If you are referring to the past participle, i.e. that “dove’ is a correct form of the p.p., then you are only correct on a purely descriptive level.
Regardless, I’m still not sure how I was wrong originally.
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