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My shirt has shrinked

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xwb

Programmer
Jul 11, 2002
6,828
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I've never figured out the answer to this one. It is a joke that my dad told us when we couldn't figure out our tenses.
My shirt has shrinked. My shirt has shrunk. My shirt shrank. I've grown fat.
I know the first one is wrong and the last one is a cop out but which of the other two is correct?
 
To add my own comments to r937's correct answer...

My shirt has shrunk and My shirt shrank are in two different tenses.

My shirt has shrunk is probably the past progressive tense, which implies that the action of shrinking took place in the past and may or may not be continuing to take place.

My shirt shrank is the simple past tense, which implies that the action of shrinking took place in the past and is no longer ocurring.



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Hi,

actually, my shirt has shrunk is also no longer occurring. If it is still occurring it would be 'my shirt is shrinking'.

I think the difference lies in the amount of time past the end of the action:

My shirt shrank: it has just finished shrinking
My shirt has shrunk: the shrinking stopped some time ago

I might be wrong though.

Cheers,

Roel
 
I don't think shrank implies 'just finished'. It could have shrank some time ago.

I want to be good, is that not enough?
 
'Shrank' and 'shrunk' are interchangeable as the past tense of the verb; however, if you need to use a progressive or perfect tense, then you should probably stick with 'shrunk'.

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The middle two are both correct. "My shirt shrank" gives no indication of how long ago it happened. "My shirt has shrunk" implies that you just discovered that it recently shrank.


mmerlinn

"Political correctness is the BADGE of a COWARD!"

 
Shelly's Rosh Hashanah shirt shrank so she harshly shredded it with sharp shrapnel shears!
 

For "Strunk & White" issues, use warm water.

Assuming the garment has some element of style.

Dondering

[gray]"White" is present tense for "whote."[/gray]

[blue]________________________________________________________
Some folks put their money where their mouth is. I just pay my bill. [/blue]
 
My shirt has been shrinking.

-------------------------
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright
 
Present perfect Rednecktive:

Mah shirt done shrunk.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue][/tt]
[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

Help us help you. Please read FAQ181-2886 before posting.
 
=> Rednecktive
You can spell it with a 'c', or with a 'k', but not both. And I'm not that sure about the 't'. :)

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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 

famousHiggins said:
Present perfect Rednecktive

I'm no dawg, but I think Higgins' post coulda used a big "P."

[bigsmile]


[blue]________________________________________________________
Some folks put their money where their mouth is. I just pay my bill. [/blue]
 
According to [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_tense]Wikipedia[/url], it shrank is simple past tense, it has shrunk is present perfect simple.

I'm not sure I wholly concur with their definition of when to use which tense though. I think I'd use the simple past only as part of a story - where the consequence is associated with what caused it: e.g. "It rained all afternoon and my shirt shrank".

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd
 
Hank the shrink surely shrank the shrunken 'shroom.

[blue]Never listen to your customers. They were dumb enough to buy your product, so they have no credibility. - Dogbert[/blue]
 
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