The Intrusive ‘d’

REMEMBER:

GREEN for RIGHT
RED for WRONG

Just as the English have their intrusive ‘r’ in words that end in the letters ‘a’ and ‘w’, so the Irish have finally managed to even the score with the unnecessary inclusion of the letter ‘d ‘ between the ‘n’ and the ‘e’ in the past tense and past participle of some verbs that end with the suffix ‘ned ‘. The seed or root verb of these particular verbs ends with the letters ‘own’.

Examples:

VERB: (to) own ———- Past Tense: owned

She ownded two cars at one stage.
She owned two cars at one stage.

My uncle ownded four shops in the shopping centre.
My uncle owned four shops in the shopping centre.

VERB: (to) drown ———- Past Tense: drowned

The fans drownded their sorrows after their team lost the cup final.
The fans drowned their sorrows after their team lost the cup final.

Hundreds of people drownded when the Titanic sank.
Hundreds of people drowned when the Titanic sank.

Be aware, however, that the ‘word’ drownded is accepted as a ‘word’ in the word game, ‘Scrabble’.

VERB: (to) frown ———- Past Tense: frowned

I frownded when I saw the mess.
I frowned when I saw the mess.

The baby frownded when she didn’t recognise who was holding her.
The baby frowned when she didn’t recognise who was holding her.

VERB: (to) crown ———- Past Tense: crowned

Kilkenny were crownded All – Ireland Senior Hurling Champions again last year.
Kilkenny were crowned All – Ireland Senior Hurling Champions again last year.

Arthur was crownded king when he pulled the sword from the stone.
Arthur was crowned king when he pulled the sword from the stone.

Take note that the following words are all spelt correctly:

end(ed), ground(ed), apprehend(ed), surround(ed), recommend(ed) and reprehend(ed).