Verb Endings in -ed and -t

Verb Endings in -ed and -t Verb Endings in -ed and -t Verb Endings in -ed and -t By Maeve Maddox While irregular verbs are often a focus of grammatical errors, regular verbs are a frequent source of spelling errors. Most regular verbs form their past tense by adding -ed to the base: accept/accepted. A few verbs form the past tense with a -t ending: build/built. Some spelling errors result from the fact that the -ed ending may be pronounced in one of three ways: /ed/ complimented /d/ loved /t/ equipped A common spelling error occurs with words that end with the sound /t/, but are spelled with –ed. For example, wrecked, might be misspelled as â€Å"wreckt.† Some of verbs that end with the sound /t/ do spell the sound with -t. bend/bent feel/felt keep/kept leave/left lend/lent lose/lost mean/meant send/sent sleep/slept spend/spent weep/wept Some verbs that end with the /t/ sound may be spelled with either -ed or -t. The -t ending for these verbs is more common in British spelling. burned, burnt dreamed, dreamt kneeled, knelt leaped, leapt leaned, leant learned, learnt smelled, smelt spelled, spelt spilled, spilt spoiled, spoilt Most American speakers would probably consider leapt, leant, learnt, smelt, and spelt out-and-out misspellings. Burnt, dreamt, knelt, spilt, and spoilt, however, do occur in U.S. speech and writing. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†Disappointed + PrepositionUsing Writing Bursts to Generate Ideas and Enthusiasm

Mobs and Mobiles

Mobs and Mobiles Mobs and Mobiles Mobs and Mobiles By Mark Nichol It is etymologically appropriate that the term mob should be associated with a roiling crowd, because the word is a clipped form of mobile. That word, in Latin, means â€Å"movable,† but it also had the sense of â€Å"fickle,† which was what is meant by the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, which refers to the perception of the ruling class in ancient Rome that public opinion was capricious. (Plus à §a change . . .) (Vulgus, meanwhile, means â€Å"the common people,† and the perceived base behavior of the rabble- again, judged from above- prompted the adjective vulgar. The Latin term also begat another adjective, the first word in the phrase â€Å"Vulgate Bible,† referring to a translation of the Bible accessible to the populace). The slang shortening of mobile to mob occurred sometime in the late 1600s, and we still use it to refer to a large, unruly group of people. (Mobcap, the word for a large woman’s cap worn indoors, is unrelated; it comes from the obsolete name Mab.) To mob someone originally meant to attack him or her in a group; it now applies to any mass of people accosting someone, as when a celebrity is spotted in a public place and besieged for autographs or to be photographed. Mob is also associated with organized crime during the Roaring Twenties (at about the same time that the phrase â€Å"mob scene† was coined to refer to a crowded place), but it had first been applied to a gang of criminals nearly a hundred years earlier than that. Mobster was first attested in 1916, about twenty years after gangster officially entered the lexicon. The adjective mobile means â€Å"able to move or be moved.† (The name of the city of Mobile in Alabama is unrelated; it derives from a Native American word.) In the 1930s, the word was first used to modify the noun sculpture to refer to a piece of art, usually suspended, in which motion is integral to the effect of the art on the observer; in the late part of the following decade, the adjective stood on its own to become a noun referring to such art. Automobile was first, in the mid-nineteenth century, an adjective (a mash-up of Greek and French-based-on-Latin meaning â€Å"self-moving†); the French phrase và ©hicule automobile was truncated in the late 1800s to automobile, which briefly had in French the synonym locomobile (loco means â€Å"from a place,† hence locomotive, â€Å"moving from a place†). During the transitional period when use of horse-drawn vehicles and early automobiles coincided, the term hippomobile (the first element is from the Greek word for horse, known mainly from hippopotamus, or â€Å"water horse†) distinguished the former from the latter. Snowmobiles, developed in the early 1900s, were so named starting in 1931. Mobile homes, derived from travel trailers and originally designed early in the twentieth century to accommodate people who needed to move often, later developed into prefabricated homes that could be hauled to a permanent or semipermanent location, resulting in the name being oxymoronic. Mobility is the quality of being mobile, while to mobilize is to make capable of movement; the military sense, which refers to a country’s large-scale preparation for war, actually precedes the general definition. (It was first used in the mid-eighteenth century.) The noun form of mobilize is mobilization. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good WithAmong vs. AmongstI wish I were...

Environmental Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Environmental Analysis - Essay Example The Company has been appearing as the sales leader among global automakers in China over the last four years. In 2008, the estimated market shares of the GM in China were 12.1percent of the total GM Sales (GMChina). In this report, the environment analysis of GM China has been done. Through PESTLE analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, SWOT Analysis and other theoretical models, the current situation of GM in China has been analysed. External Analysis PESTLE Analysis Political Two factors are contributing to the growth and development of automobile industry of China: first, the suitable domestic policies and market openings: second, supply of vehicles and parts throughout the country in the logistic and commercial aspects (Kamiya & Ramirez, 2004). Chinese government authorities including local and central government do not only issue the automobile industry development plans but they are also involved in the operations of the companies to maintain such developments (Bungsche , 2007). Government of China has eliminated most of the fixed fees imposed on vehicles such as road maintenance fees of around $210 per year (Brogan, 2009). In 2010, Chinese government has introduced policies that could support new-energy auto industry. In the new policy, government is paying a subsidiary of up to 50,000 Yuan to any individual who buys a hybrid vehicle and 60,000 Yuan to any individual who buys battery electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle (Xinhua, 2010). The Chinese government is planning to pursue a new policy which could encourage industry consolidation thereby, promoting the development of Chinese-brand passenger cars and it has been estimated that by 2015 domestic sedans will be 40% of nation’s car market (Chinacartimes, 2010). This example shows that Chinese government aims to promote domestic car industry. Chinese government has imposed 10% sales tax on small cars which is effective from Januray 1, 2011. Analysts argue that small cars comprise of 60 percent of all passengers cars in China therefore, this policy of government will stop the growth of small cars thereby, increasing the demand of foreign companies especially the U.S. companies which have comparative advantage in manufacturing large cars (Hsu, 2010). The government inclination towards local companies is also evident from subsidies in China. According to an auto analyst, Zhang Zhiyong, the subsidies in China only promote local protection and they do not consider the model lines and technological improvements brought by foreign companies. Zhang Zhiyong argues that Chinese government should use subsidies to promote domestic automobiles which do not always mean foreign or local companies, rather it includes the companies which have significant ties with the city (Chinaenvironmentallaw, 2010). Economic Gross domestic product (GDP) has increased from 7.6 percent year-of-year in 1999 to 11.9 percent on 2007 (World Bank, 2008). In 2010, the GDP has grown by 10 percent (Chi natoday, 2011). Consumer price index (CPI) has increased from 98.6 percent year-of-year in 1999 to 104.8 percent in 2007 (World Bank