| 词组 | begin |
| 释义 | begin Begin belongs to a class of irregular verbs that in Old English had different singular and plural forms in the past tense. In the case of begin, the singular past was began, the plural begun; the past participle was begun (these are modernized versions). At some point the distinction between the singular and plural forms began to break down, but it was observed at least sporadically into the 18th century. Thus when Addison wrote in the Spectator "the men begun" and Pope in his Essay on Criticism wrote "the Goths begun," they were making the correct distinction. But in the 1660s Samuel Pepys was writing in his diary: • But Sir. W. Pen most basely told me that the Comptroller is to do it, and so begun to employ Mr. Turner about it. And Pope elsewhere had written "the bard begun." Johnson in his 1755 Dictionary listed both began and begun for the past tense. But grammarians tended to be less tolerant. Both Priestley in 1761 and Lowth in 1762 preferred only began for the past—Lowth, in fact, listed the Pope and Addison snippets above in a footnote as errors. It is likely that neither Priestley nor Lowth understood the origin of the dual forms; certainly Richard Grant White 1870 did not when he reran Lowth's footnote and examples in somewhat expanded form. Webster 1909 and Webster's Second (1934) listed the past tense begun in the pearl section at the foot of the page with other rare words and forms; Webster's Second added the label archaic. Webster's Third (1961) put it back at the main entry for begin but labeled it dialectal. Begun as the past tense has survived chiefly in dialectal and vernacular use. It can be found with considerable frequency in the 19th-century American humorists and local colorists: • There was a place on my ankle that got to itching, but I dasn't scratch it; and then my ear begun to itch —Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, 1884 The Dictionary of American Regional English notes that the usual past tense is began; begun is still in use but is found chiefly among speakers who have little formal education. There is also a chiefly Southern and South Midland past begin. Lowth in 1762 noted some variation creeping into the past participle too; he lists a have began by Dryden and a had began by the Earl of Clarendon in his footnote full of errors. These forms too have survived into the 20th century. The DARE notes that while begun is usual, began is found among speakers with little formal education. Begin—still Southern and South Midland— apparently has less use as a past participle than as a past. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。