Thursday, November 28, 2019

35 Troublesome Irregular Verbs

35 Troublesome Irregular Verbs 35 Troublesome Irregular Verbs 35 Troublesome Irregular Verbs By Mark Nichol In English, many verbs adapt simply to the past tense with the attachment of either -d or -ed, as in walk/walked or brake/braked. These are called regular verbs. Many other verbs, however, undergo more significant alterations to transform from references to present-tense actions to those representing actions performed in the past. Such words are called irregular verbs. The simple past, the tense form that describes what has previously occurred, is fairly straightforward once one assimilates the forms for each irregular verb. But complications set in when the past participle a verb assisted by an auxiliary verb, or a past-tense form of the verb to be is employed. Some past-participle forms are easily distinguished from their simple-past counterparts, as in the case of ate/eaten, for example, or saw/seen (â€Å"I ate already†/â€Å"I had eaten already†; â€Å"We saw the movie†/â€Å"We had seen the movie†). Others, however, often literally give writers pause. Many of them are presented below in sample sentences with simple-past usage for comparison: 1. â€Å"A problem arose.† â€Å"A problem had arisen.† 2. â€Å"They beat the odds.† â€Å"They had beaten the odds.† 3. â€Å"She bore it well.† â€Å"She had borne it well.† 4. â€Å"He broke the record.† â€Å"He had broken the record.† 5. â€Å"My friend drank three beers already.† â€Å"My friend had drunk three beers already.† 6. â€Å"You forsook us.† â€Å"You had forsaken us.† 7. â€Å"The boy hid the ball.† â€Å"The boy had hidden the ball.† 8. â€Å"I lay on the floor for a moment.† â€Å"I had lain on the floor for a moment.† 9. â€Å"We rode far.† â€Å"We had ridden far.† 10. â€Å"The phone rang.† â€Å"The phone had rung.† 11. â€Å"She rose to the occasion.† â€Å"She had risen to the occasion.† 12. â€Å"She sang.† â€Å"She had sung.† 13. â€Å"He shook it loose.† â€Å"He had shaken it loose.† 14. â€Å"The shirt shrank when I dried it.† â€Å"The shirt had shrunk when I dried it.† 15. â€Å"We strode along merrily the entire way.† â€Å"We had stridden along merrily the entire way.† 16. â€Å"The team strove to come back from behind.† â€Å"The team had striven to come back from behind.† 17. â€Å"I swore that I had not taken it.† â€Å"I had sworn that I had not taken it.† 18. â€Å"They swam to the other end and back.† â€Å"They had swum to the other end and back.† 19. â€Å"He took her back home.† â€Å"He had taken her back home.† 20. â€Å"My sister tore the paper up.† â€Å"My sister had torn the paper up.† Hanged and Hung The past-participle form of hang is a special case. When referring to an object, hung is employed for both simple past and past participle: 21. â€Å"They hung the stockings with great care.† â€Å"They had hung the stockings with great care.† In reference to execution by hanging, however, hanged is often (but not always) used in both forms: â€Å"The horse thief was summarily hanged.† â€Å"The horse thief had been summarily hanged.† Hung in the latter sense is more likely to appear in a more casual context, as in a jocular usage or when referring to hanging in effigy: â€Å"I’ll be hung by my feet over an open fire if I don’t finish this in time.† Choices Many other verbs offer writers alternative forms for past tense, past-participle tense, or both: 22. â€Å"I awaked (or awoke or awakened) to a deafening hum.† â€Å"I had awoken (or awaked or awakened) to a deafening hum.† 23. â€Å"She forgot to call back.† â€Å"She had forgotten (or forgot) to call back.† 24. â€Å"The swimmer quickly dove (or dived) into the pool.† â€Å"The swimmer had quickly dived into the pool.† 25. â€Å"I got nothing in return.† â€Å"I had gotten (or got) nothing in return.† 26. â€Å"She lighted (or lit) another cigarette.† â€Å"She had lit (or lighted) another cigarette.† 27. â€Å"He proved that I was right.† â€Å"He had proven (or proved) me right.† 28. â€Å"The boat sank.† â€Å"The boat had sunk (or sank).† 29. â€Å"She showed him the door.† â€Å"She had shown (or showed) him the door.† 30. â€Å"The medallion shined (or shone) in the sunlight.† â€Å"The medallion had shone (or shined) in the sunlight.† 31. â€Å"I sneaked (or snuck) out last night.† â€Å"I had snuck (or sneaked) out last night.† 32. â€Å"The tiger sprang (or sprung) noiselessly.† â€Å"The tiger had sprung noiselessly.† 33. â€Å"The car’s interior stank (or stunk) of stale fast food.† â€Å"The car’s interior had stunk of stale fast food.† 34. â€Å"My dog waked (or woke) me up.† â€Å"My dog had woken (or waked) me up.† 35. â€Å"My aunt weaved (or wove) the scarf.† â€Å"My aunt had woven (or weaved) the scarf.† 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 General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Direct and Indirect ObjectsWhat's a Male Mistress?Sit vs. Set

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Why Diversity in the Comic Book World Matters To Me

Why Diversity in the Comic Book World Matters To Me Why Diversity in the Comic Book World Matters To Me Latravious Calloway is a self-taught artist and writer with a passion for graphic novels and anime. In this article, he talks about how a driving force behind his graphic novel, Evian Rising, was to feature underrepresented heroes of the comic book world: women of color.  Representation of successful women of color in mainstream literature; leading female characters in science fiction; cultural minority protagonists in graphic novels. These are all market gaps that are part of a larger diversity issue in mainstream media. I noticed these gaps, and I couldn’t help but think: what effect does an ongoing lack of representation have on readers? What effect does an ongoing lack of representation have on readers? Join the discussion. I am a strong believer that if you feel there are overlooked people and narratives in literature, you should create those stories yourself! In comics in particular, women of color are more likely to play the role of teammates or sidekicks, rather than a leader - and it’s rare for them to feature in their own comic series. This is why I recently published Evian Rising: a graphic novel with a strong, female protagonist of color on a quest to avenge her adopted father’s people.Developing EvianFemale characters of color are often painted with a standard set of clichà ©s - such as having abrasive attitudes for no reason. So for me, it was important that my main character, Evian, deviate from this default mode and be a dynamic, complex character in her own right. I wanted her power to come from her voice, and I wanted that power to fuel her role in bringing stability to the chaotic universe depicted in my novel. The other female characters also have attributes often reserv ed for male characters in action stories: leadership, intelligence, influence, rank, etc. If you feel there are overlooked people literature, you should write their stories yourself! Diversity in literature is important to me as a parentGrowing up, I noticed missing perspectives in my father’s childhood comics. Apart from Black Panther, Storm, and Luke Cage, none of the comics featured a person of color as the leader or central character - in other words, a hero that looked like me.Now, as a parent, it’s important that my daughters have access to strong characters of color to look up to as role models. I know how a lack of diversity can hinder the ambitions and aspirations of the underrepresented while they are still young and impressionable. I don’t want my daughters to grow up under the heavy burden of low self-esteem: I want them to see that excellence can look like them, too!Even something as seemingly small as a similar hairstyle can reaffirm the way people see themselves - and encourage them to value their uniqueness. Creating Evian was my own way of passing on these lessons to my daughters. After all, who are they more likely to list en to - a comic book hero, or their dad? I think we all know the answer to that. "Books can shape a reader’s perspective while their guard is down."  @EvianRising A novel can be a very powerful medium: it gives you the opportunity to shape a reader’s perspective while their guard is down. People are more receptive to nontraditional messages when you package it as â€Å"science fiction† or â€Å"fantasy,† giving authors the chance to bypass cultural filters and prejudices. For me, it was a no-brainer to use graphic novels as a way to achieve a larger representation of diverse heroes.In addition, I believed it would be especially powerful to have a female protagonist of color in a graphic novel due to its visual nature. It can be hard to conceptualize something you haven’t seen or experienced. When you are looking at the plethora of graphic novels dominated by a cultural majority, it subconsciously programs who you view as a â€Å"true hero.†Because this was such an important project to me, I knew I needed to make sure the vehicle for Evian and all that she represents was given the greatest amount of care possi ble. And that’s why I decided to hire a professional proofreader for my graphic novel.Working with an editorIt didn’t take long working with Chersti Nieveen to see that she is an authority on polishing manuscripts. After I sent her my manuscript, I realized I didn’t know the English language the way I thought I did. Ha! Seeing all her notes and markup reaffirmed to me the absolute importance of quality editing. Chersti’s feedback made abundantly clear the parts of my writing that required further work, and every question I had for her was answered in no more than one business day. We're talking about diversity in the comic book world and why it matters. Join the convo here! Furthermore, Chersti had an extremely competitive quote and provided a detailed contract that clearly defined the scope of the project. I was able to put my mind to rest while working with Chersti, and to feel secure that the themes of my graphic novel would shine through without errors or typos blocking the way. Chersti overwhelmingly exceeded my expectations and I will be using her again for my second book. It was truly a pleasure.Create content that reflects your own diversityThere are indie authors of color out there closing some of the content diversity gaps. So if you’re having trouble seeing your own identity reflected in literature, I would encourage you to support these creators.Or why not take a shot at creating that content yourself? There’s no one better to paint the world through your eyes than yourself. Connecting with people who are searching for new and relatable content is so fulfilling, and to be able to offer them something you made with your own hand s is out of this world. But it’s not easy to create something new: you have to be willing to stand up for what you write and have the passion to keep going from beginning to end. "There’s no one better to paint the world through your eyes than yourself."  @EvianRising Whether you’re writing a graphic novel about a female warrior goddess with melanin, based on the love of your life - or about another kind of character you feel is missing from what you see on bookshelves - create the content that YOU want, and that represents you.Evian Rising is available on Amazon Kindle.Please share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Latravious Calloway in the comments below!

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits Essay

The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits - Essay Example Corporate social responsibility, a term used to describe a the way in which a corporation operates in regard to the community and environment in which it resides and the ethical and moral standards in which it conducts business; is quickly becoming an increasingly important issue as consumers are holding corporations progressively more accountable for their methods of business practices and operations. With today's current global economy, corporations can no longer operate on the level of autonomy that was once common. This is evidenced in the increasing decentralization of the traditional corporate hierarchy that is becoming more common in corporations across the nation. Costlo has been a leader in the empowerment of its' employees. The team environment has attributed to company's' many success including the current high level of employee efficiency and morale. Regardless of these positive aspects of Costlos' corporate environment, the net losses posted for the last two quarters denotes a need for fiscal policy and business model change while attempting to maintain its' current level of stakeholder confidence. As the fifth largest retailer in Over the years, the topic of corporate social responsibility has been gaining ground both in popularity and importance. The traditional Friedman or shareholder view of a corporations' only role in social responsibility is to "use its resources to engage in activities designed to increase its' profits" (Friedman 1970) in itself may be narrow though it is nonetheless true. While earning and increasing profits will always be the basis of success for any business Friedman's belief that ""business" as a whole cannot be said to have responsibility" (Friedman 1970) is becoming increasingly outdated. More importantly, the public perception of corporations is becoming ever more important. Cutting costs by decreasing employee benefits and enacting salary freezes may temporarily increase the company's net profits, it would do irreparable damage to employee morale as well as public perception of the company, possibly alienating our current consumer base. In the long term, this will negatively a ffect profits considerably. Costlo's achievement of becoming the fifth largest retailer in the United States was done so with virtually no marketing. Highlighting the corporations' continued dedication to its' employees and to the communities in which its' stores operate through advertising, is an ideal way to promote a positive public perception. This will serve as a way to build brand name recognition as well as lure back former customers that may have strayed to competitors. Given the current decline in profits, the initial start-up costs for this marketing strategy may further drive profits down in the short-term. These objections by investors, while justified, are short sighted and it should be noted that not looking toward the long-term as a measure of success as well, is just as short sighted. The fact that corporations can be profitable while maintaining Corporate Social Responsibility 3 corporate social responsibi