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Cpklas Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

swam or swum?

0 I dont know when to use swam and swum. Can someone please explain?02br
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00Its in this scentence:02br
00I touched the snake on its back and then I swum up to see the manta ray but all I got to see was when it turned around and swam away.02br
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00Cheers 0-
  

Top answer

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17 Answers
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0 The part "~the I swum up to see~" seems wrong to me.02br
00It's either "I swam up" or "I had swum up" but in this case, "swam up" looks better for the sake of parallelism.02br
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00Also, the part "all I got to see was WHEN it TURNED around and SWAM away." looks awkward.02br
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00I would say "all I got to see was it(him/her) turning around
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0Verb = swim02br
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00Swam = past simple tense. Refers to actions/events in past time. "She 01u00swam02u00 a kilometre yesterday." No connection with present time.02br
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00Swum = past participle. Used to form the pefect tense with auxiliary verb "have" - have/has/had + past participle = perfect tense.02br
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0 01i00and then I swum up to see the manta ray02i02br
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00 should be02br
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01i00and then I 01b00swam02b00 up to see the manta ray02i02br
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00 If there's no helper verb (e.g., 01i00has, have, had02i00), use 01i00swam02i00.0
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Swam can stand by itself. It is the simple past tense. "Swum" is a past participle, and must be accompanied by another verb in order to be complete.

The sentence that you cited is written in non-standard (dialectical) English, and is grammatically wrong.

There are no accepted non-standard dialects in English. In private correspondence and chat rooms, you will see many gramm
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AnonymousIt appears to be written by a Southern American with less than a University degree.
I think it would have been better to say:

"It appears to have been written"
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In the perfect tense where an action is completed swum must be used. In past he had swum, present he has swum and future he will have swum. In the simple past tense swam must be used. In past he swam, present he swims and future he will swim.
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I swam up to see, as it is simple past tense. also, swam away is correct. Swum is used with the perfect tense, in the past, present and future.

Posted previous comment as well - David Taylor
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Hi,

I might add that having a degree does not guarantee the writing of good English.
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Plus, it's a run-on sentence...which you failed to point out.

A better correction would be:
I touched the snake on its back. Then I swam up to see the manta ray, but all I got to see was when it turned around and swam away.
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Great explanation CJ.
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