Garner’s Usage Tip of Day: shake > shook > shaken (1).

shake > shook > shaken (1). Today: “shook” for “shaken.” So inflected. Occasionally “shook” appears erroneously as the past-participial form — e.g.: o “Exercise rider Kelly Rycroft was shook [read ‘shaken’] up Wednesday morning when a horse he was pulling up was struck from behind by a bolting horse.” Dennis Feser, “Jan Alta, Astro Force Renew Rivalry in Richmond Stakes,” Vancouver Sun, 26 Apr. 1996, at D3. o “Melissa Cromley was next door watching a movie when she heard a muffled sound, saw a bright flash and then was shook [read ‘shaken’] by an explosion.” John Beauge, “Sewer Explosion Caused by Flushed Gasoline,” Harrisburg Patriot, 2 June 1997, at B6. Language-Change Index — “shook” misused for “shaken” (past participle of “shake”): Stage 2. *Invariably inferior forms. Next: *"shaked" for “shook.” ——————– Quotation of the Day: “I am never as clear about any matter as when I have just finished writing about it.” James Van Allen (as quoted in inside front cover, The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing (1985)).
Scroll to Top