I'm inclined to say "snowblowered," since you are using a snowblower to do the job. That's what I'd say, anyway, just before ducking to avoid the hurled snowball.
Great video! Up here in Alaska we snowblow our driveways, we don't blow the snow (the snowblower does that). I've never been certain about the past tense, either, but snowblowed sounds best to me.
And to confuse matters even more, Sears calls my machine a snowthrower, so I guess I snowthrowed my driveway yesterday.
incidentally, in the "biz" they are called "snow throwers" not "snow blowers" because they aren't really blowing anything IE the do not use wind turbines to propel the snow away like a leaf blower does, they pick it up and throw it with a spinning auger. I "threw some snow off my driveway using a snow throwing machine" would probably be a more technically accurate statement.
I dont accept "snowblow" as a verb, a "snow blower" is a device that blows snow, like a "leaf blower" blows leaves. You dont say "leaf blowed" or "leafblew" and you dont say "dustblower" when you blow some dust off of something. Snow and blower are two seperate words. You "blowed snow" or "blew snow" off your driveway would be proper in my opinion.
Snowblown works for the perfect but not for the simple past. Having done my share of snowblowing, I've encountered this quandary in the past. The natural past tense (meaning the one that comes out of my mouth when I'm exhausted after a couple hours of snowblowing and not wearing my self-editing hat) is the simple word blew: "I blew the driveway and all the walks. I'm beat."
Sure, that's a copout. But it's the only past tense I can remember using or hearing for snowblow.
That's actually why I say the show isn't scripted at the end of the videos. I've found that I can't follow a script with video the way I do with audio (where I can just read and don't need to worry about looking at a camera), but my sentences don't always come out perfect when I don't have a script.
It occurred to me that another reason "snowblowed" sounds better is that "snow" rhymes with "blow." If we use "snowblew," we lose that rhyming.
At least one person on Twitter said there is a rule that all new verbs are formed as regular verbs. I haven't heard that, although it sounds right for completely new verbs. I'm just not sure it would apply to new verbs derived from older verbs.
If you search the Quick and Dirty Tips (dot com) website, for "singular pronoun," you'll see how I address the "they"-as-a-singular pronoun problem.
The short answer is that it has been used for hundreds of years by respected writers and some major modern style guides say it is acceptable. I believe it should be OK and it will be standard in 30 to 50 years.
Nevertheless, I don't recommend that other people use it in writing because many people (such as you) object.
In any case, even 'blew snow from the driveway' is better than yellow snow on the driveway.
I looked this up on wikipedia, and apparently it's called noun incorporation. The other examples they gave had their normal (even if irregular) past tenses, e.g. breastfed, babysat, backstabbed.
I agree with you on snowblowed, and probably for the reason you mention; we really want to make verbs regular.
Funny, though, snowblown (irregular) sounds okay when it is being used as a past participle, as in "The driveway was already snowblown by the time I got home." Snowblown also sounds good in ssbohio's example above.
It all makes me glad I no longer live where snowblowers are necessary ;)
OK, the Oxford English Dictionary does have "blowed" as the past participle of "to blow" for the 29th definition (marked as vulgar), for which the example sentence is "I'm absolutely blowed if I know what to do."
I'd just say "I plowed the driveway."
ashleyp29 1 month ago
"Babysat" is the past tense of "to babysit."
TheGrammarGirl 7 months ago
Babysat or babysitted?
FoxyGrandpa 7 months ago
I like when she says "blow" for some reason.
Qermaq 1 year ago
I'm inclined to say "snowblowered," since you are using a snowblower to do the job. That's what I'd say, anyway, just before ducking to avoid the hurled snowball.
RidgeCutie 2 years ago
Great video! Up here in Alaska we snowblow our driveways, we don't blow the snow (the snowblower does that). I've never been certain about the past tense, either, but snowblowed sounds best to me.
And to confuse matters even more, Sears calls my machine a snowthrower, so I guess I snowthrowed my driveway yesterday.
TheYootoobyooser 2 years ago
Snowblown. There, I've said it.
dulcigal 2 years ago 6
Should we rephrase the sentence? Can we use a snowblower to clear the yard?
dsignchick75 2 years ago
incidentally, in the "biz" they are called "snow throwers" not "snow blowers" because they aren't really blowing anything IE the do not use wind turbines to propel the snow away like a leaf blower does, they pick it up and throw it with a spinning auger. I "threw some snow off my driveway using a snow throwing machine" would probably be a more technically accurate statement.
mrrealtime 2 years ago
I dont accept "snowblow" as a verb, a "snow blower" is a device that blows snow, like a "leaf blower" blows leaves. You dont say "leaf blowed" or "leafblew" and you dont say "dustblower" when you blow some dust off of something. Snow and blower are two seperate words. You "blowed snow" or "blew snow" off your driveway would be proper in my opinion.
mrrealtime 2 years ago
Snowblown works for the perfect but not for the simple past. Having done my share of snowblowing, I've encountered this quandary in the past. The natural past tense (meaning the one that comes out of my mouth when I'm exhausted after a couple hours of snowblowing and not wearing my self-editing hat) is the simple word blew: "I blew the driveway and all the walks. I'm beat."
Sure, that's a copout. But it's the only past tense I can remember using or hearing for snowblow.
dmargulis 2 years ago
That's actually why I say the show isn't scripted at the end of the videos. I've found that I can't follow a script with video the way I do with audio (where I can just read and don't need to worry about looking at a camera), but my sentences don't always come out perfect when I don't have a script.
TheGrammarGirl 2 years ago
It occurred to me that another reason "snowblowed" sounds better is that "snow" rhymes with "blow." If we use "snowblew," we lose that rhyming.
At least one person on Twitter said there is a rule that all new verbs are formed as regular verbs. I haven't heard that, although it sounds right for completely new verbs. I'm just not sure it would apply to new verbs derived from older verbs.
TheGrammarGirl 2 years ago
If you search the Quick and Dirty Tips (dot com) website, for "singular pronoun," you'll see how I address the "they"-as-a-singular pronoun problem.
The short answer is that it has been used for hundreds of years by respected writers and some major modern style guides say it is acceptable. I believe it should be OK and it will be standard in 30 to 50 years.
Nevertheless, I don't recommend that other people use it in writing because many people (such as you) object.
TheGrammarGirl 2 years ago
In any case, even 'blew snow from the driveway' is better than yellow snow on the driveway.
I looked this up on wikipedia, and apparently it's called noun incorporation. The other examples they gave had their normal (even if irregular) past tenses, e.g. breastfed, babysat, backstabbed.
Cernoise 2 years ago 2
I agree with you on snowblowed, and probably for the reason you mention; we really want to make verbs regular.
Funny, though, snowblown (irregular) sounds okay when it is being used as a past participle, as in "The driveway was already snowblown by the time I got home." Snowblown also sounds good in ssbohio's example above.
It all makes me glad I no longer live where snowblowers are necessary ;)
Cheers!
SeattleLearning 2 years ago
Would it be wrong to consider other words when deciding? Like windblown? To me, snowblew just sounds much better.
lesliesrussell 2 years ago
What about snowblown, e.g.: "After two hours wrestling with the snowblower, I had the driveway and walks completely snowblown."
ssbohio 2 years ago
OK, the Oxford English Dictionary does have "blowed" as the past participle of "to blow" for the 29th definition (marked as vulgar), for which the example sentence is "I'm absolutely blowed if I know what to do."
TheGrammarGirl 2 years ago