Question:
I was looking at the Bible passage that I am reading in church this
Sunday from John chapter 9. I decided to look at an internet version of
the New International Version and did a double take when I saw verse 6:
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the
saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.
My first reaction was that 'spit' was a typological error, and when I
looked in my print version, it had 'spat'. Then it dawned on me that
'spit' could be the American past tense form of 'spit'.
Is this standard in American English? Is 'spat' also available? I'm
sure you couldn't use 'spit' as the past tense form in British English.
The only similar thing that comes to mind is 'shit', where I hear three
different past-tense forms - 'shit', 'shitted' and 'shat'!
Answer:
We've discussed this so many times before. The phenomenon is most
noticeable with verbs that end in -it, and you will find that, although
Americans do it more than others, it most certainly is not confined to
America.
The only verb that really stands out is "fit", which is "fitted" in all
non-American forms of English.
All Englishes: bit, hit, slit (slitted adjective), split (I've seen
"splitted");
Mainly American: grit (BrE gritted his teeth), lighted (BrE lit), knit
(I think this is rare for "knitted", but I have seen it);
Mainly non-American: spat, shat.
To this you can add spun, span; drunk, drank and a whole heap of others
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