dreamt vs dreamed

Cy   Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:50 am GMT
Which is correct? I was told that on is American and another is British, and that people will tell you that you are wrong if you use the wrong ending in the wrong country. This is very confusing to me, who can clarify???
Travis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:55 am GMT
I would not say that they are specifically "American" versus "British". For instance, I myself use both "dreamt" (["dZr\E~mt] or ["dZr\E~mpt]) and "dreamed" (["dZr\i~:md] or ["dZr\i~:mt]), with no particular pattern in my usage of such.
Milton   Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:52 am GMT
it's not about being wrong but about being preferred...
Kendra   Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:07 am GMT
I could be wrong, but I really don't think that either one is "American" or "British". I'm American and I tend to say both, it's just whatever I feel like saying at the time.
Travis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:10 am GMT
I would not say that the difference here is between North American English and English English (aka "American" versus "British", even though such is very inaccurate in reality) but rather between conservative and progressive forms. In this case, "dreamt' is conservative and "dreamed' is progressive. That said, it might true that the regularization of irregular weak forms such as these is more common in North American English than in English English. (But this itself is not always true, as in some dialects certain irregular weak part participles have been made even more irregular rather than more regular.)
furrykef   Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:45 pm GMT
"Dreamt" sounds slightly more literary to me (an American).
Edo   Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:47 pm GMT
I'm American and I always use "dreamt," but the rest of my family uses "dreamed." Certain variants, though, like "whilst" or "spelt" are rarely used in the States.
Travis   Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:13 pm GMT
At least in this part of the US, one can still encounter "whilst" and "spelt" in use, even if they are definitely on the more formal side here.
Jasper   Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:20 pm GMT
Edo, those terms are still in wide usage with older Southerners.

I use "spelt", "ruint", "dreamt", on a regular basis, and have been taken to task for it from time to time. (On one occasion, I got into a rather heated argument in an Internet Chatroom over it). On a related note, my generation says "humble" with the silent "h". Nowadays they pronounce the "h". I've never heard "whilst" except on an Englishman.

My understanding is that the younger generation of Southerners doesn't use these terms anymore. Language is constantly evolving, isn't it?
Guest   Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:27 am GMT
I prefer -ed forms (dreamed, spelled, learned).

Ps

but not sneaked or dived.
Jim H.   Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:07 pm GMT
<<Edo, those terms are still in wide usage with older Southerners.>>

I'm a 68-year old Southerner and I use "spelt" and "dreamt". Note that for me, the past tense of "ruin" is actually pronounced [r\3`nt] "rurnt".
Guest   Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:18 pm GMT
yeah I've read that the"spelt" for is prevalent in Britain and the American South
K. T.   Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:32 am GMT
I've lived in the south more than in any other part of the US, but I may have been ruint by living overseas for long periods of time. I'm quite a bit younger than the gentleman who shared their ages here, though.

I say "ruint" as a joke sometimes. I use both "dreamed" and "dreamt" I think. "Spelt" reminds me of a grain, but I might use it if another speaker used the term first.
Guest   Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:36 am GMT
How old are you and everybody else? I thought most people here were young, like Josh, Franco, furrykef (and most others who don't post under a regular nickname)
K. T.   Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:37 am GMT
I mean "gentlemen"...

I'm pretty sure that one of my friends who grew up in a less populous county would use these terms. Dang! Come to think of it, it's much EASIER to say "Dreamt" and "Ruint" and "Spelt"...That "ed" on the end is just so much effort...