# Past tense of the verb "shine" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951 "2009-03-18T21:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/1 "2009-03-18T21:57:25Z")
I’m fairly certain that the correct past tense of “shine” is “shone,” rather than “shined.” After searching online, I’ve found that some references consider “shined” to be archaic, while others seem to make no distinction between the two. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shine](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shine) The exact sentence in question is as follows: “The sun shined upon the grass.” (I admit, it’s from a homework assignment, for my first-grader. I just think it’s wrong, and I’d like to be certain before I tell him that.) Does anyone have a more definitive answer than what I’ve found so far? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/2 "2009-03-18T22:00:05Z")
there are other verbs that have two different forms: pleaded/pled; lit/lighted. I think it’s just a matter of style. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/3 "2009-03-18T22:04:16Z")
If votes count, I’d vote to use “shone” in that sentence. Shine has a number of meanings, some of which make “shined” more appealing. But I believe the intransitive nature of “shone” as a past tense of “shine” (as of light) makes more sense to me. For more, see [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shine](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shine) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/4 "2009-03-18T22:21:54Z")
I say “shone” (rhymes with “gone,” not “done” or “bone”). [QUOTE=Oxford English Dictionary] The regular strong pa. pple. is rare in Eng., being unrecorded in OE. and appearing only once in ME. sinen; it was superseded by the weak form shined, which was in common use c1300-1800; this was supplanted by the form of the strong pa. tense, which first appears as pa. pple. in the second half of the 16th c. (Weak forms are found in some of the continental langs., e.g. (pa. tense) late WFris. schynd, MLG. schynede, OHG. scînta, early mod.G. schein(e)te.) [/QUOTE] Note that that usage isn’t for the form used in your sentence, but does show that the variation between _shined_ and _shone_ has a healthy pedigree. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/5 "2009-03-18T23:00:05Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > If votes count, I’d vote to use “shone” in that sentence. Shine has a number of meanings, some of which make “shined” more appealing. But I believe the intransitive nature of “shone” as a past tense of “shine” (as of light) makes more sense to me. > > For more, see [SHINE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shine) Merriam-Webster (which you linked) says “shone” is “especially Canadian and British” so lest the terrorists win I would definitely go with “shined”. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/6 "2009-03-18T23:00:23Z")
English’s irregular words are dying out fast. In my lifetime I have seen the word _rooves_ disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/7 "2009-03-18T23:16:00Z")
I would say that it depends on which meaning of the word “shine” you’re using. For “shine” as in “emit light”, especially in a transitive sense, I would use “shone”: “The sun shone on the grass”. But for “shine” as in “polish”, I would use “shined”: “I shined my shoes yesterday”. Take this with the caveat that I have no idea why this distinction would exist, but it just sounds right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/8 "2009-03-18T23:16:27Z")
I use _shined_ in the sense of polished (as in “I shined my shoes”) but otherwise it’s _shone_. ETA: Damn you, **Chronos** , and your pesky simulposts too! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/9 "2009-03-18T23:17:08Z")
I shined my shoes. The sun shone. Edit : Damn you both 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/10 "2009-03-18T23:23:12Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > there are other verbs that have two different forms: pleaded/pled; lit/lighted. I think it’s just a matter of style. ‘Hanged’ vs. ‘hung’ is an interesting case, in that ‘hanged’ has survived at all (AFAIK) only in relation to executions. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/11 "2009-03-19T01:27:33Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Merriam-Webster (which you linked) says “shone” is “especially Canadian and British” so lest the terrorists win I would definitely go with “shined”. I believe you are misreading. It indicates only that pronouncing “shone” to rhyme with “John” is especially Canadian and British; this note does not apply to the pronunciation rhyming with “bone”. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/12 "2009-03-19T01:52:42Z")
FWIW, the Oxford English Dictionary records the past participle "shined’ as “U.S., dial. and arch.”. It also records a transitive form of the verb meaning “to cause to shine, to put a polish upon” which is “orig. U.S.”, and notes that this form of the verb is always infllected “shined”. In other words, when we’re talking about shoes the word is always “shined”; the sense of the word which refers to polishing shoes originated in the US but is now found elsewhere. In other senses the dominant past participle is “shone”, but “shined” is sometimes found, mainly in US English, in some other dialects, and in archaic contexts. The only pronunciation of “shone” that the OED recognises is the one that rhymes with “gone”. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/13 "2009-03-19T01:59:01Z")
Yeah, the OED isn’t generally too concerned with maintaining comprehensive American pronunciation information; e.g., the only pronunciation of “harass” it recognizes is the one which rhymes with “Paris”, rather than the one that sounds like “her ass”. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/14 "2009-03-19T02:39:15Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I say “shone” (rhymes with “gone,” not “done” or “bone”). I say “shone”, but it rhymes with “bone”. You really pronounce it as rhyming with “fawn” (which rhymes with “gone” for me)? Or do you have a different pronunciation of “gone”? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/15 "2009-03-19T02:49:39Z")
It rhymes with “on”. That’s just regular “on”, not New Yorky “awwwwwn”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/16 "2009-03-19T03:25:50Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I say “shone”, but it rhymes with “bone”. You really pronounce it as rhyming with “fawn” (which rhymes with “gone” for me)? Or do you have a different pronunciation of “gone”? Yep. I’m a Californian, so “fawn” and “gone” (and “shone” and “Sean”) are perfect rhymes for me, but my mother is Canadian, which might explain why I have an aberrant usage / pronunciation for my dialect. And I do say “shined” for “polished.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/17 "2009-03-19T05:44:51Z")
Hmmmm, I have never, ever heard “shone” pronounced any differently than “shown” (both rhyme with “bone”). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/18 "2009-03-19T07:36:54Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Yeah, the OED isn’t generally too concerned with maintaining comprehensive American pronunciation information . . . Exactly. I’m not offering the OED as some kind of infallible authority before which all others must bow, but simply as one more contribution to the overall picture. What the OED has suggests that the rhymes-with-bone pronunciation is a US variant, and is not found elsewhere. As a matter of fact, it had never occurred to me that anyone might use that pronunciation until I read this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/19 "2009-03-19T08:21:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would say that it depends on which meaning of the word “shine” you’re using. For “shine” as in “emit light”, especially in a transitive sense, I would use “shone”: “The sun shone on the grass”. But for “shine” as in “polish”, I would use “shined”: “I shined my shoes yesterday”. > > Take this with the caveat that I have no idea why this distinction would exist, but it just sounds right to me. Is that “sun” example transitive? “The sun shone” would be a sentence and the verb is unmistakably intransitive - I don’t believe adding an indirect object makes it transitive. Otherwise, I agree 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951/20 "2009-03-19T11:13:16Z")
Yeah, I think **Chronos** meant intransitive. Some languages always distinguish between transitive and intransitive forms of a verb. English usually doesn’t, but this is an exception. Although maybe some people would say “I shone my shoes”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-tense-of-the-verb-shine/489951.md?page=2)