# What is the simple past tense of "shrink"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493 "2011-12-08T11:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 8, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/1 "2011-12-08T11:00:48Z")
What is the past tense of “shrink”? I don’t mean the past perfect, the past progressive, the past habitual, or anything else . . . **ONLY THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE.** ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/2 "2011-12-08T12:02:21Z")
The preterite is properly “shrank.” But now you mention it, I think I use “shrunk” for the preterite sometimes. A dialect thing? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/3 "2011-12-08T13:15:51Z")
Shrink present participle Shrunk past Shrunken past participle (US) Shrunken past participle (UK) Shrunken adjective ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/4 "2011-12-08T13:20:32Z")
I voted “shrank”, but looking at **Paul** ’s answer, might it be different depending on whether you’re using it as a transitive or intransitive verb? ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/5 "2011-12-08T13:38:21Z")
I voted “shrunk” as the simple past tense. Could the difference in usage (shrunk/shrank) be British English vs American English? I guess I use “shrunk” because of the word “shrunken” and there being no “shranken”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/6 "2011-12-08T13:51:04Z")
Can’t vote because you missed the “dead psychiatrist” option. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/7 "2011-12-08T14:12:57Z")
It shrank. It has shrunk. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/8 "2011-12-08T14:29:11Z")
Shrank. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/9 "2011-12-08T14:31:28Z")
I shrank when it shrunk. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/10 "2011-12-08T23:04:12Z")
Shrönk. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/11 "2011-12-08T23:15:48Z")
Honey I Shrunk The Kids. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/12 "2011-12-09T01:16:38Z")
“Don’t fit no more.” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/13 "2011-12-09T02:27:44Z")
I learned shrink, shrank, shrunk. Don’t tell me the nuns were wrong! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/14 "2011-12-09T02:35:01Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It shrank. > It has shrunk. That’s how I use it. Just like drink/drank/drunk. ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/15 "2011-12-09T03:02:32Z")
Transitive or intransitive? If I fuck up the laundry, I can say of my T-shirt: “It shrank!” (‘It’ is the subject, no direct object) Rick Moranis can say: “I shrunk the kids.” (‘I’ is the subject, ‘the kids’ is the direct object) ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/16 "2011-12-09T03:13:41Z")
Missed the edit window. I posted my knee-jerk answer before looking it up. From the wiktionary page on [shrunk](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shrunk): \*In casual use, found even in careful speech, interchangeable with shrank; in careful formal use, only used for past participle “I have shrunk”, while shrank is used for the past tense “I shrank”. Compare sank/sunk. Grammatically, shrink is a Germanic strong verb, hence conjugated via ablaut (change of vowel, rather than adding -ed), but these are irregular in modern English, hence the inconsistent usage. The 1989 movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (formally: Honey, I Shrank the Kids or Honey, I’ve Shrunk the Kids) is an example of the prevalence of the casual form.\* So I want to change my vote from “It depends” to “shrank.” I also want to say that after looking at the words shrank and shrunk so many times in this thread, they have ceased to look like actual words. Is there a name for when that happens? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/17 "2011-12-09T03:30:06Z")
> [@EKDS5k](#): > > Rick Moranis can say: “I shrunk the kids.” (‘I’ is the subject, ‘the kids’ is the direct object) Is this why I only think of using the word “shrunk” in indicate that someone/thing did something to another object/person? _It shrank. He shrunk it._ I can’t wrap my brain around something having shrunk on its own. ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-simple-past-tense-of-shrink/605493/18 "2011-12-09T06:46:28Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Is this why I only think of using the word “shrunk” in indicate that someone/thing did something to another object/person? _It shrank. He shrunk it._ I can’t wrap my brain around something having shrunk on its own. Probably. We were already apparently saying it wrong and then that movie didn’t help.