Month: January 2009

“The test results that were ran …”

Verbs

I heard this earlier today.

Problems:
1. The speaker used the preterite where the past participle was required.
2. One does not run test results.

Explanation:
I do not remember the complete sentence, but it was something along the lines of “The test results that were ran in [some system] were inaccurate.”

Regarding the first problem, similar mistakes include “were gave” and “were drove”.

The verb “run” has these basic forms:

  • Run — present simple, as in “Can you run a marathon?”
  • Ran — preterite, as in “My wife ran a half-marathon last Sunday.”
  • Run — past participle, as in “They have run out of things to say.” or “They had run the engine for three minutes before it died.”
  • Running — present continuous, as in “The engine is not running.”

The frequency of this mistake — using a preterite where a past participle is required — seems to be increasing.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following (with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

  • “were run” — 2,320,000 matches
  • “were ran” — 107,000 matches

This tells me that Web authors have used the correct “were run” versus the incorrect “were ran” by a ratio of 21.7-to-1, which is good but not great.

Replacing “were ran” with “were run” gives us “The test results that were run …”, which lets us focus on the second problem: one runs tests, not test results.

Solution:
“The tests that were run …”

Basecamp

General

Whenever a new year begins, you can find me busy making lists — for new-year resolutions, business goals, tax planning, and so on.

If you regularly visit this website, then you might have noticed in the left-hand column the recent appearance of a new banner for a tool called Basecamp.

I have just started to use this tool, so this blog post represents my first impression about the tool. Expect a longer, more exhaustive review here later — as an article instead of a blog post.

I am excited about the promise of Basecamp, and so far the tool delivers what its maker promises.

Basecamp is advertised as “the easy way to manage projects”.

I am initially using Basecamp for its to-do-list functionality.

Google recently added a to-do-list feature — called “Tasks” — to its Gmail service, and I was using this for my business as well as personal needs.

But Basecamp beats Google in the to-do-list arena in two important ways:

  1. Basecamp to-do’s can be tracked via projects. The Google to-do-list model has no concept of a project.
  2. Basecamp to-do’s can be assigned to particular people. The Google to-do-list model has no concept of a responsible party.

If you are a Gmail user and you do not need these two benefits, then I recommend that you use Gmail Tasks.

But if you do not use Gmail, or if you need project tracking of your to-do’s, or if you ever have to keep up with to-do’s assigned to more than just you, then I recommend that you use Basecamp.

And do not assume that Basecamp is only useful for business. Personal applications of a Basecamp to-do list include:

  • Arranging a family reunion;
  • Planning a wedding;
  • Tracking household chores.

You probably can come up with even more uses, whether for your business life or for your personal life.

I recommend that you sign up today for a 30-day free trial, run Basecamp through its paces, and decide for yourself whether Basecamp is right for you.

If you find a dazzling Basecamp feature, then please let me know about it, and I will cover it in my complete review.

Happy To-Do’ing!

“had ran”

Verbs

I heard this the other day.

Problem:
The speaker used the preterite where the past participle was required.

Explanation:
I do not remember the complete sentence, but it was something along the lines of “I had ran into him at the grocery store.”

It does not matter that the speaker used “had”; using “have” instead would not have solved the problem.

Other similar mistakes include “had gave” and “have drove”.

The verb “run” has these basic forms:

  • Run — present simple, as in “Can you run a marathon?”
  • Ran — preterite, as in “My wife ran a half-marathon yesterday.”
  • Run — past participle, as in “They have run out of things to say.” or “They had run the engine for three minutes before it died.”
  • Running — present continuous, as in “The engine is not running.”

The frequency of this mistake — using a preterite where a past participle is required — seems to be increasing.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following (with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

  • “had run” — 3,360,000 matches
  • “had ran” — 160,000 matches

This tells me that Web authors have used the correct “had run” versus the incorrect “had ran” by a ratio of 21.0-to-1, which is good but not great.

Similarly, I searched Google for each of the following (with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

  • “have run” — 8,710,000 matches
  • “have ran” — 626,000 matches

This tells me that Web authors have used the correct “have run” versus the incorrect “have ran” by a ratio of 13.9-to-1, which is not very good, especially in light of more than half a million instances of the incorrect “have ran”.

Solution:
“had run”