D&D 5E On Past Tenses and Paladins

lowkey13 · Apr 24, 2017

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iserith · Apr 24, 2017

lowkey13 said:
2. Because I wanted to get the opinion of a Fellowship of Pedants.

A group of pedants is called an "actually."

(I saw that on Twitter.)

lowkey13 · Apr 24, 2017

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guachi · Apr 24, 2017

Smote.

Smitten is the past participle (and since it's smitten, smote is almost assuredly derived from Old English).

Smiting is the present particple.

EDIT: Adding that since smite undergoes an internal vowel change (ablaut) for the past tense that's another marker that smite is almost assuredly derived from Old English.

Istbor · Apr 24, 2017

guachi said:
Smote.

Smitten is the past participle (and since it's smitten, smote is almost assuredly derived from Old English).

Smiting is the present particple.

EDIT: Adding that since smite undergoes an internal vowel change (ablaut) for the past tense that's another marker that smite is almost assuredly derived from Old English.

Boooooo! Booo I say at this actual attempt at an English lesson. I didn't come here to learn!

lowkey13 · Apr 24, 2017

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Jeff Carlsen · Apr 24, 2017

guachi said:
Smote.

Smitten is the past participle (and since it's smitten, smote is almost assuredly derived from Old English).

Smiting is the present particple.

EDIT: Adding that since smite undergoes an internal vowel change (ablaut) for the past tense that's another marker that smite is almost assuredly derived from Old English.

Thus, in complete sentences:

Present: "I smite you."
Present Participle: "I am smiting you."
Past: "I smote you."
Past Participle: "You have been smitten."

BoldItalic · Apr 24, 2017

Seems to me there is a gap to be filled here.

Suppose a fair damsel allures a paladin so that he falls in love with her. He declares that she is utterly divine. We could reasonably say that he is smitten. But what is the corresponding active verb? What has she done to him? Has she smited him? Or smitten him? Neither sounds quite right. Perhaps she has smoten him? No, that sounds wrong, too.

This is an important question. Whole libraries of books of romantic twaddle are being held up half-finished for lack of a mot juste.

lowkey13 · Apr 24, 2017

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TwoSix · Apr 24, 2017

Circumlocution. I hate using past participles I'm not sure about, so I'll try to avoid them whenever necessary. "I did smite" or "I used smite" are the basic structures I use when it comes up.