Lent/Leant/Leaned

[TheEarl]

WSO and I were having a conversation about one of my stories. She pointed out where I had used "leant" (as in She leant over, past of lean) and said that it should be lent. I said I wasn't sure that either was right, that it could be 'leaned'.

I usually count myself as something of an expert on English grammar, but have realised I have not a clue when and where to use these words. Anyone care to enlighten me on the use of Lent, Leant and Leaned (In the context of the past tense of 'to lean')?

The Earl

 

[Pookie]

According to Mirriam Webster:

Main Entry: leant
Pronunciation: 'lent
chiefly British past of LEAN


Main Entry: lean
Pronunciation: 'lEn
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): leaned /'lEnd, chiefly British 'lent/;


Don't know if this helps.

Pookie

 

[TheEarl]

Not really. May just be that the rugby's on today, but I can't get my head round this kind of dictionary thing. In English?

The Earl

 

[Quiet_Cool]

I'm American...

and here, we say "leaned."
That aside, I don't really know. but I understand where you're coming from. I've made a habit in the past of spelling "color" "Colour," and adding the E at the end of "axe." I wouldn't say it mattered much, so long as your readers get the point, right?

 

[medjay]

According to the dictionary leaned and leant are both acceptable. I'd go with leaned myself because leant/lent sounds the the past tense of loan.

 

[SexyChele]

I'd go along with Medjay's advice. Also, lent is the 40 day period just before Easter - as far as I know.

Either "leant" or "leaned", but personally am inclined to go with "leaned."

 

[hiddenself]

"Lent" is incorrect. It is the past tense of the verb "to lend."

As Pookie mentioned, the past tense of "to lean" is either "leaned" (Am English) or "leant" (Brit). "Leant" is indeed pronounced like "lent," however.

Similar thing with the verb "to learn" -- past is either "learned" or "learnt."

I'm also using Merriam-Webster. Hope Oxford doesn't contradict that.

hs

 

[TheEarl]

Thanks. I prefer leant to leaned, but wasn't sure whether it was a matter of grammar rather than a matter of preference.

The Earl

 

[wildsweetone]

She pointed out where I had used "leant" (as in She leant over, past of lean) and said that it should be lent.

Miriam-Webster OnLine
Main Entry: 1lean
Pronunciation: 'lEn
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s):
leaned 'lEnd, chiefly British 'lent/;
lean·inglE-ni[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English lenen, from Old English hleonian; akin to Old High German hlinEn to lean, Greek klinein, Latin clinare
Date: before 12th century
intransitive senses
1 a : to incline, deviate, or bend from a vertical position b : to cast one's weight to one side for support
2 : to rely for support or inspiration
3 : to incline in opinion, taste, or desire <leaning toward a career in chemistry>
transitive senses : to cause to lean : INCLINE
- lean on : to apply pressure to

Pocket Oxford
lean2. 1. v.i. & t. (~ed pr. lend, lent, //~t pr. lent). Take or be in or put in sloping position, incline from the perpendicular, (lean back, forward, out, over, etc,; leaning tower; ~ against, on, upon, for support'

H. W. Fowler Dictionary of Modern English Usage.
-T & -ED. Typical words are bereaved & bereft, burned & burnt... ...leaned & leant, ...
...
Of the rest the spelling may affect the sound in some, & does affect it in others. Thus, burned may be sounded with d, but perhaps most even of those who spell it so sound it as with t, whereas leaped and leapt are pronounced by everyone with different vowels - lept, (long vowel sound) & lept (short vowel sound). The advice here offered is to use the -t spelling in both classes, & that in the face of the surely surprising figures to be given below, it will hardly be denied that most people say bernt & lept (short vowel sound), not bernd & lept (long vowel sound), & conformity between written & the spoken word is worth securing where, since both spellings are already in use, it costs nothing. At present, however, the -ed forms still prevail in print over those in -t in most of our list; & it should be added that, if the past tense were distinguished from the p.p., the preponderance of -ed for it would be slightly greater. The figures are arrived at by counting the occurrences in all OED quotations of the 19th & 20th cc.; the first figure for each word is the number for -ed, the second for -t.

1. toss - 23, 3
2. burn - 7, 16
learn - 5, 0
smell - 2, 8
spell - 4, 4
spill 8, 17
spoil - 9, 5
3. bereave - 3, 3
dream - 5, 3
kneel - 3, 2
lean - 12, 2 i.e. leaned = 12 and leant - 2
leap - 7, 5
The figures for spoil are exclusive of examples in which -ed alone is possible; that is so in the older sense strip (as opp. damage). On class 3 it is worth while to remark that there are so many similar verbs in which the -t form is now the only one (creep, deal, feel, keep, leave, mean, sleep, sweep, weep, &c.) that the adoption of dreamt &c. in print need expose no-one to the charge of eccentricity.

...to me it looks remarkably like a matter of preference with HW Fowler pointing out that the modern trend has moved towards
-ed

TheEarl, sorry, I'm still learning this stuff as I write too.
wso

 

[TheEarl]

Hey no apologies WSO. Everytime someone points out something that I'm doing wrong, I learn something about how to do it right.

Experientia docet stultos
Experience teaches fools

The Earl

 

[Un-registered]

[BHope Oxford doesn't contradict that.[/B]

I only have the Shorter Oxford on my machine, but it does not contradict Webster. As a verb "lent" is only ever the past participle of "to lend". As a noun or an adjective, of course, it means something entirely different ...