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[theechrisfox]

"text me" is perfectly normal and pretty much the same usage.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Yes.

 

[Eidan]

Yes.

 

[ascii42]

Making a noun into a verb. Suuuuper common with a lot of websites.

Verbing weirds language.

 

[Air]

As a matter of fact, I do.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

"I texted you"

yes, yes I do.

 

[Darksol]

It conjugates the same way that regular English verbs in the simple past do. If it sounds a bit peculiar to you it may just be because "text" was originally a noun, and it's only relatively recently that we've adapted it for verb usage.

I say text instead of texted. Texted just sounds clumsy.

Same as bet or cut, I wouldn't say cutted.

Cut and bet are irregular verbs. They don't follow traditional conjugation. Generally when verbs are made from nouns they conjugate as a regular verb. So "texted" is correct, and "text" is incorrect when it comes to the simple past.

 

[Skellig Gra]

No one ever, ever, ever says "sent a text"

I do but then again I realize I'm in the minority.

 

[I speel my dreenk]

I do but then again I realize I'm in the minority.

I do too. I think the issue is that most people here probably skew younger, and don't realize that a little over a decade ago, 'text' and 'message' didn't exist as verbs. It sounds clumsy to me as well to say 'texted', but it makes sense.

 

[Stereogatari]

Used to. Now it's "Whatsapped".

 

[The Beard]

Yes, but it does sound a little odd, like when idiots say "he's cross eyeded".

 

[Earthstrike]

If text is considered correct as the past tense, it won't be for long. Texted is now sufficiently ubiquitious that it will be considered correct.

Edit: And online it says the past tense is texted.

 

[kirby_fox]

For some reason, I tend to use "text" to mean past tense. So I can say "I text him about that last night" rather than "I texted him about that last night."

Likely deriving from the idea that text is rarely used in present tense as a verb. If you are doing it presently, it usually becomes "I am texting him about that".

Even future tenses like "I will text him" make sense in context. But the present tense is rarely used- "I text him while I eat dinner." For me it doesn't make sense to add -ed after it, and to simply use context for the verb in present and past tense.

 

[gutter_trash]

it will become a verb

we are just ahead of time

 

[Darksol]

For some reason, I tend to use "text" to mean past tense. So I can say "I text him about that last night" rather than "I texted him about that last night."

Likely deriving from the idea that text is rarely used in present tense as a verb. If you are doing it presently, it usually becomes "I am texting him about that".

That's incorrect though.

"texting" isn't present, it's present continuous.

present simple = text

past simple = texted

If you use "text" as the past simple, it's wrong.

"Text" was a noun, which we've adapted into a verb. When we adapt nouns into verbs we treat them as regular verbs. Regular verbs take -ed in the past simple.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I do indeed say texted.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

According to my research that is the grammatically correct past tense of text but it feels so wrong every time I hear it. I always say something like "I sent him a text earlier"

wouldnt what you said just be a different past tense of the same?

 

[farisr]

Yes, in both writing and speech.

But I suppose when I actually say it, it's more like I'm saying text'd, rather than completely pronouncing the ed at the end.

 

[SillySinStorm]

I can't bring myself to use the word, whether gramatically correct or not. "Messaged" suits my needs fine.

 

[kirby_fox]

That's incorrect though.

"texting" isn't present, it's present continuous.

present simple = text

past simple = texted

If you use "text" as the past simple, it's wrong.

"Text" was a noun, which we've adapted into a verb. When we adapt nouns into verbs we treat them as regular verbs. Regular verbs take -ed in the past simple.

I wasn't going to get into specifics like present simple, etc. I suspect in this instance that due to it being a noun and the language evolving- the hard -t sound at the end will likely cause it to be used as past tense by some people including myself.

Spoken English is not "wrong" as long as it can be interpreted. Which is why if you say "Can I aks you a question?" it's not wrong unless you write it out like that. If I started to write a story and kept using "text" to mean past tense, it would technically be wrong. However with new words and English evolving constantly, if more people took it upon themselves to do what I have been doing...then it would become correct.

 

[Puruzi]

Sent you a text

 

[Darksol]

If I started to write a story and kept using "text" to mean past tense, it would technically be wrong. However with new words and English evolving constantly, if more people took it upon themselves to do what I have been doing...then it would become correct.

Sure. Your point is fundamentally correct -- regardless of what's "technically correct", if something becomes common usage it's eventually integrated into the language. No arguments there! But that's a pretty flimsy reason to encourage people to use English incorrectly, hoping for it to become popular enough that it's accepted

This is admittedly a non-issue in this instance, because a native speaker would still successfully understand the meaning either way. But then again, a native speaker would probably also understand "I sent words I wrote on my phone to your phone" to mean "texted" too. So everyone draws the line somewhere.

Language is constantly adapting and evolving, but there's still a fundamental skeleton comprised of grammar, sentence structure, and conjugations. Most of the people in this thread understand that it's "texted". They just know it. Even if they don't understand the reason why that is, they understand it implicitly. And the reason they understand it implicitly is because they've intuitively learned the proper grammar and sentence structure through immersion in their native language.

Yes, in both writing and speech.

But I suppose when I actually say it, it's more like I'm saying text'd, rather than completely pronouncing the ed at the end.

That's because for verbs ending in d and t, the final –ed is generally pronounced "id".

 

[Skellig Gra]

wouldnt what you said just be a different past tense of the same?

Pretty much, 2 different ways of saying the same thing. One being much more ubiquitous than the other.

 

[Japanmanx3]

yep

 

[ratcliffja]

Kobe and I exchanged Texas.

 

[Uncle_Classy]

I'll verb any fucking noun you throw at me.

 

[Kid Ska]

Text might as well be a verb by now.

 

[Hilbert]

I would say texted, sounds fine to me.

I also bet I skew on the older side of GAF.

 

[Sami+]

uh yeah all the time

 

[ThatGayWolf]

We're texting, we texted, I texted him about that, she texted me. Whatever.

So help me god if you use "txt" though.

 

[StudioTan]

You're looking at text as a noun. "I sent so and so a text"

Text has also become verb. "Young people today text a lot"

Therefore the past tense of text as a verb is texted. Both uses are correct.

 

[Battlechili]

I don't know if I've ever used the word before, and it sounds silly to me, but I suppose its a perfectly usable word. It at least conveys its meaning well enough.

 

[RoadHazard]

Here in Sweden we use "SMS" both as a noun and verb, so we'd say (in Swedish, obviously) "I SMSed him".

 

[Dennis]

I'll verb any fucking noun you throw at me.

I booked what you wrote there. Booked now means read.

 

[Five]

I booked what you wrote there. Booked now means read.

Booked means to put into a book, like booking an appointment. Bookie mistake.

 

[Dennis]

Booked means to put into a book, like booking an appointment. Bookie mistake.

Not anymore it don't. That was old English. I am speaking New English.

 

[Skux]

It's a classic case of verbing the noun. And it sounds fine.

 

[Ryaaan14]

Yea

 

[Noaloha]

I texed you yesterday.

edit: or, even, a few decades down the way, I tex'd you yesterday.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I try not to. I know the proper term is text, but sometimes I slip and say 'texted' when meaning in a past tense.

 

[The Real Abed]

Yes, it's fine. All words are made up anyway. It makes sense because you text someone, you're texting someone, you've texted someone. You call someone, you're calling someone, you've called someone. It's perfectly cromulent. Text just equals call or message in that case. Messaged. Called. Texted. FaceBooked. Twittered. Okay, that last one isn't used much since people just say Tweeted, which is also a word in our lexicon now.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Yes, it's fine. All words are made up anyway. It makes sense because you text someone, you're texting someone, you've texted someone. You call someone, you're calling someone, you've called someone. It's perfectly cromulent. Text just equals call or message in that case. Messaged. Called. Texted. FaceBooked. Twittered. Okay, that last one isn't used much since people just say Tweeted, which is also a word in our lexicon now.

Yeah I always thought you can pretty much turn every noun into a verb in English, unlike many other languages.

 

[Five]

Yes, it's fine. All words are made up anyway. It makes sense because you text someone, you're texting someone, you've texted someone. You call someone, you're calling someone, you've called someone. It's perfectly cromulent. Text just equals call or message in that case. Messaged. Called. Texted. FaceBooked. Twittered. Okay, that last one isn't used much since people just say Tweeted, which is also a word in our lexicon now.

Even message started out as a noun. If I messaged you, I sent you a message.

 

[Kwixotik]

I use it, but I agree that it's not exactly euphonious.

 

[kirby_fox]

Sure. Your point is fundamentally correct -- regardless of what's "technically correct", if something becomes common usage it's eventually integrated into the language. No arguments there! But that's a pretty flimsy reason to encourage people to use English incorrectly, hoping for it to become popular enough that it's accepted

I was thinking text is more like words that don't change form in past tense. Quit is not quitted. Bet is not betted. Cut, hurt, shut- the list goes on and on. But due to the current way we're quickly changing English due to tech and adding -ed or -d to words, we get things like texted.

Since we don't have time to argue over grammar rules that are somewhat arbitrary, it simply goes to the most commonly known way to say things. I'm arguing that eventually, spoken English will likely drop the -ed for texted if it hasn't already. Similar to how people say often as offen, or as previously stated- ask as aks. A lot of people don't realize they're saying these things and may already be saying text-did as text. Since it's such a new word, we could even eliminate texted as being "correct" as many don't seem to use it as is.

But since English evolution takes time...I'll wait.

 

[BennyBlanco]

yeah... "i texted x this morning". nothing about it sounds weird to me.

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

It sounded weird when I first began to text. Now it sounds normal to me.

 

[Ashhong]

"sent them a message"

cause it could be iMessage or Twitter DM or w/e

agree it sounds awkward. like corporate speak or something. "grow the business" always got me.

What?

 

[sixteen-bit]

i do

 

[Darksol]

I was thinking text is more like words that don't change form in past tense. Quit is not quitted. Bet is not betted. Cut, hurt, shut- the list goes on and on. But due to the current way we're quickly changing English due to tech and adding -ed or -d to words, we get things like texted.

Quit, bet, hurt, shut -- they're all irregular verbs. But text is a noun, and when nouns are made into verbs, they conjugate as a regular verb, which is why text gets an -ed ending, but quit, bet, hurt and shut don't. I do agree that the initial classification was largely arbitrary though!

I'm arguing that eventually, spoken English will likely drop the -ed for texted if it hasn't already.

That's a really interesting hypothesis. I'm going pay attention to that from now on, because I think that's a possibility as well. In the end, whatever is popular will win out.

Similar to how people say often as offen, or as previously stated- ask as aks.

I think that has more to do with English peculiarities in cadence and contracting speech. There's a certain cadence to spoken English that we naturally favour, and we often make contractions in our speech in order to meet this cadence. There's also influence from whether or not the letters are voiced or unvoiced and any strong or weak forms that may be weighing on the sentence.

As for ask sounding like aks, I think that's primarily found in African American Vernacular English.