A Word, Please: The TV writer may have been drugged

Reader James wrote recently to ask about a verb that his wife, Maryann, has heard on TV: “drugged” as a past tense of “drag.” “The car struck the cyclist and drugged him a quarter mile.” “The boy drugged his blanket behind him.”

“Both of us think this is wrong,” James wrote. “Do you agree?”

I’m flattered they asked. It suggests that my opinion is worth something. But, fun fact: It’s not. I could be the founder of the National Coalition to Make Drugged the Past Tense of Drag and my opinion would still be worth less than the carbon dioxide I expelled while stating it.

In language, many matters are subject to opinion and circumstance. This isn’t one of them. The past tense of “drag” isn’t “drugged.” It’s “dragged.” The car dragged the cyclist. The boy dragged his blanket.

“Dragged” is also the past participle — the form that goes with “have.” “In the past, we have dragged our blanket.” “The car has dragged the cyclist.”

And that’s everything you need to know about dragged, which, I suspect, you knew already. So this raises the question: Why did I get this question? I mean, it’s clear why it arose — a TV viewer noticed a curious usage. But why ask another person? Why not just look it up?

The reason, I suspect, is that few of us are taught how to make the most of our dictionaries. There isn’t a past tense or past participle in the world you can’t nail as long as you have a dictionary and a basic understand of how to find past-tense guidance within.

He hanged the picture on the wall, or he hung it?

She dived into the pool, or she dove?

We have drank a lot of water, or we have drunk a lot of water?

They have brought their son, or they have brung him?

He traveled, with one L, to Europe? Or he travelled, two Ls, to Europe.

You know that “Yesterday, I drank water” sounds better than “Yesterday, I drunk.” But what if you want confirmation? Grab a dictionary or surf to a dictionary website such as m-w.com or websters.yourdictionary.com.

All verb forms are listed under the “base” form of the verb — basically, the infinitive. So you don’t need to look up “drank” or “drunk.” Everything you need to know will be under “drink.”

In a physical dictionary, you’ll see right next to “drink” something like this in bold letters: “drank, drunk or drank, drinking.” This is dictionary-speak, which is explained in the front of the book: The simple past tense comes before the first comma, the past participle follows, then the progressive participle comes last.

When there’s more than one option, the dictionary uses “or,” as in “drunk or drank.” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The simple past tense of “drink” includes all the bolded options before that first comma, options that number exactly one: drank. “Yesterday, I drank” is the only correct form.

The “or” in the past participle means you have a choice when it’s used with “have”: Both “I have drunk” and “I have drank” are correct. But here’s a tip: the preferred form, if there is one, is usually listed first. Merriam-Webster puts “drunk” as its first option. So “have drunk” is better than “have drank.”

Applying this knowledge, you can answer all our questions above: He hung or hanged a picture. Both are right. She dived or dove into the pool. Two choices here, too. But there is no “brung.”

Alternate spellings like “travelled” work the same way. Merriam’s has “traveled or travelled, traveling or travelling,” meaning the one-L version is probably best for users of this American English dictionary.

Dictionaries sometimes disagree. So don’t get judgmental until you’ve checked several. But for “drugged” as a past tense of “drag,” judge away. None of the major dictionaries used by top publishers allow it.

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JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of “The Best Punctuation Book, Period.” She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com.