The Halving Principle

Concluded. - See paragraphs 165 to 171.

Par. 165. - Paint, haunt, faint, vaunt, mount, lint, arrant, count, latent, fountain, patent, blunt, occupant, augment, scant, unbent, invent, ardent, reappoint, obedient, opulent, authentic, adamant, ancient (shay), element, reverent.

Hound, opened, fiend, amend, twined, assigned, loaned, bondage, vender, random, candor, surround, rejoined, second, brained, cleaned, aground, appendage, turned, buttoned, japanned, unearned, laundry, imagined, Ireland, reverend (thicken the n-hook.)

Yawned, impugned, ambient.

Faints, events, vaunts, chintz, mends, amends, plants, attends, lowlands.

Tuft, hoofed, rift, chafed, coughed, cleft, handcuffed, graft.

Paved, heaved, raved, achieved, derived, curved, served, approved, aggrieved, retrieved.

Hefts, hafts, rifts, rafts, gifts, clefts, crafts, grafts, tufts.

Fashioned, passioned, impassioned, motioned, auctioned, cautioned, occasioned, cushioned.

Par. 166. - Wilt, welt, wart, want, wont, wallet, thwart, athwart, wanting, waltz, swart, thwarting.

Willed, walled, weaned, weird, waned, wayward, reward, unwind, wilds, swelled, sward, wildfowl, windpipe, windlass, whirlwind, upward, backwardly, winding-sheet.

Par. 167. - Marred, admired, matured, glared, moored, answered, exert, article, separate, venerate, iterate, mart.

Writ, wrought, write, rot, rate, rote, rut, rat, root, rout, aright, riot.

Par. 168. - Card, feared, lured, warmed, acquired, unfeared, shield, midnight, slurred, flowered, maidenly, apprehend.

Par. 169. - Finest, roughest, briefest, gravest, gruffest, oftenest, vainest.

Par. 170 a. - Baited, habited, jotted, quieted, seated, obviated, berated, effected, attenuated, defeated, located, denoted, related, invited, actuated, elicited, blotted, delegated, decocted, far-sighted, righted, rooted, gray-headed, created, coquetted.

Weeded, headed, padded, faded, sided, paraded, divided, dissuaded, exceeded, applauded, threaded, shrouded, proceeded, undecided, corroded, pleaded.

Par. 170 b. - Plied, flowed, clawed, prayed, offered, treed, crowed, chattered, pickled, bottled, buckled, employed, tackled, replied, nibbled, shuffled, papered, betrayed, tapered, tattered, decreed, recurred, untried, colored, suffered.

Par. 170 c. - Piped, waved, mapped, leaked, leagued, kicked, quaked, judged, gagged, charged, slaked, roared, deified, caulked.

Par. 170 d. - Radiated, waited, awaited, whetted, audited, dotted, dieted, doted, edited, dated, undated, unedited, situated, instituted, repudiated, inundated.

Par. 170 e. - Paid, tied, thawed, showed, cawed, laid, gnawed, wallowed, alloyed, wearied, hurried, annoyed, echoed, pitied, emptied, renewed, copied, borrowed, mellowed, rallied, queried, unoccupied, bestowed, canopied.

But verbs ending in -fy may form the past tense by halving the f: Horrified, vilified, typified, terrified, qualified, beautified, pacified, mortified.

Par. 170f. - Acted, petted, budded, footed, matted, wilted, halted, warded, wanted, haunted, wounded, cheated, quoted, pelted, operated, founded, melted, ticketed, repeated, landed, sifted, counted, courted, plotted, assented.

Par. 170 g. - Treated, deeded, lauded, awarded, folded, darted, anointed, imitated, agitated, unlighted, unaffrighted, gifted, irritated, annotated, unshielded.

Par. 171. - Rapid, wicked, method, afraid, hatred, infidel, include, orchard, freedom, cold, record, multitude, leopard, pedagogue, kidnap, longitude, intrepid.

Corvette, doubt, vote, budget, beautify, detach, litigate, private, credit, emigrate, generate, covert, gratify, candidate, vertex, built, mortal, invert, guiltless, vertical, inhabit, anecdote, brought.

When the present tense of a verb ends' with hoop-st, the past tense ends in circle-s and a half-length t: Hoisted, wasted, posted, feasted, vested, twisted, attested, assisted, arrested, accosted, breasted, trusted, enlisted, digested, requested.

In the following past tenses the halving principle is not employed, but the stroke-d follows lay: Healed, hailed, whistled, raffled, rivaled, embezzled, hurled.

• In the following past tenses the stroke-d follows rl: Reeled, roiled, railed, ruled, rolled, enrolled, unrolled.

When a word ends with t or d preceded by two vowels one of which is accented, use the stroke: Create, fiat, duad, poet, Croat.

Dictation Exercise

Adherent, affront, ailment, amount, anoint, appellant, appoint, arrogant, assailant, ascent, attaint, attentive, avaunt, banter, bent, brunt, burned, cant, cantata, canter, chant, countess, current, dent, eloquent, emollient, enchant, errant, event, fiendish, finder, flaunt, foment, gaunt, grant, hint, hunter, hydrant, identify, infant, jaunt, Kentucky, lenient, meant, mountain, pageant, painter, parent, payment, pent, phantom, pint, pliant, pointer, ponder, potent, print, quaint, quantity, quantum, recount, remount, rental, repent, runt, sequent, silent, stint, talent, taunt, tint, torrent, urgent, violent, warrant.

Abound, adorned, append, around, ascend, atoned, attained, bandage, bandit, binder, bond, boned, candle, chained, churned, coined, crowned, demand, diamond, dinned, drained, enjoined, entwined, errand, fanned, feigned, found, gleaned, groaned, happened, harpooned, hidebound, hind, Holland, horned, Iceland, inland, ironed, island, jocund, kindle, land, legend, maligned, mender, moaned, obtained, offend, oppugned, ordained, pained, pawned, pined, planned, Poland, quandary, redound, refund, remind, roundly, shunned, spend, stained, summoned, thickened, thinned, tinned, unbend, unopened, vend, warned, whitened, widened, woodland, yearned.

Acquaints, binds, blends, daunts, finds, fonts, friends, grinds, hunts, joints, lends, mends, mints, moments, mounds, offends, points, pounds, raiments, rents, rinds, slants, stands, stunts, tyrants, vents.

Abaft, bereft, chaffed, craft, cuffed, dwarfed, gift, haft, heft, huffed, puffed, quaffed, raft, rebuffed, reefed, reft, rift, roofed, scoffed.

Achieved, behaved, behooved, bereaved, braved, carved, caved, craved, graved, grieved, grooved, gyved, hived, proved, reprieved, reproved, roved, unapproved, unpaved, upheaved.

Awkward, backward, hillward, homeward, inwardly, leeward, outward, outwardly, rearward, rewarding, southward, thwartingly, unwinding, wailed, wand, ward, warding, waywardly, weld, wend, Wentworth, wheeled, whined, wield, wiled, wind, wind (v), windfall, winding, windward, wired, wooled, wound, wounding.

Artifice, aspirate, aspired, assort, chariot, chlorate, claret, debarred, demerit, demurred, embowered, eviscerate, exhort, gored, mired, moored, pirate, quart, retort, saturate, smart, smeared, ulcerate, un-admired, unanswered, unmoored.

Cleared, cord, curd, cured, declared, dockyard, fired, floored, inquired, leered, lowered, madden, maiden, maidenhood, required, scared, scarred, scoured, secured, sheet-lead, squared, swarmed, unacquired, unwarmed, wormed.

Abated, abetted, abnegated, abominated, affected, affectedly, alienated, alleviated, animated, batted, bayoneted, besotted, bigoted, bitted, bloated, bonneted, booted, bruited, cited, closeted, coacted, coveted, debated, debited, derogated, detonated, devoted, dominated, effeminated, elevated, eliminated, evacuated, excited, fumigated, gazetted, gibbeted, glutted, grated, greeted, incited, inhabited, innovated, jutted, litigated, mediated, narrated, quick-witted, rabbeted, rated, rebated, rebutted, receipted, recited, rioted, riveted, rotted, routed, sated, sighted, suited, sweated, targeted, unabated, unabetted, unexcited, unquieted, unsated, unseated, unsuited, variegated.

Added, beheaded, ceded, coincided, crowded, decided, decidedly, derided, dividedly, embedded, flooded, hooded, light-headed, many-headed, persuaded, preceded, raided, receded, shrouded, spaded, speeded, thick-headed, unfaded, unheeded, unweeded, weak-headed, widowed, wrong-headed.

Accoutered, applied, baffled, battered, beetled, butchered, buttered, checkered, chuckled, ciphered, collared, coupled, cried, dappled, decried, defrayed, deployed, deterred, enameled, flayed, freed, fried, implied, incurred, insured, kenneled, knuckled, muffled, paneled, pattered, peopled, peppered, played, ploughed, preyed, rippled, shackled, settled, sickled, soldered, strayed, succored, suckled, supplied, tickled, tippled, titled, tittered, toppled, tottered, tunneled, tutored, twittered, unapplied, uncheckered, unoffered, unshipped, ushered, uttered, victualed, wafered, whiskered, whispered, whittled.

Abhorred, bilked, bobbed, caked, churched, cocked, cooked, lagged, legged, licked, liked, locked, logged, looked, lugged, mobbed, moped, mopped, peeped, piped, popped, reared, uncharged, unchurched, waved.

Allayed, allied, arrayed, balconied, barbecued, belied, bullied, buried, burrowed, canopied, carried, chewed, cooed, cowed, curried, dallied, deep-laid, dirtied, disallowed, disarrayed, dismayed, espied, ferried, furrowed, gullied, hackneyed, hallooed, harried, hollowed, honeyed, issued, jockeyed, keyed, lied, married, narrowed, neighed, occupied, parried, pawed, pied, pillowed, quarried, repaid, rescued, shied, shoed, spewed, tallied, tarried, tattooed, thick-laid, tied, tongue-tied, toyed, unallayed, unallied, unallowed, unalloyed, unannoyed, unarrayed, undecayed, undismayed, unespied, unhackneyed, unhallowed, unpitied, unthawed, untied, varied, waylaid, winnowed, worried.

Acetified, classified, crucified, fortified, liquified, modified, mollified, notified, purified, rarified, ratified, rectified, tumified, unpacified, unpurified, unqualified, verified.

Abounded, acquitted, addicted, admitted, adopted, affiliated, allotted, amended, appended, ascended, associated, assorted, balloted, bearded, boarded, boded, bolted, brooded, chatted, clotted, collated, delineated, diluted, elected, emaciated, enacted, ended, fitted, floated, glided, goaded, guarded, hazarded, heated, hinted, humiliated, ignited, initiated, invaded, jaded, jolted, knighted, lifted, lighted, merited, noted, nodded, offended, omitted, ousted, palliated, patted, piloted, pocketed, populated, pounded, quilted, refuted, retaliated, saluted, shifted, shouted, skated, slighted, sounded, spotted, tainted, thwarted, turreted, unitedly, violated, wafted, warranted, wielded.

Afforded, carded, cogitated, corded, diluted, dictated, elided, enfiladed, enfolded, escaladed, estated, forded, heralded, herded, hoarded, laded, leaded, loaded, molded, open-hearted, remolded, retreated, sorted, twitted, unfolded, unhoarded, unloaded, unyielded, weak-hearted, yielded.

Alfred, beatitude, codify, desuetude, dotard, epidemic, escapade, federal, fortitude, inaptitude, inifinitude, inquietude, jeopard, lassitude, latitude, methodical, methodically, prodigious, prodigy, quietude, rapidity, rectitude, seclude, solitude, torpidity, trade, turpitude, wickedness.

Abrogate, accredit, adulterate, affidavit, aggravate, Albert, alphabetic, attribute, avert, beautifier, beautiful, beautifully, beautifying, Bridget, brutish, curvate, curvet, debate, debit, detached, doublet, doubtable, doubtful, doubtfully, editorial, editorially, Egbert, energetic, evitable, exhibit, geodetic, girt, habit, habitable, Herbert, hereditary, imbrute, incubate, inertly, inundate, invite, itinerate, Jacobite, legitimacy, legitimate, migrate, misdoubt, mortality, mor-talize, mortally, myrtle, overt, overtly, rebuilt, redoubtable, renovate, repudiate, Robert, vegetable, verbatim, vertically, vertigo, vortex.

Ballasted, basted, blasted, boasted, bursted, coasted, detested, dusted, entwisted, fasted, foisted, harvested, hasted, infested, invested, jested, molested, pasted, posted, rested, rusted, tasted, tested, thirsted, toasted, unattested, untasted, untwisted, unvisited, visited.

Hauled, hilled, howled, hulled, hustled, inhaled, muzzled, ravelled, revelled, rifled, ruffled, unmuzzled.