Woken or wakened?

Puma · Dec 25, 2010

To me it seems the use of woken is a modern thing. I saw somewhere else on the web this morning the statement - Parents get woken up. To me this sounds wrong, wrong, wrong.

So, grammarians - what's correct? (And I'll use that sentence above for the examples.)

Parents get woken up.
Parents get wakened up.
Parents get awakened up.

Realizing, it's a rotten sentence to begin with. Thanks for responses to this question. Puma

PeterL · Dec 25, 2010

I would use the first, if I used that sentence. The third is wrong, but I could go either way on the second.

Wayne K · Dec 25, 2010

Parents are woken, is what I'd say. All of them feel clunky to me.

Darkwing · Dec 25, 2010

I've never heard of wakened. I've heard of "to waken," but never in the past like that.

I would always use "woken."

All three sentences sound weird because they're in passive voice, I think.

Silver King · Dec 25, 2010

Puma said:
Parents get woken up.
Parents get wakened up.
Parents get awakened up.

The problem with those examples is the use of the word "up," which is not necessary.

Here's a good explanation of the various forms you might find helpful.

FennelGiraffe · Dec 25, 2010

Puma said:
Parents get awakened up.

This is incorrect when used with 'up'. 'Wake up' is valid; 'awaken up' is not.
Parents get awakened.

Puma said:
Parents get wakened up.

'Wakened' is not a word.

Puma said:
Parents get woken up.

This is correct, but so is the regular form: Parents get waked up.

Wake is correct as either the regular wake, waked, waked or the irregular wake, woke, woken.

For those playing along at home, by the way, this is indeed passive voice. 'Get' is just as much a passive voice indicator as 'be'.
Children wake up parents.
Parents are woken/waked up by children.
Parents get woken/waked up by children.

Puma · Dec 26, 2010

Actually, after I posted that yesterday I did some surfing and found my answer. For anyone interested, these websites (not the best one I found yesterday, but ones I found today) do have some answers.

Irregular Verb Dictionary
http://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/irregularverbs.html

Origins of the specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language
http://books.google.com/books?id=2Ju-Vu0v6GQC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22verb+form%22+woken&source=bl&ots=SHjl23vfup&sig=ZT2P8EAjQcBdJFq7WowolXvk0_A&hl=en&ei=smIXTYWHNeWynAfT1OjQDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22verb%20form%22%20woken&f=false

Definition - awakened
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/awakened?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=awakened&sa=Search#922

maestrowork · Dec 26, 2010

Parents were woken up.

Waken is a poetic variation of "wake" ("he wakens my senses")

Parents were awakened by the baby's cry.

Puma · Dec 26, 2010

And apparently woken is a bit more modern and opinions as to it's correctness are split - just like they are on some other grammatical issues. I don't think I ever ran across it in all my years of schooling and languages. Puma

ReinyDays · Dec 27, 2010

ARGH!

Hey guys, I just posted on the "Post your first three sentences" thread and the last sentence in my opening has been bothering me like a fly buzzing around my head. Here it is:

Water dripped silently inside the tube connected to the IV bag. She imagined the droplets as the tears she was unable to shed; imagined them as the tears everyone else wiped from their faces earlier that evening. Roari shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed, trying to remember the dream she had awakened from a few minutes ago.

What do you guys think? I've fiddled with it and it just doesn't seem right to me.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Puma · Dec 27, 2010

Hi Reiny - In my opinion what's correct is had wakened (obviously since I started this thread). My second choice would be had awakened. Had waked is also correct but possibly more clunky. To me, woken will always sound like fingernails on a chalk board. Puma

ReinyDays · Dec 27, 2010

Thanks Puma. : ]

Woken or wakened?

Puma

Retired and loving it!

PeterL

Wayne K

Darkwing

Silver King

Megalops Erectus

FennelGiraffe

It's green they say

Puma

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maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Puma

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ReinyDays

A.K.A. Evil Cupcake

Puma

Retired and loving it!

ReinyDays

A.K.A. Evil Cupcake