Shined or Shone?

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 28, 2008

Here's the sentence:

She had silky black hair that fell to her shoulders and shined in the lights as she moved.

So is shined correct? Or should it be shone? Are they both past-tense of shine?

Suddenly, I'm very confused.

Rolling Thunder · Jan 28, 2008

In your sentence, shined reads like present tense to me. Um...but the entire sentence is passive. Have you thought about changing it to an active statement to make it more powerful using fewer words?

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 28, 2008

When I was reading it, it seemed fined. When I posted it, it seemed dull.

How about:

Her silky black hair fell to her shoulders and shined in the lights as she moved.

And are you suggesting that shined is present tense and shone is past-tense?

Don Allen · Jan 28, 2008

Personal opinion, utterly meaningless, I like glistened...

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 28, 2008

Yeah, I thought of that too. That was my first thought, when in doubt, thesaurus it.

I'm still curious which is correct however.

Rolling Thunder · Jan 28, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
When I was reading it, it seemed fined. When I posted it, it seemed dull.

How about:

Her silky black hair fell to her shoulders and shined in the lights as she moved.

And are you suggesting that shined is present tense and shone is past-tense?

Shone is past tense:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=shone
Shined:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=shined

How about dropping silky and allowing your reference 'shined' to stand as the defining adjective in this case? Or maybe 'shined like silk' as a simile?

[FONT=&quot]'Her shoulder length black hair shined like silk in the light as she moved.'[/FONT]

blacbird · Jan 28, 2008

I think it should be shone, in this usage. Shined has a different connotation:

The sun shone on the distant mountains.

This morning I shined my shoes.

caw

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 28, 2008

Now I"m really confused. They both mean the same thing.

to give forth or glow with light; shed or cast light.

Rolling Thunder · Jan 28, 2008

Well, which one do -you- like better? Go with the one you prefer and when you go back to edit you'll either keep it or change it. Right?

Or go with Don's suggestion. Glistened. Gleamed. Or some other word that gives a strong sense of what you want the reader to feel.

Marlys · Jan 28, 2008

I'm going to guess that it's dialectical, similar to lit/lighted, dove/dived, and other examples where some dialects add the -ed ending while others prefer the internal change. See here for more.

I prefer shone, but I'm from the North.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 28, 2008

Or hanged/hung?

Funny thing about shone is I was spelling it as shown and had to do a search and replace, making sure I didn't change any real showns.

Rllgthunder said:
Well, which one do -you- like better? Go with the one you prefer and when you go back to edit you'll either keep it or change it. Right?

I'm actually in my TENTH edit. It just suddenly stuck out at me this time.

Marlys · Jan 28, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
Or hanged/hung?

No, those are used differently. Here's the skinny from the American Heritage Dictionary:

Hanged, as a past tense and a past participle of hang, is used in the sense of “to put to death by hanging,” as in Frontier courts hanged many a prisoner after a summary trial. A majority of the Usage Panel objects to hung used in this sense. In all other senses of the word, hung is the preferred form as past tense and past participle, as in I hung my child's picture above my desk.

Bufty · Jan 28, 2008

His newly shined shoes shone in the sunlight because they had just been shined. If they had not been shined they would not have shone.

Rolling Thunder · Jan 28, 2008

*watches Ferret's head explode*

blacbird · Jan 28, 2008

Bufty said:
His newly shined shoes shone in the sunlight because they had just been shined. If they had not been shined they would not have shone.

Would you shun a shoe shine in the sunshine?

(Say that five times fast).

caw

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 28, 2008

Both "shined" and "shone" are the simple past tense of the verb "to shine."

However, "shone" is the form that grammatical purists believe to be more correct--largely because it's a strong verb (similarly, purists prefer "dove" to "dived" and "pled" to "pleaded").

"Shined", on the other hand, feels more natural to many US English speakers.

Duncan J Macdonald · Jan 28, 2008

blacbird said:
Would you shun a shoe shine in the sunshine?

(Say that five times fast).

caw

That, That, That, That, That.

Duncan J Macdonald · Jan 28, 2008

IceCreamEmpress said:
Both "shined" and "shone" are the simple past tense of the verb "to shine."

However, "shone" is the form that grammatical purists believe to be more correct--largely because it's a strong verb (similarly, purists prefer "dove" to "dived" and "pled" to "pleaded").

"Shined", on the other hand, feels more natural to many US English speakers.

To this US speaker at least, the OP sentence's use of "shined" makes me want to watch that young lady's hair weilding a buffing cloth.

I vote for shone -- Her hair was shined till it shone.

blacbird · Jan 28, 2008

Duncan J Macdonald said:
That, That, That, That, That.

You get a rep point. I wondered who would be the first to post this.

caw

blacbird · Jan 28, 2008

Duncan J Macdonald said:
To this US speaker at least, the OP sentence's use of "shined" makes me want to watch that young lady's hair weilding a buffing cloth.

I vote for shone -- Her hair was shined till it shone.

I agree, although, from your avatar, it looks like maybe the buffing cloth would work . . .

(run away, run away . . . remember, I just gave you a rep point).

caw

jannawrites · Jan 28, 2008

blacbird said:
I think it should be shone, in this usage. Shined has a different connotation:

The sun shone on the distant mountains.

This morning I shined my shoes.

caw

This is very similar to the example I would have given. Therefore, I think, the original post should read shone instead of shined.

IceCreamEmpress · Jan 28, 2008

Duncan J Macdonald said:
To this US speaker at least, the OP sentence's use of "shined" makes me want to watch that young lady's hair wielding a buffing cloth.

I'm with you when it comes to my own idiolect. However, there are millions of people in the US for whom the past tense of "shine" is "shined" and there's not a thing you or I can do about it. If you Google, for instance, "shined in the role" you'll get hundreds of thousands of results, some from actual newspapers and magazines.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 29, 2008

*picks up the pieces of his exploded brain*

I changed it.

I will now avoid either word in the future.

Her long black hair seemed to dance in time to the music, shimmering like satin in the lights.

jannawrites · Jan 29, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
*picks up the pieces of his exploded brain*

You poor guy...

AJMarks · Jan 29, 2008

Bufty said:
His newly shined shoes shone in the sunlight because they had just been shined. If they had not been shined they would not have shone.

ROTFL

Personally, read it outloud, and see if it reads well. If you stumble then so will the reader and should be replaced.

Shined or Shone?

Court Jester

Court Jester

Seeking a Sanctuary of Intelligence

Court Jester

Court Jester

Resist. Love. Go outside.

Court Jester

Resist. Love. Go outside.

Where have the last ten years gone?

Hapless Virago

Plotting! Not Plodding!

Plotting! Not Plodding!

no, really

Hapless Virago

Court Jester

no, really