Saturday 16 January 2021

past imperfect or picking up on a pattern

We quite enjoyed these contemporary irregular verb conjugations by McSweeney’s contributor Elizabeth Preston. For instance, the infinitive to smile: 

Simple past: I smiled. 

Present tense: I smize behind my mask. 

Present progressive: I am squinting jovially and half-nodding at strangers on the sidewalk.

Future tense: I will miss this mask-acquired acne not one bit. 

Future perfect: I will have forgotten how to smile without grimacing like a toddler who’s asked to say cheese. 

More at McSweeney’s Internet Tendency at the link up top.