Inflecting OK

Inflecting OK Inflecting OK Inflecting OK By Maeve Maddox A reader stumbled on the word OKing in the following: Owners of eight rooftop clubs abutting Wrigley Field sued to overturn city approval of the $375 million plan to rebuild the aging ballpark, saying the city broke its own rules in OKing the plan and effectively deprived them of their property rights without due process. After a moment, the reader figured out that OKing was the present participle inflection of OK. NOTE: an inflection is a variation in the spelling of a word to indicate a change in case, gender, number, tense, person, mood, voice, or comparison. OK is inflected as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, OK is used in the plural as well as in the singular. As a verb, it is inflected to show person, number, and tense. A glance at usage in various publications quickly shows disagreement as to how to spell and inflect this indispensable word: Noun: Judge gives her preliminary  OK Is it Okay for My Cat to Have Milk? Get the estimates, then notify the receivers for  their OKs. We soon had inspectors come and give the house all of  their ok’s  and ratings. Verb (Past Tense): Highlights of gun  bill OK’d  by Massachusetts House   Bill delaying plans to move disabled from institutions OKed by NJ Assembly Cyber Bill okayed by US Senate committee; faces uphill struggle Verb (Present Participle): U.S. heading toward OKing more ‘Roundup-Ready’ genetically engineered farm acreage EPA rules on sulfur in gasoline, okaying guns in Indiana school parking lots What help do the authorities offer? The Chicago Manual of Style does not include a rule in any of its numbered sections for spelling or inflecting OK, but it does use the spelling OK in some of its examples. And in its question and answer feature, an editor declares that okay is a standard â€Å"equal variant† of OK. Three of my dictionaries–the OED, Merriam-Webster (M-W), and the Australian Concise Oxford (OA)–show OK as the preferred spelling and okay as an acceptable alternative. My Oxford Canadian Current English (OCC) gives okay as the main entry and OK as an alternative spelling. Here is their take on the inflections of OK as a verb: OED: Present participle OKing or OKing; past tense and past participle OKed, OK-ed, OKed. M-W: OKd or okayed; OKd or okayed; OKing or okaying; OKs or okays OA: OK’s, OK’d, OK’ing OCC: okays or OK’s, okayed or OK’d, okaying or OK’ing Finally, The AP Stylebook does not mess about with alternatives. Here’s the AP rule on inflections for the verb OK: OK, OK’d, OK’ing, OKs. Do not use okay. Bottom line: If you have a stylebook, follow it. If you have a choice, choose the inflected forms that make the most sense to you. Having made your choice, be consistent. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and NumeralsWhat's a Male Mistress?Honorary vs. Honourary

Voiced vs. Voiceless Consonants

Voiced vs. Voiceless Consonants Phoneticists (who study the sound of the human voice) divide consonants into two types: voiced and voiceless. Voiced consonants require the use of the vocal cords to produce their signature sounds; voiceless consonants do not. Both types use the breath, lips, teeth, and upper palate to further modify speech. This guide presents the differences between voiced and voiceless consonants and gives you some tips for using them. ThoughtCo / Jaime Knoth Voiced Consonants Your vocal cords, which are actually mucous membranes, stretch across the larynx at the back of the throat. By tightening and relaxing as you speak, the vocal cords modulate the flow of breath expelled from the lungs. An easy way to determine whether a consonant is voiced or not is to place a finger on your throat. As you pronounce a letter, feel the vibration of your vocal cords. If you feel a vibration the consonant is a voiced one. These are the voiced consonants: B, D, G, J, L, M, N, Ng, R, Sz, Th  (as in the word then), V, W, Y, and Z. But if consonants are only single letters, what are Ng, Sz, and Th? Theyre common sounds that are produced by blending the two consonants phonetically. Here are some examples of words that include voiced consonants: traveledglovesshellsstartedchangedwheelsliveddreamsexchangedglobesphoneslistenedorganized Voiceless Consonants Voiceless consonants do not use the vocal cords to produce their hard, percussive sounds. Instead, theyre slack, allowing air to flow freely from the lungs to the mouth, where the tongue, teeth, and lips engage to modulate the sound. These are the voiceless consonants: Ch, F, K, P, S, Sh, T, and Th  (as in thing). Common words using them include: washedcoatswatchedbooksseatsdroppedcarts Vowels Vowel sounds (A, E, I, O, U) and diphthongs  (combinations of two vowel sounds) are all voiced. That also includes the letter Y when pronounced like a long E. Examples: city, pity, gritty. Changing Voice When consonants are put in groups, they can change the vocal quality of the consonant that follows. A great example is the past simple form of regular verbs. You can recognize these verbs because they end in ed. However, the consonant sound of this ending can change from voiced to voiceless, depending on the consonant or vowel that precedes it. In almost all cases, the E is silent. Here are the rules: If the ed is preceded by a voiceless consonant such as K, it should be pronounced as a voiceless T. Examples: parked, barked, markedIf the ed is preceded by a voiced consonant sound such as B or V, it should be pronounced as a voiced D. Examples: robbed, thrived, shovedIf the ed is preceded by a vowel sound, it should be pronounced as a voiced D  because vowels are always voiced. Examples: freed, fried, liedException: If the ed is preceded by T, it should be pronounced a voiced id sound. In this case, the e is pronounced. Examples: dotted, rotted, plotted This pattern can also be found with plural forms. If the consonant preceding the S is voiced, the S will be pronounced phonetically as a Z. Examples: chairs, machines, bags If the consonant preceding the S is voiceless, then the S also will be pronounced as a voiceless consonant. Examples: bats, parks, pipes. Connected Speech When speaking in sentences, the ending consonant sounds can change based on the following words. This is often referred to as connected speech. Here is an example of a change from a voiced B in the word club to a voiceless P because of the voiced T in to of the following word: We went to the club to meet some friends. Here is an example of a change from a voiced D past simple verb changed to voiceless T: We played tennis yesterday afternoon.