We're talking about two different qualitative things here. It's not a transitive/intransitive thing, it's whether you're talking about shining as in "polishing things" (i.e. shoes or silver), or shining as in giving off or reflecting light (i.e. the sun or a mirror). Thus:
The past tense of polishing-shining is "shined". The past tense of glowing-shining is "shone".
Well, I certainly never "shone" my shoes, anyway; that's absolutely clear to me :-).
But I think the *other* one is complicated. I know I *shined* my flashlight on something the other night, for example; I'm really quite sure I didn't "shone" it.
Right, indeed -- and I'd argue that "...he shined a flashlight on the lake's surface..." is, strictly, inaccurate usage, because the flashlight is not synonymous with the light it emits. (You can do a lot of other things with a flashlight that are not related to making light -- for instance, whacking someone upside the head with it. Also, "I shined my flashlight..." could be read to mean "I polished the shiny metal surface of my flashlight...", and that's potentially confusing.
This is nitpicky, I know. But I am inclined to stand firm on it, short of TNH or Deanna Hoak weighing in on the opposite side....
I think you're onto something here, but not the whole story. There are indeed two senses of the verb, but they have different rules for forming the past tense.
The past tense of "shine" in the sense of "polish" is always "shined." ("He shined his shoes"; never "he shone his shoes.")
The past tense of "shine" in the sense of "glow or gleam" is "shined" if it's transitive ("he shined the flashlight on the wall") and "shone" if it's intransitive ("the sun shone").
I hate having to jump into a dictionary to check my answer, but MW.com lists the distinction as transitive/intransitive, so both the third and forth choices point to the same thing, don't they?
The third ("Shined" if the object reflects light, "shone" if it glows with its own light) and fourth ("Shined" if it's transitive, "shone" if it's intransitive) choices are distinct because objects that glow with their own light can be used transitively or intransitively. The third choice means that "he shone the flashlight on the wall" is correct because it glows with its own light, while the fourth choice means that "he shined the flashlight on the wall" is correct because it's transitive.
I hate this language somedays. I really do. It can be beautiful, but sometimes the internal conflicts are frustrating. How did I ever learn this stuff?
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 05:24 am (UTC)The past tense of polishing-shining is "shined". The past tense of glowing-shining is "shone".
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 05:45 am (UTC)But I think the *other* one is complicated. I know I *shined* my flashlight on something the other night, for example; I'm really quite sure I didn't "shone" it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 05:54 am (UTC)Right?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 06:37 am (UTC)This is nitpicky, I know. But I am inclined to stand firm on it, short of TNH or Deanna Hoak weighing in on the opposite side....
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 06:27 pm (UTC)The past tense of "shine" in the sense of "polish" is always "shined." ("He shined his shoes"; never "he shone his shoes.")
The past tense of "shine" in the sense of "glow or gleam" is "shined" if it's transitive ("he shined the flashlight on the wall") and "shone" if it's intransitive ("the sun shone").
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 10:05 am (UTC)I never did either, but that's because over here in the UK, as far as I know, we never shine our shoes, we only ever polish them. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 12:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 12:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 01:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 06:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 03:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 07:10 am (UTC)Shake, shook, shaken
Take, took, taken
Bake, book, baken
Make, mook, maken
Rake, rook, raken
Fake, fook, faken....
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 06:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 06:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-17 08:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-18 04:00 am (UTC)you crazy diamond, you
Actually ...
Date: 2007-07-27 11:01 pm (UTC)