Revised as of 16 April 2021
You know how versatile those verbs are, taking action now, in the past, or in the future. It all depends upon how you change the root word with those -ing and -ed endings.
The key point to remember is how the root word ends. If it’s with an e, remove the e and then add the -ing or -ed. If the root word ends with a consonant, copy the ending consonant — the p in this case — and add on the -ing and -ed.
So you may start griping at me and have gripped your mouse so tightly that it’s about to shatter, but you can’t get away from the facts.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Griping | Gripping |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: gripe and grip; The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: gripe; Oxford Living Dictionaries: gripe and gripe | |
Angry Arguing Woman by Mohamed Hassan is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — She is griping up a storm! |
Newborn Grip by Jason Pratt is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — Yep, that thumb looks gripped to me. Dang… |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Root word: gripe
Noun 1; Verb 1, 2, 3, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: gripes |
Root word: grip
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: grips |
| Noun: The focus in this post is on the verbal -ing (-ed) ending Verb, intransitive:
[Nautical (of a ship] To tend to come up into the wind in spite of the helm
To suffer pain in the bowels Verb, transitive: Affect with gastric or intestinal pain 2 [Archaic] Grasp tightly
To grasp or clutch, as a miser [Nautical] To secure a lifeboat to a deck or against a pudding boom on davits To distress or oppress To annoy or irritate To grasp or clutch, as a miser |
Noun: The focus in this post is on the verbal -ing (-ed) ending Verb, intransitive:
To take hold on the mind Verb, transitive:
[Of a feeling or emotion] Deeply affect someone
To grip the mind To attach by a grip or clutch |
| Examples: | |
| Verb, intransitive: They’re griping about the busywork. He’s always griping about the yardwork. Doesn’t she ever stop griping! I had occasion to observe the vessel griped to windward considerably. Verb, transitive: It’s griping my belly like a green apple. Hilyard was griping his dagger with a hand that shook. They’re griping the boats, Captain. The boat must be fully griped in at the davits and the harbour stop pins must be out. His tone of voice griped me. “And when her suster herde this, she griped hir be the shulders, and hir owt at the dore” (Merlin, E.E.T.S., i. 9.) “He had griped the monarch in a stricter and faster hold” (Jer. Taylor). |
Verb, intransitive: I preferred a sole that really gripped well on wet rock. We think the most likely cause is contamination of the brake disc pads at the noisy corner of the car, which could prevent them from gripping properly and cause a whining sound as they slip. Secondly, I noticed that the rear tyre rim was gripping slightly and I thought it might be out of alignment. It’s gripping very well, making driving around those twisty B-roads a real pleasure. Verb, transitive: She was gripped by a feeling of excitement. She gripped us from the first sentence. We gripped the sides of the boat as the waves tossed us about. You could see him gripping the minds of his audience. Katy tightly gripped the handle of her briefcase. Gripping his gun too hard, he missed every target. Gripping Ryan’s hand strongly, tears poured down their mud and blood streaked faces. It was gripping, thought-provoking, and genuinely entertaining, if you take the word in its broad sense. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: gripeful, griping Adverb: gripingly Noun: griper, grippe |
Adjective: gripless Noun: grippe, gripper Verb: regrip, regripped or regript, regripping, ungrip, ungripped, ungripping |
| History of the Word: | |
|
Old English grippa (verb), gripe (noun) meaning grasp, clutch; gripa meaning handful, sheath. It is related to gripe. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
It was Warm and Brown, <https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/2749788611/a3d123aeea/>, by Carly & Art, <https://visualhunt.com/author/a9e9ab>, is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via VisualHunt.
