FROM GEORGINA
What is the deal with sank/sunk? Which do I use and when do I use it?
RESPONSE
It’s commonly taught that “sank” and “sunk” are interchangeable for past tense, and I suppose that’s true as far as meaning and common usage, but I hold to stricter rules in my writing. I use “sank” exclusively for past tense and “sunk” exclusively for passive voice or adjective. So:
The boat sank.
but never
The boat sunk.
and
The boat was sunk.
but never
The boat was sank.
I also use sank for the perfect tenses:
The boat had sank.
The boat has sank.
Of course, I break this rule in dialogue, because people use past tense "sunk" all the time when they speak. There's never much grammar stricture in dialogue, unless you're trying to portray intelligence.
“Drink” and “shrink” follow the same rules. It’s an interesting group of verbs. They can be either transitive or intransitive. They even have a special adjective form: “sunken”, “drunken”, and “shrunken”, but those are fast becoming archaic, except for little hold out phrases like “sunken treasure”, “drunken fool”, and “shrunken heads”.
You might think “stink” and “slink” would follow the same rules, but they don’t. Rhyme does not dictate conjugation. They’re both strictly intransitive verbs (unless “stink” is combined with “up”) and can’t form passive voice. Plus, while there is a past tense “stank”, there is no past tense “slank” – it’s “slunk” with “slinked” gaining ground. To me, "stank" is on the outs, and "stunk" is the more accepted past tense verb. However, I use "stank" to portray unusually powerful smells, because it sounds more harsh, and it requires more effort to say, much like hanged/hung. So for my fart, I'd say, "It stunk." For my brother's fart, I'd say, "It stank."
Anyway, to back out of the rabbit trail, there are other verbs that do follow the same conjugation rules as "sink", but have no special adjective forms:
stink up, stank up, stunk up
begin, began, begun
swim, swam, swum
sing, sang, sung
ring, rang, rung
spring, sprang, sprung
In all cases, I use the “a” verb exclusively for past tense and the “u” verb exclusively for passive voice and adjective.
These verbs are also unique because the passive voice verb form slips into adjective mode pretty effortlessly, and sometimes it’s not too easy to tell if it’s a verb or an adjective. Context usually swings the vote:
The wine was drunk. (passive voice verb)
The man was drunk. (adjective)
The ship was sunk. (passive voice verb)
We’re sunk! (adjective)
Anyway…all, and I’m sure much more than you wanted to know about “sank” and “sunk”.