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Proven vs proved

Proven vs proved

Proven vs proved

(OP)
I have always used the word 'proven' in a somewhat long past tense plural reference, i.e. "Those theories have been proven before...", and 'proved' in a more immediate past singular tense, i.e. "He proved it by showing me...". I just installed Google's tool-kit spell checker for web page fields and it insisted that there is no such word as 'proven'. Dictionaries however shown 'proven' as being completely synonymous to 'proved' without comment other than list it as a later use, which implies then that 'proved' is/was somewhat more valid. To my ear 'proved' just doesn't sound right in some circumstances. Comments?

By the way, I mean comments on usage. I already know how to edit my Google dictionary!

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Proven vs proved

I thought "Proved" was the participle of the verb "to prove", and that "proven" was the adjective, qualifying something that had been proved.

"I proved the theory, making it a proven theory"

Have I been doing it worng all these years?

A.

RE: Proven vs proved

zeusfaber,

Even if you have not proved the theory, it still may be a proven theory if someone else has already proved it.

Even if you have not proven the theory, it still may be a proved theory if someone else has already proven it.

Both sounds okay?

bugeyed

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Proven vs proved

From answers.com:

USAGE NOTE   Prove has two past participles: proved and proven. Proved is the older form. Proven is a variant. The Middle English spellings of prove included preven, a form that died out in England but survived in Scotland, and the past participle proven, a form that probably rose by analogy with verbs like weave, woven and cleave, cloven. Proven was originally used in Scottish legal contexts, such as The jury ruled that the charges were not proven. In the 20th century, proven has made inroads into the territory once dominated by proved, so that now the two forms compete on equal footing as participles. However, when used as an adjective before a noun, proven is now the more common word: a proven talent.

RE: Proven vs proved

You mean "proofed" isn't correct?  as in "I sure proofed him wrong, didn't I?"

RE: Proven vs proved

(OP)
LOL

RE: Proven vs proved

(OP)
Or the equally disastrous 'proofen', as in "I ben proofen them theeries a' yern."

RE: Proven vs proved

LOL, the only time I've heard of "proofed" being used is as a pseudo-contraction of "proof read"

Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

"All the world is a Spring"

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.

RE: Proven vs proved

Many geotechnical reports recommend "proof-rolling" a subgrade prior to placing slabs.  I know I've heard contractors say something like, "Has that dirt been proofed yet?".

RE: Proven vs proved

According to "Fowler's Modern English Usage", the two forms actually derive from two different verbs, which both ultimately derive from the same source.

In standard British English, "proved" is the past tense and past participle of "prove". (They proved their point / their point was proved.)

"Proven" derives from a Scottish legal term ("not proven" which is pronounced "proh-ven"), but has spread into general usage (where it is more commonly pronounced "proo-ven"), especially when used as an attribute of a noun; e.g. "His love of precise dates and proven facts".

In America English, and increasingly world-wide, "proved" and "proven" are used more or less interchangeably nowadays.

RE: Proven vs proved

... which is almost exactly what stevenal said!

(Sorry, I missed stevenal's entry on first reading.)

RE: Proven vs proved

Can I propose the use of "prought" as a nice alternative?
After all you can never have too many "ough" constructions...

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams

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