| Do you know how to use stink or stank properly? Posted: How do you want to sound? So you said "stunk" and someone made a face at you! Should it be "stank"? Oh dear, what's the difference? The past tense of "stink" can be rather confusing. Read on to become an expert on this question. Steps - Remember that STANK is the past form. Use it when you refer to a finished time, such as last night, yesterday, etc. STUNK is the participle form (ok, never mind that word), but it means you use it with HAVE, HAS, or HAD. These sentences are correct:
- She sure stank up the kitchen last night with that burned milk!
- I'm sorry, but the baby's diaper really stank on the way home yesterday!
- The house hasn't stunk this bad since the day we found that rat behind the dryer.
- If you hadn't stunk up the bathroom, I wouldn't have opened the window and let your orchids freeze in the snow.
- Remember that STINK (STANK - STUNK) is what is called an irregular verb. That means it doesn't have an -ED at the end (like LIVE - LIVED - LIVED). It's like this verb: DRINK - DRANK - DRUNK.
- Don't worry about using the word like this: "You're sure making a big stink about nothing!". That's not your problem. (It's a noun here.)
- Don't worry about using the word like this: "I can't stand that stinking tree in front of the window anymore". That's also not your problem. (It's an adjective here.)
- Think about the word when you want to make a sentence like this: "You really stunk at checkers last night." That's wrong. It should be STANK.
- Think about the word when you want to make a sentence like this: "She hasn't stank that bad since you bought her that cheap perfume." That's wrong. It should be STUNK.
Tips - To check if you are using the word correctly, you can look in a dictionary at the sample sentence given (hopefully) after the definition, and see if your sentence looks the same.
- Remember that STINK-STANK-STUNK is like DRINK-DRANK-DRUNK. You wouldn't say, "He drunk too much last night", or "Have you drank all that medicine?", at least not if you speak standard literate English.
- You can do a search of your phrase (such as "she stunk") on Google, with the quotation marks, and see what comes up. You might quickly find places that tell you this is wrong.
- You could type your phrase into a Microsoft Word document, turn on the grammar check function, and see if you get a green underline. That would also tell you it's wrong.
- You could check in a grammar or writing reference handbook from one of your writing classes, and probably find the word in the index. Look up the page and you should see some correct sample sentences.
- Remember you can decide how you want to sound in English, how educated, how sophisticated, how relaxed. If you don't care, then which word you use doesn't matter. But if you are writing at work, school, professionally, or are simply trying to sound correct, then you really need to learn the difference between STANK and STUNK.
- Use a synonym if it's too hard to remember when is the proper time to use stank instead of stunk or vice versa.
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| How to Plan a Surprise Romantic Getaway Posted: Daily life tends to interfere with the amount of romantic time we have to spend with our partners. A surprise romantic getaway may be just the thing to add some anticipation, excitement, and romance back into a relationship. Steps - Choose the date(s). You need to make sure your partner won't have anything planned during that time. There are a few ways to go about securing their time without ruining the surprise. For one, you can plan something else with your mate, preferably something routine. Or, ask your mate's relative or friend to plan something with them for that time.
- Find a place that will hold special meaning for your partner, since you're planning a surprise just for him or her. When choosing your lodging, take into account your partner's preferences, such as "romance of the big city" vs. "secluded in nature". Also consider whether your partner prefers small intimate lodgings like B&Bs or cottages, or larger accommodations with lots of amenities such as hotels and resorts. You can also choose a location that's meaningful in some way. For example, you could choose a place where you had your first kiss, or the city where you proposed, or a place your partner has always dreamed of visiting but hasn't yet had the chance.
- Figure out how to get the reservation confirmation without your partner intercepting it. Provide your personal cell phone number, email address, or even work address for any reservation confirmations or tickets. This will help to prevent your partner from prematurely finding out about your surprise. Let the hotel or resort know that you are planning a surprise so that they do not inadvertently give it away.
- Take care of the logistics. Make sure you both have valid passports, arrange for child-care and/or pet-sitting, house-sitting arrangements, mail pick-up, and other details.
- Surprise your partner, giving them enough time to pack. (Or, you could pack for them, but most people prefer to do it themselves.) A bouquet of flowers when revealing the surprise is a nice touch.
- Optional: Keep the destination a secret until you get there. Employ blindfolds and headphones so that when you get there, your significant other get the full effect of the surprise!
Warnings - Some people don't enjoy surprises and won't appreciate if you have everything packed and ready to go on their behalf. If your partner doesn't like surprises, you may want to take a gentler approach. Do the preliminary research and have suggestions on hand, and surprise him/her with them - then involve him/her in the planning.
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