On Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:18:48 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 9/4/2014 7:22 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 04 Sep 2014 17:24:03 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 9/4/2014 4:40 PM, Grant Edwards wrote:
On 2014-09-04, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:

And my latest favorite, The car over turned. We all understand that the
car turned over but that is not proper English, ending the sentence with
a preposition.

"overturn" is a verb, and it's in all my dictionaries (electronic and
dead-tree). Ending the sentence with the past-tense of a verb is
perfectly proper when you're making a statement that something
happened in the past.

The tree fell.

The dog barked.

The car overturned.

But did the car overturn or did the drive overturn? Is that what caused
the car to turn over, the steering being overturned?

The word "overturned" is well understood. It is a verb with the
subject being "car". A car is not a wheel, so there is no confusion.
It does not mean the same thing as "over-steered".

Well, it wasn't supposed to be turned on that axis, at all, so if it's
shiny-side down, I suppose it was "over turned". ;-)

If you prefer passive voice:

The car was overturned.

Well maybe it is an adverb and could be turned over......

It's a verb. In your example it's past tense [but you misspelled it
by inserting a space in the middle].

So what the heck is overturned????

Here's what Wictionary says:

Etymology

From Middle English overturnen, equivalent to over- +? turn. Compare
also Middle English overterven (“to overturn”), see terve.
Verb

overturn (third-person singular simple present overturns, present
participle overturning, simple past and past participle overturned)

1. To turn over, capsize or upset (something)

So why not just say something turned over as the #1 definition states?
Or is the definition poor English?

Like many verbs, it's precise meaning depends greatly on the subject.
Would you limit the language to only one way of saying something? Are
you French?


2. To overthrow or destroy something

3. (law) To reverse a decision; to overrule or rescind

4. To diminish the significance of a previous defeat by winning; to
comeback from.

Was the steering wheel turned too much? Is that like over steer?

No, it means the car was turned upside-down. The roof was on the
ground and the wheels were on top.

Yeah, but your sentence, the car was turned upside-down, ends in a
preposition, down is a location. That is supposedly a no no, do not end
a sentence with a preposition.

Only in some quarters. Others have no problems with sentences ending
such.

FWIW my dictionary indicates over to an adverb also, modifys the verb,
turned

"Overturned" is one word. It the verb of the sentence.



Maybe they should think a little harder and tell us what really
happened. The car ended up in an inverted position or the car was up
side down as a result of the accident.

I don't understand what your complaint is.

The reporters are trying to make the last words in a sentence "turned
over" grammatically correct as easily as possible, by reversing the two
words, and making the matter confusing.

The words weren't reversed. "Overturned" is one word.

Oddly they continue to say that the pedestrian was run over, why don't
they say the pedestrian was over run.

Different word. "Overrun" is a big mistake for an airplane or
something ISIS did in I.


The deal is that 5~6 years ago it was always turned over, then one
changed and they all played me too.
No one has any doubt what turned over means.

Perhaps you've led a sheltered life? I've heard, and used, the word
"overturned" since I was a kid. "Turned over" is an active voice, as
in "I turned over the car" (which could mean that I started it, too
;-). The passive voice "the car overturned" doesn't imply who did it.
It's the state of the vehicle; shiny side down.

When you hear them reading of the teleprompter, one cannot distinguish
overturned from over turned.

Perhaps it's you? If they teleprompter reader doesn't have a mouthful
of marbles, the two should be easily discriminated, not to mention the
context or grammar should be clear.