Quote Originally Posted by calvin View Post
Please don't take it the wrong way, I'm just pointing out that at the same time that you said that the participle must be spelt [ie it's irregular], you used the participle for "spell" as a regular verb. I could of course be wrong but I think this is passive with a modal verb, so using the participle.
I'm no expert on grammar. I can't remember all the rules. I only remember how I am used to writing and speaking. We take in what we learn hearing people speak and from reading, and internalise it. Some people are exposed to, and/or learn the rules more solidly than others. So, as you seem to know more about the rules pertaining to regular vs. irregular verbs, I'll defer to your knowledge. I, probably like most people, just go with what I instinctively "remember" as being what I've always been saying or writing. But I am in my mid 70s, and my memory is clouded, and more and more I am being shocked, that truths that I THINK I thought all my life have been changed behind my back, when I wasn't looking. But, it could possibly be that I made incorrect assumptions and/or learned those points incorrectly, in the first place.