Leaped or leapt, past and perfect tenses

Asked Jan 07 '16 at 18:35

Active Jan 07 '16 at 19:03

Viewed 87 times

Here is my passage, more or less:

Dick and Jane leapt from the boat into the icy waters of the North Pacific. Had they not leaped, they would not have been eaten by sharks as the rescue helicopter was just minutes away.

Leaped or leapt? Had leaped or had leapt? Has leaped sounds better to me than has leapt, right?

edited Jan 07 '16 at 19:03

asked Jan 07 '16 at 18:35

Stu W

7,116

5

Possible duplicate of "Lept" vs. "leapt" vs. "leaped" Also see Why do some words have two past tense forms (e.g. “dreamed” vs. “dreamt”)? – choster Jan 07 '16 at 18:53
Yes, covered well by the links mentioned above. You should feel free to choose subjectively. For me, "leaped" leads more fluidly to the action-packed remainder of the sentence, whereas "leapt" [preferred spelling] sounds more halting if you want to emphasize a sense of hesitation. – lauir Jan 07 '16 at 19:08
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The oddity is that he used the irregular form in the active voice and the regular form in the passive voice. – AmI Jan 07 '16 at 20:55
Exactly. I'd like to leave this open for a bit if y'all don't mind. – Stu W Jan 07 '16 at 21:38
@StuW If the related questions do not address your question, please edit to indicate what more you are looking for. – choster Jan 07 '16 at 21:47

Leaped or leapt, past and perfect tenses

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