56

I have used the word inputted in an assignment and am being forced to change it to input. However, both the Oxford English Dictionary (I am in New Zealand so this is most relevant) and MS Word list inputted as acceptable. Do others regard inputted as acceptable?

The scope of this project will be clearly defined in that it is to strictly provide positive movie recommendations to users who have inputted a sufficient amount of data.

RegDwigнt
  • 97,231
benkluge
  • 575

3 Answers3

65

"Inputted" may be acceptable per Oxford, but it sets my teeth on edge; my ear wants "input" to follow the same rules as "put". I suspect I'm not the only one, which is probably why you're being forced to change it.

EDIT: This question/answer has been getting a bit of attention recently, so I'd like to clarify my comment below. There is a verb, putt, meaning "try to hit a golf ball into a hole by striking it gently so that it rolls across the green", which is often confused with put "to move or place". (The confusion is natural, since the golfing term comes from a Scots variant of "put" - but the two words are distinct, and pronounced differently.)

The past tense of put is put; the past tense of putt is putted. Since input is formed from "put" rather than "putt", it seems logical that its past tense should be input, rather than "inputted"; "inputted" sounds like a demented golfing term.

MT_Head
  • 15,302
  • 4
    @MTH Hang on!!! - isn't inputted basically the past tense? "My jobs is to input data. Yesterday, I inputted 100 items." If you say "Yesterday I input 100 items" that sounds totally weird ....... doesn't it?! Maybe my ear is going?? Help! – Fattie Jun 21 '11 at 07:46
  • 16
    @Joe Blow - I guess it depends on your ear... As I said, my ear wants "input" to follow the same rules as "put"; if I "putted" 100 items yesterday, they had better have been golf balls. – MT_Head Jun 21 '11 at 07:49
  • @MTH So you would say "Yesterday I put 100 balls in a bag." I suppose you're right, thanks. That's the damn trouble with these new, computer-and-technology-related words - there's no rich backdrop feel. I've got a feeling there's some situations where you would need to use "inputted" - but I can't put my finger on it :-/ – Fattie Jun 21 '11 at 07:52
  • 7
    @Joe Blow - Don't get me wrong - OED, NOAD and OALD all accept "inputted", and I'm not saying that my ear outweighs their judgment. I'm just saying it sounds ugly, and if you have a choice between two correct words, why would you choose the ugly one? – MT_Head Jun 21 '11 at 08:00
  • 3
    Input has nothing to do with computer and technology. –  Jul 16 '12 at 17:45
  • As others have stated, the rules seem to allow it, and 'inputted' sounds pretty normal to me. I certainly use the word inputted in my daily speech in the same way it was used in the question ("Are you sure she inputted our correct information?"). The only way to use 'input' in the question that sounds right to me would be to force the present tense and say "to users who input a sufficient amount of data". Trying to say "to users who have input a sufficient amount of data" doesn't seem wrong, but it does sound weird to me. – Patrick Sep 29 '14 at 22:01
  • 2
    @Patrick - Obviously you don't have to justify it on grammatical grounds, but... could you? "Input" is derived from "put", and "putted" is absolutely NOT correct unless you're talking about golf - so it comes down to "my ear prefers this and not that". – MT_Head Sep 29 '14 at 22:28
  • 1
    @MT_Head If we switched "input" for "put in", which I think works most of the time, it's obvious "putted in" doesn't work, and you could use that to discredit "inputted". I searched around and the best explanation I can offer for our discrepancy is the syllable stress. When I say "input" as "in put" (stressing both syllables), I agree with you ("in putted" is bad). When I only stress the "in", "inputted" seems better. "Input" also reminds me of "wet" and "rid": "He wet/wetted the bed", "We rid/ridded the town of rats". Ngram of inputted,ridded,wetted. – Patrick Sep 30 '14 at 14:42
  • 1
    What's wrong with just saying "entered" data? – Steven Littman Jun 25 '15 at 03:20
  • -1... your preference dictates neither correctness, nor objective ugliness, nor common usage. You're totally free, that is, to personally consider 'inputted' the better-sounding or even the correct choice, but it's also totally unreasonable to try and frame it as a matter of 'logic'; language is chock-full on principle of irregularities, and chiefly illogical ones to boot. 'Inputted' could easily be yet another. –  Feb 19 '18 at 03:10
  • 1
    @M.I.Wright - Although I did comment on objective ugliness, I said nothing about correctness (or, rather, I conceded that both are correct.) I didn't even mention common usage - although a quick squint at an Ngram seems to indicate that "inputted" is actually vanishingly un common. So... what exactly was your point? "Yadda yadda English is totally illogical, so why bother yadda yadda" - did I understand you correctly? – MT_Head Feb 19 '18 at 06:02
5

My NOAD lists input and inputted both as acceptable participles. Same goes for the OALD.

Alenanno
  • 18,136
-6

I just put this into one of my java programs.. and it seems to fit well since they have already input the data.

// Shows user how many of each currency unit is in the amount they inputted

Chris
  • 3
  • 6
    don't you mean they have already "inputted" the data? –  Apr 13 '12 at 16:15
  • 5
    You can’t have “putted” anything in, you know. There is no such word as putted, except insofar as concerns the game of golf. How currency came to be involved with putting, let alone how Java enters the picture, I have no idea, considering that I believe Sumatra fairly well dominates the sport. – tchrist Nov 11 '12 at 12:06
  • 4
    -1 for being inconsistent in your comment and your explanation of it. – Caleb Mar 16 '15 at 17:31
  • just use typed in – chip Feb 02 '18 at 05:29
  • 2
    -1 - Worst.reasoning.ever. – Greenonline Jul 03 '18 at 20:46