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I know that there are two ways to form the past tense of to light (i.e. lit/lighted). Which one is appropriate for the sentence below?

His thoughts lighted our way.

or

His thoughts lit our way.

RegDwigнt
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justadeveloper
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    For reference: http://www.englishrules.com/writing/2006/lit-and-lighted/ –  Aug 25 '11 at 09:41
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    This question is easily answered by a dictionary: verb (past lit /lɪt/; past participle lit or lighted). If the question was "why are there two different past participles for some verbs?", we are happy to answer that (we have already). – z7sg Ѫ Aug 25 '11 at 09:54
  • Here is the thing that I suspect you are missing. english is not my native tongue. I speak and write pretty well though. But sometimes I may miss the nuances of the language. When I googled for lit-lighted I could not find an answer that satisfied me. The worry I had was if these two used for different contexts. For example maybe lit was used for actualy putting something on fire and lighted in a more allegorical way. That is why I gave the example His thoughts lit/lighted our way instead of I lit/lighted a candle. – justadeveloper Aug 25 '11 at 09:55
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    Why do some words have two past tense forms (e.g. “dreamed” vs. “dreamt”)? – z7sg Ѫ Aug 25 '11 at 09:55
  • We understand that many users here are not native speakers. However, asking for the past participle of a verb is fairly general reference. It adds a lot of research to a question if you say "I found that these are both past participles. Are they correct in different situations?" –  Aug 25 '11 at 10:00
  • I did all this with a simple question. I did not want to ask a 250 word question that no one would read. A deep question does not have to be 250 words. By using thoughts instead of a candle in the example I accomplished what I had in mind. If you are not sure, ask before judging. – justadeveloper Aug 25 '11 at 10:02
  • ykg: Your question was clear. If you want to know when to use which one, say so. –  Aug 25 '11 at 10:04
  • Anyone who tries to make a distinction is either a nit picker or somebody trying to sound intelligent. –  Jun 08 '14 at 18:41
  • @JohnWright trying to sound intelligent is much better than the alternative, all else being equal. Indeed, that sounds like a perfectly good reason to learn of any distinction they might have (though I do not find evidence that there is any such distinction, in actual fact). – Jon Hanna Jun 08 '14 at 21:00

3 Answers3

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I have a feeling that the best word for here is "lighted". "Lighted" is used more when referring to something illuminating another.

When generally referring to a source of light that brightens up the room, "lighted" is preferred:

The lantern lighted the whole room.

"Lit" is generally more used for "setting on fire" :

He lit the paper and threw it in the bin.
The little spark lit the straw, and the whole barn burned down.

Also,"lit" has an alternative meaning:

Slang . under the influence of liquor or narcotics; intoxicated (usually followed by up ).

Thus, I feel that "lighted" would be best here.

His thoughts lighted our way.

"Light" has two meanings, one meaning "to cause to take fire", and the other "to illuminate". When referring to "light" in the first sense, the past would be "lit":

He tried to light his cigar/ He lit his cigar

When referring to "light" in the second sense, "lighted"(often along with "up" is used:

His words were a light to my future/His words lighted up my future.

Thursagen
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  • Just for everyone's notice, the OP has changed the question, and it is now a valid question. I am reopening the question. – Thursagen Aug 25 '11 at 10:22
  • Agreed. I had a discussion with the OP, and this seems like a very valid question now. –  Aug 25 '11 at 10:38
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This is easy. Lighted and lit are synonymous and can be used in place of each other. There is no rule to use one or the other. Pick either.

RegDwigнt
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Ketan Sardesai
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Lit is British English and lighted is American English, the same thing with dreamt and dreamed respectively.

Gem
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