What is the past tense of "sync"?
I've always believed the past tense of sync ("I sync my phone with my computer") to be synced ("I synced my phone with my computer yesterday"). This question would seem to suggest either synced or synched. I have a friend who insists the past tense is sunk. I'd appreciate if you could make this clear for me.
Solution 1:
The past tense is "synced". "Sunk" is the past tense of "sink" which sounds the same but is a completely different word. "Synced" appears to have made its way into dictionaries:
- Merriam-Webster
- Wiktionary
- TheFreeDictionary
- Dictionary.com
- and I am sure many others
Edit: As others have pointed out, "synch" and "synched" are acceptable variants.
Solution 2:
The past tense of to sync, which is to synchronise, is synced:
Example taken from the NOAD: The flash needs to be synced to your camera.
Since the verb can also be spelt as to synch, the related past tense can also be synched.
Solution 3:
The past tense of sync is synced, while the past tense of synch (which is the alternative to sync) is synched.
Sync is a short for synchronize; I would rather avoid the short version, and say synchronized when you need the past tense.