Would you use the word "swum" these days? I mean, grammatically, it is the past participle of the verb "to swim", but it seems to me that no one uses it anymore. If it's the case, how would You describe the fact that You have already performed an act of swimming today? With "swum" it would be like this: "I've already swum today"


Solution 1:

I would see that word for swim race or competition:

I have already swum (the 500m swim race) today

as opposed to the more common

I have already been swimming today

or:

I have already gone swimming today

(you generally "go swimming", not just "swim")

Solution 2:

A quick, unscientific survey of Google and Google NGram suggests:

  • swum is still widely considered as being the correct past participle of swim.
  • I've swam is more common than I've swum in casual usage.
  • In formal usage and printed material, I've swum is still much more common.

Are there any trained linguistics willing to weigh in on the matter?