Post by Jon DannikenI can't for the life of me figure out the future tense of smite.
Since English doesn't have a real future tense, simply stick
"will," "shall," "going to," or some such in front of the
present: "will smite." So far as I know, that will work for any
verb.
Post by Jon DannikenI realize that it is an irregular verb, smite, smote, smitten,
but what form would it take in a future tense? I assumed it
would be "smited" (as in, "will be smited"), but I can't find
an appropriate reference to that anywhere.
Now you are talking about the passive voice. Start by asking
yourself what the present passive is. It is "(be) smitten."
Yes, that is usually used in connection with love or
infatuation, and indeed, this is the only sense and construction
of "smite" that has much currency. That is why you did not
think of the answer right away. "Smite" in the active voice,
meaning more or less "strike down," has not been common recently
and is only encountered in Biblical discussions, Elizabethan
literature, and jocular attempts at such language.
If the present passive is "(be) smitten," then according to the
formula given above, "will be smitten" should be the future
tense of passive "smite," and indeed, it is.
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