Ninjas unite! In this tidbit of English wisdom, we'll consider now to properly convey stealth in the past tense. Which of the following sentences is correct?
· I sneaked into the house after curfew.
· I snuck into the house after curfew.
Although it sounds unnatural to many modern English speakers and writers to say sneaked, it is in fact considered to be the standard usage. A few decades ago, if you had used the word snuck, you would have been bombarded by the "that's not a word" treatment.
Although snuck has sneaked its way into many modern dictionaries and no longer makes purists raise their grammar-loving pitchforks, it is still not as correct as sneaked.
My personal recommendation is that you use snuck in dialogue because that is what most people say when they're speaking. It is also fine to use in narration if you're writing from a first person POV because you want to capture your character's voice. However, stick with sneaked when you're using third-person narration or when you're writing something that is more on the formal side of the writing spectrum.
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