English grammar error

Question

They should drink quite a lot.They must have drunk quite a lot.They actually drank quite a lot.They couldn't drink a lot.

Sorry to be persnickety--"drunk" is only an adjective in English, never a verb. "Have drank" is the correct form.

Alan Graham · Answer

I don't agree, Allison. "Drunk" is the past participle, so "have drunk" is correct. Maybe "have drank" is used in American English?

Clara Melchor Bowman · Answer

Drink is the present - I like to drink coffee. Drank is the simple past - I drank coffee yesterday. Drunk is the past participle, used for the present perfect and past perfect - I have never drunk coffee, I had never drunk coffee.

Hope this helps :)

Laura K Lawless · Answer

Hi Alison, 
Drank is the past tense (I drank) while drunk is the past participle (I have drunk). Take a look at https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-drank-vs-drunk for more info about this common error.
(I'm American, fwiw.)

allison herr · Answer

Wow, this might be one of the things about which grammar freaks disagree--I vividly recall my high school English teacher (who knew everything about grammar, of course) telling us that drunk is a state of intoxication, never a verb! Could it be one of those forms that has changed over the years?

Update: I did find two sources saying the past participle "drank" was used in older English. Given that my teacher was already old when I was in high school, this could be the source of the confusion. So thanks all, for your corrections; I will adjust to modern times!

Thea Rae · Answer

ABSOLUTELY NOT!  ' I drank'  but  'I have drunk' are the correct forms