What does spread out mean?

The phrasal verb spread out means “move apart, distribute, expand, or grow so as to cover a larger area or period of time.”

Spread out in a sentence examples
He took the toys out of the box and spread them out on the floor.

The roots of these plants will spread out very quickly.

Instead of having workshops every day, we could spread them out over five weeks.

When using “spread out” in different tenses, remember that the past tense of spread is also “spread,” not “spreaded” (so the simple past tense and past participle forms of “spread out” are both “spread out”).

Why not use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to check that you’re using “spread out” correctly in your text?

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Is it sewed or sown?

The correct past participle of the verb “sew” is “sewn,” or less commonly sewed (e.g., “Have you already sewn/sewed the seams?” or “Was it hand-sewn/sewed?”).

Sown or, less commonly, “sowed” is the past participle of the verb “sow,” which means “to plant” (e.g., “What seeds have you sown/sowed in that field?”).

Sewed is also the past tense of sew (i.e., its simple past tense form).

QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you pick up errors with tricky verb forms like “sewed” and “sown” in your writing.

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What is the past tense of hang up?

The simple past tense of the phrasal verb hang up is “hung up” (e.g., “He called yesterday, but I just hung up”).

On a related note, if you’re not sure whether you should use hung or hanged as the past participle or simple past form of the verb “hang;” “hung” is always correct, except when you’re referring to “death by hanging.”

QuillBot’s free Grammar checker will help you to select the correct form of tricky verbs like “hang up.”

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When do I use the present perfect continuous?

Use the perfect present continuous when discussing an action that started in the past and continues in the present moment or an action that has recently ended but has an effect on the present moment.

For example:

  • The children have been building a sandcastle all morning. She has been exercising at the gym for an hour.

QuillBot’s Grammar Checker can help you use the present perfect tense correctly.

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What is the plural form of scarf?

The spelling of the plural form of the noun “scarf” is scarves or scarfs.

The standard spelling for the item of clothing you wear around your neck is scarves, but “scarfs” is also an acceptable alternative.

Scarfs is the standard spelling for technical uses of the word (e.g., to mean a part of a wooden joint).

You can use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you pick up errors in the spelling of nouns with confusing plural forms such as “scarf.”

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