The Singer Who Was Not a Singer
A singer performs with the voice. The sewing machine of the same name came from a man called Isaac Singer, with no musical connection at all.
A singer is someone who produces music with the voice. The most recognised Singer of the nineteenth century never sang: Isaac Merritt Singer patented a practical sewing machine in 1851 and put his surname on millions of them, so for decades the word meant a machine in more households than it meant a musician. The surname itself is occupational, but it came from a different trade entirely.
- A person who sings. *A jazz singer.*
- Singer-songwriter — someone who writes and performs their own material. *A folk singer-songwriter.*
- Lead singer — the main voice in a band. *Their lead singer left.*
- Backing singer — supporting vocals. *Two backing singers.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | sing | Sing along. |
| Past | sang | She sang beautifully. |
| Participle | sung | It has been sung. |
| Agent | singer | A trained singer. |
| Noun | song | An old song. |
- The singer held the last note for eight seconds.Performance.
- She is a singer-songwriter rather than a performer of other people's work.The compound.
- He sang, so the past tense is sang, not sung.A frequent slip.
Sing, sang, sung
- Present — sing
- Simple past — sang, on its own: *she sang*
- Past participle — sung, with have or be: *she has sung*
- Same pattern — ring, rang, rung; drink, drank, drunk
- A common error — *she sung* instead of *she sang*
Old English *singan*, from a Proto-Germanic root shared with German *singen*, plus the agent ending -er. The vowel change across tenses is inherited from an ancient Germanic verb class.
Is it she sang or she sung?
She sang for the simple past. Sung needs an auxiliary: she has sung.
Was the Singer sewing machine named after a singer?
No. It was named after Isaac Singer, its manufacturer. The surname is unrelated to music.