Indonesia has been struck by a string of transportation disasters in recent months, and I have been asked to comment first on strike, and struck, and also stricken, by both students and teachers.

The verb "strike" has "struck" as its past tense." The plane struck the runway." One past participle is also "struck" as in the above example, also: "The Titanic was struck by an iceberg", and "We have been struck in Shenzhen recently with some cold Spring weather.

The other past participle is "stricken" and I was surprised to hear that verb used in a Hong Kong TV news broadcast. You can see and hear "He was stricken with remorse." But this verb survives chiefly as the second element of compound-adjectives, e.g. grief-stricken, panic-stricken ;'The grief-stricken survivors of the crash". Also, poverty-stricken: "the poverty-stricken areas of northern India and northwest China.

This verb also appears as a participial adjective in certain elements, e.g. the stricken areas of Iraq. We also see and hear "a drawn, stricken face, by one stricken in years."

Now look at the verb "to strive. "The regular past tense form is "strove," and the past participle is "striven." But in America the verb form "strived" is also used. "She'd never strived for celebrity" and I have heard it on the "The Late Show' on TV. And "we've strived to lead the way in offering you the latest service". Watch out for both these verb forms in next year's Olympics.

Finally, the verb "to string." The normal past tense is "strung" as is the past participle "Saddam Hussein was strung up after his trial." "Lanterns were strung up for the Lantern Festival," and "washing was strung up in the balcony." The guitar is a stringed instrument and here, "stringed' is formed from the noun "string" and is one having strings. But if the strings need renewing, the guitar will need "to be restrung." People can be described as "highly strung," exceedingly tense, and suffering from high-blood pressure.