Sunk or Sank?

[wnjxc21]

When should i use sunk and when should i use sank?

sank sounds wrong in most cases

examples please!

[Quizmonster]

'Sank' is the past tense and 'sunk' is the past participle. So, "The boat sank in yesterday's storm in the North Sea." On the other hand, "The boat had been sunk for decades when the divers found it." The 'sunk' version will always have other verb-forms attached to it as in the above example we have 'had been'.

[Ric.ror]

What about inquire or enquire

[Clanad]

Good discussion of the latter inquiry here:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-enq1.htm

[brachiopod]

Also, 'sank' is often used for the active voice, whilst 'sunk' for the passive form;

The submarine sank the battleship.

The battleship was sunk by the submarine.