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I have used the word inputted in an assignment and am being forced to change it to input. However, both the Oxford English Dictionary (I am in New Zealand so this is most relevant) and MS Word list inputted as acceptable. Do others regard inputted as acceptable?

The scope of this project will be clearly defined in that it is to strictly provide positive movie recommendations to users who have inputted a sufficient amount of data.

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"Inputted" may be acceptable per Oxford, but it sets my teeth on edge; my ear wants "input" to follow the same rules as "put". I suspect I'm not the only one, which is probably why you're being forced to change it.

EDIT: This question/answer has been getting a bit of attention recently, so I'd like to clarify my comment below. There is a verb, putt, meaning "try to hit a golf ball into a hole by striking it gently so that it rolls across the green", which is often confused with put "to move or place". (The confusion is natural, since the golfing term comes from a Scots variant of "put" - but the two words are distinct, and pronounced differently.)

The past tense of put is put; the past tense of putt is putted. Since input is formed from "put" rather than "putt", it seems logical that its past tense should be input, rather than "inputted"; "inputted" sounds like a demented golfing term.

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    @MTH Hang on!!! - isn't inputted basically the past tense? "My jobs is to input data. Yesterday, I inputted 100 items." If you say "Yesterday I input 100 items" that sounds totally weird ....... doesn't it?! Maybe my ear is going?? Help!
    – Fattie
    Jun 21, 2011 at 7:46
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    @Joe Blow - I guess it depends on your ear... As I said, my ear wants "input" to follow the same rules as "put"; if I "putted" 100 items yesterday, they had better have been golf balls.
    – MT_Head
    Jun 21, 2011 at 7:49
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    @Joe Blow - Don't get me wrong - OED, NOAD and OALD all accept "inputted", and I'm not saying that my ear outweighs their judgment. I'm just saying it sounds ugly, and if you have a choice between two correct words, why would you choose the ugly one?
    – MT_Head
    Jun 21, 2011 at 8:00
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    Input has nothing to do with computer and technology.
    – user13575
    Jul 16, 2012 at 17:45
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    @Patrick - Obviously you don't have to justify it on grammatical grounds, but... could you? "Input" is derived from "put", and "putted" is absolutely NOT correct unless you're talking about golf - so it comes down to "my ear prefers this and not that".
    – MT_Head
    Sep 29, 2014 at 22:28
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My NOAD lists input and inputted both as acceptable participles. Same goes for the OALD.

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I just put this into one of my java programs.. and it seems to fit well since they have already input the data.

// Shows user how many of each currency unit is in the amount they inputted

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    don't you mean they have already "inputted" the data?
    – user20080
    Apr 13, 2012 at 16:15
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    You can’t have “putted” anything in, you know. There is no such word as putted, except insofar as concerns the game of golf. How currency came to be involved with putting, let alone how Java enters the picture, I have no idea, considering that I believe Sumatra fairly well dominates the sport.
    – tchrist ♦
    Nov 11, 2012 at 12:06
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    -1 for being inconsistent in your comment and your explanation of it.
    – Caleb
    Mar 16, 2015 at 17:31
  • just use typed in
    – chip
    Feb 2, 2018 at 5:29
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    -1 - Worst.reasoning.ever.
    – Greenonline
    Jul 3, 2018 at 20:46

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