
The irregular verb read (pronounced ) changes pronunciation for its past tense and past participle form, but not spelling: it continues to be spelled read, but it’s pronounced. However, plead can use pled or pleaded as its past tense and past participle form.Īre you guilty of not knowing whether to use pled or pleaded? Find out with our guide. You can avoid some confusion by remembering that the word led is only ever used as the past tense or past participle of lead.Īnother verb that can follow the same pattern as the irregular verb lead is plead. This sense is a regular verb-the past tense and past participle form is leaded. There is also a much less commonly used verb sense of lead (pronounced ) that relates to using the metal lead in some way, such as by treating them with it or adding it to them. This sense of lead is pronounced identically to led, which can be especially confusing in speech when you can’t see the different spellings. The confusion around the words lead and led is likely due to the fact that lead is also used as a noun in the sense of the metal. Lead can also be used as a noun with many different meanings relating to people or things being in a foremost position. Inflation has led to less consumer spending.The sheepdogs led the sheep into the pen.Erin has led the marketing department since her promotion.When used this way, lead is considered an irregular verb because its past tense and past participle form is led (not leaded). Experts predict that inflation will lead to less consumer spending.The sheepdogs are trained to lead sheep into the pens.After your promotion, you will lead the marketing department.


I can give you an example from my own experience. When the word feels comfortable and fixed in your vocabulary, move on to "borrow".


Banks lend money) focusing on that word, look out for it when you are reading or listening, or search for "lend" in a dictionary and read the example sentences there. You could also write some example sentences (e.g. Can you lend me your phone? Can you lend me some money?) and look for opportunities to really ask those questions. For example, if you focus on "lend", you can make some questions to ask to people (e.g. Choose one to focus on first, and practise it. If this happens to you, I would suggest learning them one by one. That means that their meanings can easily become confused in our memory. All of these things can be cues for your memory.Īlso, difficulty may appear because you are learning "lend" and "borrow" at the same time, and their meanings are related. When you use the new words, it forces you to think about the words more, associate them with other words, and put them into a meaningful context. For example, try to use the words when you are writing your diary, talking to someone, or taking an English class. I would suggest that as part of your vocabulary learning, you try to use the words in meaningful conversations, writing or speaking. Most verbs have a past tense and past participle with –ed:īut many of the most frequent verbs are irregular: Base form
