And check out our books about the English language and more. Help support the Grammarphobia Blog with your donation. The “led” spelling first appeared in Middle English for both the past and past participle, but some of the other spellings were still seen in early Modern English. In Middle English, the tense forms were written in many different ways: the past as leaded, ledd, ledde, and so on, and the past participle as læded, læd, ledde, etc. The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest example, which uses the past tense, is from an early eighth-century Old English translation of the Book of Psalms: “Astigende in heanisse gehefte lædde heftned” (“You ascended on high you led your captives in captivity”). In Old English, for example, the past tense was lædde and the past participle læded. We suspect that the people who write “lead” for the past and past participle pronounce the word as if it were spelled “led,” along the lines of “read,” which is pronounced like “red” in its past forms.Īs it turns out, the past and past participle of “lead” have been spelled all sorts of way since the verb appeared in Anglo-Saxon times as lædan. We’d add that “lead” belongs to the same class of irregular verbs as “bleed,” “breed,” and “feed.” Like them, it forms the past and past participle with a short “e” (“bled,” “bred,” “fed”). “The homophonic confusion leads to homographic confusion, and you will therefore occasionally see lead in constructions where led is called for (as in, ‘She lead the ducklings to safety’ instead of ‘She led the ducklings to safety’),” the dictionary says in a usage note, “When to Use Lead or Led.” Why the mix-ups? Merriam-Webster, one of the standard dictionaries mentioned above, says confusion over the pronunciations of the various words “lead” (the noun for a metal, the verb for going ahead, the adjective for most important, etc.) results in confusion over the spellings. In the paper, “Sub-freshman English,” Adams Sherman Hill and Elizabeth Aborn Withey report that Harvard applicants misspelled the metal “lead” as “led,” and the past tense and past participle “led” as “lead” (Educational Review, December 1897). ![]() A: So, to recap, people are likely mistaking lead when they mean led because they think it follows the same rules as read AND there is. It’s a usage that’s been criticized since the late 19th century, if not earlier.įor example, a paper analyzing the writing of students applying for admission to Harvard College in 1896 found that “led” and “lead” were among “a large class of misspelled words that indicate a difficulty in deciding between ‘e’ (or ‘ee’ ) and ‘ea.’ ” A: To read is a particularly irregular verb as not only does it shun readed for a past tense option, but it sticks with the exact same word AND pronunciation. Is this a case of evolution? Or merely a misspelling?Ī: The only standard past tense and past participle of the verb “lead” is “led.” All ten standard dictionaries we regularly consult (five American and five British) agree on this.īut as you’ve noticed, the past and participle are sometimes written as “lead,” though this isn’t a new phenomenon. It is important to be aware of the differences between led and lead in order to avoid confusion. the third form (V3) is 'led' used in present perfect and past perfect tenses. the second form (V2) is 'led' used in past simple tense. a position ahead of others, or an example for people to copy. The success of his company has led him to invest in new enterprises. ![]() The guide led us to the top of the mountain. the first form (V1) is 'lead' used in present simple and future simple tenses. The past tense and participle forms of lead is led /led/. When talking about the element, use lead. Learn the three forms of the English verb 'lead'. Wrong answers score 0 points.Q: I notice more and more the spelling “lead” where “led” is intended. LED is a light-emitting diode, a type of semiconductor. You will score bonus points for answering the questions quickly.You will score at least 5 points for a correct answer.(The word led is a past participle in this example.) (This is the verb to lead in the past tense.) Someone has stolen the lead off the church roof again.Īnd the past participle of the verb to lead (which rhymes with bead).In the UK, it is illegal to use lead for weights in fresh-water fishing.Lead that rhymes with bed is a soft heavy toxic metallic element. You have been selected to be the lead tenor.Lead Lead can be an adjective, noun, or verb:īead is associated with being in charge or being in front. There is often confusion over the words lead (rhymes with bead) and led. Confusion arises because lead (a soft toxic metal) is pronounced led. The past tense of the verb to lead is led. Lead (rhymes with bead) is associated with being in charge or being in front.
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