![]() ![]() The correct past tense of the verb lead is “ led,” and this is also the past participle form. People often believe that they use lead in pencils, but this is generally graphite. The verb lead is not to be confused with the noun lead, meaning the metallic element, a type of metal. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the infinitive to lead means “to guide on a way especially by going in advance, to direct on a course or in a direction, or to serve as a channel for.” A secondary definition can be “to direct the operations, activity, or performance of.” Overall, there are twenty-two definitions for the verb “to lead” listed in both transitive and intransitive forms. To first understand a word, its history, and how to use it properly, it is important to first define the verb meaning. In this article, let’s explore the verb “to lead,” learn its proper use, how to use its past tense, look for its synonyms, and learn its etymology and context. English lends itself to several common grammar mistakes that beginners and experienced English speakers alike make often. The exceptions often outnumber the rules, and it can be very hard to keep track of what is right and what is wrong, especially if you find yourself working with several different groups of people with their own colloquialisms or slangs. Welcome to English, a language that is considered to be one of the most difficult languages in the world to master due to the complexity of its rules and the fact that it actually breaks its own rules more often than not. And if you have ever learned more than one other language, it can be very easy to get them confused. For example, for anyone who has ever learned a foreign language before, you know how difficult it is to memorize verb conjugations, different forms of pronouns, lists of noun rules, and various other grammar rules. ![]() However, as long as you keep in mind that the verb ‘lead’ is always spelled ‘led’ in the past tense, you should be able to avoid mistakes.Learning a language’s grammatical concepts is arguably one of the most difficult things about learning any language. The main problem is that ‘lead’ (the metal) and ‘led’ (the past tense verb) sound the same. (Photo: tec_estromberg/flickr) Lead or Led? In all of these cases, ‘led’ is pronounced to rhyme with ‘red’ and ‘bed’. I had led a quiet life until that fateful day… For example, if we were to rephrase some of the examples above, we could say: ‘Led’ is the past tense (or past participle) of the verb ‘lead’ in all cases. (Photo: B3R3N1C3) Led (Past Tense of ‘Lead’) In these last two cases, ‘lead’ rhymes with ‘red’ and ‘bed’. The graphite in a pencil is known as ‘lead’ as well (this is because people originally thought graphite was a form of black lead). However, an unrelated noun use of ‘lead’ refers to a heavy, soft metal: The computer was missing its lead, so she couldn’t plug it in. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! They needed to walk the dog, but they couldn’t find his lead.įurthermore, ‘lead’ is also a term for an electrical wire or cable: The detective solved the case after following several promising leads. Likewise, something that guides, controls or influences something can be described as a ‘lead’: A winning position in a race or competition, for example, is a ‘lead’: Some of the above definitions of ‘lead’ have noun forms, too (also pronounced to rhyme with ‘feed’). (Photo: Stefan Schäfer, Lich/wikimedia) Lead as a Noun (Winning Positions, Cables and Metal) Other rhymes include ‘Swede’ and ‘tweed’, which gives us an excuse to post this photo of Swedes in tweed. We were leading by two goals at half time.ĭespite the variation, ‘lead’ is always pronounced to rhyme with ‘feed’ when used as a verb. Sometimes, the verb ‘lead’ can also mean ‘occupy a winning position’ or ‘live’: For example, we could say:Ĭurrent emissions will lead to increased global warming. We can group some of these under the category of guiding, influencing or showing the way to something. But if you follow our ‘lead’ in this blog post, you should feel confident about avoiding errors in the future! Lead as a Verb (Guidance, Control and Winning) The various definitions of ‘lead’ mean it’s easy to make mistakes. However, this second ‘lead’ isn’t pronounced the same way as the first ‘lead’. ‘Lead’ sounds exactly the same as ‘led’, which is the past tense of ‘lead’. ![]()
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