Past Tense of Read | Definition & Examples
The simple past tense and past participle of the verb read are spelled the same as the infinitive: read.
Because it is an irregular verb, read doesn’t follow the regular pattern of adding “-ed” to form the past tenses.
| Read as simple past tense | Read as past participle |
|---|---|
| Celina read the timetable carefully to make sure she didn’t miss her bus. | It’s exciting to know how many people have read your books. |
| You could hear a pin drop as Tom read the poem to the class. | You could see by the pages that this book had been read by dozens of people. |
| My children loved it when we read to them at bedtime. | Gilly had read the contracts and annotated them for the rest of the team. |
This follows a similar pattern to the irregular verb lead, meaning “go in front,” as the past tense of lead is led.
Past tense of read
The simple past tense of read is also spelled read (but pronounced [red]). It’s used to describe events that have already taken place.
Libby couldn’t help smiling as she read the email with her grades.
Everyone sat silently as the coach read out the list of starters for the next game.
A QuillBot Grammar Check can help ensure you’re using the past tense of “read” correctly.
Past participle of read
The past participle of read is also read (with the same [red] pronunciation). It is used to form the perfect tenses and the passive voice.
Sam knew that her team would all have read the memo, so she didn’t bother repeating its contents.
Because there were so many books that had to be read, Gurvinder didn’t know where to start.
Frequently asked questions about the past tense of read
- Is readed a word?
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No, “readed” is not a word. The irregular verb read has the simple past tense form and past participle read. Although it is spelled the same, it is pronounced differently.
The infinitive and present tense are pronounced [reed], and the past tense and past participle are pronounced [red].
You can ensure you’re using the correct past tense of read with the QuillBot Grammar Checker.
- Is it read or red?
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The simple past tense of read is also spelled read, but instead of being pronounced [reed] it changes to [red]. This is also true for the past participle, used to form the perfect tenses and for the passive voice.
Read is an irregular verb, so it doesn’t add “-ed” to form the past tenses.
You can easily check whether you’re using the correct past tense of read with the QuillBot Grammar Checker.
- How do you pronounce the past tense of read?
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The past tense of read is pronounced [red]. Although it is spelled the same (read) for both the simple past tense and past participle.
It might help to remember that the pronunciation changes in the same way as the verb “lead,” meaning “go in front,” which changes from “lead” [leed] to “led” [led].
