

So “lead” as a noun is the highly toxic metal previously found in things like your uncle Tony’s paints. Q: Wow, the judge said that exact same thing to my uncle Tony after he painted the local kindergarten with leftover tins from his shed…Ī: Oh dear. Anyway, the problems really start happening when we introduce the metal “lead”. Q: That’s because it wasn’t off being made to drink.Ī: Quite. “to lead the orchestra” or “the horse moved into the lead”…

Anyway, there are many other verb definitions for “lead” – including to be at the front of something. I always assumed it had something to do with poor water quality.Ī: Nope.
#Lead or lead past tense movie
You can also lead a horse to a movie theatre, but you can’t make it eat popcorn.Ī: You do know that this is from a 12th century proverb, right? It’s a metaphor for not being able to control whether someone does something, even if you give them the most favourable circumstances. For example, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” First, as a verb (pronounced LEED), such as to guide in a certain way or direction. Q: Anyway, you were talking about “lead” having a few meanings?Ī: That’s right. Q: What? Oh, no – that 30-minute guarantee is for her morgue job. She says the hardest part is sticking to the 30-minute guarantee.Ī: Well, people do like getting their pizzas quickly. Q: Sounds like my aunt Jacqui – she works at the morgue AND delivers pizzas. It’s likely to do with “lead” holding down a few jobs at once. Q: I knew it! Why do so many people struggle with this one?Ī: Good question. Q: Hi AWC – I saw an article the other day that announced “she lead the team into the final”. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we're taking the lead…
#Lead or lead past tense how to
How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting BusinessĮach week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness.Pencils have lead.įurthermore, it is likely that you are looking for the idea of leading, so try the word led if you are writing in the past tense. Is led or lead correct? Contrary to what you might think, the past tense of the verb lead is not lead \led\, it’s led. The teacher needed extra lead for her mechanical pencils.Leaders should take the lead when others are following.The crossing guard led the children to safety.The crossing guard leads children to safety.Both in paint and in pencils, you want the lead \led\ out. The idiom get the lead out \led\ may help you remember the substantive. To determine the noun that means at the front or in the lead \leed\, remember that leaders \leeders\ are in the front. Lead \leed\ is the present tense form and led \led\ is the past tense form. He was asked to take the lead after the CEO retired.īecause these two words have layered meanings, different parts of speech and tenses of verbs, and both similar and different pronunciations, it is challenging to determine the correct usage.Ī simple way to remember what word to use is to determine the function in a sentence.Take the lead: A person who assumes a leadership role. After she had been promoted to marketing direction, she took a leading role in the company’s direction.

Leading role: The main person in one of the dramatic arts or at a place of employment.
