Why do some people hate learning English? The answer might be summed up in four words: read, read, lead, led. These words have obvious connections, and yet the links are illogical and confusing. Just like so much of our language.
Let’s begin with the first two words, read and read. On first glance, they seem like the same word. But as we know, they can be pronounced differently and mean two different things. Read (pronounced red) is the past tense of read (pronounced reed).
Good so far. But if read/read are past tense/present tense, shouldn’t lead/ lead be the same? The answer is no. Led (pronounced led) is and always has been the past tense of lead (pronounced leed). Meanwhile, lead (pronounced led) is, according to Oxford, “a heavy bluish-grey soft ductile metallic element occurring naturally in galena.”
The bottom line: The past tense of lead is led. As in: Today, you lead the game. Yesterday, you led the game. No soft ductile elements necessary.
Another reason non-English speakers hate our language? Prepositions. Consider the word “off.” Generally, we use it to describe removal: I take my coat off. But what is being removed when an alarm goes off (shouldn’t it go on?) or when you set off on a journey (doesn’t a journey take you away)?
Worse still is a common preposition conundrum when speaking about time: Under what conditions do you use in, on and at, when referring to time? Or, more directly: Why does one say, “Meet me at midnight,” and also say, “Meet me in April”?
It turns out that when we’re speaking about a general time period—April or 2019 or the current millennium, for that matter—we use in. When we’re referring to a shorter period of time—Monday, Easter, the weekend—we use on. Finally, when we’re citing a specific moment—5 p.m., midnight, daybreak—we use at.
Most native English speakers have little trouble with these. We remember them by ear. But non-native speakers might be forgiven for saying: “Can we meet at tomorrow in 7 p.m. on the library? I need help with my prepositions.”
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www. carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or 859-254-4175.