Read/Read

E.G. Gammon · May 3, 2005

Don't you just hate trying to differentiate read (pronounced like reed) and read (pronounced like red)? Every time I get to the word in a book, I always have to reread the sentence, just to make sure I used the word in the right way. I wish read (as in red) was spelled rehd. Maybe I'll write it that way in my novels. I'll MAKE it a word. :tongue

Maryn · May 3, 2005

When a sentence is well-crafted, the reader knows before he reaches 'read' which one is needed. If the reader can't tell which is needed until after the word's gone by, that's a sentence that needs rewriting or re-ordering, IMHO.

Authors do, of course, create words--'burble' didn't appear in print before "Jabberwocky," I've been told--and whole languages (Anthony Burgess) but most often when I see an author trying to do that, it's book-closing time. The work has to be so engrossing that you hardly realize an original word appears before you can get away with it.

Maryn, who's not well-read outside certain genres

Vomaxx · May 3, 2005

Yes, confusing. Sometimes we must again read what we just read.

reph · May 3, 2005

The word "read" turns up often in AW posts. When I use it in a wobbly context, I find myself writing "I've read that..." or "I once read about..." to spare post readers the work of interpreting.

Duncan J Macdonald · May 3, 2005

It Just Is ...

EGGammon said:
ReadRead
Don't you just hate trying to differentiate read (pronounced like reed) and read (pronounced like red)? Every time I get to the word in a book, I always have to reread the sentence, just to make sure I used the word in the right way. I wish read (as in red) was spelled rehd. Maybe I'll write it that way in my novels. I'll MAKE it a word.

Actually, as soon as I saw the subject of your post in the index, I parsed it as Read (present tense)/Read (past tense). So, no problem.

PattiTheWicked · May 3, 2005

EGGammon said:
Don't you just hate trying to differentiate read (pronounced like reed) and read (pronounced like red)? Every time I get to the word in a book, I always have to reread the sentence, just to make sure I used the word in the right way. I wish read (as in red) was spelled rehd. Maybe I'll write it that way in my novels. I'll MAKE it a word.

I would think you could determine which one it was from the context, couldn't you? For example: I read a book.

Read (pronounced like reed):
Hey, Patti, what do you do in your spare time?
Well, sometimes I read a book if I have some peace and quiet.

Read (pronounced like red):
Hey, Patti, what did you do last night once the kids were in bed?
I fixed myself a bowl of salsa and bean dip, and then I read a book.

See? Context. You have to give the reader credit for being able to discern which one it is.

soloset · May 3, 2005

I know just what you mean. I hate it when my eyes are tired -- I usually find myself staring at a word (usually "the" or "said" or something equally silly) and admiring the lovely shape of each letter without the foggiest clue as to what the word's being used for.

Or when the work isn't terribly engrossing, I'll get to the bottom of the page and realize, oops, while I've just remembered exactly what I need to put on my grocery list, I have no idea what the last three paragraphs said.

jules · May 4, 2005

I tend to get more confused over Reading (the action) and Reading (the place, pron. 'redding'). It's often much harder to determine which one is intended by context:

Reading School.

Is this somewhere you go to learn to read, or a school in Reading?

soloset · May 4, 2005

KTC said:
I read somewhere that Otis Redding went to Reading school. He took a ride on the Reading and used to read along the way. Redding was an avid reader, having read everything.

I can read this, but darned if I could pronounce it properly.

LightShadow · May 4, 2005

Remember, most readers read a lot, so they can differentiate the tense by the context as easily as you can tell the difference between there, their, and they're.

www.geocities.com/douglasvgibbs

Jamesaritchie · May 4, 2005

Read

KTC said:
I read somewhere that Otis Redding went to Reading school. He took a ride on the Reading and used to read along the way. Redding was an avid reader, having read everything.

I like this a bunch. I had no trouble reading it correctly the first time through. Then again, I'm a big Otis Redding fan, and I also love railroads.

reph · May 4, 2005

LightShadow said:
... as easily as you can tell the difference between there, their, and they're.

Judging from a good-sized fraction of posts on this board, that's bad news.

Deleted member 42 · May 4, 2005

You can tell from the context. There's a fair number of such words in English:
lead/lead
Polish/polish

are other examples.

LightShadow · May 4, 2005

No, it's good news, because everyone wants to get it right. A person who doesn't learn, or yearn to learn, will never progress.

Liam Jackson · May 4, 2005

I see more problems with led, lead, meet, met. When my mind is racing, I'm more guilty than the next person.

Jamesaritchie · May 4, 2005

Context

I find context almost always gives me the right pronunciation on teh first try, but if I had to pick words I sometime sfind confusing, it would be words such as "dove and "dove."

As in, "The dove dove."

Read/Read

E.G. Gammon

Maryn

I Tried

Vomaxx

reph

Fig of authority

Duncan J Macdonald

Plotting! Not Plodding!

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

soloset

'bye

jules

Bored fanatic

soloset

'bye

LightShadow

defender of the blahs!

Jamesaritchie

reph

Fig of authority

Deleted member 42

LightShadow

defender of the blahs!

Liam Jackson

Heathen Horde Elder

Jamesaritchie