Lead vs. Led How to Choose the Right Word

The words lead vs. led are particularly tricky: Sometimes they sound alike and sometimes they dont. Led  (which rhymes with red) is both the past and past participle form of the verb lead (which rhymes with deed). The verb  to lead  means guide, direct, or bring to a conclusion. The noun lead (rhymes with red) refers to the metal (as in a lead pipe).  The noun  lead  (which rhymes with  deed) refers to an initiative, an example,  or a position at the front (in the lead).  The verb lead and the noun lead  are homographs: words that have the same spelling but differ in meaning and (sometimes) pronunciation. How to Use Lead Use the verb lead to indicate that someone is directing or at the front of others, as in: They lead the group to safety.He leads the group to safety. To use lead as a noun or adjective when you mean the metal, you can craft a sentence such as: Many children became sick due to lead paint on the walls of older houses.The paint was made with lead. You might also have read a sentence such as: The baseball player leads the league in home runs. This sentence uses lead in the sense of having a position in front of. How to Use Led To use led, simply use it as the past tense or past participle for lead, as in: He, alone, led the group to safety.They have led the group to safety. Merriam-Webster suggests that if you aren’t sure whether to write led  or  lead  as the verb in your sentence, try reading it aloud to yourself. If the verb is pronounced led (with a short e), write led. Examples To determine when to use lead or led, its simplest to first discuss the term led, which is always either the past tense or the past participle of the verb lead. So, you might say: We led the game until the eighth inning. The word lead, however, can have a number of meanings. If you want to use the word in terms of being in the front position, you might say: Now the Cubs have taken the lead. This means that the Cubs are, at present, ahead of their opponents. Up to this point in the game, they have scored more runs. You can also use lead in the same sentence in a couple of different ways: Exposure to  lead in paint may lead  to serious health problems. In this sentence, the first use of lead (rhymes with head) refers to the metal, which has been found to have many unhealthful properties. In the second use, lead (rhymes with bead) means to tend toward or to have a result. John Emsley,  in The Elements of Murder, uses both lead and led in the same sentence and adjacent to each other: The theory that  lead led  to the decline of the Roman Empire was first advanced in 1965. In this case, Emsley uses lead referring to the metal, and led as the past tense of lead. You can also use lead in a few other ways, including: Your advice will  lead  me into trouble. In this use, lead means to guide or cause a person to get into trouble. You can also say: The runner was in the  lead  for most of the race, meaning the runner was in front of his competitors, or, He took the  lead  in fighting the measure, indicating that he directed the fight against the measure. By contrast, if you say, His  lead  was the ace of spades, you are saying that he played that particular card first. How to Remember the Difference A few memory tricks can help you keep the various meanings straight. You might remember: I like to lead with an ace, but previously, when I didnt have any aces, I led with a lower card. Or you might try another memory trick like: He took the lead in letting everyone know that lead led to the decline of the Roman Empire. This may help you remember that lead, meaning a leadership position, is pronounced with a long e, while led as the past tense of lead, as well as lead the metal, is pronounced with a short e. Special Uses and Idioms Lead has a myriad of other uses. It can mean a clue, as in: The detective had no leads to go on. In this case, its often used as a plural. Lead can also be used as an idiom, as in: He had a lead-foot. Of course, a human being does not have a foot made of lead. Rather, lead is a heavy metal, so the idiom is using the term to indicate that the person has a tendency to step on the gas pedal too hard and drive too fast. Some dictionaries even list the term leadfoot, meaning a person who drives too fast, as in: Joes leadfoot was always getting him into trouble. In this use, clearly Joe does not have a leadfoot or a lead-foot—that is, a foot that simply weighs more than the average foot and therefore pushes harder on the gas pedal. Instead, Joe chooses to disobey the law, put the pedal to the metal (fully depress the gas pedal), and drive much faster than the posted speed limit, possibly leading to speeding tickets and other moving violations. Sources The Grammar Guru: Lead vs. Led. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.â€Å"LeadFoot.  Urban Dictionary.Mclaughlin, William. â€Å"The Reasons Why Rome Fell - Lead Poisoning Is Often Dismissed as a Major Cause for the Decline of Rome, but the Theory Does Have Some Merit.†Ã‚  War History Online, 22 Nov. 2017.