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Grammar and spelling pedants this way

38 replies

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:35

I'll add a 'please' for the polite police :)
What is the difference between'lead' and 'led'? Is 'lead the present tense and led the past?
Obviously not talking about Pb

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FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 24/08/2018 12:38

lead/led/led (present - past - past participle)
Why do you ask?

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:39

Because I never know and keep meaning to check.
So "I was lead away in handcuffs" would be wrong?
Asking for a friend...

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StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:40

Do Americans use it the same way? It's not like me to be this confused, but it's definitely possible.

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FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 24/08/2018 12:40

yes it would be 'led away'.
I just noticed a thread title about 'baby lead weaning' and wondered if it was about that.

Heratnumber7 · 24/08/2018 12:44

Lead is pronounced Leed in this context.

Lead piping however is pronounced ledd.

Confused yet? Grin

I love English!

dementedpixie · 24/08/2018 12:45

You say them differently too. Lead (as in the metal) is pronounced the same as led but lead (as in to lead someone) is pronounced leed

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:47

That's it isn't it, it's the pronunciation that's confused me.
No I wrote something about being lead away at an airport o another thread

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dementedpixie · 24/08/2018 12:48

That would have been led, not lead, then

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:52

Hopefully I will remember this . Thank you everyone.
There was another one but I can't remember. Grr.

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Ihavenoideaatall · 24/08/2018 12:55

English is so confusing. Lead (leed) and led but read (reed) and read (red) Grin

ScrumpyCrack · 24/08/2018 12:56

Can I throw mine in whilst you’re trying to remember, Stealth?

I always get muddled with the following:

  1. Affect and effect
  2. Practise and practice
  3. Licence and license
  4. Principal and principle

Would love an easy way to remember which to use if anyone has the time to help...

Or I could bugger off and start my own thread to be less of a thread hog, of course Grin

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 12:59

Can you hear the difference in advice (noun) and advise (verb)? Practice and practise are the same logic.

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Synecdoche · 24/08/2018 13:00

Scrumpy I always think of 'the Crocodile Smiles' to remember practice/practise - the 'c' spelling is the noun (like crocodile) and the 's' spelling is the verb (like smiles)

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 13:00

Affect and effect are both both nouns and verbs

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StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 13:01

Don't start your own thread. This is a nice one, would be good to continue it

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Synecdoche · 24/08/2018 13:03

Same would work actually for advice/advise, come to think of it Stealth

I always hear 'advise' with a longer 'i' sound (to rhyme with rise) and 'advice' to rhyme with slice...

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 13:04

Exactly. You can relly hearth difference with those. And it's the same spelling for practice /practise

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AlrightBabby · 24/08/2018 13:06

Synec I like that, I have always been confused with practice / practise as well

lynmilne65 · 24/08/2018 13:07

Baby led?

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 13:08

All my typos are my phone I promise

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PlainVanilla · 24/08/2018 13:15

I can help a bit with "ice" and "ise"

Advice - noun - let me give you some advice
Advise - verb - I would strongly advise you not to do that!

Licence - noun - a driving licence is a document permitting me to drive
License - verb - 007 - licensed to kill

Stephisaur · 24/08/2018 13:28

Scrump hopefully this explanation will make sense to you!

Affect vs effect

Affect - verb - (To have an effect on) eg: Getting a degree will affect my employment prospects
Effect - noun - (The consequence of an action/other cause) eg: Getting therapy had a positive effect on my mental health.

Apologies for the somewhat poor examples, I'm very tired today!

MongerTruffle · 24/08/2018 13:31

PlainVanilla There are exceptions:

Parliament effected the change.

An affect is a subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs,

ScrumpyCrack · 24/08/2018 14:59

Thank you all and thank you Stealth for both answering and letting me join your thread Smile

Advise/advice and crocodile smiles are brilliant ways to remember the difference between practise and practice. I think that’s helped it settle in my mind now

License/licence - could I say I am licensed to drive once I get my licence? Is that right?

I think I get affect/effect but will probably still get sheepish whenever it comes to using it in a sentence. It’s odd because I can spot when someone else has used it incorrectly but when it comes to writing it myself, I’ll shy away from it in case I get it wrong.

StealthPolarBear · 24/08/2018 16:17

In general, you'd always use 'effect' after 'the'. Two es together.
There are some exceptions where effect is a verb and affect a noun but they are rare.

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