Heteronym
"Read" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REED when it means present tense — to look at and understand text (verb), and RED when it means past tense of "read" (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
verb
REED
present tense — to look at and understand text
“I read every day.”
verb
RED
past tense of "read"
“I read that book last year.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| REED | verb | present tense — to look at and understand text |
| RED | verb | past tense of "read" |
"Read" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say REED when it means present tense — to look at and understand text (verb), and RED when it means past tense of "read" (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced REED, "read" is a verb meaning present tense — to look at and understand text. For example: "I read every day."
Pronounced RED, "read" is a verb meaning past tense of "read". For example: "I read that book last year."
"Read" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “read”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.