Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
That's interesting. We had a discussion on word usage a while ago, and one of our American friends claimed that "led" was NOT a valid past participle of "lead" in American English (it is in British English). Are you saying that "led" IS used in American English, after all?
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Led is the past tense and the past participle of the verb
lead, meaning to guide or direct. When used as a noun,
lead refers to the metallic element or to the graphite in a pencil.
The tendency to write
lead (instead of
led) for the past tense/past particple of the verb form is likely a result of analogizing it to the verb
read. This is an error in American English.
Led is the correct usage in American English when referring to the past tense of the verb
lead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
You mean that "hung" is incorrect when referring to the method of execution? That's technically true, but I don't think it crops up often enough to be a major problem.
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According to Garner's Modern American English, "coats and pictures are
hung, and sometimes so are juries. But criminals found guilty of capital offenses are
hanged. . . .[But if] a person is suspended for amusement or through malice, and death is likely or intended, then
hung is the proper word. . . ."