10 Tricky Verbs That Cause Spelling Mistakes

Whether you’re in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee or simply responding to a work email, proper spelling is a useful skill. But even the most well-educated writers have knowledge gaps, and spelling mistakes can arise at inopportune times. One tricky trap that often gets people is discerning between homophones when writing in the past tense. For instance, how would you write the past tense of the verb “to lead” — is it “led” or “lead”? Let’s take a closer look so you don’t fall victim to this potential problem.

There are some verbs that have the same spelling whether in the present or past tense, such as “put” or “set.” Given that “lead” can be pronounced in multiple ways, including with a short “e” sound in its noun form, you may assume “to lead” sticks to that formula as well — but it doesn’t. While you’d write “I lead” (pronounced “leed”) in the present, you’d write “I led” (pronounced “lehd”) when talking about the past. The homophone “lead” should be reserved for referencing the common metal material rather than the act of leading in the past tense.

English is a tricky language. While “led vs. lead” follows one formula, the similar case of “red vs. read” goes in the exact opposite direction. The verb “to read” should always be written as “read,” whether in the present or past tense — but the present tense is pronounced “reed” and the past-tense homonym is pronounced “rehd.” The word “red,” while pronounced like the past tense of “read,” is just the name of the color. 

The homophones “passed” and “past” are different parts of speech. “Past” functions as pretty much everything but a verb: a noun (“the past”), an adjective (“the past few days”), or an adverb (“I walked past someone”). But if you’re writing about passing someone in the past, it’s “I passed someone.”

The word “through” is never used as a verb, but it can be an adjective (“through street” or “through train”), an adverb (“think through the plan”), or a preposition (“heard through a friend”). When it comes to the verb “to throw,” the past tense is the homophone “threw,” as in, “I threw the ball.”

Whether it’s the version by Gladys Knight or Marvin Gaye, we love the song “I ___ It Through the Grapevine.” What word goes in that blank — “heard” or “herd”? As it’s the past tense of “hear,” it should be written as “heard.” The homophone “herd” can be used as a verb, but only in the context of herding animals, as in, “I herd sheep” (the past tense is “herded”). You could also say, “I heard sheep,” if your sheep are baaing loudly while you’re trying to sleep at night.