Past tense of READ and Past Participle of READ (Audio, Quiz, and PDF)

Learn the past tense of READ (30 Real Examples, Audio, Quiz)

The past tense of the verb to read is read. [Pronounced RED] The present tense, past tense, and past participle of READ are spelled the same but they are pronounced differently. 

  • “We read history books at school.” Present [REED]
  •  “I read 6 books last summer.” Past [RED]
  •  “They have read all the books in the library.” Past Participle [RED]

To READ – verb conjugation

Infinitive to read [pronunciation] TO REED
“I like to read crime novels.”
Present tense read [pronunciation] REED
“We read history books at school.”
Present tense third-person singular reads [pronunciation] REEDS
“He reads history books at school.”
Past tense read [pronunciation] RED
“I read 6 books last summer.”
Past participle read [pronunciation] RED
“They have read all the books in the library.”
Future tense (Just decided) will read [pronunciation] REED
“If you can’t sleep I’ll read to you before bed.” 
Future tense (Planned activity) TO BE reading [pronunciation] REEDING
“I love the new book by Dan Brown. I’m reading it as soon as I get home tonight, I can’t wait.”
Continuous reading [pronunciation] REEDING
“I’m reading the biography of Steve Jobs now.”
The Continuous form, reading, can be used as a noun. (This is called a gerund in English grammar)
“My grandfather always loved reading books, he read 3 books every week.” *In this sentence, the verb is loved, reading books is a noun phrase, not a verb.

To READ – verb conjugation AUDIO

Students often ask me – What is the past tense of read? How do you pronounce it correctly?
Great questions deserve great answers. Let me share what I found!

present tense, past tense, and the past participle of read

The verb TO READ

The verb to read means – to look at and understand the meaning of written or printed words or symbols
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries read

READ is an irregular verb, the past tense of READ does not end in _ED.

Read can be a confusing verb because the present tense, the past tense, and the past participle are spelled the same but they are pronounced differently.

READ Present Tense pronunciation

The present tense of READ sounds like REED ~ “I read the newspaper every morning.”

READ Past Tense pronunciation

The past tense of READ sounds like RED ~ “I read that book when I was in high school.”

READ Past Participle pronunciation

The past participle of READ also sounds like RED ~ “These books are read all over the world.” (This example is the passive voice.)

So the 3 forms of the verb read look like this

read (REED) present
read (RED) past
read (RED) past participle

Let’s read (REED) some more present tense, past tense, and past participle examples.

  • A: “Have you read [RED] the new Harry Potter book?”
    B: “Not yet. My Dad read [RED] it and he said it was good. I will read [REED] it on the flight to Canada in August.”
    Past, Past, Present
  • “I bought the new Dan Brown book but I haven’t read [RED] it yet.”
    Past Participle
Past Participle of READ - past or past participle?

How can I tell the difference between the past and the past participle?

This is a great question. We can tell the difference by looking at the words used in the sentences and understanding the grammar.

When to use the Past Tense of READ

Simple Past tense will follow a subject.

My Dad read the book and he said it was good.
(My Dad is the subject of this sentence, READ is the simple past tense.)

Mark Twain was an American writer. He lived from 1835 to 1910. He wrote many popular books and traveled across Europe and America. 
(Mark Twain is the subject of these sentences. The verbs in the story are all the simple past tensewas, lived, wrote, and traveled.)

More simple past tense examples:

  • We read Shakespeare when we were in high school.
  • Did you know that there are 3 private companies flying people to space now? I read about it on the Internet.
  • Jerry was bored so he read one of his sister’s fashion magazines.

When to use the Past Participle of READ

The past participle is used with the Passive Voice and the Perfect Tense.

Passive voice uses the verb TO BE (am, is, are, was, were) plus the past participle form of the verb in the main action.  

If the subject of our sentence gets or receives something – something happens to the subject of our sentence – we use the Passive Voice

“These books are read all over the world.” are + the past participle = Passive voice

More Passive voice examples:

  • “The hotel room was cleaned at 9:30 AM.”
  • “The lost and found office at the station is full of umbrellas that were forgotten on the train.”
  • “The flowers will be delivered next Tuesday.”

*cleaned, forgotten, and delivered are all verbs in the past participle form.

More READ past participle examples in the Passive Voice:

  • Allen’s screenplay was read by 3 Hollywood producers. Hopefully one of them will be interested in buying it.
  • Romeo and Juliet is read by most Canadian high school students.

You can learn more about the passive voice here.
Passive Voice English Grammar – 20 REAL examples (Video)

Present Perfect Tense is HAVE/HAS + the past participle form of a verb.

This verb tense is called the present perfect, but it is still talking about a past action. The auxiliary verb TO HAVE will be used in the present tense.

 “Have you read the new Harry Potter book?” HAVE + the past participle = Present perfect

More examples:

  • “I have just eaten lunch so I’m not hungry.” 
  • Have you been to the new café on Front Street? I heard it’s really good.”
  • “Erica’s contact lens has fallen out.”

*eaten, been, and fallen are all verbs in the past participle form.

More READ past participle examples in the Perfect tense:

  • Ryan has read every novel and short story written by Steven King. Have you read any?
  • Chris hasn’t read any new books since January.
  • I have seen all the Jason Bourne movies but I have never read the books.

You can learn more about the Present Perfect tense.
How to use the Present Perfect Tense (25 Real Examples + PDF)

READ – Past tense and Past Participle infographic

READ - Past tense and Past Participle infographic

Take the READ Past and Past Participle QUIZ
Test your English!

NEW! Video QUIZ!

You can choose the best quiz presentation for your learning style. Fill in the blank or video.

Pronunciation Quiz✔ Past and Past...
Pronunciation Quiz✔ Past and Past Participle of READ 📚

9 read (REED) or read (RED) questions with 9 short video answers.

Past participle of read – Podcast script

In English, there is a verb form that we use called the past participle. A common example of this verb form is eaten

Present tense – eat

Past tense – ate

Past participle – eaten

We often use it with the auxiliary verb HAS/HAVE 

“I like to eat interesting food. I ate alligator in Sao Paulo Brazil, but I HAVE never eaten whale.”

Been is used as the past participle of go when somebody has gone somewhere and come back.

“I want to go back to Sao Paulo one day. Have you ever been there?”

Sometimes the past participle and the past tense are the same.
Present tense – buy
Past tense – bought
Past participle – bought

“Have you ever bought something expensive and then felt bad about it after?”

Read can be a confusing verb because the present tense and the past tense are spelled the same but they are pronounced differently.

“I like to read.” 

“I read that book when I was in high school.” 

“These books are read all over the world.”

So the 3 forms of the verb read look like this

read (REED)

read (RED)

read (RED)

Let’s read some examples and practice the pronunciation:

A: “Have you read [RED] the new Harry Potter book?”
B: “Not yet. My Dad read [RED] it and he said it was good. I will read [REED] it on the flight to Canada in August.”

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