student asking question

Why does the word “read” pronounce differently here? I thought it’s pronounced /ri:d/?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

When "read" is used as a present or future tense verb, it is pronounced like "reed", with a long "e". Ex: I want to read that book However, when "read" is used as a verb in the past tense like it is here, it is usually pronounced like the color "red", with a short "e". Ex: Have you read the news article yet? Here, they use the past tense pronunciation of read because it describes the state of having been read (past tense). Anytime you use "to be read", the past tense short "e" pronunciation is used.

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