This is one I used to struggle with regularly in my day-to-day work, until I got used to it.
Someone pled guilty or pleaded guilty?
The rule for us in journalism is pleaded. The lawyers like pled.
I imagine this goes back to the good ole English court terminology somewhere in history.
In any case … I like pled. It sounds more natural.
You don’t say you “saided” something.
interesting. i would say it has to do with tense.
someone else has written about this:
http://www.cjr.org/resources/lc/pleadguilty.php
The defense attorney saided, “He pleaded guilty to being bleeded all over after he shotted the plaintiff.”
I noted your answer of MANY years ago. Liked it !!!
Good example! Funny too! -Julie P
I agree; that is a hilariously worded response.
I thought it was spelt plead, or is that more for
“do you plead guilty, sir?”
Just a thought!
Jasmine x
Spelt?? LOL
Spelt or spelled, another word which is acceptable either way.
leslie, that’s a good way of putting it, having shotted the plaintiff he was indeed bleeded all over.
jasmine, you could be right; maybe that’s how it should be. after all, uo didn’t red this but you read it.
the legal community actually uses the word “pled” in its vernacular to replace “pleaded.” the english language is weird … and then weirder when different groups using the language for specialized purposes get involved.
I grew up hearing pled but then in the 90’s all the dumb arse journalists changed it by starting to use pleaded. But you can’t change just one word, it’s a whole family of irregular verbs ending in –ed sound. I don’t care which you use but dagnit, be consistent! Is it:
Plead: Pleaded vs. Pled
Read: Readed vs. Read (pronounced red)
Speed: Speeded vs. Sped
Bleed: Bleeded vs. Bled
Need: Needed vs. Ned
Thanks for listening.
-Engineer type.
Hahaha. Needed vs. Ned. Love it! I’m going to start saying ned. 😛
This is the funniest thing I’ve ever readed.
Consistently irregular usage:
Yesterday morning while I sped read the journal I cut myself and bled on my shirt. I pled with my wife that I ned a bandaid but she sped to work instead.
vs. ‘regularized’ usage.
Yesterday morning while I speeded readed the journal I cut myself and bleeded on my shirt. I pleaded with my wife that I needed a bandaid but she speeded to work instead.
vs. inconsistently irregular usage.
Yesterday morning while I sped read the journal I cut myself and bled on my shirt. I pleaded with my wife that I needed a bandaid but she sped to work instead.
Vote now!
Nice try, and amusing, Jim, but the verb in the sentence is “read,” whilst “speed” would be the modifier and would not need to have its tense changed. However, your point is well taken, and I am one journalist who happens to agree with you. Should be “pled.”
great work, jim.
i guess we’re just stuck with it by now, though … just like everything else in this confusing english language. it’s like we need an english-equivalent metric revolution.
e
I mean, is it any wonder so many kids go bi-polar after 12 or 18 years of English grammar class.
“Mom, my teacher says the past tense of speed is sped but need is needed. It makes me so depressed I’m going to stay home and eat bonbons in my sweats today.”
“Dad, their and there are pronounced the same so if spelling doesn’t affect pronunciation I’m going start cross dressing from now on. It makes no difference right?”
Jeez.
the sooner we all accept that language is fluid and morphing and lose the traditionalist approach, the better. in all the examples given by jim, the meaning was there, the context making it clear. as long as the meaning is not lost, there’s no problem. right?
WRONG Jim. When language isn’t consistent, it ends up being a free for all with everyone making up their own rules. Just like the fairly recent habit of now ending every sentence with “AT.” Where’s he AT? I’ll tell you where I’m AT — I’m about to blow a gasket. For those of you who CONTINUE to butcher the English language by insisting on ending your sentences with an superfluous word such as “AT” in the above example, you sound like a bunch of illiterate hillbillies. I’m just saying.
And JIM, it’s “I know YOU’RE right Dan,” NOT “Your.” For the love of god, crack a book.
I know your right Dan!
I’m using ned instead of needed from now on.
absolutely write, jim.
we all nedded to stop being anal about this fluidity of language. it’s anal fluidity we should be worried about; well, that and swine flu.
behold the future of TXT. U C L8R, MK MY WDS.
I kind of like “saided”. If you don’t mind, I start using it!
folks here are mix and double tensing words. ‘Said’ is already past tense (of say). Adding a -ed would be like saying raned is the past tense for run.
Speedread is one word. As such, you can’t break it into two and make both halves past tense. The past tense of speedread is speedread (pronounced as -red at the end).
With regards to pleaded vs. pled, they are both correct. The main distinction between them is that pleaded is what journalist seem to have adopted (this is they way you’ll see it written or hear it said on tv/radio) pleaded. Lawyers on the other hand use the word pled.
So, a lawyer may hold a press conference and announce that his client pled not guilty and the next morning the papers will say that he pleaded not guilty.
I suppose I like it better with certain constructions…
1. My client pleaded with her not to take the kids.
2. My client pled with her not to take the kids.
I like the first better in that case…
1. My client pled guilty last night.
2. My client pleaded guilty last night.
I like the second construction there.
Maybe it is the context, getting a headache pondering over it.
i like pled for legal pleas … pleaded for your everyday plea for mercy. those are a normal occurrence for me these days.
I believe “pleaded” is the correct past tense of ‘plead”. We say “the baker KNEADED the dough” (similar “EAD” construction), not ” the baker KNED the dough”. Just because its used commonly by those who don’t know any better, it does not make it right. The same goes for ‘He HANGED himself, instead of the wrong “He HUNG himself” (Pictures are hung, people are hanged).
The English language is very quirky, but, with some thought, it can be spoken correctly. I can’t stand it when people say “Do you MIND if I sit here?” and someone replies “SURE, no problem”. That doesn’t make sense, since the person just said that they DID MIND if someone sat there. THINK about what you say, people!! The correct answer would be “NO, not at all”, if they really didn’t mind.
Another phrase that doesn’t make sense is “I COULD care less” (meaning there is room for even more indifference), instead of he correct “I COULDN’T care less”.
I could go on and on, but then, I would be labelled as a curmudgeon and a nit-picker..LOL.
GeoKaz gives no reason why his particular example of a one-syllable word having last three letters “ead” pronounced like (sp)eed should form the basis for a rule encompassing “plead”.
Other equally valid present/past tense verb examples include “read” > “read” (red) and “lead” > “led”. In both these common alternatives the pronunciation changes from “eed” to “ed” for the past tense. The unchanged spelling for the past tense of “read” is reasonably necessitated by the common word “red” that has an entirely different meaning, but this spelling consideration doesn’t pertain to either “led” or “pled”.
No rule can reasonably encompass these inconsistent examples, so usage will control. Analogous usage favors “pled”. First, “lead” and “read” are far more common than “knead” and “bead”, the latter rarely being used as a verb (and the availability of unique “pled” supports spelling the past tense so as to avoid the inconvenience of different pronunciations for read versus its identically-spelled past tense.) Second, the past tense form of present tense verbs ending in “eed” are also more frequently pronounced and spelled analogously to “pled”: bleed>bled, breed>bred, [but deed>deeded], feed>fed, [but seed>seeded], and speed>sped.
However, in my personal experience formal legal “pleadings” were “pled”, but legal complaints should be “well-pleaded”; but if a being was actively “pleading”, rather than establishing the legal object “a pleading”, then that being actively “pleaded” in the past.
Thus, the preponderance of analogous pronunciation and spelling suggests that “pled” should be correct. Nonetheless, the prevalence of “pleaded” in literary usage, together with the inconsistency of “pled” and “pleaded” even in legal terminology, provides a strong argument for settling on “pleaded”. Having said that, I doubt that logic and argument will ever overcome the present inconsistency in the spelling, or even in the pronunciation, of the past tense of “plead”.
I did’nt realize that this personal pet peave of mine was in fact not so personal but a widespread question for the masses.I personally think it makes newscasters and journalist sound ignorant when they use pleaded to describe what some defendant did in the court.”Today OJ Simpson pleaded guilty to whatever” It sounds much better for them to say Today OJ Simpson pled guilty. And it does matter.We as a society are geeting way to lazy in our use of language,spelling and grammer.
I prefer “pleaded” for “begged”.
On the other hand, to claim guilt or innocence, I like “pled”. They are two very different usages.
I agree with like eric (and probably with what rusty meant).
It bugs me, a lot! I hate the use of “pleaded”, I much prefer “pled” … it sounds natural and right!
Ricky L –
I agree that pled sounds much more appropriate. However, I must disagree with your statement that, “We as a society are geeting way to lazy in our use of language,spelling and grammer.” Rather, I contend that, we, as a society, are getting way too lazy in our use of language, spelling and grammar.
Regards,
Ron
The almost universal adoption of a corrupted word-form by an illiterate group of journalists does not constitute a legitimatization of that word-form.
While I recognize that English is a language which is constantly changing, the changes are primarily through the addition of new words (automobile, airplane, laptop, etc.) or additional meanings for current words (cool, hot, groovy, etc.). This DOES NOT excuse the use of Fun . . Funner . . Funnest, nor any other such corruption of the language!
As my high school English teachers (in the late 1940s) constantly preached, the proper use of the language, whether spoken or written, is an indication of an educated person, regardless of the level of formal training, while improper usage demonstrates ignorance; all the degrees in the world not withstanding.
Perhaps that is why we had four semesters of English grammar and four semesters of literature in the high school curriculum. Perhaps, also, that is why a high school graduate of that period had a better grasp of the language than 99% of today’s college graduates.
Oh, by the way, PLED was the ONLY past tense of the verb, TO PLEAD which was taught at that time.
Every time I hear pleaded on a news board cast. it drives me nuts. It is nice to know now that I am not alone. Someone needs to tell journalists they need to get it right.
When I readed that the past tense of “plead” should be “pleaded” not “pled,” I goed and telled this to my wife, and she sayed, “It ised good that they bringed a uniform way of saying past things to us by adding “ed”, such as leaded, not led, and readed, not read, even though the folks in Reading, PA, might find Readeding a bit of a challenge.”
After I thinked about it, I seed that this would make words simpler for all. I beginned at once.
Wow, I am quite excited that there are many among us who profess to being distressed with the flagrant misuse of grammar…now, before anyone comments on my possible improper use of “who” earlier in my post I have to admit I am not always good about the correct use of “who” and “whom”, or “who” as opposed to “that” , but some of the more common spelling and grammar issues do get to me…so, i do get frustrated with the constant use of pleaded when referring to the past tense of plead…I agree that it does sound better to use pleaded when stating “I pleaded with the lady…”, but do not like “he pleaded guilty”….I strongly approve of pled in the vast majority of situations!!! I do think that sometimes we go a little overboard however in our desire to standardize everything to make it easier….remember, the English language is not a scientific exercise, it was born out of the need to communicate both orally and on paper in a way that was understood by the masses, so there is, and will continue to be, differences in tenses and the words used..I would truly hate to see the English language standardized to such a extent that its very uniqueness is no longer in evidence…some of you may disagree of course!!
I also agree with the earlier poster who stated that those of us who attended school in the”old days” (as my children constantly refer to it) have a better grasp (in general) of appropriate use of English in both its spoken and written forms, but I think that it is more due to the rigorous drills and daily expectations of the school system (with back-up from parents) than to any inate abilities we think we had regarding the English language…I “learnt” (see..there’s another example..I grew up saying “learn—learned—learnt” as the correct approach!!) how to correctly apply the rules, and no-one ever said to me that it was okay if I spelt (and yes, that is a correct spelling of the past tense of “spell”!!) or wrote my own version of English…we had to learn from day one how to spell, write, and use the word in every day speech…ok, my point is made, have put my tuppence worth in…soooo, my next question is…when will someone address the common use of “busses” as opposed to “buses”?
I am grateful to find an answer, even if it is a somewhat unsatisfactory one.
Now, to look up leaded vs. led.
Yes, its true. On the Fourth of July the local news reporter told me who leaded the parade! Uhg!
Definitive; here you go:
One who enters a plea has plead, not pleaded. The past tense of plea is plead (pronounced pled) if one has pleaded, they have urged or begged in some way or attempted to pursuade. When one enters a plea they do nothing of this sort. A plea is a formal entrance of a parties stance with respect to charges that have been presented, there is no negotiation or pleading involved only a statement of guilt, conditioned guilt or innocense. The fact that most media anchors and many legal professionals get it wrong does not somehow make it right. There is a big differance between the act of pleading an the act of entering a plea. Let us get this publically straightened out.
I have a teenage daughter. She is constantly griping about how I am picking on her and her use of poor grammer. I end the argument by stating that, when she learns how to do it right, she can do it however she wants.
pled, pled, pled, pled, I shall go ahead and use it! I personally eliev having growm up in a country where UK usage was prevalent, but USA usage is now the norm, that PLED is UK and Pleaded is USA English???
But I’m writing pled, pled, pled, pled, pled!!!!
I plead that we end this conversation and use whatever we like!! Why not? The lawyers and journalists do!
I say pled. That is what I was taught as a kid. I came here after noticing more news programs using pleaded. Something about pleaded just sounds wrong to my ear/mind.
These comments are enough to make any person who cares about the future of the English language despair.
The past tense of the verb “to plead” is “pleaded”. “Pled”, no matter how it is spelled, is an American illiteracy – the past tense of “bleed” is “bled”, so the past tense of “plead” must be “pled”, right? Wrong.
There is only one situation in which it is correct to use “pled” as the past tense of “plead”, in Scotland, whilst in a court of law. Unless any of you are barristers working in Scotland you may safely eliminate “pled” from your vocabulary. Please, please do.
The Queen’s Englsih [sic] said:
“The past tense of the verb “to plead” is “pleaded”. “Pled”, no matter how it is spelled, is an American illiteracy ….”
I find it challenging to give much credibility regarding an absolute assertion about the English language to someone who can’t spell the word English, even moreso when there is no citation to authority. Furthermore, usage unique to American English is not, per se, illiterate.
moreso?
Sorry. More so ….
yes, “moreso” is incorrect — and often misspelled, especially by me. 🙂
Sam F.
you can hardly discredit “The Queen’s Englsih” for a typo when you make one yourself (unless ‘moreso’ is a real word; I’ll require citation to authority before I’ll believe it is.)
As for The citation to authority that you requested to the earlier comment, how does The Concise Oxford English dictionary grab you: Pleas see http://www.wordreference.com/definition/pleading to define the past participle of ‘to plead’ once and for all.
Both your cited authority (British) and the online Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pled?show=0&t=1295030898) show “pled” as an acceptable usage, especially in the U.S. I don’t think one could legitimately characterize “pled” as an “illiteracy” simply because it is used in America.
…as for all the typos I made in my comment above:
I know what I meant, it should be clear to anyone reading it, but if you really need to feel smug, have that one on me.
The Supreme Court begins its new session this month, and one reader asked about the proper procedural approach (or at least, past tense) of a case already argued. Another wondered about the silence of the lamb, while a third wrote in search of the manly side of distaff.
Q. I would like to know who, when, and why the word pled was changed to pleaded as the past tense of the word plead. Is there a panel of little old men somewhere that decided that pled could not be used anymore?
A. A Nexis database search of U.S. newspapers and wire stories suggests that since at least 1969 pleaded has been far more common in use as a past tense for plead than has pled. The past tense variant plead (pronounced like pled) is also far more common than pled, but is still not as common as pleaded.
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations as Mr. Spock would say.
The fact that our language, which I insist is AMERICAN, not English, grows and changes is notable.
The reason “Pled” sounds easier on most of our ears, than “Pleaded”, when referring to the past tense of what someone did, is probably because that is what we were taught in school. Just as we were taught that a preposition is never placed at the end of a sentence.
“Where is it at?” is incorrect “Where is it?” is proper. “Who are you going with?” has a couple of errors “With whom are you going?”
Many “Americanisms” are actually cases of “Code-Switching” How we speak in formal or social situations often changes when we are communicating within our own peer group.
I was born in 1948 and there were words we used when talking with our friends such as “Ain’t”, and double negative sentences ” I ain’t got no money.”
Now “Ain’t”, contraction for “Am Not”, is now in the dictionary as acceptable.
Certain “American words” do not translate to other languages because we have created them. “Superstar” “Big Mac” “Moonwalk” are a few examples of American not English.
I am still taken aback when I hear “We are conversating” instead of “We are having a conversation.” or on the evening news ” A water main busted this afternoon….”
Our “English” has been modified by poor use of the language, the bastardisation (bastardization) <-another americanization. It grates on English nerves when WE use a letter Z where they use an S, but THAT is AMERICAN, not English!
Those are my thoughts. On the Plead, Pleaded and Pled debate, I'll still say Pled for the past tense of Plead when referring to a suspect's response to legal charges.
Using the letter ‘Z’ instead of an ‘S’ (organization/organisation) did not start out as an Americanisation. It is sometimes known in English as the ‘Oxford Z’ (English) and was peculiar to those educated up at Oxford.
Just a note about “I could care less.”
It’s a shortcut for a longer sentence whose meaning the hearer is expected to understand. Obviously we all understand the meaning without understanding why the shortcut means what it does.
The full sentence would be along the lines of “As if I could care any less than I already do,” shortened to “I could care less.”
It’s ironical, you see. 😉
But thanks for the discussion of pleaded vs. pled, which is what brought me to this page. It’s been very entertaining, although it has leaded to no absolute solution to the dilemma (didn’t I learn to spell that “dilemna?” I remember having to learn it that way for my very strict and persnickety 7th grade English teacher and always pronouncing the “n” in my head to be sure I got it right because the “n” was silent. Then suddenly, in the computer age, spell check put the kibosh on that.).
My spell check registers “pled” as incorrect spelling which disturbs me because it’s the one that sounds right to me and the one I remember learning in school (not law school).
Those of us who grew up speaking English should be grateful. Having taught it around the world, I know it’s one of the most difficult languages to master because of what someone in this forum kindly called its “quirks.”
Wow, with the volume of folks who come to this post through Google search, I wish I could have done a better job originally of setting up and exploring the debate.
However, the comments have continued the narrative and have been quite thought-provoking – both for me and for others who come here – so, thanks!
– Eric
Despite the comments by those who claim they learned “pled” as the correct past tense of “plead,” I was taught that the term “pleaded” was correct…just as I was taught that “sneaked” was the proper past tense for “sneak” and that the use of the word “snuck” was a mark of the illiterate. I am actually shocked at the number of people who assert that “pled” is correct or that “pled” sounds correct to them. The hair on my neck stands up whenever I hear someone utter the word “pled.” THAT sounds so wrong to me, but far be it for me to assert what sounds better. Judgements are opinions and only opinions…(or should I spell that word: “judgments?) Interesting debate. I’m going to refer to the scholarly dictionaries for the proper word.
As a British girl I grew up using “plead” when referring to the future and current tense of the word “beg” (as in he will “plead” or they “plead” for their lives as we speak), but “pled” as the past simple tense of the word…the Cambridge dictionary confirms that as the correct use of the term:
Pled: past simple and past participle of plead
Thanks
I meant that I used the word ‘plead’ as a replacement/alternative for the word ‘beg’..sorry
Glad I found this site – maybe now I can go quietly crazy in good company. I have seen news reports, both online and on paper, in which the reporter uses the “he pleaded guilty” phrase, too many times. Yes, I reaize that last sentence was heck of a run on. Pet peeves: using the word libRary and speaking it as liBary and the word “nuCLear”, spoken as “nuLCear” which makes one want to go NUCLEAR on those that make these mistakes. I wonder if those that publish online and on paper have fired all editors and proofreaders?
The lawyers like pled because it is dramatically correct. Pleaded implies begging or to plea. Which does not happen when someone enters a plea
In my 54 years I’ve noticed that the English language has changed much. Not for the best mind you, just much. I prefer pled as well as everyone here. Another irratation that I’ve been hearing is the word “Index” being pronounced “In-da-sees” as in heat INDEX regarding the weather. Why the hell are news casters changing the language? Between the damn local news guy talking about “heat INDASEES” and someone “pleaded” guilty and a “nu-Q-lar” power plant somewhere, I can’t enjoy the news anymore.
Actually, the word that is being pronounced is “indices,” the plural of index. The newscasters aren’t wrong, unless they are using it in the singular. Also, no, not everyone here prefers “pled.”
As a law enforcement officer I preferred “Pled” over “Pleaded”.
You also don’t say, “I kned dough to make this bread.” Pleaded is the past tense of plead. Plea has no past tense.
Well, Dr. Bill, I certainly hope that neither patient “bleeded” out. 😛
No, no one bleeded. That would be illiterate.
Plea has no past tense because plea is a noun.
You are correct–the present tense is “plead,” not “plea.”
HeeHaw and LG: I’m a surgeon. Today I removed two appendices. 🙂
O always cringe when i hear a news person use pleaded…sounds like an uneducated person…like so many in Missouri who say “I seen..”.I vote for pled.
I feel the same way about “pled” as I do about “ain’t.” “Pled” sounds to me like a shortcut of those too lazy to use language properly. This practice also reminds me of “text-speak” where shortcuts are used out of what some claim to be “utility.” Sorry, I can never get used to “pled.”
To me, “pleaded” sounds clunky!! I don’t like hearing it.
Fair enough, but your feeling is not the same as an objective truth. In reality, there are many varieties or registers or English, a fact that makes it beautiful as well as confusing. I recommend giving up on the notion that there is a “correct” form of English, any deviation from which is “wrong.” A particular use of English rings clunky or tone-deaf within a discourse community that follows other norms. Just look at that great master of the language, Shakespeare, for many many examples. “That was the most unkindest cut of all,” exclaims Antony in “Julius Caesar.” So what, are we going to whine about the bastardization of the language, and the laziness of its users, because the bard strung together two superlatives? Of course not. But we can indict black/poor folk who use double negatives, which points to the underlying issue that a Brit brought up earlier. Claims of “correct” English are in part assertions about class, social status, race, intelligence, work ethic, or simply power. My position is easy to ridicule and lampoon; if one is willing to reflect, the ridiculing actually feeds my argument rather than refutes it.
Sorry to be aggressive about this post. I just get tired of one type of speech act masquerading as something else. There never was a “correct” English and never will be.
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The technically correct version is “pleaded.”
The verb “to plead” comes to us from French plaider, and French verbs are regular, i.e. . The past “pled” is incorrect for one of the following two reasons:
1. Hypercorrection, treating “to plead” as a German verb, e.g. or , in which case a vowel mutation “ea>e” might make sense.
2. Reanalyzing the verb as “to plea,” even though this isn’t a word. If “to plea” was a verb, than “pled” would wound right as the past tense.
Hallelujah–another in the minority who speaks wisdom.
So does your “technical” analysis also apply to make the past tense of the verbs lead and read “leaded” and “readed”? The English language, as used in the U.S., is the least likely to follow rules of construction of any language I have ever studied, which include the Germanic language German, and the Romantic languages Italian and Spanish. Furthermore, English is an aglomeration of French, German, and earlier languages of the British Isles, to it seems to me that Old English would gramatically supercede any prior French constructs. In other words, prior actual usage is more determinative of the word than grammatical rules of construction derived from a foreign antecedent. IMHO
So everybody’s right?
“A native speaker is never wrong.” An idea attributed to Margaret Meade, anthropologist. (Paraphrased).
Well, I wouldn’t go quite so far as to say that everyone’s right, especially considering I misspelled agglomeration, typed “to” instead of “so,” and referred to Latin-based languages as “Romantic” instead of “Romance.”
However, as to pled vs. pleaded, I would say “Yes, either is right, and both have been used extensively in American English.” I use “pled” as well as “led.” I don’t use “leaded,” “readed” or “pleaded,” but I have no problem understanding and accepting any of them.
So, as they say in the ‘hood, can’t we all just get along?
I wonder how you feel about “snuck” vs. ” sneaked?” I believe the proper word to use for the past tense of “sneak” is, in fact, ” sneaked.” Perhaps that is the reason that I cringe when I hear the word “pled.” It reminds me of an ignorant short-cut despite its wide acceptance among speakers of modern American English.
How do I feel? I don’t really care. I can understand the speaker’s intent, and that’s what matters to me. I’m not into propriety so much as into understanding. For example, if someone says to me, “I snuck into his room and speaked to him,” I understand what is meant, even though I myself might use “sneaked” and “spoke.” I certainly would not undertake to correct the speaker, although if the speaker is my child I might point out that others could consider the usage “an ingorant short-cut.” I look on everyone as my brother or sister, and I would not think the less of my brother or sister, at heart, irrespective of any disagreement over usage.
Four years later … 🙂
– Eric
Mark Twain said it best, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” So many of these posts sound so certain!
Here’s the deal with plead versus pled. Lawyers and journalists don’t use the word “pled” as the past tense of pleaded, ub spite of what many of you are writing. If you don’t believe me, check Black’s Law Dictionary and the AP Stylebook.
Pled is colloquial and therefore informal. If you’re in a rhetorical context where informality is desired, and your audience isn’t too picky, then “pled” is fine. And, since English is an evolving language, it doesn’t really make sense to talk about one “proper” English from which every variation deviates. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for formality, say in an academic setting or when addressing lawyers or journalists, your credibility won’t be marred if you choose “pleaded,” whereas “pled” creates a slight “clunk” in the ears of those in the know.
“Nevertheless, if you’re looking for formality, say in an academic setting or when addressing lawyers or journalists, your credibility won’t be marred if you choose “pleaded,” whereas “pled” creates a slight “clunk” in the ears of those in the know.”
Yes, “pled” indeed sounds clunky to me.
Kudos (or is it cyudoes) to Eric. As Margaret Meade reputedly said, “A native speaker is never wrong.” Although that may be an overstatement, language is ever evolving, and the “correct” way to say things changes over time. I was brought up, and went through law school, to use “pled.” However, after following this discussion for several years, I have come to the conclusion that we should strive for uniformity and simple rules in our language. Given that people frequently fail to spell led correctly (confusing the verb with the element), and the past tense of read is still spelled read, and other rote memorization requirement, I believe we should simply do the child-like thing and make all past tenses, where possible, by adding “ed.” Lead becomes leaded; read becomes readed; plead becomes pleaded; feed becomes feeded; etc.
So, can somebody give me an example of when you can use “pled”? Is this acceptable:
“I will never steal from you,” he pled.
You claim that the lawyers like ‘pled.’ Some lawyers may, but their dictionary says ‘pleaded.’
Which is “correct” always depends on rhetorical context. If you’re in an informal setting of non experts or specialists, then ‘pled’ is fine. The point is that ‘pled’ is colloquial. Any situation that isn’t concerned about colloquialisms is a situation when ‘pled’ functions fine.
As a British English speaker I know that usage is, above all, a class idicator. What is acceptable to one social group is sneered at by another. “Right” “wrong” simply doesn’t come into it!
Are you saying that “the plumage don’t enter into it?” 😛
(Forgive me; I simply could not resist…)
Sadly, Ignorance, indifference and/or apathy often govern the usage of spoken and written language. Journalists who adopt either popular vanucular or simply do not have command of the language continue to provide poor examples in our struggle to educate our population. Consistency is important for basic communication, as is some discipline in our use of words. Unfortunately, it is no longer a matter of education or class, just laziness. Certainly text abbreviations will help those with poor spelling issues, so if we sway with the wind, bending to whatever use is presented, we increase apathy and our ability to communicate concisely with ourselves and others.
“vanucular”–oh, the irony. (Tee hee…)
I always wonder, what would Professor Tolkien think of all this language talk. Or John Cleese for that matter.
Trolls, feel free to have at my usage of the language, it’ll keep the thread going
hello
It drives me nuts too! I mean – it drives me nuts tooted…lol
It really depends on who is saying the word and what they are refering too.
He begged and pleaded, but she would not change her mind.
She couldn’t afford a lawyer to plead her case.
“How do you plead?” asked the judge.
“We plead guilty, Your Honor.”
He agreed to plead to a lesser charge of manslaughter
She plead (pled) not guilty.
It is spelled the same way but pronounced differently.
The newscasters are hired because they look good, not because they are smart They are reading without thought. It is because they readed it wrong.
Here’s the thing….if teachers had been taught properly all these years they could be teaching English properly now. What has happened to the English language is sad! It’s a confusing language, but beautiful when correctly spoken. It needs to be taught early, though.
jojo, it sounds as if you had bad experiences with English teachers, which is a conversation I don’t feel qualified to enter into with you. But the distinction between the two uses of the verb”to plea” is not about one “correct” version and the other incorrect. It’s about different discourse communities who follow their own norms. — nothing wrong with that! The issue is analogous to the old Satchmo song, “You say po- tay- to, I say po-tah-to… let’s call the whole thing off.”
pled is past tense; plead is the act of doing it or getting ready to do it.
John pled guilty to the crime; Jane plans to plead guilty to the charges or I’m going to plead out on the charges.
Is there a verb “to plea”? I thought plea was a noun, and the verb was to plead.
English, if you ask a non–english person, is probably the most difficult speech to learn. We have hundreds of words pronounced in two or even three forms all spelt differently and looking like they are the same. Precise language is a joy to be around, as it leaves the listener more in touch with the true meaning of the word…
I just heard an anchor say pleaded and it bothered me, so here I am. Plead, to me is the way.
http://grammarist.com/usage/pleaded-pled/
Pleaded is the standard past tense and past participle of the verb plea. Pled has always been considered incorrect by people who make such judgments, but it is so common that we have to accept it as an alternative form.
“Pleaded is the standard past tense and past participle of the verb plea.”
Yes. Yes, it is…as many have been saying on here, and as many have been adamantly rejecting on here. “I’ve had all I can stands and I can’t stands no more.” I can’t stands the sound of “pled.” Never could.
I used to be a “pled” person. Also “led,” “read” (pronounced red), etc. Now I think all past tenses should be “ed” past tenses: leaded, readed, seed, eated, etc. Forget all these holdovers from integration of other languages and simplify our grammar. When I readed all these comments, they leaded me to the conclusion that I needed to
I am a person who makes such judgments, and I do not now consider, and have never considered, pled to be incorrect. I do think we should standardize our language around one form of past tense for our verbs insofar as possible, however (see reply to LG below).
I am so glad that there are still smart people in the world who care about proper grammar, spelling, and word usage. Use of the word “pleaded” is my idiot detector. It’s “pled” – always has been, always should be.
That’s funny…my idiot detector goes off when someone insists that “pled” sounds correct. To me, “pled” sounds like a shortcut of the illiterate. I suppose some grammatical blow-hards are more equal than other grammatical blow-hards on here. 😉
Oo! Someone brought up my #1 language gripe: the near nonexistence of native English speakers – even journalists – who are aware that the past part of ‘(to) lead’ is ‘led’, not ‘lead’! ‘Lead’ *pronounced* ‘led’ is what’s in your pencil! (Actually, that’s graphite, but you get the point, harhar.)
In 2014 march my son was killed by a 17 year old driver who turned 18 april 4th he was charged with reckless and careless driving and inexperienced driver and due care .He went to court april 8th 4 days after he turned 18 .The t.b.i. sent us a letter and said the boys blood test would not be back until after may 24th 2014 .we were not notified of a court date he went to court before the test were back also he only pled quilty to the due care even though he crossed the center lane and killed my son and was charged with all the other charges.all he received was his license suspended for 6 months and that’s it…what is the law in Tennessee concerning due care when you have caused a death plus went to court before his blood work was back.please respond I’m going crazy .no justice for my son .
Bad example using “saided” . Try sweep