This drives me nuts when I see it done wrong, but it’s actually kind of complicated because English is orthographically deranged.

Lead (/liːd/) [verb, present tense]: to guide, etc. I asked them to lead us in a rousing revolutionary anthem.

Led (/led/) [verb, past tense]: as above, but past tense. Later, we were led to a blank concrete wall.

Lead (/led/) [noun]: A soft, poisonous metal. Bullets are most often made of lead.

Just to make it confusing…

Lead (/liːd/) [noun]: kind of like “leader”. Officer Johnson was our lead on this operation. (Note: it also means “leash”; e.g., I clipped the lead to Bowser’s collar.)

Lede (/liːd/) [noun]: The first bit of a news story, often the first sentence. I didn’t read the full article, but the lede suggested the protesters were decimated by police.

Leeds [proper noun]: A Town in England. Leeds is the worst place to stage peaceful protests.

And finally…

LED (ell ee dee) [noun, abbr.]: Abbreviation for light-emitting diode. For the love of any gods you might believe in, fucking capitalize it. Electronics hobbyists I’m looking in your direction.

More Examples

  • Wrong: I was lead into the woods by a stranger.

  • Right: I was led into the woods by a stranger.

  • Wrong: The lead in an ad about cheap bulk led lead me to lede my leed dog to Leides on her led lede.

  • Right: The lede in an ad about cheap bulk lead led me to lead my lead dog to Leeds on her LED lead.

(The last example is stupidly confusing, but it was fun to write.)