# \[Language\] - which is (more) correct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223 "2015-10-20T11:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/1 "2015-10-20T11:38:29Z")
Hi, What is the proper way to write? (1) The group is led by … (2) The group is lead by… (3) The group is leaded by… (4) An altogether different answer Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/2 "2015-10-20T11:39:16Z")
#1 is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/3 "2015-10-20T12:56:51Z")
Yes, #1 is correct. #2 sometimes confuses people, because the noun “lead” (the metal) is pronounced the same as “led.” But the verb “lead” is present tense (and so wouldn’t be used in the “is \_\_\_\_ by” construction) and rhymes with “seed” or “bead.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/4 "2015-10-20T13:00:21Z")
Lead/led has thrown me off at times (see thread on what you better when you don’t look). Stewpit langwich. ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/5 "2015-10-20T13:02:08Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/6 "2015-10-20T13:08:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Lead/led has thrown me off at times (see thread on what you better when you don’t look). Stewpit langwich. It occurs to me now that part of the confusion may be due to the word “read”: “read” pronounced “red” is the past tense of “read” pronounced “reed,” and people may be trying to use “lead” the same way. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/7 "2015-10-20T13:28:49Z")
If you are writing to a Canadian, it is “The group are led by . . .” ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/8 "2015-10-20T13:59:00Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > If you are writing to a Canadian, it is “The group are led by . . .” Sorey aboot that, eh. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/9 "2015-10-20T20:31:19Z")
And don’t even get us started on lie/lied/lay/laid/lain. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/10 "2015-10-21T00:11:21Z")
> [@Puzzler](#): > > (4) An altogether different answer Yes. "The group is _mis_led by … " ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-which-is-more-correct/735223/11 "2015-10-21T00:34:24Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > If you are writing to a Canadian, it is “The group are led by . . .” No, it isn’t. Regardless of who you are writing to, you would use the correct form. “Group” can be treated as either singular or plural, and it has nothing to do with being Canadian, it has to do with whether the primary emphasis is on the group as a whole (singular) or the members of the group (plural) – and sometimes the distinction is somewhat arbitrary, sometimes not. Thus, “a group of us **are** getting together at my house tonight”. And “the two groups are debating tonight, and the group that wins **is** advancing to the national championships.”