read
The sign read 'read carefully'.
The sentence describes a sign that bore the printed instruction 'read carefully' — the first 'read' is the past tense of the verb 'to read,' the second is the present tense imperative.
Meanings
to look at and interpret written or printed words
- I read the news every morning.
- Children are taught to read in first grade.
the past tense of 'read' — looked at and interpreted written or printed words
- I read the book last week.
- She read aloud to her grandchildren.
Word origin
From Old English rǣdan ('to advise, interpret, read'), from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną. Originally the verb meant 'to give advice' (still preserved in 'rede' and Norse 'råd'); the modern sense of 'reading text' developed from the idea of interpreting written symbols. The past tense /rɛd/ and the present /riːd/ split phonetically through the Great Vowel Shift, which raised the long /eː/ to /iː/ but left the short vowel of the past tense unchanged.
Fun fact
'Read' is one of a small number of English verbs whose present and past tenses are spelled identically but pronounced differently — the only way to know whether to say /riːd/ or /rɛd/ is by tense context. Other examples in this club include 'lead' (present /liːd/, but past tense is the differently-spelled 'led'). It is the legacy of the Great Vowel Shift, which raised long vowels but left short vowels alone.