WordGarden.ioread
A1Pronunciation
UK
- /riːd/AustralianNew-Zealandnoun
US
- /ˈrid/
Meanings
Verb
to look at and understand written words or other text
to interpret or understand something from signs, patterns, or behavior
to study a subject at a university
Noun
something considered worth reading, such as a book or article
Beyond the definition
To read is to look at words or symbols and understand what they mean. You might read a novel for fun, a message on your phone, or instructions when you need to put something together. It is one of the main ways people take in information, stories, and ideas.
Sometimes read also means saying written words aloud, like when you read a story to a child or read a poem in class. It can also mean understanding signs that are not really words on a page. You can read someone's face, read the room, or read a situation and sense what is going on.
The verb "read" may look simple, but it does a lot of work in English. Most often, it means to look at written or printed words and understand them. When someone says, "She read the letter," it means she saw the words and took in their meaning. This is the usual sense for books, emails, signs, articles, messages, and instructions.
It can also mean saying written words aloud. A parent might read a bedtime story, or a student may read a passage to the class. In this use, the focus is not only on understanding the text but also on speaking it.
Another common use is to interpret something. You can read a person's expression, read the room, read a map, or read the weather signs in the sky. Here, the idea is to notice clues and understand what they show.
English also uses read to mean "have the words." For example, "The sign reads 'Closed,'" means that those are the words written on it.
The past tense is spelled the same way, read, but it is pronounced like "red." So "I read the book yesterday" uses the same spelling as "I read every night," even though the pronunciation changes.
There are also fixed phrases. If you read into something, you find a meaning that may be deeper than what was directly said or shown. If someone says, "Don't read too much into it," they mean, "Don't look for extra meaning that may not be there."
In the end, read is about taking signs, words, or signals and turning them into meaning. It may happen on a page, out loud, on a face, or in a whole situation.
Examples
- 1
Bedtime habit
I usually read for half an hour before bed.
- 2
Reading aloud
She reads to her son every night before bed.
- Patternread to + person
read something aloud for them
- 3
Past tense
I read the whole report last night.
- Grammar
in the past tense, "read" sounds like "red"
- 4
Researching topic
I was reading about climate change when you called.
- Patternread about + subject
get information on that subject
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Reported news
I read that they're opening a new cafe near the station.
- Patternread that ...
learn news or information from something you read
- 6
Instructions
He read through the instructions before he started.
- Phraseread through
read all of something carefully
- 7
Handwriting
It's hard to read her handwriting.
- 8
Music notation
She learned to read music at school.
- Phraseread music
understand written musical notes
- 9
Understanding people
You can tell he's upset, but she's much harder to read.
- Patternread + person
understand what they are thinking or feeling
- 10
Social mood
Try to read the room before you bring up politics.
- Phraseread the room
notice how people are feeling in a social situation
- 11
Overinterpreting
Don't read too much into one short message.
- Patternread too much into + thing
think it means more than it really does
See also
Forms and spellings
3 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- readnounverb
Forms
- reading-ing formverbnoun
- readspluralnounverb