The English verb to Read is unsatisfactory, in that its past participle is indistinguishable from many present-tense conjugations. When I say “I read that the Foreign Minister stated...” it is unclear whether I read it last May or whether having now read it I am about to react. This arises because in composing a brief email on an emotionally-charged subject—Israel/Palestine—I became aware that when I wrote “I read” it was totally unclear whether I had read or do read, and this kind of subtlety really matters in this kind of territory. I propose that we distinguish the past participle of read by adding an extra ‘d’ so when I write “readd” it’s pronounced “red” and everyone knows what I mean.


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