read
/riːd/ (bre, ipa) · [rˈid] /riːd/ (ame, ipa) · [rˈɛd] /ˈrēd/ (ame, mw)
read — verb
- readpresent simple I / you / we / they
- readshe / she / it
- reading-ing form
1. to look at letters, numbers, or other written marks and know what they mean.
to look at letters, numbers, or other written marks and know what they mean.
Talia learned to read short Mandarin words when she was four years old.
learn to read + [language/material]
Christopher read the recipe twice before he started cooking dinner.
read + concrete written object (recipe, sign)
Have you read about the storm that hit the coast last week?
Renata read on the bus every morning to pass the time.
The boy was reading a comic book under the kitchen table.
文法句型
read + noun
read about + noun
read + that-clause
用法筆記
Object is typically a written or printed item (book, note, sign, screen). Used intransitively without an object when the activity itself is the focus, as in 'I read every night before bed.'
常見錯誤
2. to speak the words on a page so that other people can hear them.
to speak the words on a page so that other people can hear them.
Hoa read the poem aloud to her grandmother in the hospital room.
read + [text] + aloud + to + [person]
Please read the next paragraph for the class, Darius.
imperative: read + [text] + for + [audience]
The judge read out the names of the winners one by one.
Élise read her sister a funny story from the new picture book.
文法句型
read + noun
read + something + to + somebody
read + somebody + something
用法筆記
Often pairs with 'aloud' or 'out' to make the audible nature explicit. Distinguish from sense 1: here someone else can hear the words; in sense 1 the reading may be silent.
常見錯誤
3. to decide what a piece of writing, an action, or a situation means, especially w
to decide what a piece of writing, an action, or a situation means, especially when there is more than one possible meaning.
Gita read his long silence as a sign that he was angry with her.
read + [behaviour] + as + [meaning]
How do you read this part of the contract about late payments?
how do you read + [text]
Leo can read his daughter's mood from across the playground.
Don't read too much into one short email from your manager.
The coach read the other team's strategy before the second half began.
文法句型
read + noun + as + noun/adjective
read something into + noun
用法筆記
Often takes 'as' to introduce the chosen interpretation, or 'into' for reading more meaning into something than is really there. Object is typically abstract (silence, mood, situation, contract clause), not a written page.
常見錯誤
4. to seem a particular way to someone who is reading it.
to seem a particular way to someone who is reading it.
The opening chapter reads like a mystery novel rather than a memoir.
subject is the text; reads like + [genre]
Sora's apology email reads as cold and rushed, even though she meant it kindly.
reads as + [adjective]
The new safety guide reads well and is easy for staff to follow.
Marco's old letters read more like diary entries than messages to a friend.
- come across
informal: 'his speech came across as nervous'
- sound
for spoken impression rather than written text
文法句型
read + adverb (well, badly, like)
read like + noun
read as + adjective
用法筆記
Subject is the text itself, not the reader. Always intransitive in this sense and almost always followed by an adverb (well, badly) or 'like'/'as' phrase. Distinguish from sense 3 where the reader is the subject.
常見錯誤
5. to be able to hear what someone is saying clearly, especially over a radio.
to be able to hear what someone is saying clearly, especially over a radio.
Tower, this is flight 207 — do you read me?
fixed phrase: do you read me?
Cole told the rescue team he could read them loud and clear.
fixed phrase: read [somebody] loud and clear
The captain said he was reading the coast guard but the signal was weak.
I can barely read you, Eri — try moving closer to the antenna.
文法句型
read + somebody
read + somebody + adverb (loud and clear)
用法筆記
Almost exclusively used in radio communication. Common fixed phrases: 'Do you read me?' and 'I read you loud and clear.' Object is the person speaking, not their words.
常見錯誤
6. to read a story or book aloud to someone, usually a child, until they fall aslee
to read a story or book aloud to someone, usually a child, until they fall asleep.
Rachid reads his twin daughters to sleep with a different fairy tale every night.
read + [somebody] + to sleep
After the long flight, the grandmother read the tired boy to sleep on the sofa.
Christopher spoke so softly that he read the fussy baby to sleep within minutes.
Talia promised to read her younger brother to sleep while their parents were out.
- lull to sleep
by any soft sound, not only reading
文法句型
read + somebody + to sleep
用法筆記
Always uses the fixed pattern 'read + somebody + to sleep'. The object is the listener (usually a child), and the goal is putting them to sleep, not just reading aloud (compare sense 2).
常見錯誤
7. if a piece of writing, sign, or measuring device reads something, those are the
if a piece of writing, sign, or measuring device reads something, those are the words it shows or the number it gives.
The wooden sign at Mert's bakery reads 'Closed on Sundays' in red paint.
[text] + reads + quoted content
The first line of the email reads, 'Please confirm your address by Friday.'
introducing the exact wording with a comma
Beatriz checked the kitchen scale, which read two kilograms exactly.
The contract should read 'fifteen days' instead of 'fifty days' after the correction.
The thermometer outside Felix's window read minus eight degrees this morning.
文法句型
[text] + reads + [content]
[sign] + reads + that-clause
[meter] + reads + [number]
用法筆記
Subject is the text or instrument itself, not a person. Often appears in the present tense even when describing a past inscription, because the wording is treated as a stable fact.
常見錯誤
8. to be enrolled in a particular subject as your main field at a university, or to
to be enrolled in a particular subject as your main field at a university, or to undergo formal training toward a professional qualification.
Diya is reading economics at Cambridge and hopes to graduate next summer.
read + [subject] + at + [university]
Christopher decided to read for the bar after working as a paralegal for five years.
read for + [professional qualification]
Adaeze's elder sister read history before moving into journalism in Lagos.
Apinya was reading medicine when her father suddenly fell ill.
Several of the prime minister's advisors read law at Oxford in the 1980s.
文法句型
read + [subject]
read for + [degree / qualification]
read + [subject] + at + [university]
用法筆記
Mainly British and somewhat formal; American English usually says 'study' or 'major in'. Distinguish from sense 1 (decoding written words) — this sense names the academic subject as object, not a text.
常見錯誤
9. in golf and similar games, to look carefully at the slope, grass, or wind on a p
in golf and similar games, to look carefully at the slope, grass, or wind on a piece of ground and work out how a ball will roll across it.
Kwame crouched behind the ball and read the green before his final putt.
read + the green (golf collocation)
The caddie helped Noa read the slope, pointing out a hidden break near the hole.
read + the slope
Good players read the wind as carefully as they read the grass.
Élise misread the green at the seventeenth hole and lost the championship by a single stroke.
- misread
to judge the surface wrongly
文法句型
read + [the green / the slope / the wind]
用法筆記
Almost always tied to golf, lawn bowls, or similar games. The object is the surface itself (the green, the slope, the line) rather than a person or text.
常見錯誤
10. to look at things like palms, cards, or tea leaves and claim to learn about a pe
to look at things like palms, cards, or tea leaves and claim to learn about a person's future or hidden feelings from the patterns you see in them.
An old woman at the night market offered to read Obi's palm for a few coins.
read + [person]'s + palm
Baraka's grandmother claimed she could read tea leaves and warn the family of bad weather.
read + tea leaves
The fortune-teller read the cards and announced that a long journey lay ahead.
A wandering monk read the I Ching coins for Xiu and warned her of a coming illness.
文法句型
read + [palm / cards / tea leaves]
read + somebody's + [palm / future]
用法筆記
Object is the divination signs (palm, cards, tea leaves, coins, runes), not the future or person directly. To say 'read someone's mood / face' for hidden feelings, use sense 3 (INTERPRET) instead.
常見錯誤
11. if a computer or device reads a disk, file, or other piece of stored material, i
if a computer or device reads a disk, file, or other piece of stored material, it picks up the information stored there so that the system can use it.
The laptop could not read the old memory card that Felix found in the attic.
[computer] + reads + [storage device]
This program reads the user's settings from a small file at startup.
read + [data] + from + [file]
The supermarket scanner reads the barcode and shows the price on the screen.
Beatriz's tablet kept failing to read the USB stick, even after a restart.
- write
the opposite operation: storing data onto a device
文法句型
read + [data / file]
read + [storage device]
read + [data] + from + [device]
用法筆記
Subject is usually a machine, program, or sensor, not a person. The opposite operation is 'write', as in 'write data to a disk'. Distinguish from sense 1 (humans decoding text) — here no understanding is implied, just data transfer.
常見錯誤
read — noun
1. a time spent looking at a book, article, or other piece of writing — also used t
a time spent looking at a book, article, or other piece of writing — also used to describe what that piece of writing is like to read, for example calling a novel an enjoyable or quick read.
Caleb settled into the armchair for a quiet read before bed.
a + adjective + read for a reading session
Linh said the new mystery novel was a really good read.
describing a book: a good / great read
Have a quick read of this email and tell me what you think.
The biography of Frida Kahlo turned out to be a fascinating read.
Gabriel curled up by the window with the newspaper for an hour-long read.
文法句型
a + adjective + read
have a read of + noun
用法筆記
Almost always countable and singular, taking 'a' plus an adjective ('a good read', 'a quick read'). Distinguish from the verb sense: as a noun it names either the activity itself or the thing being read, judged by how enjoyable it is.
常見錯誤
read — adjective
- readpositive
- readercomparative
- readestsuperlative
1. having gained your knowledge of a topic by spending time studying books and arti
having gained your knowledge of a topic by spending time studying books and articles, rather than from experience or formal classes.
Christopher is unusually well read in Roman history for someone of just fifteen.
well + read in [subject]
The new ambassador is widely read on Korean politics and quoted Park Chung-hee fluently.
widely read on [topic]
Élise grew up in a tiny mountain village yet became deeply read in Russian poetry.
The job needs someone well read in maritime law and willing to travel often.
Reema was the most widely read judge on the panel and noticed every weak citation.
- well-informed
broader; covers any source of knowledge, not only books
- literate
can mean simply able to read, or knowledgeable in a field; context decides
- erudite
much stronger; suggests deep scholarly learning across many fields
- bookish
often slightly negative; suggests preferring books to real life
- unread
rare in this sense; 'poorly read' is more common
- ill-informed
general lack of knowledge, not tied specifically to reading
文法句型
well/widely/poorly + read
read in [subject]
用法筆記
Almost always preceded by a degree adverb (well, widely, deeply, poorly). The bare form 'a read person' is not used. Subject is a person, not a text.