ESEN
Which one to use?Advancedverbverb (past tense)
WadevsWeighed
'Wade' means to walk through shallow water; 'weighed' is the past tense of 'to weigh'.
Side-by-side comparison
Wade
verb"Wade" is to walk slowly through something that impedes movement, like shallow water or mud. Figuratively, to "wade through" something difficult means to tackle it laboriously.
The children waded through the shallow stream, laughing and splashing.
I spent the whole morning wading through hundreds of emails.
Firefighters had to wade through floodwater to reach the trapped residents.
Weighed
verb (past tense)"Weighed" is the past tense of "weigh": measured how heavy something is, or considered options carefully. "He weighed his options" = he thought through each possibility before deciding.
The package weighed over five kilograms, we needed a larger box.
She weighed all the options carefully before making her final choice.
The decision weighed heavily on him for weeks.
Common mistake
- •"She weighed through the crowd" when meaning moved with difficulty is wrong (correct: waded through).
- •"He waded the options carefully" when meaning considered is wrong (correct: weighed).
Trick to remember it
- •"Wade" has ADE like "made" and "shade", picture walking through water.
- •"Weighed" contains EIGH like "weight," "freight," "eight", the EIGH cluster almost always signals weight in English.
Quick rule
Is it walking through water or advancing with difficulty? "Wade." Is it the past of measuring weight or considering? "Weighed."
Did you know?
The EIGH spelling pattern in English appears in virtually all words related to weight or the number eight: weight, weigh, freight, eight, eighteen, eighty, sleigh. This pattern comes from Old English and Norman French, the "eigh" combination represented a sound that later evolved phonetically but the spelling became fossilized. Once you recognize the EIGH = weight/eight pattern, words that carry it become much easier to remember and distinguish.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
They had to _____ through the flooded street to get home.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She _____ the bag at the post office. It was over the limit.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
AcceptvsExcept
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
AdvicevsAdvise
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
AffectvsEffect
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
AislevsIsle
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy