Leer past tense

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Meaning of leer

look or gaze in an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious way.

Infinitive

Word: leer /lɪər/
Examples:
  • 1. En mi tiempo libre, me encanta leer novelas de misterio.
  • 2. ¿Lees alguna revista o periódico a diario?
  • 3. Ellos siempre leen las instrucciones antes de montar cualquier mueble.

Past Simple

Word: leered /ˈlɪərd/
Examples:
  • 1. I leered at the solution to the puzzle for hours before finally understanding it.
  • 2. She leered through the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new art exhibit.
  • 3. They leered over the crowded room, searching for familiar faces in the sea of strangers.

Past Participle

Word: leered /ˈlɪəd/
Examples:
  • 1. By the time she noticed, he had already leered at her from across the room.
  • 2. She realized that the portrait had leered at every guest who walked by during the night.
  • 3. They had leered at the newcomers with suspicion, making them feel unwelcome.

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Bare infinitive

  1. To describe habitual actions or tendencies of looking at someone in an unpleasant or malicious way.
    Example. He often leers at newcomers, which makes them uncomfortable.
    Example. That character in the story always leers at the hero, signaling his dubious intentions.
    Example. Why do you leer at the painting as if it offends you?
  2. To state facts or general truths about someone's behavior of gazing lasciviously.
    Example. He often leers at newcomers, which makes them uncomfortable.
    Example. That character in the story always leers at the hero, signaling his dubious intentions.
    Example. Why do you leer at the painting as if it offends you?
  3. To express ongoing or current actions of looking at someone unpleasantly.
    Example. He often leers at newcomers, which makes them uncomfortable.
    Example. That character in the story always leers at the hero, signaling his dubious intentions.
    Example. Why do you leer at the painting as if it offends you?

Past Simple

  1. To talk about a specific instance in the past when someone looked at another person or something in an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious way.
    Example. At the party, he leered at her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
    Example. Throughout the meeting, she felt he leered at her, which distracted her from the discussion.
    Example. He used to leer at his coworkers until several complaints were made against him.
  2. To describe a series of past actions or behaviors where someone engaged in leering.
    Example. At the party, he leered at her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
    Example. Throughout the meeting, she felt he leered at her, which distracted her from the discussion.
    Example. He used to leer at his coworkers until several complaints were made against him.
  3. To express a past habit or behavior of leering that is no longer current.
    Example. At the party, he leered at her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
    Example. Throughout the meeting, she felt he leered at her, which distracted her from the discussion.
    Example. He used to leer at his coworkers until several complaints were made against him.

Past Participle

  1. Perfect tenses - To talk about actions or behaviors of leering that have been completed or have affected the present.
    Example. She felt leered at by the unsettling statue's gaze, as if it followed her across the room.
  2. Example (Present Perfect). He has leered at me every day since I started working here.
    Example. She felt leered at by the unsettling statue's gaze, as if it followed her across the room.
  3. Example (Past Perfect). By the time she decided to confront him, he had leered at her on numerous occasions.
    Example. She felt leered at by the unsettling statue's gaze, as if it followed her across the room.
  4. Passive voice - While 'leered' in passive voice usage might be less common due to the nature of the action (it's typically a direct action from a subject), it can still be applied in creative or descriptive writing to focus on the experience or reaction of the person being leered at.
    Example. She felt leered at by the unsettling statue's gaze, as if it followed her across the room.

Common mistakes

— 01

Incorrectly Using Irregular Past Forms

One common mistake is treating 'leer' as if it were an irregular verb, leading to incorrect past forms. Some might erroneously use 'lar' or 'lore' as the past forms, influenced by patterns from genuinely irregular verbs like 'speak/spoke/spoken.' The correct forms are always 'leered' for both the past simple and past participle.

— 02

Omitting the Double 'e' in Past Forms

Another mistake is the omission of the double 'e' in the past forms, resulting in 'lered' instead of 'leered.' This mistake likely stems from confusion with verbs that do change their internal vowel or drop a letter when moving to their past forms, such as 'lead/led' or 'read/read.' For 'leer,' however, the correct spelling retains the double 'e.'

— 03

Inconsistency in Spelling

While not a mistake per se, learners might be confused by the general differences in spelling conventions between American and British English, expecting them to apply here. However, when it comes to the word 'leer,' both American and British English use 'leered' for the past simple and past participle forms. The mistake, in this case, would be assuming there's a difference when there isn't one, such as expecting 'leered' in American English and a different form in British English.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the past simple and past participle forms of 'leer'?

The past simple form of 'leer' is 'leered,' and the past participle form is also 'leered.' Both forms are used to describe the action of looking or gazing in an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious way, but they are used in different tenses.

How do I use 'leered' in the past simple tense?

The past simple tense of 'leer' is used to describe an action that happened at a specific time in the past. You often use it with time expressions like yesterday, last week, in 1990, etc. Here's an example sentence. 'He leered at the painting for a long time before finally walking away.' In this sentence, 'leered' indicates that the action of looking at the painting unpleasantly occurred at a specific moment in the past.

How is the past participle 'leered' used in sentences?

The past participle 'leered' is typically used in perfect tenses and the passive voice. In perfect tenses, it is combined with the auxiliary verb 'have' to indicate actions that have been completed at the time of speaking or actions that occurred at an unspecified time in the past. Here's an example in the present perfect tense. 'They have leered at newcomers in a way that made them feel unwelcome.' In the passive voice, it might be used as follows. 'The newcomers were leered at by the locals, making them feel unwelcome.'

Can you provide an example of 'leered' used in a past continuous tense?

While 'leered' itself does not change form in the past continuous tense, you use the auxiliary verb 'was' or 'were' plus 'leering' to indicate an action that was happening at a particular time in the past. Here's how you might use it. 'He was leering at the artwork as if trying to decipher its hidden message.' In this sentence, 'was leering' suggests that the action of looking at the artwork unpleasantly was ongoing or in progress at a specific moment in the past.