Pleaded Guilty or Pled Guilty?

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Should I write "pleaded guilty" or "pled guilty"?

"Pleaded guilty" and "pled guilty" are both acceptable because "pleaded" and "pled" are both used as the past tense of "to plead." The most acceptable past tense is "pleaded," but, over time, "pled" has also become acceptable.

• He pleaded guilty to the charge.
("Pleaded" was the original past tense of "to plead.")
• He pled guilty to the charge.
("Pled" has become an acceptable tense of "to plead.")

More about the Past Tense of "To Plead"

The most acceptable past tense of "to plead" is "pleaded," but, through common usage since the mid-20th century (especially in the US), "pled" has also become acceptable in both the UK and US conventions. [evidence]

If you're looking for the version that will aggravate the least, use "pleaded."

"To Plead" Was a Weak, Regular Verb

"To Plead" was originally a weak, regular verb, meaning its past forms were only "pleaded" (past tense) and "has pleaded" (past participle).

However, over time, "to plead" has been treated like a weak, irregular verb, probably because it sounds a lot like "to bleed," the past forms of which are "bled" and "has bled."

Here is "to plead" with some other weak, regular verbs:

Weak Verb	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle	Comment
love	loved	has loved	regular verb
play	played	has played	regular verb
plead	pleaded	has pleaded	regular verb

Here is "to plead" with some other weak, irregular verbs:

Weak Verb	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle	Comment
tell	told	has told	irregular verb
bleed	bled	has bled	irregular verb
plead	pled	has pled	irregular verb

"Plea" Is the Noun

Of note, the noun is "plea." For example:

• He pleads guilty by submitting a guilty plea.
(In this example, "pleads" is a verb in the present tense, and "plea" is a noun.)

What Is a Weak Verb?

A weak verb is one that has a "-d" or "-t" ending for its simple past tense and past participle.

What Is a Regular Verb?

A regular verb is one that typically adds "-ed" or "-d" to the base form to create the past forms. Read more about regular verbs.
Read more about irregular verbs.

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