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torpeau said:
Either pled or pleaded can be used as the past tense of plead.
What torpeau says here is entirely correct. I'll offer a few things in elaboration you didn't necessarily need. First, pleaded is the most common form I've seen, and the authorities seem to back me up on that. But, second, pled is not wrong, and, apparently, plead (rhymes with pled) has also had acceptance in writing. (I gather this point from Garner's Modern American Usage.) However, I would personally not use plead in the past tense, mostly because it seems nonstandard and so likely to cause confusion in the audience. Finally, whether you use pleaded or pled (or, I suppose, plead), I encourage consistency in your discrete writings. I sometimes change them up from paper to paper, just for kicks, but alternating in a single piece is probably ill-advised.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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