Aloud vs. Allowed – How to Use Each Correctly
What’s the Difference Between Allowed and Aloud?
Contents
Allowed and aloud are homophones. This means that they sound the same yet have different meanings and spellings.
Allowed is an adjective that means permitted. It is also the past tense and past participle form of the verb allow.
- My parents never allowed their dog on the furniture.
Aloud acts as an adverb that means to say something vocally.
- Sometimes the girl reads in her head and sometimes she reads aloud.
Now, let’s go over a few ways you can use these words in your sentences.
Using Allowed in a Sentence
When to use allowed: Allowed is an adjective or past tense verb for something that is approved, authorized, sanctioned or in accordance with the rules. If someone allows something, it means that the person lets it happen.
For example,
- The students wanted to wear shorts to school on the scorching summer day but it wasn’t allowed.
- Are you allowed to drink soda?
This word typically appears in the context of parents and what activities they allow their children to participate in, as well as the context of rules at a school or business. Interestingly, the word dates back to the 1200s in Middle English and may be related to the word praise, from the Latin laud.
Although allowed and permitted are synonyms, allowed is more common and less formal.
Using Aloud in a Sentence
When to use aloud: Aloud is an adverb usually used with the verbs read, sing, or think. It shows that rather than taking place only mentally, a person expresses his thoughts with his voice.
For example,
- When learning a new language, it is helpful to read aloud so you can practice your pronunciation.
- She often insulted people by saying all her thoughts aloud.
A similar expression for aloud is out loud. Both of these terms can also mean audible, as opposed to speaking softly or in a whisper. An archaic use of this term means to speak loudly.
Remembering Allowed vs. Aloud
There are two different ways to remember which word is which.
Allowed is spelled the same as allow, with an addition of the ed to signify the past tense or past participle. This is the same as all other regular verbs.
Aloud is spelled the same as loud, with an addition of an a. This can help you remember that it means to say something loudly enough to hear, and it is the opposite of speaking quietly or in one’s own head. It even sounds like the expression out loud.
Outside Examples
- Jennifer Merin, 74, had sued the city for $600,000, claiming boneheaded bureaucrats allowed an ex-con to file a phony deed transfer that put her family’s empty three-bedroom Tudor in Queens under his name. He then moved in. –New York Post
- While Mueller’s office investigated Flynn on a variety of issues, including unreported lobbying work on behalf of Turkish interests, it allowed him to plead guilty to the relatively minor charge of lying to the FBI. –USA Today
- Galway Kinnell was often compared to his favorite poet, Walt Whitman, whose “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” Kinnell movingly read aloud every year on the far side of the Brooklyn Bridge at a benefit for the New York poetry library Poets House. –LA Times
- A South Carolina state senator struggled to stay upright during a sobriety test and worried aloud about losing his job after a car crash, according to new dashcam videos taken during his DUI arrest. –New York Daily News
Quiz: Allowed vs. Aloud
Instructions: Fill in the blank with the correct word, either allowed or aloud.
- No one is __________________ to talk on the phone in the library.
- He was embarrassed to read his poetry _________ in front of the other students.
- I can’t know what you’re thinking if you refuse to say it _____________.
- Many developed countries have an elaborate system in place so that only qualified individuals are _________ to own firearms and other dangerous weapons.
- She grew up in a very strict family in which none of the children were ____________ to watch movie in which there were any swear words.
See answers below.
Article Summary
Should I use allowed or aloud? These words sound exactly alike, but have no overlap in meaning.
- Allowed refers to something permitted by the rules
- Aloud refers to saying something with one’s voice, as opposed to in one’s head.
Typically, if you are talking about rules, use allowed. If you are talking about speaking what one is thinking or reading, use aloud.
Answers from Quiz
- allowed
- aloud
- aloud
- allowed
- allowed