diff --git a/icu4c/readme.html b/icu4c/readme.html
index 718097fc11..6bba2f343d 100644
--- a/icu4c/readme.html
+++ b/icu4c/readme.html
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@
     <h3>Date format pattern "V"</h3>
     <p>The date format pattern "V" was introduced in ICU 3.8 (inherited from CLDR 1.5) as
     a variation of pattern "z" to support time zone abbreviation format such as "PST".
-    The pattern "z" use a time zone abbreviation only when it is commonly used for a locale.
+    The pattern "z" prints out a time zone abbreviation only when it is commonly used for a locale.
     The pattern "V" was slightly different from pattern "z" and the pattern designates
     a time zone abbreviation even it is not commonly used for a locale. For example, time
     zone abbreviation "AEST" for Australian Eastern Standard Time might not be well recognized