Today’s blog examines the rules for pronouncing past forms of verbs in English.
There are three separate ways of pronouncing the -ed verb ending. The way the ending of a verb is pronounced depends on the sound before the -ed. The -ed ending can be pronounced variosly as /t/, /ɪd/ or /d/.
Final -ed pronounced /t/ after voiceless sounds
After voiceless sounds, i.e. sounds that are made by pushing air through your mouth but with no production from the throat, the -ed ending is pronounced /t/. No extra syllable is added to the verb.
Voiceless sounds are as follows: /k/, /p/, /s/, /ch/ and /sh/
Examples of words with an -ed ending pronounced /t/:
- parked – park/t/
- stopped – stop/t/
- missed – miss/t/
- watched – watch/t/
- wash – wash/t/
Final -ed pronounced /d/ after voiced sounds
After voiced sounds, i.e. sounds made in the throat (you can feel the vibration in your throat when you make a voiced sound if you put a finger on the outside of the front of your neck), the -ed ending is pronounced /d/. No extra syllable is added to the verb.
Voiced sounds are as follows: /l/, /n/, /v/, /b/ and all vowel sounds
Examples of words with an -ed ending pronounced /d/:
- called – call/d/
- moaned – moan/d/
- lived – live/d/
- robbed – rob/d/
- played – play/d/
Final -ed pronounced /ɪd/ after “d” or “t” sounds
After a verb which normally ends with a “t” or a “d”, the -ed ending adds an extra syllable to the verb which is pronounced /ɪd/.
Examples of words with an -ed ending pronounced /ɪd/:
- waited – wait/ɪd/
- started – start/ɪd/
- needed – need/ɪd/
- blinded – blind/ɪd/
- parted – part/ɪd/
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