The pronunciation of –ed in English

2

General rule

The past simple and past participle ofall regular verbs in English end in –ed.

Base verb Past simple Past participle

work worked worked

3

How do we pronounce –ed?

There are 3 ways.

/ t / / d / / ɪd /

4

/ ɪd /

If the base verb ends in the sounds/ t / or / d /.

want wanted /’wontɪd/ need needed /’ni:dɪd/

Note it is the last sound that is important, not the

letter or spelling.

complete completed /kǝm’pli:tɪd/

5

/ t /

If the base verb ends in one of thefollowing unvoiced sounds:

/ p / stop stopped /stopt/ / k / walk walked /wɔ:kt/

/ f / laugh laughed /lɑ:ft/ / s / pass passed /pɑ:st/

/ ʃ / wash washed /woʃt/

/ ʧ /watch watched /wotʃt/

6

/ d /

If the verb base ends in all othersounds, which are voiced:

call called /kɔ:ld/ phone phoned /fəʊnd/

live lived /lɪvd/

play played /pleid/

try try

ed tried /traid/

7

Reunion (1)

booked invited

received travelled

triedvisited

watched

Put the verbs in the gaps.

8

Reunion (2)

calledgreetedlandedlooked

reachedspottedstarted

9

Reunion (&3)

appearedhugged kissed

smiledwanted

Check your answers by listening to the story here.

Pronouncing the verbs

10

Now group the verbs according to the pronunciation of –ed:

appeared, booked, called, greeted, hugged, invited, kissed, landed, looked, reached, received, smiled, spotted, started,

travelled, tried, visited, wanted, watched

/ t / / d / / ɪd /

11

Pronouncing the verbs (key)

Now group the verbs according to the pronunciation of –ed:

appeared, booked, called, greeted, hugged, invited, kissed, landed, looked, reached, received, smiled, spotted, started,

travelled, tried, visited, wanted, watched

/ t / / d / / ɪd /

appearedbooked

called

greeted

hugged

invitedkissedlandedlooked

reached

received spottedstartedsmiled

travelledtried

visitedwanted

watched