Pronunciation Lesson
How to properly pronounce “ed” endings of past tense verbs
See chart below for direction on how to properly pronounce the “ed” endings of the past tense, when the simple form of the verb ends in anything EXCEPT a “D” or “T” sound.*** Focus on terminal sounds, not spelling, only!
| Pronounce as “T” sound | Pronounce as “D” sound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ending in: | F | Staffed | Ending in: | B | rubbed |
| K | walked | G | begged | ||
| P | stopped | i (Y) | studied | ||
| S | passed | L | spilled | ||
| Ch | watched | M | trimmed | ||
| Sh | washed | N | cleaned | ||
| X | fixed | R | feared | ||
| Th | breathed | ||||
| V | received | ||||
| W | showed | ||||
| Z | squeezed, posed | ||||
***When the simple form of the verb DOES end in a “D” or “T” OR a “D” or “T” sound (ex: need, want, decide, invite), then you must pronounce the “ed” ending as an ADDITIONAL SYLLABLE!! You would pronounce these as “need-ed”, “want-ed”, “de-cid-ed”, “in-vit-ed”.
