We use an ‘ed’ at the end of words in English a lot. We use ‘ed’ to form regular verbs in the Past Simple, for example. It’s worth the effort to learn how to pronounce it correctly.
Don’t worry! If you learn three rules, you will know the correct sound you need for each case.
We pronounce the ‘ed’ at the end of words in three different ways, depending on the sound that comes before them. ED can sound like ID, T, or D.
Here are the three rules!
Rule 1.) If there is a T or a D before the ‘ed’, we pronounce it ‘id’.
started – star tid (Notice how the T or D goes with the ‘id’ sound.)
planted – plan tid
needed – nee did
ended – en did
Listen to the examples:
Rule 2.) If there is one of the following soft sounds before the ‘ed’, we pronounce it ‘t’, as in ‘tiger’.
stopped – VERB + t
walked
watched
washed
coughed
missed
Listen to the examples:
p
k
ch
sh
gh / f (example huffed)
ss / c (example danced)
Listen to the sounds in isolation:
Rule 3.) All the rest of the time, the ‘ed’ is pronounced ‘d’, as in ‘dog’.
loved – VERB + d
used
played
carried
learned
Listen to the examples:
Try the general quiz.
Try the verbs for cooking quiz.
Try the verbs for crime quiz.
Try the verbs for charts and graphs quiz.
