How to Pronounce -ed in English

There are three ways to pronounce the final -ed of regular verbs in the simple past tense. This pronunciation is determined by the final sound* of the verb in the infinitive: Is it a voiced consonant, an unvoiced consonant, or a vowel sound?

1. For verbs ending in d and t the final -ed is pronounced /Id/ as in the final two letters of the word did. Note that here the -e is not silent and this final -ed sound adds another syllable to the end of the verb.


2. After unvoiced sounds such as/ p, k, f, s, ʃ , tʃ ,θ/ the final -ed is pronounced like /t/ as in the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.


3. After voiced consonants such as /b, ð , g, v, z, ʒ, dʒ , m, n, ŋ, l, r/ the final -ed sound is pronounced like /d/ as in good. Note that the -e remains silent. The final -ed is also pronounced like the d in good after all vowel sounds (the -e remains silent too).

This chart may help you remember the rules above.


Click here to see some examples and listen to the past tense verbs.
Now you are ready to do these listening activities (1, 2, 3).

*If you need to revise the phonemic symbols in English, click here.

Phonetic Symbols.

If you have always thought that understanding phonetic symbols is just too difficult for you, don't despair. It just takes some practice to get used to them but they can be very useful to help you improve your pronunciation.

Vowels :

Study the chart of .

Move the mouse over the symbols and examples to hear them.

Consonants :

If you want to do some activities to practise phonetic symbols
and sounds in English

Videos from ESL Tower.com

Phonemic chart

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