PRONOUNCING "ED" ENDINGS ON VERBS (1)

General Rules for Pronouncing the ED Endings of the Simple Past

and Past Participle Form of Regular Verbs
There are three ways to pronounce the ED endings of the simple past and past participle
form of regular verbs.
(1) Verbs that End in a D or a T Sound
If the root infinitive of the verb ends in a D or a T sound, then the last consonant of
the verb and the ED ending are pronounced together as a final extra syllable. For
example, the simple past and past participle form of the verb decide (decided) is
pronounced de ci DED.
Simple Past and
Pronunciation of the Ending
Root infinitive
Past Participle Form
as a Final Extra Syllable
decide
decided
de ci DED
evaluate
evaluated
e val u a TED
hate
hated
ha TED
indicate
indicated
in di ca TED
invite
invited
in vi TED
need
needed
nee DED
want
wanted
wan TED
(2) Verbs that End in an Unvoiced Consonant
If the root infinitive of the verb ends in a consonant sound that is not fully voiced, then the ED
ending is pronounced as a final T sound. For example, the simple past and past participle
form of the verb finish (finished) is pronounced fi nish TE.
Simple Past and
Pronunciation of the Ending
Root infinitive
Past Participle Form
as a T Sound
finish
finished
fi nish TE
jump
jumped
jump TE
park
parked
park TE
smoke
smoked
smoke TE
stop
stopped
stop TE
talk
talked
talk TE
work
worked
work TE
(3) Verbs that End in a Voiced Consonant
If the root infinitive of the verb ends in a consonant sound that is fully voiced, then the ED
ending is pronounced as a final D sound. For example, the simple past and past participle form
of the verb call (called) is pronounced call DE.
Simple Past and
Pronunciation of the Ending
Root infinitive
Past Participle Form
as a D Sound
call
called
call DE
clean
cleaned
clean DE
enjoy
enjoyed
en joy DE
love
loved
love DE
move
moved
move DE
play
played
play DE
use
used
use DE
_________________________________________________________________

WILLIAM L. MILNES Enseignement de langlais 2010

PRONOUNCING "ED" ENDINGS ON VERBS (2)

Complete the sentences with the simple past of the verbs in parentheses. All of the
verbs in this exercise are regular. At the end of each sentence, indicate the
pronunciation of the ED ending of the verb by writing EXTRA SYLLABLE, T SOUND, or
D SOUND.
(a) My mother ____________________ (smile) at me.
(b) Yesterday morning I _____________________ (need) a coffee.
(c) When I was a child, I _______________________ (hate) spinach.
(d) The policeman ___________________ (decide) to give me a ticket.
(e) His girlfriend ______________________ (cook) dinner.
(f) My father _________________ (wait) for the bus for two hours.
(g) During his youth, Mr. Jones ____________________ (travel) around the world.
(h) I _____________________ (walk) to work last Thursday.
(i) The teacher __________________ (smoke) a cigarette during the break yesterday.
(j) The new supervisor ____________________ (work) late yesterday.
(k) The secretary said that she ____________________ (like) action movies.
(l) The children _____________________ (learn) how to speak English.
(m)The horse _____________________ (jump) over the fence.
(n) I was afraid when the dog ___________________ (look) at me.
(o) The man __________________ (study) management at the business school.
(p) George ____________________ (call) Susan on the phone last night.
(q) The students ___________________ (want) to ask the teacher a question.
(r) The Smith family __________________ (move) to Toronto last year.
(s) The man ____________________ (taste) the wine.
(t) The woman __________________ (use) her cellular phone to make a call.
(u) The coach ___________________ (talk) to the team about winning.
_________________________________________________________________

WILLIAM L. MILNES Enseignement de langlais 2010

PRONOUNCING "ED" ENDINGS ON VERBS (3)

Indicate the pronunciation of the ED ending by writing EXTRA SYLLABLE, T SOUND
or D SOUND on the line beside the word.
called

_____________________

welded

_____________________

spelled

_____________________

melted

_____________________

dated

_____________________

interested

_____________________

completed

_____________________

clocked

_____________________

educated

_____________________

portrayed

_____________________

surprised

_____________________

showed

_____________________

confused

_____________________

posted

_____________________

worked

_____________________

weeded

_____________________

killed

_____________________

installed

_____________________

injured

_____________________

decided

_____________________

shunned

_____________________

widened

_____________________

astonished

_____________________

enlarged

_____________________

fascinated

_____________________

frustrated

_____________________

developed

_____________________

enveloped

_____________________

jumped

_____________________

created

_____________________

leaped

_____________________

booked

_____________________

satisfied

_____________________

counted

_____________________

confused

_____________________

moulded

_____________________

elated

_____________________

identified

_____________________

rated

_____________________

boxed

_____________________

needed

_____________________

founded

_____________________

telephoned _____________________

snowed

_____________________

painted

_____________________

tabled

_____________________

wedded

_____________________

wished

_____________________

contained

_____________________

conveyed

_____________________

loved

_____________________

printed

_____________________

traded

_____________________

kissed

_____________________

helped

_____________________

coached

_____________________

confessed

_____________________

yelped

_____________________

paraded

_____________________

funnelled

_____________________

enjoyed

_____________________

travelled

_____________________

prayed

_____________________

filled

_____________________

sneezed

_____________________

promised

_____________________

_________________________________________________________________

WILLIAM L. MILNES Enseignement de langlais 2010