1.3. How do you pronounce it?

 

Now that you know about the use of the Simple Past and the formation of regular past tense, it's time to focus on pronunciation. Look at the grid below to find out about how the -ed ending of the regular past is pronounced. 

 

PRONUNCIATION OF -ED  
  • The pronunciation of -ed ending in regular past verbs depends on the final consonant sound. There are three ways to pronounce this ending.  

/ɪd/ 

 /t/

 /d/

 /t/  T  

wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/   VOICELESS  VOICED
   /p/ P     helped   /ˈhelpt/    /l/ L   called          /ˈkɔːld/
  /k/ K     looked    /ˈlʊkt/   /n/ N  cleaned       /ˈkliːnd/
  /ʃ/ SH    washed  /ˈwɒʃt/   /ʤ/ G  damaged   /ˈdæmɪʤd/
visited  /ˈvɪzɪtɪd/   /ʧ/ CH   watched   /ˈwɒʧt/   /r/ R   offered      /ˈɔːfərd/ 
  /ð/ TH   breathed  /ˈbriːðt/    /z/ S   used        /ˈjuːzd/
  /d/ D    needed /ˈniːdɪd/   /f/GH    laughed   /ˈlɑːft/   /v/ V   loved        /ˈlʌvd/
   /s/ SS   kissed    /ˈkɪst/   /əʊ/ W followed   /ˈfɒləʊd/
ended /ˈendɪd/   /s/ C     danced   /ˈdɑːnst/   /ɪ/ Y    enjoyed   /ɪnˈʤɔɪd/
  /s/ X     fixed      /ˈfɪkst/  /z/Z   amazed     /əˈmeɪzd/
  • VOICED sound: uses the vocal cords and they produce a humming sound in the throat (touch your throat to feel it)  
  • VOICELESS sound: the opposite of voiced sound, no sound of vocal cords (touch your throat to feel there's no sound) 
  • Pay attention to the /ɪd/ pronunciation, as there is an extra syllable added to the verb in the past form:      want /ˈwɒnt/   wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/
  • Notice the difference in the pronunciation of the verb WASH /ˈwɒʃ/ and WATCH /ˈwɒʧ/. Practice saying these two verbs in the present and in the past as well, they are commonly mispronounced in Spanish. 
  • Listen to the pronunciation of all the regular past verbs in this grid:

Now listen to the pronunciation of the different sounds of -ed endings in the following video. It is also important to pay attention to the linking between words, which provides fluency and helps sound more natural when speaking.

Vídeo alojado en Youtube

 

 

Now that you know how the -ed ending of regular past verbs is pronounced, try reading the text "Tell me about the good old days, grandpa" in the previous section "Regular Life" out loud, paying special attention to the pronunciation of the verbs in the past and the linking between words, as pointed out previously.

Before you start reading, it may be a good idea to match those verbs in the text to their correct pronunciation according to the information above.

/ɪd/
 /t/

/d/