Saturday, July 2, 2011

English 1 Unit 3: How to pronounce -ed

Source: http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed.htm


How to Pronounce -ed in English

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The past simple tense and past participle of all regular verbs end in -ed. For example:
base verb
(v1)
past simple
(v2)
past participle
(v3)
work worked worked
In addition, many adjectives are made from the past participle and so end in -ed. For example:
  • I like painted furniture.
The question is: How do we pronounce the -ed?
The answer is: In 3 ways - / Id/ or / t/ or / d/
If the base verb ends in one of these sounds: example base verb*: example
with -ed:
pronounce
the -ed:
extra syllable?
unvoiced /t/ want wanted / Id/ yes
voiced /d/ end ended
unvoiced /p/ hope hoped / t/ no
/f/ laugh laughed
/s/ fax faxed
/S/ wash washed
/tS/ watch watched
/k/ like liked
voiced all other sounds,
for example...
play played / d/
allow allowed
beg begged
* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example, "fax" ends in the letter "x" but the sound /s/; "like" ends in the letter "e" but the sound /k/.
Exceptions
The following -ed words used as adjectives are pronounced with /Id/:
  • aged
  • blessed
  • crooked
  • dogged
  • learned
  • naked
  • ragged
  • wicked
  • wretched
So we say:
  • an aged man /Id/
  • a blessed nuisance /Id/
  • a dogged persistance /Id/
  • a learned professor - the professor, who was truly learned /Id/
  • a wretched beggar - the beggar was wretched /Id/
But when used as real verbs (past simple and past participle), the normal rules apply and we say:
  • he aged quickly /d/
  • he blessed me /t/
  • they dogged him /d/
  • he has learned well /d/ or /t/

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