Different ways you can pronounce the 'ed' sound in regular verbs


English Lesson Notes for Junior Secondary

Different ways you can pronounce the 'ed' sound in regular verbs

The “ed” is the ending used for regular verbs in the past tense and for their past participles. A regular verb is a verb that forms its past tense and past participle by the addition of -d, -ed, -ied and -t to its base form.
Examples:
Jump           Jumped        Jumped
Marry           Married         Married
Sleep            Slept             Slept           
Love             Loved            Loved
Different ways you can pronounce the "ed" sound in regular verbs
The “ed” sound is one of the most difficult in the English language, and that’s because there are three different ways to pronounce it:

1. The "ed" sound is pronounced /id/ 
When a regular verb ends with the sound or letter /d/ or /t/, its past tense and past participle are usually formed by the addition of "ed", e.g., want – wanted, need – needed, collect – collected, divide – divided etc. Please, note that the "ed" in these words is pronounced /id/ and not /ed/. In other words, whenever a regular verb that ends with the letter /d/ or /t/ forms its past tense or past participle by the addition of "ed", the ending “ed” should be pronounced /id/. Therefore, wanted, needed, collected and divided should always be pronounced “wantid”, “needid”, “collectid” and “dividid” respectively. Don't pronounce them the other way. 

2. The "ed" can be pronounced /t/
The /t/ sound is a voiceless sound, that is, it is produced without any vibration in the vocal tract. The "ed" is pronounced /t/ whenever it is added to a regular verb that ends with either of the following sounds or letters:

/p/               stopped                 "stoppt"
/f/                laughed                 "laught"
/s/               missed                   "misst"
/tʃ/ or "ch"  watched                 "watcht"
/ʃ/ or "sh"   pushed                   "pusht"
/k/               cooked                  "cookt"

3. The "ed" is also pronounced /d/
Unlike the /t/ sound, the /d/ sound is a voiced sound, that is, it is pronounced with vibration in the vocal tract. For other regular verbs, the "ed" is pronunced /d/. Therefore, you should apply the /d/ sound for all other regular verbs.
Examples:
Played          "playd"             
Called           "calld"                
Enjoyed        "enjoyd"
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