PRONUNCIATION

OF “-ED” ENDINGS

English has definite rules for pronunciation of the “-ed” ending of the verbs as follows:
A) When the verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound except (t), the “-ed” ending is
pronounced: /t/= sound.

LIKE ____________________________________________________ LIKED

/LAIK/ /LAIKT/

Voiceless Pronunciation
Consonant of the “-ed”
Sound

Some voiceless sounds are: /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ᶘ/ (sh) and /tᶘ/ (ch).

Laugh ___________________ Laughed

/f/ /ft/

Stop ___________________ Stopped

/p/ /pt/

Scratch __________________ Scratched

/tᶘ/ /tᶘt/

Publish __________________ Published

/ᶘ/ /ᶘt/

Lock ____________________ Locked

/k/ /kt/

Miss _____________________ Missed

/s/ /st/

Fix ______________________ Fixed

/s/ /st/
 PRONUNCIATION
OF “-ED” ENDINGS

B) When the verb ends in a vowel sound or voiced consonant sound except (d), the
“-ed” ending is pronounced: /d/

CLEAN ____________________________________________________ CLEANED

/KLIN/ /KLIND/

Voiced Pronunciation
Consonant of the “-ed”
Sound

MARRY____________________________________________________ MARRIED
/MAERI/ /MAERID/

Vowel Pronunciation
Sound of the “-ed”

Some voiced sounds are: /b/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, /w/, /z/, and /dᶚ/ (ge).

Mob __________________ Mobbed Lag ___________________ Lagged

/b/ /bd/ /g/ /gd/

Comb ________________ Combed Plan __________________ Planned

/m/ /md/ /n/ /nd/

Cancel ________________ Cancelled Prefer _________________ Preferred

/l/ /ld/ /r/ /rd/

Show _________________ Showed Love __________________ Loved

/w/ /wd/ /v/ /vd/

Buzz _________________ Buzzed Change ________________ Changed

/z/ /zd/ /dᶚ/ /g ᶚ g/

C) When the verb ends in a /d/ or /t/ sound, the “-ed” ending is pronounced: /id/; an extra
syllable.

NEED ____________________________________________________ NEEDED

/NID/ /NIDID/
Pronunciation or
of the “-ed” /NIDED/

REPEAT ___________________________________________________ REPEATED

/RIPIT/ /RIPITID/
Pronunciation or
of the “-ed /RIPITED/