1.

- PRONUNCIATION OF THE PAST TENSE

In regular verbs ending in t or d, the ‘ed’ is pronounced as a separate syllable.
count - counted wait-waited land-landed
When we add ‘ed’ to regular verbs of one syllable not ending in t or d, they are
pronounced as one syllable.
live-lived close-closed cross-crossed

Pronounce the following past tense forms. Then write the number 1 or 2 to show
whether the word is pronounced as a word of one syllable or as a word of two
syllables.

1.- ended __________ 21.- rushed __________

2.- watched __________ 22.- parted __________
3.- counted __________ 23.- cooked __________
4.- stayed __________ 24.- rented __________
5.- needed __________ 25.- lived __________
6.- called __________ 26.- shared __________
7.- seemed __________ 27.- lasted __________
8.- planned __________ 28.- closed __________
9.- waited __________ 29.- helped __________
10.- washed __________ 30.- landed __________
11.- wanted __________ 31.- used __________
12.- walked __________ 32.- hoped __________
13.- pushed __________ 33.- handed __________
14.- spelled __________ 34.- crossed __________
15.- planted __________ 35.- signed __________
16.- cleaned __________ 36.- earned __________
17.- asked __________ 37.- painted __________
18.- pointed __________ 38.- dropped __________
19.- moved __________ 39.- burned __________
20.- shopped __________ 40.- laughed __________

2.- PRONUNCIATION OF “S”

The letter ‘s’ in English is sometimes pronounced like ‘s’ and sometimes like ‘z’.
/s/ /z/
class does
bus busy
cost his
miss goes

Practice listening to and pronouncing the different ‘s’ sounds. Write ‘s’ or ‘z’ to show
how the letter is pronounced.

1.- also __________ 23.- has __________

2.- busy __________ 24.- closed __________
3.- this __________ 25.- dress __________
4.- these __________ 26.- easy __________
5.- those __________ 27.- pens __________
6.- was __________ 28.- eyes __________
7.- class __________ 29.- books __________
8.- his __________ 30.- nose __________
9.- goes __________ 31.- knows __________
10.- some __________ 32.- tennis __________
11.- first __________ 33.- noise __________
12.- cousin __________ 34.- bus __________
13.- tries __________ 35.- news __________
14.- cats __________ 36.- house __________
15.- movies __________ 37.- raise __________
16.- case __________ 38.- peas __________
17.- kiss __________ 39.- works __________
18.- plays __________ 40.- days __________
19.- dogs __________ 41.- does __________
20.- puts __________ 42.- comes __________
21.- likes __________ 43.- eats __________
22.- brings __________ 44.- rose __________
3.- PRONUNCIATION OF “ED” IN REGULAR VERBS
The final ‘ed’ in the past tense of regular verbs takes two different pronunciations:

a.- When ‘ed’ is added to a verb ending in an unvoiced consonant (p, t, f, k, s, etc.) ,
the final ‘d’ is pronounced ‘t’.
b.- When ‘ed’ is added to a verb ending in a voiced consonant (b, d, v, g, z, l, etc.) or in
a vowel sound, the final ‘d’ is pronounced ‘d’.

Write ‘t’ or ‘d’ to show the pronunciation of the ‘ed’ in each word.

1.- lived __________ 22.- boiled __________

2.- picked __________ 23.- finished __________
3.- jumped __________ 24.- burned __________
4.- placed __________ 25.- filled __________
5.- hurried __________ 26.- passed __________
6.- rushed __________ 27.- excused __________
7.- smoked __________ 28.- mailed __________
8.- killed __________ 29.- slipped __________
9.- looked __________ 30.- liked __________
10.- dropped __________ 31.- used __________
11.- turned __________ 32.- changed __________
12.- crossed __________ 33.- worked __________
13.- entered __________ 34.- studied __________
14.- stopped __________ 35.- talked __________
15.- earned __________ 36.- spelled __________
16.- knocked __________ 37.- thanked __________
17.- saved __________ 38.- washed __________
18.- played __________ 39.- poured __________
19.- wished __________ 40.- walked __________
20.- showed __________ 41.- pulled __________
21.- closed __________ 42.- tried __________

4.- SILENT LETTERS

For each of the words below, write the consonant that is written but not
pronounced.

1.- knife _______________ 26.- write _______________

2.- answer _______________ 27.- fasten _______________
3.- handsome _______________ 28.- castle _______________
4.- Christmas _______________ 29.- hymn _______________
5.- island _______________ 30.- scissors _______________
6.- doubt _______________ 31.- lamb _______________
7.- knee _______________ 32.- gnaw _______________
8.- wrestle _______________ 33.- limb _______________
9.- honest _______________ 34.- wrong _______________
10.- often _______________ 35.- wrist _______________
11.- knew _______________ 36.- listen _______________
12.- sign _______________ 37.- sword _______________
13.- dumb _______________ 38.- comb _______________
14.- match _______________ 39.- knot _______________
15.- walk _______________ 40.- kneel _______________
16.- could _______________ 41.- czar _______________
17.- talk _______________ 42.- half _______________
18.- knock _______________ 43.- ghost _______________
19.- know _______________ 44.- whistle _______________
20.- Wednesday _______________ 45.- scent _______________
21.- pneumonia _______________ 46.- calf _______________
22.- climb _______________ 47.- ledge _______________
23.- should _______________ 48.- hour _______________
24.- aisle _______________ 49.- scene _______________
25.- whole _______________ 50.- thumb _______________

PRONUNCIATION OF “-S/-ES” ENDINGS

The -s/ -es ending has three pronunciations:

• -es is /iz/ after the sounds:

watches /-tchiz/ Liz’s /-ziz/

finishes /-shiz/ fridges /-dchiz/
Alice’s /-siz/ garages /-chiz/
• -es is /z/ after ‘voiced’ sounds (except /-z/, /-dch/, /-ch/

jobs /-bz/ opens /-nz/

Jim’s /-mz/ shows/-ouz/
lives /-vz/ stays /-eiz/

***With a voiced sound there is vibration.

• -es is /s/ after ‘unvoiced’ sounds (except /-tchiz/, /-chiz/, /s/.

cups /-ps/ starts /-ts/

months /-ths/ Frank’s /-ks/
laughs /-fs/