English as an Additional Language/Pronunciation of past tense ending - Regular verbs

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Pronunciation of Regular (+ed) Verb Endings[edit | edit source]

In English, the past simple form of regular verbs end in ed.

  • play -> played
  • shout -> shouted
  • kick -> kicked
  • cry -> cried


There are 3 possible pronunciations of the suffix (ending) ed:

  1. /d/ - the most common form, pronounced simple d (example: played)
  2. /t/ - common for some verbs whose final letter is k, p, ch or sh (example: kicked, stopped, watched, washed)
  3. /id/ - not very common but many foreign learners of English use this pronunciation for all verbs. It is used after verbs ending with a d and t sounds (example: decided, congratulated, uploaded, created, dated, fated, hated, jaded, mated, etc.)