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English Past Tense Pronunciation Guide

The document discusses pronunciation rules for regular past tense and past participle verb suffixes in English. It notes that when a verb ends in /d/ or /t/, the suffix is pronounced as /Id/ or /(schwa) d/. When the verb ends in a voiced sound other than /d/, the suffix is pronounced as /d/. And when the verb ends in a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the suffix is pronounced as /t/. A number of examples are provided to illustrate these rules.

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69 views2 pages

English Past Tense Pronunciation Guide

The document discusses pronunciation rules for regular past tense and past participle verb suffixes in English. It notes that when a verb ends in /d/ or /t/, the suffix is pronounced as /Id/ or /(schwa) d/. When the verb ends in a voiced sound other than /d/, the suffix is pronounced as /d/. And when the verb ends in a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the suffix is pronounced as /t/. A number of examples are provided to illustrate these rules.

Uploaded by

ledrac
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Pronouncing the ed Sound (suffix) for Regular Verbs

The regular past tense and the regular past participle suffixes (the past participle is used for the perfect tenses and the passive voice) share a common set of pronunciation rules:

When the verb ends in /d/ or /t/, the ending is pronounced as /Id/ or /(schwa) d/. This is a schwa symbol: [ ]; it looks like an upside-down and backwards letter 'e'. However, these symbols don't always read correctly on a computer, so I will use the word instead of the symbol; but you should learn to recognize this symbol, as it is used in dictionaries and textbooks. When the verb ends in a voiced sound other than /d/, the ending is pronounced as /d/.

When the verb ends in a voiceless consonant other than /t/, the ending is pronounced as /t/.

/d/ /d/
cried
(v.) to cry

/t/
walked
(v.) to walk

/Id/, /(schwa)d/, or
chatted
(v.) to chat

grabbed
(v.) to grab

passed
(v.) to pass

waded
(v.) to wade

moved
(v.) to move

kissed
(v.) to kiss

added
(v.) to add

viewed
(v.) to view

laughed
(v.) to laugh

needed
(v.) to need

robbed (v.) to rob

stopped (v.) to stop

waited (v.) to wait

(v.) to rob

(v.) to stop

(v.) to wait

The IPA chart indicates which consonants are voiced (like b, d, g, v, z, etc.) and which are voiceless (like p, t, k, f, s, etc.). Where you see pairs of sounds the voiceless sound is on the left, and the voiced sound on the right. When a voiced sound is produced, the vocal cords in the larynx (voice box) vibrate. When a voiceless sound is produced the vocal cords do not vibrate. All the consonants of English can be classified in terms of "VPM" (voice-place-manner). For instance, /p/ is a voiceless labiodental fricative, and /b/ is a voiced bilabial plosive (stop).

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