The crazy teacher's blog

Let’s play Chutes and Ladders or the Game of the Goose to revise som Irregular Verbs!

There are three different ways to pronounce the final –ed of regular verbs in past simple: /-t/, /-d/ and /-ɪd/. The pronunciation depends on the final sound of the verb in the base form.

After unvoiced/voiceless sounds such as /p/, /f/, /s/, /k/, /ʃ/, and /ʃt/ the final -ed is pronounced like /t/ as in the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.

After voiced sounds such as /b/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʓ/, /dʓ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /đ/, /r/ and vowel sounds the final –ed sound is pronounced like /d/ as in good. Note that the –e remains silent.

For verbs ending in /d/ and /t/ the final -ed is pronounced /Id/ as in the final two letters of the word did. Note here that the -e is not silent and this final /-ed/sound adds another syllable to the end of the verb.