I understand how confusing it can be for English language learners to pronounce words ending in /ed/ because they might think that we should always add the extra ‘id’ sound at the end when saying them. But this is not always the case. Some words do get the sound and some don’t.
Here are some quick tips to help you remember the rules:
There are three ways to pronounce /ed/ ending words in English, and those are:
- /id/
- /d/
- /t/
Let’s talk about pronunciation way number 1: /id/
Words ending in /t/ or /d/ sound in the present tense form get the /id/ sound pronounced at the end.
Examples:
want => wanted => sounds like, ‘/-WANT-id-/’
need => needed => sounds like, ‘/-NEED-id-/’
wait => waited => sounds like, ‘/-WAYT-id-/’
taste => tasted => sounds like ‘/-TAYS-tid-/
Now let’s talk about pronunciation way number 2: /d/
Words ending in vowel (a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y) and voiced (those that you can feel a vibration in your throat) sounds, get the /d/ pronounced at the end.
Examples:
follow => followed => sounds like, ‘/-FA-low’d-/’
play => played => sounds like, ‘/PLAY’d-/’
call =>called => sounds like, ‘/-KAWL’d-/’
rub => rubbed => sounds like, ‘/RUB’d-/’
Finally, let’s talk about pronunciation way number 3: /t/
Words ending in voiceless (you don’t feel a vibration in your throat) sounds, get the /t/ pronounced at the end. And remember that the ‘e’ is silent.
Examples:
help => helped=> sounds like, ‘/-HELP’t-/’
kiss => kissed=> sounds like, ‘/-KISS’t-/’
As always, there are exceptions to the rules. For example,
ed words used as adjectives (words that describe or modify nouns) are pronounced with /id/ at the end:
Examples:
wicked => sounds like, ‘/-WIK-id-/’
crooked => sounds like, ‘/-CROOK-id-/’
(Note that ‘wick’ and ‘crook’ in base form are nouns and they take on different meanings altogether).
Do you want to practice saying /ed/ ending words? Let’s have a conversation together. The more you practice, the easier it will become to remember the rules.
