Pronunciation: the -ed ending: How and When to Use in English

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Pronunciation: the -ed ending

Reminder: in the past simple tense, regular verbs end in -ed.

He worked for a large corporation. (to work)

The -ed ending can be pronounced in different ways:

  • verbs ending in d or t

started

needed

  • verbs ending in b, g, l, m, n, r, v, z

called

rained

  • verbs ending in p, f, k, s, sh, ch, gh, c, x

talked

missed

Exercise 1

Which of the following options did you hear?


Which of the following options did you hear?

You heard included . Since the infinitive form (to include) ends in a “d” sound (don't forget that the final ‑e is silent!), -ed is pronounced as . Other examples: needed  ; wanted.

Are you on cloud nine Good for you! However, here you heard included .

Including ends in -ing  , whereas here you heard included, which ends in -ed . Other words ending in ‑ing are: going  ; exciting. 

Exercise 2

Which word did you hear?


Which word did you hear?

Rainy ends in -y . Here, you heard rained ending in -ed . Other words ending in -y are: happy  ; funny  .

You heard rained . When you pronounce its ending, the letter e is silent, so -ed sounds like . Other examples: explained  ; trained  .

Here you heard rained , not rhino  .

Exercise 3

How do you pronounce the word cooked?


How do you pronounce the word cooked?

In this clip you heard cookie , not cooked . Other words that end similarly to cookie are: brownie  ; Kylie 

This is exactly how we pronounce cooked: . The letter e is silent and the ‑d at the end is pronounced as . Other examples: watched  ; fixed. 

Here you heard coke with a silent -e at the end, not cooked . Other words that end like coke are: smoke  , joke 


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