How to pronounce -ED in English regular verbs perfectly (only 2 rules!)

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In this lesson I will show you an easy way to pronounce “ed” in regular verbs correctly every time. 

If you are learning English, you can improve your pronunciation of these verbs almost immediately. 

If you’re a teacher, you’ll be able to use this information in your own lessons, to help your students speak with more confidence.

There’s also a shortcut at the end that makes this even easier.

What are regular verbs?

Regular verbs are verbs that end in “ed” in their past simple and past participle forms. For example want becomes wanted, work becomes worked, and play becomes played.

At first glance, using regular verbs in their past simple and past participle forms appears to be easy. You just add “ed,” right? Not exactly. There are a few spelling rules that you need to follow. For example the past simple form of study is studied (drop the “-y” and add “-ied”).

Thanks to online grammar checkers, there aren’t many issues with the spelling rules, but the correct pronunciation of “ed” can be confusing.

What is the correct pronunciation of “ed?”

When you need to use regular verbs, it’s not exactly clear how to pronounce “ed” because it is actually pronounced three different ways. This makes it hard to figure out which sound to use, but luckily there is a fast and easy way to find out.

I’ve seen a lot of different ways to explain this to students, and I think this is by far the best and easiest way.

The three sounds of “ed”

Let’s take a look at three regular verbs: want, work, and play.

The past simple and past participle forms of want are both wanted, as in:

I wanted to go shopping yesterday.

Do you know which sound gets added to the verb want to make wanted? If you guessed /id/, you’re correct. 

The verb work changes to its past participle form, worked in the following sentence:

They have worked here for 10 years.

Which sound gets added to work to make worked? It’s a /t/ sound.

The past simple and past participle forms of play are both played as in:

Both teams had played each other before the final game.

What sound gets added to play to make played? The correct answer is a /d/ sound.

How to pronounce -ed

Many grammar books give you a complex set of rules, charts, or tables to memorize the correct pronunciation of ed, but the secret is knowing what to look for. All you have to do is focus on the last sound of the base form of the verb. The base form, or root, of a verb is the verb in its simplest form, without any changes, such as adding -s, -ing, or -ed.

Rule #1

Our first example was with the verb want, which ends in a /t/ sound. When we add “ed”, we get wanted. So here, the suffix “ed” is pronounced /id/, and it combines with the last /t/ sound to make an extra syllable.

This is also true for the verb decide. The past of decide is decided. Like in the verb wanted, the suffix ed makes an /id/ sound, and it also adds an extra syllable. The final sound of decide is a /d/ sound, even though the last letter of decide is an “e,” which is silent.

We can now make our first rule.

If the base form of the verb ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound, then “ed” is pronounced /id/.

Some other verbs that follow this rule are paint, end, and start.

Rule #2

Say the verb work, and touch your throat as you hold the last sound. You should not feel any vibration in your vocal chords. There should only be air escaping from your mouth, because you don’t need your voice to produce the sound of the consonant /k/. 

If your vocal chords do not vibrate when you produce a sound, it is an unvoiced sound, and we can say that the final sound of work is unvoiced.

We can use this information for the second rule:

If the base form of the verb ends in an unvoiced sound, then “ed” is pronounced with a /t/ sound.

Some other verbs that follow this rule are ask, mix, pass, and walk.

Rule #3

The third rule is similar to the second. If you say the verb play and touch your throat as you hold the last sound, you should feel the vibration coming from your vocal chords because play ends in a voiced sound. A voiced sound is made by vibrating your vocal chords.

We can now make the third rule.

If the base form of the verb ends in a voiced sound, then “ed” is pronounced with a /d/ sound.

Some other verbs that follow this rule are call, pull, enjoy, and love.

The shortcut

There are three rules to remember, but all you really need to do is remember the first two rules. If the first two rules do not apply, just apply the third rule automatically.

Conclusion

After teaching these rules to my students, I noticed a huge improvement in their pronunciation and listening skills.

Usually English grammar rules are riddled with exceptions. I love these rules because they are always true. At least, I haven’t been able to break them.

Are you ready for a challenge? Take the quiz to see if you can choose the correct sound of ed. Share your results with your friends, and see who can get a higher score. If you get 10 out of 10, you’ll be a grammar superstar.

If you have any questions about anything that I covered about today? Let me know in the comments below.