ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS

How is –ed in word ending to be pronounced? 

The tendency is to assume that / d / is always realised or pronounced in the past tense and past participle forms of verbs. Such assumption could be the reason –ed in begged is not pronounced distinctively from –ed in pushed.  To master this distinction, the following should be noted. 

1. Verbs ending in letter k + ed such as:

      i.    picked / pɪkt /

      ii.   parked / pa:kt /

      iii.  worked / wɜ:kt /

      iv.   kicked / kɪkt / 

The same, however, cannot be said of 'wicked'.  

2.  Verbs ending in letter p + ed such as:

      i.    jumped / ʤʌmpt /

      ii.   limped / lɪmpt /

      iii.  wiped / waɪpt /

      iv.  stopped / stɒpt /

3. Verbs ending in letter f or / f / + ed such as:

       i.  laughed / la:ft /

       ii. coughed / kʌft /  

4.  Verbs ending in letters sh/ch + ed such as:

        i.   crashed / kræʃt /

        ii.  trashed / træʃt /

        iii. flashed / flæʃt / 

5.  Verbs ending in letter ss + ed such as:

         i.    passed / pæst /

         ii.   pissed / pɪst /

         iii.  kissed / kɪst / are usually pronounced / t /. 

Note carefully that the examples provided here are verbs ending in letter ss, not letter s.

You probably want to find out if you have learnt how to realise or pronounce / t / is the examples given above. The easiest way to to this is to record your attempt(s) at pronouncing each of the examples provided.

And what is the implication of this for examination? To answer this, it will be important to discuss consonants / t / and / d / in detail. That shall be our focus on Thursday.

Thank you for reading.