How to Pronounce -ed in English
The past simple tense and past participle of all regular verbs end in -ed. For example:
| base verb (v1) | past simple (v2) | past participle (v3) |
|---|---|---|
| work | worked | worked |
In addition, many adjectives are made from the past participle and so end in -ed. For example:
- I like painted furniture.
The question is: How do we pronounce the -ed?
The answer is: In 3 ways - / Id/ or / t/ or / d/
| If the base verb ends in one of these sounds: | example base verb*: | example with -ed: | pronounce the -ed: | extra syllable? | |
| unvoiced | /t/ | want | wanted | / Id/ | yes |
| voiced | /d/ | end | ended | ||
| unvoiced | /p/ | hope | hoped | / t/ | no |
| /f/ | laugh | laughed | |||
| /s/ | fax | faxed | |||
| /S/ | wash | washed | |||
| /tS/ | watch | watched | |||
| /k/ | like | liked | |||
| voiced | all other sounds, for example... | play | played | / d/ | |
| allow | allowed | ||||
| beg | begged | ||||
* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example, "fax" ends in the letter "x" but the sound /s/; "like" ends in the letter "e" but the sound /k/.
Exceptions
The following -ed words used as adjectives are pronounced with /Id/:
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