Hi guys. In this video we're going to look at the three different ways to pronounce -ed at the end of
verbs and adjectives. I'm talking about words like "needed", "arrived" and "watched". I know this is
something that lots of students find difficult, but thankfully there are some very helpful rules,
and those are what we are going to look at in this video. I'm also going to show you a trick
which can help you if you physically find it difficult to say words like "arrived" or
"watched". And keep watching till the end because I'm going to show you some exceptions to the rules
as well. Don't forget to turn on the subtitles if you need them, and if you'd like to sign up
for my free advanced English email lessons, you'll find the link in the description. Let's get started.
We're first going to look at verbs whose base form end in a /d/ sound or a /t/ sound.
These are verbs like "need",
"decide", "wait" and "create". You might have noticed that I didn't say verbs that end in D or T.
That's because what's important is the final sound, not the final letter. For example, "decide"
ends in an E, but the final sound is a /d/. Similarly, "create" ends in an E, but the final sound is a /t/.
The rule here is very simple. If you add an -ed or a -d to these words, you pronounce the final
syllable as /ɪd/. For example, "need" becomes "needed", "decide" becomes "decided".
Wait, waited.
Create, created.
This makes sense because if you didn't have that
/ɪ/ between the final two consonants, you'd be saying something like "needdd" or "waitdd".
I think most people would agree that that doesn't sound very natural in English.
I should also point out here that lots of native speakers actually pronounce that /ɪ/
as a schwa, so instead of saying /niːdɪd/, they'll say /niːdəd/. Lots of North Americans and Australians
do that. I normally say it that way, for example. Don't worry too much about that because both
versions are fine. I'm just pointing it out because students sometimes get confused when they hear
people saying things in a slightly different way. Let's see some more examples of verbs that end in /d/.
Try to repeat them after me.
grade
graded
land
landed
add
added
pretend
pretended
Now some examples of verbs that end in /t/.
Again, try to repeat them after me.
taste
tasted
heat
heated
visit
visited
shout
shouted
Another small pronunciation point. In American English, if you add an -ed to a word
that ends in /t/, that /t/ becomes a flap T, which is a /d/ sound. This often happens when there's a /t/
in the middle of a word, like "later". In British English it's /ˈleɪ.tə/. In American English it's /ˈleɪ.dər/.
So the standard American pronunciation of these words is:
tasted
heated
visited
shouted
We're now going to look at when -ed is pronounced /d/. This is similar to the previous ending, but
there's no /ɪ/ or /ə/. This is for verbs that end in vowel sounds and voiced consonants, apart from
/d/. What's a voiced consonant? Well, basically it's when there's vibration in your voice box.
If you put your hand on your throat, you can feel it. For example, /d/ is a voiced consonant.
/d/
Another voiced consonant is /b/.
/b/
A verb that ends in /b/ is "grab". This becomes /ɡræbd/. It's not /ɡræbɪd/. It's /ɡræbd/.
So, just think: if the ending of the base form is voiced, the -ed is pronounced
/d/. Voiced goes with voiced. Let's see some other voiced consonants and examples.
/dʒ/
Manage. This becomes "managed". It's not /ˈmænɪdʒɪd/. It's /ˈmænɪdʒd/.
/g/
hug
hugged
/v/
arrive
arrived
/ð/
breathe
breathed
/z/
sneeze
sneezed
/m/
dream
dreamed
/n/
clean
cleaned
/ŋ/
bang
banged
/l/
pull
pulled
We also use /d/ for verbs that end in vowel sounds. For example, "play" with -ed this is "played".
Here are a couple more examples.
lie
lied
enjoy
enjoyed
Another voiced consonant that I didn't mention before is /r/.
Let's see what happens in British and American English.
In American English this word is pronounced /ˈkʌv.ər/.
/ˈkʌv.ər/ There's a /r/ at the end. If you add -ed, it's /ˈkʌv.ərd/. /ˈkʌv.ərd/. In British English it's /ˈkʌv.ə/.
/ˈkʌv.ə/. The letter R is not pronounced. There's a vowel sound at the end.
If you add -ed this becomes /ˈkʌv.əd/.
/ˈkʌv.əd/ So the ending is the same in American and British English. If there's a /r/
or a vowel sound, the -ed is pronounced /d/.
Now we're going to look at when the -ed is pronounced /t/.
This rule is very simple. It's pronounced /t/ after verbs that end in an unvoiced consonant
that is not /t/.
An unvoiced consonant is one where there's no vibration here.
/t/, for example, is an unvoiced consonant.
/t/
So if the ending of a verb is unvoiced, the -ed is pronounced /t/,
which is also unvoiced. Unvoiced goes with unvoiced. Let's see some examples.
/p/
Help. This becomes /helpt/. It's not /helpɪd/ or /helpɪt/. It's /helpt/.
/tʃ/
watch
watched
/k/
like
liked
/f/
laugh
laughed
/s/
dance
danced
/ʃ/
wish
wished
Now here are a couple of useful tips. Number one:
The most important of these three rules is really the first one. In other words, you pronounce -ed as
/ɪd/ or /əd/ if the verb ends in /d/ or /t/,
like in "needed" and "waited". When it comes to the other two rules, the truth is, if you mix them up,
it doesn't really matter. Yes, if you want to speak very correct English with
perfect pronunciation, it's something that you should pay attention to.
But in reality, most people probably won't notice. For example, if you say /əˈraɪvt/ instead of /əˈraɪvd/,
a lot of people will not notice. Especially if it's in the middle of a sentence, such as this one.
If you say it correctly, it's: I arrived at three o'clock.
If you say it "incorrectly" it's: I "arrivet "at three o'clock.
There's not much difference. People WILL hear a difference, however, if you say "arriv-ed".
I "arriv-ed" at three o'clock. So make sure you only add an /ɪ/ or an /ə/ if the verb ends in a /d/ or a /t/.
That's honestly the most important rule. Now some of you might be thinking: But I find it
physically difficult to say "arrived" or "watched". I always say "arriv-ed" or "watch-ed".
That brings us to my second tip. If you find it hard to say "arrived", try saying "arrive do".
Then say it a bit faster: arrivedo, arrivedo. Then try to say it without the "oo" sound. Arrived.
Arrived. You can try this with any word where the -ed is pronounced /d/.
If the last sound is a /t/ like in "watched", try to say "watch to". Again, try saying it faster: watchto,
watchto. Then try to say it without the "oo" sound. Watched. Watched. As I said at the beginning,
there are some exceptions to these rules. These concern some adjectives that have an -ed ending.
I know I've just been talking about verbs in this video, but if an adjective ends in -ed,
most of the time the same rules apply. For example: disappointed, bored, astonished.
But there are some exceptions. Don't worry, there aren't many. Here are some that you might know
already. If you followed the rules, you would pronounce this word /ˈneɪkt/.
But as I'm sure you probably know, it's actually /ˈneɪ.kɪd/. /ˈneɪkɪd/
This word isn't /ˈseɪ.kɪd/ or /ˈseɪ.kərd/. It's /ˈseɪ.krɪd/. /ˈseɪ.krɪd/
And this one isn't /ˈwɪkt/. It's /ˈwɪk.ɪd/. /ˈwɪk.ɪd/
There are also a couple of words whose meanings change depending on the pronunciation.
This word, for example, can be pronounced two different ways. When it's pronounced /eɪdʒd/,
it means of the age of. For example: Mike's children are aged three and five.
That means that Mike has one child who is three years old and one child who is five years old.
But it can also be pronounced /ˈeɪ.dʒɪd/.
/ˈeɪ.dʒɪd/ "Aged" is a formal way of saying very old. For example: My aged grandparents are still able
to live independently. I'll put a few more examples in the description. That's it for today, guys. I hope
you learnt something. If you liked the video, don't forget to hit the thumbs up, and don't forget to
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