Hi, I'm Rob and welcome to another Woodward English video.
Today we're going to learn about the correct pronunciation
of ED at the end of words in English.
In English there are many words that end in –ED
There are regular verbs in the past tense
for example: wanted, helped, called.
There are regular past participles
needed, looked, cleaned
and they're also many adjectives that end in ED
for example infected, relaxed, closed.
Did you notice how the ED was pronounced in three different ways?
How is the ED pronounced in the first column?
wanted, needed, infected
The ED sounds like /id/
wanted, needed, infected
How is the ED pronounced in the second column?
helped, looked, relaxed
the ED sounds like a T or a /t/ sound
helped, looked, relaxed
How is the ED pronounced in the third column?
called, cleaned, closed
The ED sounds like a D or /d/
called, cleaned, closed
So why do you pronounce the ED at the end of words in three different ways?
Well first we need to learn about the difference between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in English.
A VOICED sound means that it uses the vocal cords
and it produces a humming sound or a vibration here in your throat.
Put your fingers on your throat here and pronounce the letter L
You notice there's a vibration here in this part of your neck.
This is because it is a voiced sound.
A voiceless sound, sometimes called an unvoiced sound,
is when there's no vibration here and the sound comes from your mouth.
For example, if we pronounce the letter P
Where does this sound come from? It comes from the front of your mouth.
It doesn't come from here ... /p/ ... no it doesn't sound good.
/p/ from the front of your mouth
Now try this with the other letters and you'll feel the difference
between a voiced sound and an unvoiced sound.
For example .../sh/
the SH sound .../sh/ ... Where does it come from?
It comes from your mouth. It doesn't come from here, it comes from your mouth.
So it is a voiceless sound.
How about F .../f/... the F sound .../f/...
Where does the sound come from? Does it come here? .../f/... No, it comes from your mouth again.
So it is a voiceless sound.
How about the N sound the .../n/... /n/... sound.
You notice it vibrates a little here .../n/...
So N, the .../n/... sound is a voiced sound.
And the .../z/... sound the Z the .../z/... or the S sometimes .../z/...
It comes from here so it is a voiced sound.
Now we know the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds,
we can now look at the following rules about the correct
pronunciation of ED in English
If the last letter of the word ends in a T or D, like WANT or NEED
then the ED is pronounced as an .../id/... sound
wanted, needed
The .../id/... or the ED
adds an extra syllable to the word.
want (one syllable), wanted (two syllables)
need (one syllable), needed (two syllables)
So if the word ends in D or T
then you add the .../id/... sound to the end.
If the last letter of the word ends in a voiceless sound
like the P in help
Then the ED is pronounced as a .../t/... sound
so help becomes helped
It is important to know that we do not add an extra syllable
With the word help he say helped which is one syllable
and not "help-ed", two syllables that doesn't sound good
Let's go through the list and pay attention to the sound of the ED ending.
helped, looked, sniffed, laughed
the GH here is pronounced like an F so it is laughed
washed, watched, kissed, danced, fixed
They all end in a .../t/... sound
If the last letter of the word ends in a voiced sound
like the L in call
then the ED is pronounced as a .../d/... sound.
So call becomes called
Again it is important to remember that we do not add an extra syllable, no.
So the word call, we say called (one syllable)
and not "call-ed" which is two syllables and incorrect.
Let's go through the list and pay attention to the sound of the ED ending.
called, cleaned, offered, damaged, loved
used... here the S sounds like a .../z/... sound
used, amazed, rubbed
They all end in a D sound a .../d/... sound
Also, when a word ends in a vowel sound,
we use the voiced D or the .../d/... pronunciation for ED
play ends in a AY sound
so play becomes played
free becomes freed, try becomes tried,
follow becomes followed, continue becomes continued
So let's look at some example sentences.
Listen to the pronunciation of the words ending in ED.
I waited for two hours.
She kissed her baby.
It rained last night.
Now, if you said /rain-t/ instead of /rain-d/
people will understand you
if you pronounce it with a /t/ ending instead of a /d/ ending.
But if you say /rain-id/ with 2 syllables instead of /rain-d/ with one syllable,
then people will normally NOT understand you
It seems like a small insignificant thing
but it is the difference between people understanding you
or people having no idea what you're saying.
So remember it's important that the .../id/... sound with the extra syllable
is only after words ending in T or D
I hope this lesson helped you
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Have an awesome day!