Past Tense Pronunciation

Forming regular verbs in the past simple can be straightforward once you know the rules and have practiced conjugating them. But how do you pronounce them? This is something that a lot of English learners have difficulty with as there are three distinct sounds. But after learning the rules, familiarizing yourself with them and then practicing the examples you will be able to pronounce them correctly when speaking.

This article will outline the three different sounds of the past simple regular verbs along with ways to practice these sounds.


The 3 sounds are;

1. /id/ e.g., wanted

2. /t/ e.g., worked

3. /d/ e.g., covered



1. /id/

We use this sound when the 'ed' is preceded by (t) or (d).

Pronouncing this the 'e' changes to an 'i'. The /id/ sound is added as an extra syllable.

* I started yesterday

* He suggested the restaurant

* I added the water

* They visited her yesterday



2. /t/

This sound is used when 'ed' is preceded by all unvoiced sounds. (k), (p), (f), (s), (S), (tS)

* I worked on Monday.

* He helped me on Tuesday.

* You laughed all day.

* He faxed the report.

* We watched the game.

* She kissed me!



3. /d/

This is used for all voiced sounds.

* I covered the cake in icing.

* I played football all day.

* I returned the video.



Practice

The original article contains sound recordings of every example. It can be found here - Past Simple Tense Pronunciation with Listening

The best way to practise is to say each of the sentences out loud. After a while the pronunciation will come naturally.

For help with forming the past tense see here - English - Past Tense Forms


Jack Askew is the head teacher and founder of JDAenglish - English Classes and Courses, which offers private English one to one classes and group courses. All of the classes are online and are a great way to improve English speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar skills. He also writes a blog at JDA English Blog.