When we use regular verbs, to make the past participle we add -ed to the end. But -ed is not always pronounced in the same way. In this lesson we look at the different ways these endings are pronounced. Below is a reading example. You can find the pronunciations of –ed in brackets. Read the text first, then compare the -ed...

When we use regular verbs, to make the past participle we add –ed to the end of the word. But -ed is not always pronounced in the same way. There are three different ways of pronouncing –ed:

• 1. work > worked > /t/
• 2. warn > warned > /d/
• 3. want > wanted > /ıd/

• 
  Reading Example:

• Here is a reading example. You can find the pronunciations of –ed in brackets.
• Read the text first, then compare the -ed endings and try to work out the rules:
• 
  
  • Nicodemus closed (d) the door behind her, then sat down on one of the benches, facing Mrs Frisby; the others sat down, too, Mr Ages stretching his splinted (ıd) leg in front of him. Nicodemus took the reading glass from his satchel, opened (d) it, and through it gravely examined (d) Mrs Frisby’s face. ‘You will forgive the glass and the scrutiny,’ he said. ‘When I lost my left eye, I also damaged (d) the right one; I can see little close-up without the glass – indeed, not very much even with it.’ At length he folded (ıd) the glass and put it on the table.
• 
  
  • He reached (t) down into his satchel and took out a sheet of paper and a pencil; he opened (d) the reading glass again. As he talked (t), he drew a sketch.
• - excerpt from Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH / Robert C. O’Brien

• Vocabulary:

• Splinted: fastened with a splint, which is a white cast used to secure a broken bone
• Satchel: a little sack or bag with a shoulder strap for carrying small articles
• Gravely: seriously; solemnly; soberly
• Scrutiny: close examination or inspection
• Lee: side protected from the wind, side opposite the wind, side which is sheltered from the wind

• The Rules:

• So when do we use one or the other ending? Could you work it out from the text? </p>  <p>The rules can be remembered as follows:

• If the base word ends in an unvoiced sound, then -ed = /t/
  If the base word ends in a voiced sound, then -ed = /d/
  If the base word ends in the etter t or d, then -ed =  /ıd/