A. Pronunciation lesson
A. Read the article on Alfred Hitchcock on pages 8-9 of
English Now
No 90. It is written in the simple past tense, with regular and irregular verbs. All regular verbs and regular past participles end in ‘-ed’.
That's easy to remember! However, they are sometimes difficult to pronounce. Read the rules below and then do pronunciation exercise B.
The ‘-ed’ at the end of a word is never pronounced as ‘ed’!
There are three ways to pronounce ‘-ed’ at the end of a word:
1) t 2) id 3) d
1) The ‘-ed’ ending is pronounced ‘t’ if the base verb ends in one of these sounds (do not look at the last letter of the base verb
but listen to the last sound when you say the word):
k, s, ch, sh, f, p, th (soft)
Example: I hiked in the mountains yesterday.
In this sentence, the end of the word ‘hike’ sounds like ‘k’. So, the ‘ed’ is pronounced ‘t’.
Example: I ‘hikt’ in Paris yesterday.
2) The ‘-ed’ ending is pronounced ‘id’ if the base verb ends in one of these sounds:
t, d
Example: I wanted cereal for breakfast.
In this sentence, the end of the word ‘want’ sounds like ‘t’. So, the ‘ed’ is pronounced ‘id’.
Example: I ‘wantid’ cereal for breakfast.
3) The ‘-ed’ ending is pronounced ‘d’ if the base verb ends in one of these sounds:
a, b, e, g, h, i, j, l, m, n, o, q, r, u, v, w, x, y, z, th (hard)
Example: Sammy loved his mother
In this sentence, the end of the word ‘love’ sounds like ‘v’. So, the ‘ed’ is pronounced ‘d’.
Example: Sammy ‘lovd’ his mother.
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