English Pronunciation - Simple Past

Hey Everyone.

Professor Phil here writing from my office in beautiful Pouso Alegre.

As I have been teaching English for the past ten months in Brasil, one of the things that I have noticed among Brasilian English speakers is the pronunciation of the "e" in the "ed" endings of verbs. In most cases, the "ed" will be silent in the past tense and then there are exceptions.

I decided to try and help out my students and fellow teachers with a short list of guidelines that I have compiled. I think it will help. Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers from Sul de Minas.

Phil

July 12, 2011
by: Philip Schanberger

SUBJECT	OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Pronunciation Rules	The final sounds for regular verbs in the past tense are: /t/, /d/, /Id/. The final sound is pronounced /t/ after the voiceless sounds: /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /tʃ/, /ʃ/. Examples: laughed, licked, sipped, missed, mixed, raced, watched, and wished. The final sound is pronounced /d/ after the voiced sounds /b/, /g/, /dʒ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /ŋ/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /ɔ/, /v/, and /z/. Examples: rubbed, hugged, judged, pulled, hummed, banned, occurred, bathed, massaged, banged, lived, surprised. The final sound is pronounced /d/ after vowel sounds. Examples: played, skied, tied, snowed, and argued. The final sound is pronounced /ɪd/ after /t/ and /d/. /ɪd/ adds a syllable to the verb. Examples: want – wanted, attend – attended, instruct – instructed, rest – rested.
Past Tense (past participles) with “ed” endings	A common observation of native Portuguese speakers is hearing the e pronounced in “ed” endings on “regular” (as opposed to irregular verbs) verbs in the past tense (known as the past participle). This is very common amongst ESL speakers of all levels. However, some verbs in the past tense do pronounce the e in the “ed” ending as the following illustrates. They walked to the store and it started to rain. The “e” is silent in “walked”, but pronounced in “started.” Infinitive Past Participle Access Accessed. Silent “e.” Accept Accepted. Pronounced “e.” When a regular verb ends in a silent e, only the letter d must be added in order to form the past participle. The e remains silent in the past participle. Infinitive Past Participle to close closed to move moved to please pleased to receive received The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable. For instance, in each of the following examples, both the bare infinitive and the past participle consist of one syllable. For example: Bare Infinitive Past Participle puff puffed work worked miss missed watch watched However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in d or t, the ed ending of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. The reason for this is that the sounds of d and t are so similar to the sound of the ed ending, that the ending must be pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard clearly. In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables and the e in the “ed” ending is pronounced. For example: Bare Infinitive Past Participle add added land landed hunt hunted wait waited Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the final ed of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle consists of two syllables and hence, the e in the “ed” ending is pronounced. For example: Bare Infinitive Past Participle fade faded glide glided cite cited note noted Grammar Notes: Most English verbs form the past participle in a regular, predictable manner. These verbs are commonly referred to as regular verbs. The past participle of a regular English verb is formed by adding the ending ed to the bare infinitive of the verb. For instance, the past participle of the verb to work is worked. When a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i before the ending ed is added. For example: Infinitive Past Participle to study studied to rely relied to carry carried However, when a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel, the y is not changed before the ending ed is added. For example: Infinitive Past Participle to play played to convey conveyed to enjoy enjoyed Suggestion: Practice reading aloud simple sentences written in the past tense that utilize verbs with an “ed” ending.